Category: Nutritional supplements

to join the gym is one of the first things, that comes in to our minds when we decide to get rid of the accumulated extra body fat. With a well-combined training program that includes both strength and cardio exercises, we can significantly increase our caloric consumption during the day. it is no secret to anyone that, burning more calories, than those we have intake is the key to reducing body weight.

In addition to the workouts and balanced nutrition, we can also take nutritional supplements to get faster results and more lean physique. The most common ones that helps to lose weight faster are so – called Fat Burners.

According to what processes in the body they trigger , we can divide them in to two types – termogenics and lipotropics. The thermogenics increase body temperature, which helps burning fat faster. The lipotropics, in turn, accelerate the transport of fatty acids and ketones from fat tissues to muscle cells, where they are metabolized, and by so is reduced the volume of fatty аccumulations. One of the main differences in the two types is that the theromogenics affect the central nervous system and, in lipotropic, this is not observed.

Nutritional Supplements named Fat Burners are usually blend of several lipotropic substances.Most commonly they include L-carnitine, chromium-picolinate, alpha-lipoic acid, lecithin, etc. In addition to that, in the recipe also can be found various types of amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Often, both the lipotropic and the thermogenic agents are mixed toghether in the fat burners formula and synephrine, yohimbine, L-tyrosine may be present in addition to the substances listed above.

There are no side effects when taking lipotropic based Fat Burners. Whit thermogenic substances this is not exactly the case. Systematic overdosing may result in minor headache, nausea, irritability, insomnia.Their use by children, pregnant women, and people with problems in the cardiovascular system is not recommended.

For best effect, take one scoop 30 to 60 min before your physical activity.

If you want to speed up the process of losing weight you can certainly really on fat burning supplements. We at CityFitness team recommend that you bet on the combined type, including both lipotropic and thermogenic agents.

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How often we will go to the gym, how long our training sessions will be, how intense we going to do our workouts, depends on how motivated we are to achieve the goals set in advance. Personal motivation is the most important factor that makes us persistent in what we do and moves us forward. Inevitably, however, after some time comes the moment when it decreases and the tiredness from the work days starts to take over. This makes us inefficient in the workouts and very often is even the main reason for giving up initial plans to improve our health and body shape. Nutritional supplements know as pre-workout boosters are very appropriate for the days when the desire to go to the gym is greatly reduced and we feel that if we go to do workout, we will do something that is against ourselves.  They give extra energy, rejuvenate and help increase your tonus in general.

What are pre-workout supplements?

First we need to say, that pre-workout formulas are nutritional supplements. They are blend of ingredients each of which helps for optimizing your performance during workout sessions. Mandatory, in each pre-workout you can find the presence of L-arginine. Its primary role is to increase the quantity of nitric oxide in the blood, which in turns expands the blood vessels and improves blood flow in to them. The concentration of more blood in the muscle tissues means they have more strength and you get more pumped during workouts. Another common find ingredient in almost every pre-workout formula is caffeine. It’s a stimulant of the nervous system, that refreshes and lifts up your tonus. The amino acid Beta-alanine can also be find in the content of this nutritional supplements. It increases endurance and strength. In most blends, there are also creatine, citrulline, taurine and others. There also rich in vitamins, mainly those form group B.

How they help us in the workouts?

As already mentioned in the previous paragraph the pre-workout formulas improve endurance, give us more energy and increase strength. They speed up the recovery processes in the body after workout. Stimulate muscle growth and development. Enhance focus and concentration. The so important for all fitness enthusiasts pumping lasts and feels hours after the training session is over.

Do pre-workout formulas have unwanted side effects?

First few times when intake this type of supplements, it is advisable to start with half of the recommended dose. This is important, because it helps define how tolerant you are to these kind of products. Taking more than tolerated can lead to rapid breathing and increased heart rhythm. This is mainly due to L-arginine and caffeine in the composition of the pre-workout formula. The intake of L-arginine cause blood vessels in the muscle tissues to expand their volume and most of the blood flow starts to concentrate in them. Тo deliver enough blood for the rest of the body, the heart needs to work more intensely then normal. Caffeine increases levels of Dopamine, Adrenaline and Serotonin, which also accelerates the heartbeat.

In moderate amounts, pre-training formulas can only improve your exercise performance. Rely on them, but do it with measure and caution to get only the positive effect from their intake.

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Each of us visiting the gym has seen the heavily overfilled shelves full of all sorts of sports supplements available for the customers to bay. As soon as the workouts become more and more frequent, comes the time for every beginner to make his first “contact’’ with them. At this point inevitably questions arise about, whether they are good for our health and what is the effect of them to the body. Perhaps the most recognizable among them is the protein powder and in the following lines we will try to give enough information about its intake.

• Is the protein powder harmful to your health? – One of the existing myths is that the protein in the form of dietary supplement is bad for your health. In order for us to bring some light to this question it is necessary to clarify what exactly is the protein powder. It is simply food. It is made from milk. Each one of us gets this important macronutrient for the proper function of the body by the foods we consume every day. Rich in protein foods are: meat, eggs, dietary products.

Most commonly protein supplements available in stores and fitness halls are under the name of WHEY protein, as their produced by processing whey, which is a by-product of making cheese. This process of treatment the whey eliminates the oxidized fats contained in the milk, as well as lactose, which most people cannot fully digest. As a result of that only the pure protein is left , which is not only good , but it is also essential for correct functioning and developing of the body.

• Are there any side effects of whey protein intake? – This question concerns most of the beginners at the gym halls. As we already mentioned above, this type of food supplement is in fact meal like any other meal that we consume in our everyday life. This fact brings us to the logical answer, that there can be no side effects of intake of whey protein in the recommended doses. On the contrary, every one aiming to improve his physique will benefit from including it in his nutritional plan.
• Do I need to intake whey protein if I eat enough foods rich in protein? – In order for food to “feed” our body first it has to be processed in the stomach, after this process is finished, thru the blood stream the proteins and other nutrients reach the cells and tissues. The time it takes for our body to breakdown and digest the supplements in a form of protein powder is much shorter. Rapid disintegration and because of that rapid absorption, is extremely useful and effective for those who are training with weights, because it enables fast recovery and on time feeding of the muscles, immediately after workout. The additional intake of this supplement also helps increasing the muscle mass, because the proteins in it, serve as building blocks of the muscles.

This product is classified and is available on the market as a food supplement. Based on this, we can  say that, the intake of protein powder is good to be included as part of a well-balanced diet. Also , if we don’t consume enough foods rich in protein in our everyday life we can also include the intake of protein powder.

In conclusion, we can say that one scoop before and one scoop after your workout at the gym is enough quantity of protein supplements to help you reach your goals faster and get you closer to the desired aesthetic vision.

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To answer one of the most frequently asked questions in connection with how BCAA is helping us during our training sessions it is important to know what they are in their essence. By nature BCAA are amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. The protein plays important role in every cell in the human body. Your body uses it to repair and to build new tissues. Therefore, the body also uses proteins and to build muscle tissue.

It is important to note that not all amino acids are BCAA. Most commonly amino acids are divided into two types, the first type is called NONessential amino acids and the second type is called Essential amino acids. The body can produce from other compounds, for its needs, the NONessential amino acids. The Essential amino acids , part of witch are BCAA can not be produced by the body and we can get them only from food sources. Foods rich in Essential amino acids are red meat, dairy, eggs.

It is also right to say which are the benefits for our body from the BCAA intake. The three nonessential amino acids in the structure of BCAA are L-leucine, L-isoleucine and L-valine.  Each one of those amino acids works in a way that optimizes your physical performance.

Typically in the blend of NONessential amino acids that you can take as additional nutritional supplement, L-leucine is the one who present In bigger quantities compared to the another two amino acids. L-Leucine gives strength to the bones, skin and muscle tissues. The body also metabolize it and uses it as a quick source of energy during physical workouts. The intake of L-leucine help burning body fat by slowing the process of breaking down of proteins. When the body can not get the needed “fuel” by breaking down proteins starts to breaks down body fats for energy.

The L-isoleucine functions are primarily directed to the recovery of muscle tissues after physical exercise. It also, raises endurance and energy levels.

L-valine has a beneficial effect on the proper functioning and recovery of the nervous system during and after physical exercise. Improves the function of the immune system. Enhance the endurance and helps for faster muscle recovery.

Why the intake of BCAA is beneficial during workout? As already mentioned, the Essential amino acids are contained in different types of foods, which are rich in protein, as well in well known nutritional supplements in a form of protein powders. For the body to be able to absorb this foods and food supplements  and to “feed” our muscles first it has to decompose the protein to amino acids. This process takes time, postponing the nutrition and recovery of the muscles. When we intake BCAA directly in the form of nutritional supplement the amino acids are already isolated and for their absorption by the body it is not necessary, to go trough the process of decay of protein. Exactly that, that they are isolated and from that, be able to enter the blood stream immediately after their intake, feeding and recovering our muscle tissues almost instantly during our workout, makes BCAA extremely efficient and valuable nutritional supplement.

In conclusion we can say that even if you have a well – balanced diet with sufficient protein intake the additional use of BCAA would be an advantage. The extra amount of essential amino acids taken at the right time would make your training sessions even more full and effective.

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