With all the social media content going around today it brings a lot of information into the world that’s not as relevant, truthful or useful as they make it seem like. It seems that the ”next best thing” is being reinvented every other day. Within all of that muck there are pieces of information that are actually worth the read and you can adopt and add them to your own personal life. The fitness world is no different, one might argue that the fitness world is one of the most influenced and affected areas when it comes to social media. It’s hard to sift through all of the bullshit that people are bringing out just to stand out from the crowd and find the information that is actually valuable to you.
If it’s mentioned in this blog it means that I have experienced the effects and information myself.
Let’s sift through the bullshit together.
You can’t out train a bad diet
Whatever specific reason you have for working out, 99% of the people are there ultimately to be healthier. Whether you define this for yourself by having a six pack, being able to play with your kids or staying away from chronic diseases, it all falls under the ”health umbrella”. Pretend that there’s a big pyramid under this umbrella, unlike the ones in Egypt this pyramid is made out of health-related factors. At the bottom of each ”health pyramid” will always be what we call nutrition, every single thing that you’re trying to accomplish physiquely (mentally as well) can be traced back to nutrition and without that base layer the entire pyramid will crumble. This is all because our nutrition determines how our body is functioning from the inside and that will translate into whether we have the right energy and base to get tasks done. That’s why for 99% of the people it’s more important what’s going on inside your body than what it looks like on the outside (these usually go hand in hand together, not always). Saying that someone is healthy because they have a six-pack going for them doesn’t always hold true because their body might not be functioning well on the inside or they could be exhausted after running around the block just once, just to give you two examples. This is the same the other way around as well, you’re eating ”super healthy” but you can’t perform a lot of the physical tasks that life throws at you on a daily basis. You can’t out train a bad diet, but neither can you out diet non-active lifestyle.
Taking in protein and carbohydrates within 90 minutes post-training
No matter what kind of physical activity you’re doing, taking in protein afterwards is going to help you recover and eventually get stronger overall. The better your recovery is, the more energy you have the following day, the more effort you can put in and that will make you become stronger in any physical task. Whether that is running a marathon, bench pressing 120 kilos or running a sub 5-minute mile. Saying that you should take in these macronutrients after your training is completely based on making your recovery as efficient and effective as it can be. In my opinion everybody will benefit from getting in protein after their workouts, that’s not necessarily true for carbohydrates. Let’s take long distance runner as an example, as far as it has been proven this person does not burn through a significant amount of carbohydrates but rather their fat storage. There’s no need to fill something up that isn’t being used because that will lead to an excess pile, that pile will eventually transform into fat but not the fats we use as an energy source. All I am saying is that protein should be a priority no matter the activity, whether you refuel with carbohydrates does depend on your activity.
Weight training will make you healthier/ better/ stronger
It might seem so obvious to some people but there are still people out there that believe that weight/resistance training is only good for making you bigger and stronger. Yes, it can make you stronger, yes it can make you bigger but what’s wrong with that? If you’re not looking to get bigger, don’t eat/train that way. Do you know how much energy and focus it actually takes to get to the point of what you call big or muscular? If it was that easy, a lot more people would be walking around with huge arms and six pack abs. Weight training is hugely beneficial for a bunch of different reasons outside of the 2 that I have named previously.
- It stimulates cardiovascular health
- your bones will become stronger/healthier
- your body/spine position changes for the better
- it fights chronic diseases
- you will feel happier
- you will have more energy
- you are more confident
- you will be able to sleep better
- it will make you mentally stronger
Just to name a few. I would argue that these benefits/goals are just as important or maybe even more than the stereotypes of getting stronger/bigger (depending on what your goals are) . Strength training is also a great tool to help you get better at your sport. If you’re an endurance athlete for example weight training can help your muscles to become stronger, your body less susceptible to injuries, your body will be able to take of muscle fatigue better and you will be able to recover better while moving. If you’re a football/soccer player you will be able to jump higher, run faster, recover better in between sprints and hold a higher pace for longer periods of time.
Weight training adds huge benefits to our lives whether we workout to become better at our sport, train to walk around with a six pack or workout because it makes us feel good and happy on the inside. Weight training can add something different to everyone’s lifestyle.
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