We in this fitness freak world, often commit some mistakes that are very common in our day to daily life. We often think about the strategy of weight loss but that is a harmful word we should always keep in our mind. The aim should be generally a fat loss strategy and not the weight loss. Weight loss means losing muscles + fats whereas fat loss is a healthier alternative. We should be gaining lean muscles to be fit and healthy by shedding off our extra calories from the stubborn stored fats. We are now in such a state where we can’t move out of our homes and can’t even continue going to our gyms. There are very few who own a personal gym or have enough or adequate amount of gym equipment so that they can work-out at their homes. So this is the brutal pandemic phase of COVID-19 and we have to maintain our figures too. Here I have pointed out some basic tips for gaining an ample amount of lean muscles along with shedding down of our stubborn fats during this home lockdown period.
Cardiovascular workout or High-Intensity Interval Training can be a phenomenal option for losing our stubborn fats and also to tone up our figure. Also adding to its positive side, It is quite noteworthy for our cardiovascular system, the heart and the blood circulation, also helps in boosting our innate immunity to fight against the deadly pathogenic virus or bacteria. Performing a circuit training like Jumping Jacks, Mountain climbing, High knees, Burpees, Inch-worms, Animal movements, Brisk walks, Steady sprints with a lesser period of interval rest time can be a High Intense training protocol which can be phenomenal for the endomorphs or the persons with the greater amount of body fat percentage. On the other hand, Low-intensity treadmilling or Stationary Bike or Slow walk in the afternoon or the morning can be recommended for those with lesser body fat percentages.
2. Strength training
As we all know that Strength or resistance training is a highly recommended training protocol for both fat loss and muscle gain strategies. Therefore if one has the equipment or the weights like dumbbells, barbells, or the weight plates, then it's more than enough. But the one who does not have all these, should not panic at all. Here comes the word Callisthenics or bodyweight workout. You can meet the same intensity in your bodyweight workouts as that of the weight training by dumbbells or barbells. For the beginners, you can start with normal workouts like Push-ups, Pull-ups, Squats, Triceps Dips, Plank Push-ups etc. And for the intermediate trainees, You can try its various forms like Hindu Push-ups, Drop Push-ups, One hand push-ups, Incline-decline push-ups, etc. And for the advanced trainees you can decrease your tempo and can perform slow eccentric movements to increase the muscle activation and intensity of your workout. And in case of weights we have our fully-loaded school bags or some easy-grip weights in our homes. We can also use them. Necessity is the mother of invention. Impossible word is a lame excuse for fitness.
3. Diet
Along with the training protocols, the dietary patterns should also be carrying immense importance. Adding an ample amount of protein in your food should be always maintained. I have written two definite articles for vegan and vegetarian protein sources, you can kindly check it out in the website. And beside protein, carbohydrate is also another important macronutrient that we should never ignore. It is the source of our energy. Complex carbohydrates are always preferable as it is slow digesting and contains ample amount of fibers. Dietary fibers are very phenomenal for fat loss. Eating healthy fats like peanuts, almonds, cashews, avocados, olive oil, clarified butter (ghee) can be a good source of enough micronutrient as well as a source of HDL cholesterol or good cholesterol. Egg yolks for non-vegetarians are a phenomenal food with enough amino acids and healthy fats. Fats are as important as other nutrients as it helps in several metabolic processes. The male hormone testosterone is itself produced from the Cholesterol in our body. Adding probiotic foods can be a good choice even to enhance the healthy gut bacteria or the gut flora. Adding an ample amount of spices in your foods can boost the immune system as it contains various antioxidants.
4. Supplementation
As we are in our homes and are not going up to the best intensity, several supplements are worthless to use nowadays. The most important supplement for both lean muscle gain or fat loss can be Whey Protein (Concentrate or Isolate) which can be also phenomenal for meeting the protein deficiency in the diet and also to form the amino acid pool in the liver. Also whey protein has been proved to decrease Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) by increasing and optimizing the liver enzymes with its regular consumption for months. Also adding a Multivitamin supplement is necessary to meet the micronutrient deficiency in our food. Also adding a Glucomannan supplement can help with losing some fats. Glucomannan is low in calories, occupies space in the stomach, and slows stomach emptying. It also reduces the absorption of protein and fat, and feeds the beneficial gut bacteria.
5. Avoid junk foods and deep-fries
During lockdown, to satisfy our cravings we used to make an ample amount of fried foods, sweets, and junk foods at our homes. But it's not a clean diet or a healthy diet and this sort of misdeeds can ruin our entire journey of hard work. Cheating on our meals on a single day per week can be bearable but not always. Using refined kinds of stuff like refined flour and refined oil can be harmful as nothing. Using desi cold-pressed oils and cooking at a low or medium flame can be a good choice.
6. Intermittent fasting
IF diets can be beneficial if we can maintain it properly. Eating 8 hours a day and fasting for 16 hours is the common pattern of Intermittent fasting. Also there is a 5:2 pattern where there are 2 days of fasting in a week and 5 days of eating. The IF diet is a Calorie restriction tool after all.
7. Enough sleep
Last but not the least, this can be a game-changer. We are doing everything but the results are not satisfactory because we are not having enough sleep. Sleeping at night is a diurnal behavior of humans which is followed by the sleep-wake cycle of our body and the biological clock and following the circadian rhythm. The melatonin is responsible for all these. Sleeping adequately is proved to be an important tool for fat loss and the prevention of future weight gains. Sleeping for 7-8 hours minimum can help us in our faster and healthy metabolism, digestion, anti-stressed life, and optimizing our healthy hormonal levels.
With all these I put an end to this article. I hope it will be very beneficial if you can follow all these 7 steps.
About The Author
Padmanav Koushik is a Fitness Youtuber @Zoonovation and Fitness science Blogger. He has a Diploma in Human Nutrition (Alison), Certifications on Diet and Nutrition. He is curren..
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