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Hot weather has arrived in Mt. Airy, and it’s time to drink more water. Staying hydrated is vital all year, but the heat of summer makes you sweat, so you need more to replace the water you lost. You can go without food for three weeks but only three or four days without water. Next to air, it’s the most vital element. Most people don’t drink enough water, but a few take hydration to a new level and overdo it. They drink too much water, which causes water intoxication. That causes problems with the body’s electrolyte balance and can end with kidney issues. External temperature plays a role when considering how much water to drink, but there are other factors.

Size counts.

All parts of the body are mostly water. The kidneys, brain, and muscles are 70% water. The lungs are over 83% water. Bodily fluid varies based on age, body size, physical build, and more. Fatty tissues, for instance, contain far less fluid than lean muscle tissue. If two people of the same gender and age weigh the same, but one has a higher ratio of muscle to fat, he or she will have a composition that contains more water and requires a higher water intake to maintain it. Activity level also plays a role. The more active you are, the more you sweat, increasing the need for water.

Gender differences and age make a difference.

If you compare the percentage of fluid in a newborn, with that of a senior, you’d notice a considerable difference. Newborn infants are approximately 75% fluid, while seniors range between 39% and 57%. Hormone levels make a difference in the amount of water you require. Women’s menstrual cycles cause the amount of fluid intake for women to vary. High levels of estrogen and progesterone occur during the menstrual cycle and more progesterone means lower blood fluid. Activity level, weight, and of course, outside temperature affects how much water you need to drink.

A loose formula based on body weight helps identify how much water you need.

You can find calculators that consider all factors to indicate the amount of water to drink, but even they don’t tell the whole story. You get some of your fluid from food. Watermelon, for instance, is a good source of fluid. To calculate water intake, use 2/3rds of your body weight to calculate the number of ounces. If you weigh 150 pounds, you need 100 ounces of water a day. Add more if you’re sweating heavily.

• Things that affect the amount of water necessary also include your health. If you’re running a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea, replace the fluid. People at higher elevations also need more water.
• The simplest way to decide how much water to drink is by thirst. Your body is telling you to drink more water. If you don’t like plain water, consider infused water. Don’t turn to soft drinks that make you thirstier.
• Seniors often fail to get the dehydration message, and sometimes the symptoms are misinterpreted. It can resemble dementia and other types of illness.
• Mayo Clinic issued a generalization of the amount of fluid necessary. They noted that approximately 20% could come from food. They suggested 15.5 cups for men with 3 cups from food and 11.5 cups for women with 2 cups from food.

For more information, contact us today at Urban Athlete

It seems so easy for weight to creep higher without effort, but losing those extra pounds is far more difficult. It’s tough when you aren’t experiencing the results you want. There are many potential reasons you’re not losing weight, some more obvious than others. Each individual is different, but some more common causes can create the struggle and slow or stop weight loss.

Weight loss is calories in versus calories out.

Consuming 3500 calories more than you burn will cause you to gain a pound, and a 3500 deficit causes you to lose a pound. It’s the primary reason for both weight gain and weight loss. Making poor food choices is often at the root of the problem. Understanding the effects of processed food and food high in added sugar can provide a solution. Not only do foods high in calories and low in nutrients add weight, but they also often make you feel hungry and spike insulin levels, leading to insulin resistance and the accumulation of belly fat. Avoiding all processed food and food with added sugar while focusing more on whole foods can help get your weight moving in the right direction.

If you’re eating a healthy diet, but gain weight, your metabolism may be a problem.

It’s common to hear people say their problem is slow metabolism, and it may be true. That doesn’t mean there’s no hope. You can boost your metabolism in a variety of ways. One of those ways is exercise. When you exercise, you increase the calories you burn and boost your metabolism in two ways. The first is immediate, especially if you’re doing intense strength-training or HIIT training— high-intensity interval training. Those types of workouts increase metabolism for hours after the workout ends. The second way is by increasing muscle mass. Muscle mass requires more calories than fat tissue does, so the more you have, the higher your metabolism.

Stress can cause problems.

When you’re under stress, your body sends out hormones to prepare the body for fighting or running. It’s called the fight-or-flight response. These hormones that change in the body and are burned off with movement, whether it’s exercise or running from danger. Cortisol is one of those. It can cause weight gain. The changes made by the fight-or-flight response are good if you’re in danger where running or fighting helps you survive but most people experience chronic stress from family, job, and everyday situations and never burn off the stress. That floods the system with cortisol, which can increase fat storage, limit fat burning, increase blood glucose levels, and lead to insulin resistance.

• Lack of sleep can cause weight gain. It can increase ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and decrease the production of leptin, the satiety hormone. Lack of sleep can affect metabolism, so you don’t burn as many calories.
• Some people eat too fast or don’t realize how much they mindlessly consume. Keeping a food diary can help identify overeating.
• Dehydration, even mild dehydration, can affect hormonal balances that slow metabolism, and lead to weight gain. Carry water and sip on it frequently. Drinking a large glass of water before a meal can reduce the amount of food eaten.
• Always check with your healthcare professional to ensure your weight gain doesn’t come from a medical issue or hormonal imbalance you can’t control.

For more information, contact us today at Urban Athlete

Almost every plant-based diet and most other healthy diets contain legumes. Legumes are a family of foods. Legume is the term for the entire plant, including leaves, roots, stem, and seeds. When referenced in diets, legumes are the part eaten—the seeds—also called the pulse. The family of legumes includes beans, peas, soy, lentils, and chickpeas. Sometimes, peanuts are considered legumes.

Legumes contain protein and other nutrients.

With prices increasing for all groceries, finding a good source of protein that won’t break the budget is a high priority. Legumes can provide both protein and nutrients, such as fiber, iron, folate, B vitamins, iron, calcium, zinc, potassium, and phosphorus, but they’re low in cholesterol and fat. While most legumes contain an incomplete protein, soy and soy products, like edamame are complete sources. A complete source of protein contains all the essential amino acids—which are ones the body can’t produce.

Legumes protect the cells with antioxidants.

Antioxidants protect the cells from free radicals that can cause damage or death to the cells. Eating legumes can prevent cell damage and provide nutrients. Adding legumes to your diet can lower the risk of cancer stroke and cardiovascular disease. A meatless Monday or substituting legumes for red meat several times a week can substantially lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. Eating legumes instead of meat can increase the micro diversity of the gut. That can lead to better digestion, improved immunity, and many other health benefits.

The nutrients and fiber in legumes provide many benefits.

While legumes are a protein source, they’re also a source of carbohydrates. Unlike sugar and other simple sugars, they are complex carbohydrates. The difference is more than just the chemical structure, it’s also about how quickly the carbohydrate is digested. Complex carbohydrates release sugar into the bloodstream slower, provide long-lasting energy and keep you feeling fuller longer. Carbohydrates are classed as fiber, sugar, and starch. Ones with the most fiber are the lowest on the glycemic index, helping with blood sugar control. Legumes are the carbohydrate highest in fiber.

• Legumes contain antioxidants that protect the cells from damage by free radicals. Consuming legumes regularly can lower the risk of stroke, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.
• If you use legumes as a protein source, instead of red meat, you’ll cut down your intake of saturated fat. Choosing legumes instead of meat can also help lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation.
• Type 2 diabetes is on the rise. One study found that regular consumption of legumes, particularly lentils, lowered the risk of diabetes by 35% in seniors who had a high risk of cardiovascular incidents.
• To create a complete protein, combine legumes with another incomplete protein containing the essential amino acids not contained in the legume. Lentils and rice and corn tortillas with refried beans are examples.

For more information, contact us today at Urban Athlete

Are you being intimidated by a household object or is it mocking you by lying? I’m talking about the bathroom scales. There’s a saying that not everything you read is true and that includes your weight on the scales. Your body’s weight constantly fluctuates. It may be heavier in the afternoon after you ate a salty dish and drank a lot of water or lighter when you’re borderline dehydrated. You don’t need the scales and can live a no-scale lifestyle when you stop measuring progress with every ounce.

Increased muscle mass shows progress, but the scales don’t reflect your success.

An increase in muscle mass may show you didn’t make progress with weight loss, even though your baggy clothes show differently. Muscle tissue weighs more per cubic inch than fat tissue does. If you didn’t shed one pound, but lost fat and gained muscle, you’ll lose inches. A body that has more fat than muscle will look heavier than a body with more muscle than fat, even though both bodies may weigh the same. The more muscle you have, the easier it is to lose weight and keep it from returning, too. Don’t let the scales diminish your progress, take your measurements and track those. Using the InBody scanner is also a great way to see how your lean muscle mass and body fat percentage change relative to each other. Following a personal training program with a coach is a great way to help achieve the goals you have.

Change is slow and it doesn’t occur overnight.

Your weight is just one of those changes. Health markers like blood pressure, vitality. and energy levels are other markers of progress. If you could barely walk up a flight of stairs a few months ago and now can climb two flights before you get winded, you’re definitely getting more fit. If improving your health and endurance was one reason you started working out, you have made progress on or hit your goals. Make the way you measure match your goal. Track blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and endurance if those are part of the goal.

Your mid-section may tell the true story.

You have two types of fat. Subcutaneous fat is located directly under the skin, and visceral fat is under the muscle and around your organs. Visceral fat is the most dangerous since it crowds the organs and contributes to serious health conditions. People with more visceral fat have a bigger circumference measurement around their midsection. Tracking this measurement can give you a better idea of how well you’re doing, especially since visceral fat is the hardest to lose.

• Take a full-body selfie in an outfit that reveals your body every month. Wear the same clothing and stand in the same spot. When you check the progress you made can boost your confidence when you need it.
• Even though weighing in can be discouraging, you need to measure your progress. If you don’t keep score, you won’t know whether you need to make changes or get a boost of confidence when you see the difference.
• If weighing in (above) is daunting to you, we can use the InBody technology and keep track of your measurements for you.
• Everyone has loose fitting pants and form fitting pants that fit differently at varying times. Use your form fitting pants to measure your progress. When your form fitting pants look baggy, you know you’ve made progress.
• Track your progress working out. If you track your workout and make notes on how easy it is, you’ll start to see a pattern. If you were too out of shape to continue a workout, but now can finish it with ease, you’ve achieved success.
• Working closely with a personal training in either a group workout setting or a personal training setting is another way to track your progress in your workouts.

For more information, contact us today at Urban Athlete

Urban Athlete is a personal training studio that offers group training and personal training in Mt Airy, Philadelphia.

While any type of exercise is good, not all exercise is equal when it comes to getting into shape. Your goals, needs and present level of fitness make a huge difference when planning a workout. Certain exercises are better than others for achieving specific results. That’s why choosing the right types of exercises can make workouts more effective. You’ll still work hard, but get more for your efforts when you’re doing the exercise that offers more benefit to reach your goals.

Get more from every movement when you do compound exercises or full-body workouts.

Some workouts focus on specific muscles, but full-body workouts focus on almost all muscles. If you’re working your arms, you can be working your legs at the same time, not only building muscle strength in several areas, but also burning more calories. Compound exercises, ones that work several joints, tendons and muscles also torch the calories, while working several areas. One unique aspect of coach-led workouts at Urban Athlete is working on full body exercises throughout the week. More complex compound exercises tend to be done in personal training settings but we also incorporate a variety of fun and effective exercises in our group training classes.

Do exercises that address several areas of fitness at once.

There are several types of fitness; strength, power, endurance, flexibility and balance are a few of the main types. You need to address all areas to be truly fit, since they all play a role in overall health. Efficient exercise addresses several types of fitness at once. For instance, kettlebell exercises provide strength, power, balance, endurance and flexibility training. Many circuit training workouts do the same. While we love kettlebell exercises at Urban Athlete, you can do very similar exercises with a dumbbell or medicine ball creating the same benefit.

Modify your intensity and turn your workout into circuit training or a HIIT workout.

Circuit training pushes you hard. You move from one exercise to another with little time between them. Whether you’re doing strength training, endurance or flexibility training, you’ll get a good cardio workout at the same time. HIIT—high intensity interval training is another way to do any type of exercise. You alternate between peak intensity and a recovery level. If you are using it with running, you’d sprint for a short time, then slow your run to a recovery pace for an equal or longer period and back to a sprint. You can use HIIT with any activity, from walking to strength training. Studies show it is more effective than steady state-exercise.

• If your session is intense, you’ll maximize results if you fuel your body with a pre-workout snack that contains both carbs and protein about a half hour before working out.
• A half-hour before working out, drink 8 ounces of water and carry a bottle of water to sip on throughout your workout. Dehydration, even if it’s mild, can reduce the effectiveness of your exercise program.
• Avoid doing too much cardio. While you need cardio and it does torch calories, some of those calories come from lean muscle tissue. That can slow your metabolism, since the more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn.
• Change your workout periodically to avoid plateauing. If you’re doing the same workout for months, your body becomes efficient at the moves and burns fewer calories. You’ve also improved your fitness, so you need to push harder to maximize results. This doesn’t mean you need to do different exercises, rather you would try working with heavier weights and/or changing the tempo of exercises, and even decreasing the rest time, or increasing the work time of the exercise.

Much of this can feel complicated with all the pieces to consider. If you’d like some help getting started or continuing on your fitness and exercise journey, contact us today at Urban Athlete