Apple Peels Said To Avoid Muscle Loss

They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but did you know that apples have plenty of benefits specific to personal training for muscle gain? As we get older, our muscles get weaker and smaller. But there’s a natural compound in apple peels that could be the key to prevent muscle loss. Aside from preventing muscular atrophy, it may also reduce body fat and lower cholesterol levels.

According to University of Iowa (UI) endocrinologist and senior author of the new study recently published in the journal Cell Metabolism, Christopher Adams, M.D., Ph. D., “Muscle atrophy causes big problems. It’s also very common, it affects most people at some point in their lives, during illness or aging. But, there’s no medicine for it.” Dr. Adams adds, “ We studied muscle gene activity in people with atrophy and used that information to find chemicals that might block atrophy. One of those chemicals was especially interesting. It’s called ursolic acid and it’s particularly concentrated in apple peels.”

Dr. Adams and his colleagues tested ursolic acid in mice and found that it increase both the size and strength of their muscles. "It did this by helping two hormones that build muscle: insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) and insulin. Because ursolic acid increased muscle, it reduced muscle atrophy," he explained. "Surprisingly, it had some other beneficial effects in mice: for example, it reduced body fat, and lowered blood glucose and cholesterol."

9 Foods to Avoid After 9 PM

Munching on your food cravings before hitting the sack may be hard to resist, especially knowing that your personal trainer won’t find out. The good news is that it’s okay to have a late night snack before bed, just as long as you choose foods that will promote muscle gain and body fat loss. If you’re under a personal training program with a strict diet, that doesn’t mean that you have to torture yourself and starve your way until breakfast. Regardless of whether you’re dietary goal is muscle gain or weight loss, there are certain foods that should always be avoided after 9 p.m. Remember that you’re about to embark on an eight-hour fast otherwise known as sleep. That’s why if you do make a big dietary blunder, your body has no chance to compensate by burning additional calories. Repeating these mistakes habitually will ruin your fitness plan and jeopardize your health.

1. Milk

Though considered to be a relatively healthy source of protein and calcium, the problem with downing a glass of milk before bed is the lactose content that’s found in it will often keep you up due to digestive issues. Lactose is a sugar and you don’t want large amounts hitting your system before going to bed. As a replacement for milk, mix up a lactose-free protein shake. It will still have the creamy taste that you’re craving for while being even higher in protein content than milk, so you can build muscle while sleeping soundly.

2. Pasta

If you're in mass-gaining mode, consuming some carbohydrates before sleeping can help out. But there are much better choices than insulin-spiking pasta before bed. Those calories will be highly prone to settle around your waist. Pasta is one of the more calorie-dense carbohydrate sources around, you can easily consume 400 calories or more in a single pre-bed sitting. Pasta does less damage earlier in the day, before or after working out, when your body actually requires a much higher overall carbohydrate intake. That's when your body is actually primed to use those carbohydrates to fuel your activity and replenish the high energy storage in the muscle cells. If you're craving pasta before bed, eat spaghetti squash instead. It'll give the same taste and texture as pasta with just a fraction of the carbs.

10 Muscle Gain Myths

 
When it comes to muscle gain and body building, there are tons of myths that are too believable to not try. To save you from experimenting on them, here are 10 muscle gain myths that you should know:

Myth 1: You must lift everyday
You don’t have to lift everyday for muscle gain. In many cases, it will cause overtraining, which can lean to an injury.

Myth 2: Creatine is a steroid
Creatine is a naturally occurring substance, produced by their own bodies and found in meat. It is not a steroid.

Myth 3: A few bottles of beer every Friday won’t hurt
Consumption of alcohol lowers testosterone in men and causes severe dehydration. If you're serious with your personal training, it's best to just leave drinking behind. If not possible, then try to keep the drinks to a minimum and drink as much water as possible.

Myth 4: Instinctive training is the best
An instinctual approach to weight lifting will most likely cause less than optimum results. Go for a scientific approach to bodybuilding instead with your personal trainer to promote optimal gains.

Myth 5: A 'pump' is the sign of a good workout
A good pump is not necessarily indicative of an effective workout.

Myth 6: Do a thousand sit-ups a day for washboard abs
If you can't see your abdominal muscles even if you've been working on them, the problem is with your overall body fat percentage.

Myth 7: You can target an area to reduce fat
There is no way to eliminate fat from one particular part of your body. For abdominal muscles, you need to lower your overall body fat percentage. Watch your diet more vigorously and do some more cardio.

Myth 8: Certain exercises target certain parts of a muscle
The main determinant in the shape of a particular muscle is genetics. It isn't possible to develop outstanding peaks on your biceps if your genetics won't allow it.

Myth 9: My body-type isn't meant for body-building, I can't gain muscle
Regardless of your body-type it is still possible to gain muscle.

Myth 10: When you stop exercising, your muscles turn to fat.
Muscle and fat are totally different types of tissue. But lack of exercise does make the muscles shrink, reducing the body's calorie-burning rate. The lack of activity itself further reduces the number of calories you burn. Just cut back on the calories you consume.

Best Sources of Protein for Muscle Building

When it comes to personal training, a workout program designed for every individual always must go hand in hand with the proper diet. Without these power combo, muscle gain or weight loss will not be successfully achieved and maintained. Weight loss experts and personal trainers have long been debating over which diet works best with workout programs. However, sticking to certain diets like low carb or low fat may not  be the best because that are important macronutrients in muscle gain are protein. Aside from muscle gain, protein can help boost metabolism, slow digestion, and decrease hunger.

There are three basic things to be accomplished to build muscle. First, strength train to break down old muscle fibers and encourage your body to replace the old one with even more new muscle fibers. Second, eat enough calories to discourage your body from using your muscle fibers for energy. Last but not the least, eat enough protein to provide your body with the building blocks it needs to repair old muscle fibers ad build new muscle fibers.

The best sources of protein include:

Whey – One of the two major proteins found in the milk of humans and other mammals, such as cows. Nature selected it as one of the best proteins to help babies grow. It’s the perfect post-workout protein because whey is digested and used quickly. It has all the amino acids you need.

How to Avoid Overtraining and Injury

It's no secret that to reach one's goal for muscle gain or weight loss, you need to work harder and invest in longer hours at the gym. However, too much of anything can be harmful to you, especially when it comes to personal training. Without a personal trainer to guide you in your workout routine, there's a higher risk of causing injury to yourself.

Knowing when to pause helps avoid injuries.

How do you know if you're overtraining? Take note of the following over training symptoms. If you think that two or more apply to you then it's best for you to take some time off from your workout program. Usually, three to four days should be enough to get you back on the perfect condition to train again, but once you resume training, make sure you do so at a reduced intensity. If you still notice some symptoms, take at least two weeks off. If the symptoms return, you should consult your GP.

-Lacking desire to train.
-Constantly feeling tired and listless.
-Decreased maximal heart rate.
-Greater susceptibility to illness – usually in the throat and chest.
-Mood swings.
-Feeling anxious and stressed.
-An increase in resting heart rate (RHR). An increase above 'normal' can indicate that you have not fully recovered from your previous workouts or are suffering from stress.
-Sleep problems.
-Lack of appetite.