38
Pieces of Interesting and Useful Training Trivia
to Make You The Life of the Party.
Impress your friends! Impress your family! These
unique training tidbits will improve your training,
health and nutrition knowledge instantly!
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1.
Fit people tend to sweat more and sooner than unfit
people. Their bodies are more efficient at cooling.
2.
When people start training as a result of a New Year's
Resolution, 60% have quit by Valentine's Day.
3.
If your workout clothes smell like ammonia after a workout,
you're burning a lot of protein for fuel. Ammonia is
a byproduct of protein metabolism. This is not a good
thing, as burning protein means you may be burning your
muscle tissue for energy instead of carbohydrates or
bodyfat.
4.
Men tend to overestimate their strength while women
tend to underestimate their strength.
5.
To determine if your scale is correct, set a dumbell
or a weight plate on it. If the numbers don't match,
try another weight and see if it's off by the same amount.
Adjust your scale accordingly.
6.
Sometimes a barbell exercise causes pain while the dumbell
version doesn't. This occurs most often with the bench
press and the shoulder press. Dumbell don't lock your
joints into a certain pattern of movement.
7.
There is no evidence to support the argument that machines
are safer than free weights, according to studies.
8.
More bodyparts overlap in upper body training than lower
body training, giving legs more recovery time. That's
why you may continue to progress in leg training while
your upper body plateaus.
9.
High-level endurance training (e.g. marathon training)
reduces testosterone levels by 15 - 40%.
10.
Eating post-workout carbohydrates and protein increases
Growth Hormone levels.
11.
Acclimation to exercising in the heat can take about
10 to 14 days. For each two days of not exercising in
heat, one day of acclimation is lost.
12.
There is an indirect effect on other muscles when you
work a muscle. The bigger the muscle, the greater the
carryover. This is one reason you should not neglect
leg training as the largest muscles in the body are
found in the legs and will have the greatest impact
on the rest of your body.
13.
The initial adaptation to weight training is neuromuscular
(in the nervous system). Your muscles are basically
learning how to fire efficiently. This is why beginning
trainers are often very shaky when they first start
lifting weights. Their muscles haven't learned how to
activate properly.
14.
Holding your breath during an exercise to temporarily
increase intra-abdominal pressure is called the Valsalva
maneuver. While it can be effective in temporarily increasing
strength and stability, it can be very dangerous, especially
if you have high blood pressure. It is, with few exceptions,
better to breathe while lifting.
15.
Training intensity is properly measured as a percentage
of a person's One Rep Max (the most weight they can
lift for a single rep). A high intensity means a high
percentage. It is technically not a subjective measure
of effort or facial expression.
16.
The best performances in strength competitions are seen
in the afternoon and early evening. This may be due
to increased muscle temperature later in the day. A
lower temperature may increase endurance however. Endurance
training may therefore be more effective when done in
the morning.
17.
Shorter rest periods (less than 1 minute) will result
in an increase in the hormones related to muscle growth.
However, lower rest periods will result in decreased
strength during your workout. You will get hypertrophy
(muscle growth) at the expense of strength.
18.
The intestine is the single largest receptor of Growth
Hormone in the body. This is why people who take frequent
Growth Hormone injections often have distended (bloated)
abdomens. Natural levels of Growth Hormone don't result
in this effect.
19.
After a high volume of aerobic work, fast-twitch muscle
fibers (the larger more powerful fibers) can act like
slow-twitch muscle fibers (the smaller, more endurance-oriented
fibers). This doesn't work the other way, though. If
your goal is to gain muscle, decrease the frequency
of your aerobic work. The converted fast-twitch muscles
can revert to their original form after about 4 to 8
months of aerobic detraining.
20.
The hormone Insulin signals the body that there is enough
sugar in the blood to be burned for energy. This prevents
the fat cells from releasing fat. The hormone Glucagon,
which unlocks fat stores, can't be released when insulin
is present.
21.
The number of fat cells in our body is predetermined
by genetics, however, prolonged overfeeding can cause
fat cells to split into more cells, especially during
the teen years. The more you have, the more you have
available to fill up and the greater your potential
for obesity.
22.
Men have about 18 times higher levels of testosterone
than women. Men with higher natural testosterone levels
gain muscle faster. People who have a harder time gaining
muscle have lower testosterone levels.
23.
The more deficient you are in vitamins and minerals
the more of an effect you will notice from supplementation.
Be careful not to overdo it and take too much though.
24.
Strenuous exercise can double mineral loss. Increased
sweating is a major cause of this.
25.
Vitamin capsules are generally better than tablets as
tablets can be compressed so hard as to be indigestible.
26.
Minerals that enhance sleep, recovery, healing, regeneration
and growth like zinc and magnesium should be taken on
an empty stomach before bed. The body's maximum daily
release of Growth Hormone occurs 90 minutes into sleep.
Zinc and magnesium may increase the effects of G.H.
and peak absorption of these minerals occurs after 90
minutes. Take 20-30 mg of zinc and 400-500mg of magnesium.
27.
Sodium and calcium are removed via the same mechanism
in the body therefore when you increase your sodium
intake, your body strives to maintain balance by excreting
more sodium. When 1 molecule of sodium goes, it takes
a molecule of calcium with it. This can decrease bone
mass in the long term. If you have osteoporosis or wish
to prevent it, decrease your sodium intake.
28.
Be careful what you eat grapefruit with. Naringin (an
enzyme found in grapefruits - also called naringenin)
may increase the power of some drugs. It deactivates
enzymes in your stomach that normally break down drugs.
When mixed with alcohol, test subjects ended up with
four times more alcohol in the blood.
29.
Canned grapefruit juice contains twice the naringin
(see above) of fresh grapefruit.
30.
Many people are overweight because they are malnourished.
Their body craves nutrients so they are hungry. What
they eat doesn't supply the nutrients they need so they
are still hungry. Empty-calorie food is the culprit.
31.
20% of the calories in protein are used for digestion
and assimilation. 8% of the calories of carbs are used.
The number is only 2% for fat.
32.
Alcohol acts as a direct toxin to type 2 fast-twitch
fibers, though it doesn't affect slow twitch fibers
much. It increases protein breakdown and decreases IGF-1
levels in blood and muscles.
33.
Alcohol (even a little) before sleep inhibits Growth
Hormone secretion by up to 75%.
34.
Reduce your alcohol intake if you are interested in
weight loss. One bottle of wine equals one six pack
of beer. It can add 625 to 1100 calories to your diet.
It is also very easily stored as fat.
35.
Two bananas a day for a week can reduce blood pressure
10%, due to their high potassium content.
