Great Eating & Workout Tips

The gym is great for everyone young and old and based on. What it is you are trying to accomplish, there are a few things to keep in mind. Before starting your workout regime.

Men often need more protein than women but that’s not to say that women don’t need protein. The general rule of thumb is 0.8g of protein per pound, i.e. a 140lb woman would need 0.8 x 140 = 112g of protein per day, and a 140lb man would also need 112g of protein a day.

Men naturally have more muscle and build muscle faster than women, which is why most males that workout regularly will take some type of protein supplement to help aid their muscle building. Some women choose to take some type of protein supplement as well, but find they do not need as much as their male counterparts as women do not have as much muscle to build.

FACT: In exercise and Diet…men and women are not created equal! Our bodies are designed to react differently to exercise and diet, we may do exactly the same workout and follow exactly the same diet, yet we will not achieve the same results in the same amount of time.

All of this of course is just a general example since there are always exceptions to the rules and also different goals for different people.

I’m going to break down 3 basic groups with 3 different eating and exercise routines to share with everyone so you can take these as a starting point or take bits and pieces from them to add to your own routine to help you make your goal happen faster and safer.

Skinny to Mid-Size Joe/Jill
Diet – 3 meals a day, 1 snack. “Eat regular meals”
Breakfast: Whole grain cereal, fruit or a breakfast shake.
Lunch: salad, pasta, rice, meat, chicken, fish or a nutrition bar.
Snack: yogurt, nuts, or fruit

Dinner: generally anything goes for supper for these types of people. Just remember not to eat after 8:00ish at night or 1-2 hours before you go to bed. Take a multi vitamin with one of your meals once a day and remember to drink water, five 8 ounce glasses a day is the nationally recommended amount.

Exercise – Workout at least 2-3 times a week.

Mix it up, half cardio half weights. Don’t focus on one muscle group per day at the beginning, work your way into it if you want to gain weight and muscle. Try doing a general all body exercise every time you go to the gym for the first few months to get your body adjusted to the changes. Cardio should be done after your workout for at least 40 minutes; you can switch it up between 2 or 3 activities if you wish this, will help your amino acids circulate through your body.

Diet – 3-5 meals a day, 1-2 snacks. Depending on whether you want to lose or gain weight you will have to follow different diets. If you want to lose weight follow the examples above. If you want to gain weight or get leaner follow these steps; 5 meals a day, Breakfast, Mid-morning snack, Lunch, Mid-afternoon snack, Dinner. Basically you want to start your day with your higher carb foods and then slowly switch to the lighter carb foods later in the day with your least carb intake being your last meal of the day. Take a multi vitamin with a meal; drink at least 4-6 bottles of water a day. You may want to take a protein supplement, either a shake, or a protein bar for one of your snacks.

Exercise – Workout 3-5 time a week.

You can follow the above routine to start to lose weight or the next steps to get lean and/or gain muscle. Start off with 10-20 minutes of cardio before you workout, it raises your heart rate and warms up your body so your not shocking it when you start to lift heavy weights. For your sets, do at least 5 exercises focusing on either 1 or 2 muscle groups and do 3-4 sets of each making your weight a little more each time. End it off with at least a 40 minute cardio session.

TIP: You muscles remember. If you start off with heavy weight and then go down your muscles remember this and your stamina will go down too, therfore it will make it harder to do your last few sets.