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Lean Kiwi Fit Tips # 4

12/3/2013

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When lifting weights, don't forget about the 'negative' phase of the movement. This is where you have contracted your muscle to lift a certain weight and are now returning that weight back to the starting point, or 'lengthening' the muscle. Most people will contract and then return the weight far too quickly and then contract again. You are missing out on vital muscle building potential. 

You know that sore feeling the day after a workout? This is mainly due to the 'eccentric' phase of the exercises you did. When you put force on stretched or lengthened muscles, you are damaging and stressing the fibers of that muscle. This leads to a higher resting metabolic rate following the workout due to recovery and repair of those muscle fibers. 

 The energy cost of eccentric training is very low while the magnitude of the force produced is unusually high. Therefore, muscles respond to eccentric training with meaningful changes in strength, size and power (Lindstedt, LaStayo, and Reich, 2001).

So next time you're at the gym, don't just drop your weights and focus on the lifting phase only. Try contracting for one count and then lower for three counts. For example, during a bicep curl, count to one as you curl the dumbbell up, and then count to three as you lower the dumbbell back down to your sides or hips.  For a barbell squat, count to three as you lower your body towards the ground, then count to one as you pop and squeeze back to standing. 
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Lean Kiwi Fit Tips # 3

5/14/2013

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Do you have over-ripe bananas lying around that you plan on chucking out? DON'T! Cut them up and put them in little zip-lock baggies and put them in the freezer. Next time you make a pre or post-workout smoothie, throw half a frozen banana in there and blend it up. Makes for a tasty, delicious, nutritious, and creamy shake.
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LEAN KIWI FIT TIPS # 2

4/10/2013

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HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING

You have probably heard this term before but if not, in short it means short bursts of all out effort followed by a recovery period and then repeat. For instance, sprint on a treadmill for 30 seconds, then walk for 30 seconds and repeat for several rounds. 

If your goal is to lose body fat, then 'HIIT' is the way to go. When you're working in the 'fat burning' zone, which is lower intensity for a longer duration, then yes, the majority of the total calories burned comes from fat. However, if you burn more total calories as you would with high intense training, the percentage of those calories burned from fat is lower but the grand total of calories burned from fat is actually higher because you burned more TOTAL calories in your session.

For example; 20 minutes of jogging on the treadmill with heart rate around 70% effort may burn 200 calories with which 50% of those came from fat giving you a total of 100 calories burned from fat.
Now, if you do 20 minutes of HIIT you may burn 400 calories with which only 30% came from fat giving you a total of 120 calories burned from fat. Lower percentage, but higher grand total.

As an added bonus, high intensity interval training has been proven to continue to burn calories in the 24 hours prior to finishing your workout. Steady state cardio will stop burning calories when you stop working out.

So work out smarter and get results faster by using your time more efficiently.  
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Lean Kiwi fit tip # 1

4/3/2013

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Pre and Post Workout Meals

For your pre-workout (about an hour before), you want a mix of complex carbohydrates and protein. The complex carbohydrates will give you fuel throughout your workout so you don't burnout and the protein will go straight to your hard working muscles, making sure they don't get broken down for energy if your glycogen stores get too low.
An example meal would be oatmeal, non-fat Greek Yogurt, and a half scoop of vanilla protein powder, or egg whites if you don't have protein powder.

For your post-workout (within an hour of exercise), you want a mix of protein and simple carbohydrates. The simple carbs will be released into the bloodstream quickly, restoring your depleted glycogen levels so the body doesn't break down your muscle tissue for energy. The protein is going to get straight to work on your fatigued muscles.
An example meal would be a banana protein smoothie which would include a banana, protein powder or non-fat Greek Yogurt, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, cottage cheese and 1 tbsp of almond butter.

NOTE: Do not consume a lot of fats after a workout. Imagine all your muscle tissue and fat stores are open following exercise and the last thing you want to do is load them up with FAT. A little bit is OK especially if it's a healthy fat and the source provides protein as well (like almond butter), just don't go over board. Fat also slows digestion (9 calories per gram of fat), which you don't want when you are trying to restore energy stores and drive protein into your muscle quickly. 

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    Welcome Lean Kiwis or Lean Kiwis to-be! I'm your trainer, Gemma, and I'll be sharing with you some of my favourite recipes, training tips, nutrition facts and fill you in on what I've been up to.
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