Advanced Fitness & Nutrition Techniques

Introduction

Fitness and nutrition are sciences, and should be regarded as such, but it’s still surprising to see how many people use hearsay and guesswork when it comes to their fitness routine.

They then wonder why they can’t shed those few extra pounds or can’t find a way to gain some muscle mass.

But if they paid more attention to the science behind it, they’d easily be able to see where they went wrong and how they can go around and correct it.

By applying sound fundamentals, everyone should be able to get results. Here are some advanced fitness and nutrition techniques everyone should consider.

Go Keto

If your goal is to shed some pounds and gain some mass at the same time, you should definitely consider going on a keto diet.

If you haven’t heard about it, it’s an extreme low carb diet aimed at putting your body in a state of ketosis.

Ketosis is when the body turns to ketone bodies, which are often derived from fat, in order to use them as a source of energy for the body and the brain.

The only way to do this is to deprive your body of carbs almost entirely. In most cases, keto diets demand that you keep your carb levels under 50g per day, sometimes lower.

If you want to know what that represents, this is about 3 slices of white bread, or about 500ml of orange juice. So, this is a very demanding diet, but also a very rewarding one when you can stick to it.

The keto diet allows you to turn your body into a fat burning machine as you’ll start pooling from your fat reserves. Not only that, but it also promotes muscle mass, which in turn will also allow you to burn fat.

Don’t Rely on Cardio Alone

If you want to efficiently lose weight, cardio alone is not the answer.

Cardio, as the name entails, should be used first and foremost to maintain or improve your cardiovascular health and performance.

But it doesn’t necessarily work as great as you may think when it comes to shedding weight.

For instance, did you know that you would have to jog at a moderate pace for a whole two hours to burn the calories in one regular meal? So, if you want to exhaust and discourage yourself at the same time, cardio is definitely the way to go.

So, what should you do? The answer is work more on your muscles. Building muscle will allow you to burn fat in a number of ways. But its biggest effect is on your metabolism.

Muscle requires a lot of energy to maintain, and the more muscle mass you have, the more you’ll burn calories in your resting state.

If you maintain a steady diet, you’ll get much better results this way than if you overwork yourself on the treadmill. And you’ll get a nice six-pack in the process.

Perform High Interval Intensity Training

The craziest thing about cardio is that a lot of people focus on duration when they should be focusing on intensity instead.

High intensity interval training, or HIIT for short, revolves around this principle.

HIIT is when you perform several bouts of high intensity exercises, followed by a resting period.

One common HIIT technique is going for short 30 second sprints followed by a light jog for around 4 minutes.

What HIIT does is not only allow you to burn calories while you’re performing the exercise, but also after it.

It has been shown to boost your metabolism hours after your session, which allows you to turn your body into a fat burning furnace even when you’re doing nothing.

Utilize the Power of Probiotics

Probiotics are all the rage right now, and for a reason. They have been shown to have great benefits on the immune system, but they also have tons of benefits for people following a diet and fitness regimen.

Probiotics restore your intestinal flora; the intestinal flora is said to be the seat of your immune system, which is why they seem to have such a beneficial effect on it.

However, restoring your intestinal flora also allows your body to better absorb your nutrients and get all of their benefits.

This will not only allow you to get more fuel for your workouts, but help your muscles recover and get the nutrients they need.

But one way they can help that is often overlooked is when it comes to motivation. You see, not only does your gut play an essential role in producing immune cells, it is also involved in hormone production, namely serotonin.

Serotonin, which has often been referred to as the “happy hormone”, is central in sleep and mood regulation. So, having a happy gut could lead you to have a happier mind as well, and give you that push you so desperately need.

However, before you buy probiotic products, or products that were supplemented with probiotics, it’s important to do your research.

You have to make sure that they don’t only have enough of them to make an effect, but contain the types of probiotics you need.

Some probiotics, for instance, can trigger a histamine reaction in some people and give them some allergic symptoms.

So, make sure you know everything there is in any given product and don’t just blindly follow the probiotic label.

If you want to learn more about probiotics and nutrition you can check out https://www.oglf.org/ which is an awesome beauty resource.

Give it a Rest

While persistence and consistency are important in any fitness routine, so is rest.

If your goal is to train to be an Iron Man and have enough endurance to run a 5k every morning, then working out every day is not that bad.

However, if your goal is to lose weight healthily and gradually while building muscle mass, you have to give your body some rest.

Muscle production occurs when micro tears are made in the muscle tissue and then repaired, becoming bigger and stronger.

When you work out every day, all you’re doing is damaging your muscles without giving them the time to regenerate.

So, make sure that every session is followed by at least two days of rest, or work body parts in isolation to give them the time to rest.

The Bottom Line

Fitness and nutrition is not guesswork, and if you want to get the results you want, you have to stick to a strict routine and avoid mistakes.

Do not build your routine based on myths and misconceptions and either get help from a professional or learn as much as you can before you even embark on your journey.

About Shannon Clark

Shannon holds a degree in Exercise Science and is a certified personal trainer and fitness writer with over 10 years of industry experience.