Nutrition Mistakes That Endurance Athletes Make

Endurance is one of the most important qualities an athlete must have in order to be good at what he does. Otherwise, it would be impossible to perform properly and exquisitely throughout a game. This is the reason why there are some athletes who turn to doping to help them get through an entire competition. However, they would never have to depend on banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs if they adapt proper ways to provide nutrition for their bodies. Yes, training hones your skills but proper nutrition gives your body the fuel that it needs to keep going. Here are some mistakes that endurance athletes are probably making when it comes to nutrition.

Excess Hydration

It’s natural to keep themselves hydrated while playing a rigorous sport right? Well, what many (even athletes) don’t realize is that excess hydration can lead to severe physiological circumstances, including death. This is because the risk of dilutional hyponatremia increases substantially when an athlete repeatedly consumes more than 30 fluid ounces (nearly 890 ml) per hour. Athletes often do very well under most conditions with a fluid intake of 20-25 ounces per hour.

Simple Sugar Consumption

For endurance athletes, it’s best to steer clear from simple sugars like fructose, sucrose, and glucose because they cannot provide adequate calories to sustain energy production. Better opt for complex carbohydrates with no added simple sugar. This way you’re still getting the same amount of energy you need in your body without consuming unnecessary sugar.

Improper Amount Of Calorie

Athletes assume that they only have to consume average calories that they lose on an hour of playing. However, that’s taking away other variables like temperature, and other circumstances like change of game plan and overtime due to unexpected occurrences. Your body can't replenish calories as fast as it uses them and trying to replace calories with an equal or near equal amount of calories in usually suffer digestive maladies and experienced poor outcome on the game. So when it comes to calorie intake, you should focus on the least amount that your body needs to keep your body going for hours after hours.

Inconsistent Electrolyte Supplementation

Just because you already had your fluids and calories in doesn’t mean you’re set for a long and demanding sport. Electrolytes are necessary for your body to maintain smooth performance of vital functions such as muscle contraction. Cramping and spasms happen when your body lacks electrolytes while training or playing. Although, most types of cramp and muscle spasm respond very well to chiropractic treatment you should do what you can to prevent it from happening in the first place. Since inconsistent electrolyte supplementation is often the cause, you should make it a point that you monitor your intake. You don't want to wait until you start cramping before you replenish these important minerals.

No Protein During Prolonged Exercise

When exercise extends beyond about two hours, your body begins to utilize some protein to fulfill its energy requirements, as you begin to derive glucose from amino acids. If you fail to include protein in your fuel, your body has only one other choice: your own muscle! This leads to muscle deterioration and increased fatigue-causing ammonia accumulation. If you want to be able to go for more than two to three hours, you should inject protein into your pre-training meal aside from carbohydrates.

Too Much Solid Food During Exercise

Too much solid food consumption will divert blood from working muscles for the digestive process. So during workouts or races in the 12 hour-or-under range, liquid nutrition is more advised for ultra-endurance athletes. This is because liquid nutrition is the easiest, most convenient, and most easily digested way to get a calorie and nutrient-dense fuel. Solid food, for the most part, cannot match the precision or nutrient density of the best liquid fuels.

Using Something New In A Race Without Having Tested It In Training

Unless you're absolutely desperate and willing to accept the consequences, do not try anything new in competition, be it equipment, fuel, or tactics. These all must be tested and refined in training. Otherwise you’d only risk putting all your hard work in training in jeopardy.

Sticking With Your Game Plan Even When It’s Not Working

Athletes, who stubbornly maintain the same fuel intake hour after hour, even when it's clearly not working, end up with poorer results, if they finish at all. Yes, consistency is important during a workout or race, however, you should know how to listen to what your body is telling you. If you feel that you need more than your usual calorie intake for the competition then feed your body more. Evaluate and adjust accordingly as race pace and weather dictate.  

Chiropractic care may be focused on the diagnosis and treatment of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially the spine but chiropractors understands that patients are so much more than just spine. This is why they always say that they aim not just to relieve pain but to improve your overall health. In order to achieve that, you need to feed your body healthy foods that contain vitamins and nutrients from vegetables, fruits, lean meat, whole grains, and healthy fats. But, when it comes to nutrition, there are still a lot of athletes with habits that are actually detrimental not only to their health but as well as their performance. Don’t be one of those athletes and learn the right way to feed your body.

Warm Up: 6 Ways You’re Not Doing It Right

Okay so you warm up every time before you work out? Good, but the question is, are you doing it right? Here are some signs that you might not so that you can correct them the next time you go for exercise. Because you can’t just do it, but you have to do it right, otherwise the purpose is lost.

1.   You Don’t Really Understand Why It’s Necessary

Don’t just mindlessly stretch before every workout. Really focus on performing it because this helps prepare your entire body instead of just jumping right into the workout. Your muscles need to receive nutrient rich blood, your joints require lubrication to be able to last an hour of exercise and avoid injury. Warm Up is what gives your muscles and joints those things that they need before any kind of workout.  

2.   Rushing Through It

Warm Up is just as important as the workout itself. So, just as you need to complete an exercise to the last count, you need to do the same to your workout. Don’t cut it short thinking you’ll get the same benefits in the actual exercise. Know that your body can’t go from 0 intensity and blast into 10; you have to ease into it. And you do that by warming up for at least 15 minutes before going right into your work sets. If you do this, you’ll notice that you’re more flexible and you don’t feel as strained to exercise.

3.   Not Preparing The Entire Body

If you think that just because your workout program for today is focused on your legs so you don’t have to warm up your upper body, think again. Remember that even though you’re only training a specific part of your body, you entire body would still have to exert effort for you to perform those exercises. So don’t leave out any part of your body when it comes to warm ups. Work from your feet up. Every part of your body needs to be prepared especially if you’re using weights.

4.   Not Preparing The Mind

What your mind can conceive your body can achieve. That remains true whether you look at it figuratively or literally. You can’t walk into the gym half asleep; otherwise you either won’t get the most out of the workout or suffer unfortunate injury because your mind isn’t where your body is. We all know how the lack of concentration can affect the outcome of whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish. So before you storm into the workout, visualize how you want it to go about and your body will definitely follow suit.

5.   You Don’t Focus On Flexibility

Trying to work out without loosening up your entire body is a perfect recipe for injury. That’s because you fail to gradually increasing the heart rate and circulation as well as loosen the joints and increase blood flow to the muscles. Stretching every part of your body, though you’re only training one part, makes your posture so that you maintain correct form every time as well as maximizes your ability to do a specific workout. Always stretch and hold each muscle group for 20-30 seconds each.

6.   10 Reps With The Bar

When you workout with weights, you have to consider how heavy you’re planning to tackle. If you plan on handling hundreds of pounds for numerous reps, lifting 45 pounds for 10 reps as your warm up doesn’t cut it. That weight and repetition is not enough to prepare your body to take on your target weight. You need to perform at least 3 warm up sets so that you muscles can get a better feel of what’s coming. Work your way up to the weight you want to lift. This way, it won’t shock your muscles when you attempt to do that hundred-pound deadlift or bench press.  

Exercising is important to maintain overall health, however if you fail to warm up properly or worse don’t do it at all, you’re setting yourself up to some serious injury. What happens then is that instead of enjoying the health benefits of working out, you end up suffering injury because you fail to prepare your muscles and joints for it. Good thing there are a lot of chiropractors in Singapore who are well experienced and knowledgeable when it comes to dealing with sports injuries along with related injuries. So in case you get injured while working out, consult a chiropractor right away to avoid making your condition get worse by leaving it untreated.

Weight Loss Fail Culprits: Why You’re Having A Hard Time Shedding Pounds

Just when you thought you’ve done everything you could to keep off the weight, you’d be surprised something minor or major could actually be ruining your efforts. While a woman’s body has the tendency to hold on to a certain amount of fat, especially in the midsection area, some cases the problem can be traced directly to certain habits and lifestyle traps which can be remedied.  Here are some reasons why you might not be dropping those pounds.

Skipping Breakfast

Usually, people are too busy, running late, or settle with coffee as breakfast. The problem is not feeding yourself a proper meal in the morning will cause you to not have enough energy to last until lunch time and end up snacking (which is often an unhealthy food) to get by.

Being Stressed Out A Lot

Deadlines, bills, relationship troubles, and other family issues have a way to mess with our weight. It can spike the level of cortisol in the body and make you gain weight in your midsection. Not only that, there are people who resort to food or vices like alcohol drinking when they’re stressed which contributes to weight gain as well.

Sedentary Lifestyle

They say sitting is the new smoking. Not only can sitting for an extended period of time cause health issues, it also a reason why you might be struggling to shed pounds since insufficient physical activity leads to that. So even if you have a desk-bound job, find ways to interrupt sitting or squeeze more exercise in your routine like taking the stairs to your office instead of the elevator. Because of this lifestyle, some people not only gain weight but also develop musculoskeletal conditions which can make losing weight even more difficult. If this is your case, better consult a chiropractor right away to address your condition accordingly which when treated can help you lose weight in the process.

You Can’t Live Without Your Smartphone

Being addicted to mobile phones whether it’s for social media or games sure makes you lose some sleep. This is not good. Sleep deprivation slows down your metabolism and makes you crave for unhealthy food during those low-energy days due to not enough sleep.

Lack Of Vitamin D

UV rays are bad for the skin. However, being unexposed to the sun entirely means not enough vitamin D too, which is important for your everyday energy and mood. Take for example those with graveyard shift jobs who rarely see the sun, they are less likely to be up for a workout since they feel cranking.

Unhealthy Social Life

Going out is important to unwind, make friends and connect to the world. But if all you do when you go out with friends is drink alcohol, party all night, or pig out on fast food then it’s not a good idea too. Choose friends that motivate and encourage you to a healthy lifestyle.

Poor Diet

Not only that technology today is making things faster and easier, it has also lead to processed foods. Once in a while hotdogs or canned goods are fine, but living your life eating only those is bad news. Processed foods are packed with a lot of chemicals that are simply not just bad for your health but also make you gain more weight.  Make it a conscious effort to feed your body with organic and fresh foods more, like fruits and vegetables.

Genetic Makeup

Sometimes, you aren’t losing weight not because you're lazy or because of your food choices, but because you have a condition that makes it hard for you too. Inherited metabolic disorders like insulin-dependent diabetes, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, and insulin resistance make it difficult for some people to keep their weight in check.

Not Drinking Enough Water

You may think that this is counterintuitive because it’s often the water weight that makes you look bloated. However, drinking an adequate amount of water helps suppress your appetite so you’re less likely to overeat. Aside from that hydration is important for your kidney to function properly which helps you easily burn the fat that you consume.

You Work Out Regularly

Okay, calm down, let me elaborate. Yes, working out is good for your overall health and an important aspect of fitness. However, you cannot deny that after exercising you tend to be very hungry and tired so you eat more to compensate on that because you either feel like you’ve earned it or over-estimate how much you’ve burned. There are some people who struggle to balance that, so instead of losing weight because they work out a lot, they end up gaining weight.

Chiropractic Care And Exercises Is More Efficient Treatment Than Medication For Neck Pain

The last thing you probably wanna do when you’re hurt somewhere is moving it even more. No wonder this is one of the reasons behind employees missed work since this kind of pain can be really debilitating. Aside from that this is the reason why most people suffering from neck pain prefer to just take pain medication too because it takes away the pain without having to do anything.

However, what you may not realize is that all pain medications do is numbs the pain for a while and nothing more. It doesn’t treat the cause of your pain nor keep the discomfort permanently. Aside from the fact that long-term use of medications can pose different kinds of side effects that can be dangerous for your health.

If you want to address your neck pain properly, you have a better chance at getting better if you seek chiropractic care and do targeted exercises for your neck pain. Would you still reach for the bottle of pills if you know what a chiropractor and some exercises can do for you?

THE BENEFITS OF CHIROPRACTIC CARE AND OTHER ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS FOR NECK PAIN

Loosen Up The Joints Of The Cervical Vertebrae In The Neck

Sometimes, you are experiencing neck pain because the joints in your neck are stiff. This often happens due to tissue damage or scarring from trauma like whiplash or repetitive stress such as having poor posture. Both of these causes pain in your neck, but with the help of chiropractic adjustments your neck’s natural movement can be restored which can relieve the pain.

Reduce Pain Caused By Pinched Nerves And Muscle Spasms

When a nerve or set of nerves in the body are stretched, constricted, or compressed you can experience symptoms like ‘pins and needles’ feeling or burning sensation around the area. Though rest does the trick sometimes, chiropractic care provides a more in-depth solution for the pain that keeps coming back. For pinched nerves and muscle spasms, chiropractors may use variety of treatment like manual manipulation, physiotherapy, and flexion distraction to reduce inflammation and take pressure off the spine.

Can Correct Misalignment

When you have neck subluxation, it becomes difficult to move your neck, your neck doesn’t receive an adequate amount of blood supply, and don’t transmit appropriate nerve information. No wonder you are in pain! Whether it’s due to a recent trauma, poor posture, or health condition like arthritis, spinal adjustments can help correct misalignments in order to eliminate pain.

Five Specific Exercises To Target Chronic Neck Pain

Aside from chiropractic care, doing exercises can also help treat your neck pain because it often leads to improved posture, range of motion and functionality of your body. Here is the five specific strength exercises target the neck and shoulder muscles involved in causing chronic neck pain.

Dumbbell Shrug

·         Pick a dumbbell anywhere between 6-12 Lbs. depending on your current muscle strength.

·         Begin with standing upright with the hand weights at the side of your body.

·         Lift your shoulders up towards your ears using one even motion then lower them again slowly

·         Relax your jaw and neck while doing it

·         Do 2 sets with 8-12 repetition

One-Arm Row

·         Pick a dumbbell anywhere between 6-12 Lbs. depending on your current muscle strength.

·         Stand with one knee on the bench and lean on the same-side hand on the front of the bench

·         With the free arm you pull the weight up towards your lower chest.

·         When the weight touches your chest, lower it in a controlled motion.

·         Do 2 sets with 8-12 repetition

Upright Row

·         Pick a dumbbell anywhere between 6-12 Lbs. depending on your current muscle strength.

·         Stand upright with your arms stretched and the hand weights in front of your body.

·         Lift the weights in a straight line as close to your body as possible until they reach the middle of your chest and your elbows point up and out.

·         During the whole exercise, the hand weights should be placed lower than the elbows.

·         Do 2 sets with 8-12 repetition

Reverse Fly

·         Pick a dumbbell anywhere between 6-12 Lbs. depending on your current muscle strength.

·         Lie down on a bench in a 45° forward bent angle with the hand weights hanging towards the floor.

·         Lift the weights outward and upward until they are horizontal, and then lower the weights in one controlled motion.

·         During the exercise, the elbows should be slightly bent.

·         Do 2 sets with 8-12 repetition

Lateral Raise / Shoulder Abduction

·         Stand upright with the hand weights at the side of your body.

·         Lift the weights outward and upward until they are horizontal, and then lower the weights in one controlled motion.

·         During the exercise, the elbows should be slightly bent

·         Do 2 sets with 8-12 repetition

Instead of heavily relying on pain medications, which we all know long-term use has negative effects, try doing these exercises. You’ll be surprised at how much it can make a difference with your neck pain. But before anything else, you have to consult a chiropractor to make sure you’re  not doing exercises that may make your condition worse.

School Bags a source of Spinal Strain?

I've been invited to speak at the upcoming Smart Kids Asia Expo

 

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While backpacks are one of the most convenient and frequently used ways to carry books and school supplies, there are numerous precautions for selection and use. Doctors of Chiropractic have been offering constructive suggestions about this issue for many years.

Wearing backpacks improperly or carrying ones that are too heavy put children at increased risk for spinal injury. Postural compensations carrying the heavy loads are causing what chiropractors term repetitive stress injury to many children. The postural imbalances appear to be most significant with prepubescent female students because of the heavy load required to carry at their ages and the sensitivity of their developing spines at this time of life.

We know that back pain is the most common ailment among working Americans adults. Even more significant than back pain and associated injury is the implications that postural distortions have on nerve system function. These postural adaptations can cause spinal nerve stress. Stress to the nervous system can adversely affect numerous functions in the body leading to a wide array of health concerns.

Doctors of Chiropractic offer these tips for safe backpack use:

• Wear both straps and avoid the one-strap styled back packs. Uneven distribution of the load causes postural compensations and spinal stress.

• When putting on and removing backpacks, bend at the knees or have the pack at a higher level such as on a desk or table. Sudden twisting motion adds to the potential of injury.

• Arrange the backpack so it rests evenly in the middle of the back. Shoulder straps should be adjusted to allow the child to put on and take off the backpack without difficulty and permit free movement of the arms. Straps should not be too loose, and the backpack should not extend below the lower back.

• Keep the load at 10-15% or less of the student’s bodyweight. Carry only those items that are required for the day. Request additional textbooks to be kept at home instead of hauling heavy books to and from school.

• Organize the contents of the backpack by placing the heaviest items closest to the back.

There are some ergonomically designed features in backpacks that enhance safety and comfort:

• A padded back and shoulder straps will reduce pressure on the back, shoulders, and underarm regions, and enhance comfort.

• Hip and chest belts help to transfer some of the backpack weight from the back and shoulders to the hips and torso.

• Reflective material enhances visibility of the child to drivers in the evening hours.