The Methodology of Physical Training and Healthy Lifestyle

Introduction

Exercise theory is a versatile science that keeps evolving. We can’t know everything, but we must try. This means we need to always study. Unfortunately, certain parts of exercise theory is being taught in different schools. Different schools train personal trainers, nutrition specialists, PE teachers, masseurs, mental hygiene professionals, fitness coach and others, although all of these belong to the same science. Even if none of these are your professions, but you do sports, you should know about every single one. Of course, no one expects you to be a professional in all areas. You gain knowledge by wanting to know more, not by going to school. If you want to know it, you will find a way to learn it. If you want to go through this door and see how many other doors are there, you’re on the right path. The key is in your hands. The choice is yours.

Foreword

„There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

Unfortunately, Mark Twain was right, and this phrase goes for everything related to improving our body, lifestyle and health. People don’t know what to do in order to reach their goals. This book is a collection of information that can help you in reaching your goals. I don’t want to highlight whom I recommend this book to. The joy of sports, health and mental hygiene belongs to everyone. Books in this topic tend to be hard to read as authors like to grab one subject and explain in too much details. I tried to do the opposite, and included each topics in their own chapters. This way, everyone can easily find what they’re looking for. That being said, I still think it’s important to know a bit about everything. This is why I placed a recommendation at the end of every chapter. If you’d like to know more, if you’re angry about not making progress even though you’re putting in the work, then I’ll help you throughout each chapter to make your dreams come true. It’s not an easy journey, but I’ll help you along the way.

Blurb

"Bigger goals have bigger requirements." I always say this to people that ask what to do to reach their goals. I’ll talk about this throughout the whole book, even though each chapter covers a different part of exercise theory and lifestyle.

Myths

In most cases, people avoid change due to myths, even though this change is the only thing that would help them achieve their goals. To do this, we need to reevaluate our own comfort zones. Everyone needs to know that in order to reach a goal in the future, you must act in the present, and you can’t do this without sacrifice. I’ll debunk different myths as well, like the ones that say this sacrifice is too hard, too expensive, but before we do this, you must realize that you need to make sacrifices in order to reach your goals. If I were to rank these myths, the top ones would be business interests, unhealthiness and ignorance/misguiding people. Considering this, let’s start with the ‘diet tricks’.

Diet tricks

These are business interests based on misguiding people and using their ignorance against themselves. These product advertisements target people’s comforts. Most people would rather buy some ridiculous 80s device with a name that would put WWE wrestlers to shame because they think this will ‘work instead of them’. These things are never effective and simply put; they’re a waste of money. If you want to save money on your journey, begin with avoiding this. You can buy these miracle machines online. If you see an ad like this, remember that the people they show didn’t achieve their physique with this device, but with dedication and hard work, which you can do too, if you don’t waste your time and money on these machines.

Too much burden

Another favorite of mine is when people think that a new, healthy lifestyle, whether it’s about eating habits or exercise, is ‘too much burden’ for their wallets, time and energy. This is based on misguiding people. Many know that you need a good, balanced diet for results. But they don’t know what a good diet is. Don’t think about radical examples. Most people don’t need to measure each grams of their food like professional bodybuilders. You don’t have to say goodbye to certain meals. Of course, the bigger your goal, the bigger the sacrifice is, but an average person that wants to look good for summer doesn’t need to completely change their life and eating habits. What’s more, this approach saves money because you don’t buy the things you suddenly like in a shopping spree. However, many people think of supplements and the gym costs, and it’s true that this is an extra cost, but if there’s a thing where a long-term investment is always good, then it’s your health. My personal opinion is that these are not extra costs since supplements and regular exercise prevent many illnesses, and visiting doctors and buying medicine is not cheap. What’s more, people can easily go too far. You don’t need every single supplement on Earth. For most people, supplementing a balanced diet with fish oil and extra Vitamin C is more than enough. If you get a multivitamin and/or a vitamin for your joints, even better. I’ll talk more about this in the ‘Supplements’ chapter.

Time

Another thing people use for their excuses is time. This varies person by person, but this is an issue. However, we live in a modern world with many possibilities, so people could still find time for this if they managed. Working out at home is also an option, but there are multifunctional gyms, special trainers and groups as well. You can decrease the workout time by following their instructions. Of course, this still takes time, which is bad for our laziness. Compare that few hours of exercise a week to the countless hours that you spent doing things which resulted in you not feeling good about yourself? It’s not that lot now, is it?

Too much physical strain

The previously mentioned factors are important, but the ‘too much physical strain’ is the biggest misconceptions of them all. People say that it’s hard to go to the gym, but once you start exercising, it’s easy. This is because of the euphoria from exercise, caused by endorphins. This is how your body rewards you for exercising for at least 30 to 40 minutes, which elevates your pulse. This is why exercise makes you not only more fit, but also more fresh. Another positive thing from this is that you feel tired from the lack of exercise. This may sound counterproductive at first, but you’re actually making good progress if you miss exercise, because you can easily get back on track. It’s also important to mention that your health effects your thinking. People that rarely exercise not only get sick more often and gain weight easier, but also feel worse overall. The longer they keep their unhealthy lifestyle, the harder it will be to change. It’s like smoking, alcohol or drugs. If you do it rarely, you can easily put it down, but once you’re hooked, it’s hard. It’s the same with laziness.

Unhealthiness

Due to my mother’s worrying, I need to mention this, since many parents think that supplements are unhealthy. The basis of this is confusion about supplements. Supplements, performance enhancing supplements, steroids and doping are four completely different things. Doping and using steroids have unhealthy side effects, and so I don’t recommend using them. In contrast, however, supplements are recommended for everybody, even those that aren’t active in sports. Not just bodybuilders need vitamins and minerals, especially since we tend to eat less nutritious food. Moreover, after a certain strain, you can’t eat enough to get the nutrition needed for recovery, and you can’t take in enough vitamins from food alone. This is why we need to supplement our diet. The difference is great between supplements and the other three, but not so much between performance enhancing supplements and doping. Fortunately, fitness shops sell doping-free supplements. You can check if a supplement counts as doping. You can find the doping list made by WADA, you can check what, and how much of it counts as doping.

You must be wondering why doping and steroids are in different categories. The answer is simple. Steroids count as doping, but doping is a big concept. If your goals are very ambitious, you can still do it without doping. What’s more, in most cases, you don’t need doping, as these drugs were invented for professional sports players.

Miracle trainers and miracle exercises

I need to add the miracle trainers and miracle exercises to the list. First, let me say that there’s no training plan that’s perfect for every person. And the reason for this is simple. Every single person is different. When making a training plan, we need to take into account the person’s gender, age, height, weight, goals, time, current state, exercise frequency, muscle type and so on. In short, there are billions of variations. This is why I highlight that educating yourself is important. Asking questions is not something you should do, it’s something you must do. Dozens of official sites exist in today’s modern world with millions of articles and there are millions of books such as this one. I highly recommend reading to everyone. It’s also a huge leap in progress that you’re reading this book.

„If your muscles are sore, do some exercises!”

How many times I had heard this from my old trainers. This may be the oldest myth regarding exercise. Let’s explain what muscle soreness is. When exercising, micro-tears appear in your muscle fibers. These tiny tears appear due to strain, and get inflamed by lactic acid, which is a metabolic waste product. In order to cool down the inflammation, edema appears in the area (meaning that water is going there to cool it down), which causes the swelling. The edema causes the tightness in the inflamed area, this is why the muscle becomes so sensitive. The human body is a beautiful machine that tries to limit us when necessary. For quicker recovery, I recommend light physical activity to increase the circulation of the blood, which helps to ‘wash away’ the edema and the lactic acid, which in turn decreases the inflammation and the tightness. Vitamin C is also effective for decreasing inflammation. Avoid compound movements and ‘shaky’ exercises such as running or jumping. Exercising on sore muscles causes even more micro tears, lactic acid, inflammation, edema, tightness and pain, which slows down recovery. Progress is based on recovery since your body tries to adapt so that it won’t get damaged next time. This is why we get stronger with time and need to do more intense exercises to cause these micro tears.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

The Human Body

Healthy Lifestyle

Doping and Steroids

The Human Body

Genetics

Although many use it as an excuse, it is true that genetics has something to do with how good you can be in something. Is there such a thing as bad genetics? It's all a matter of comparison. This statement however is not true. Your abilities may not be good for bodybuilding, but no one can say that training is not helpful for you. All you have to do is find the right goal and the path to it. I don’t want to discourage anyone, and for that reason I don’t agree with the below statement.

“Not everyone can be Arnold Schwarzenegger!”

But everyone has to admit that uncle Arnold would never be as good runner as Usain Bolt, nor would he be good swimmer as Michael Phelps, nor would he be good martial artist like Bruce Lee, nor would he be a 7x Mr. Olympia like Arnold if he hadn’t lost the right direction due to the whims of life. The bottom line is that you need to find out what your capabilities are. There are many factors that cannot be changed. Such as bone, shoulder width, hip width, height, limb length, torso length, joint size, metabolic rate, proportion of red and white muscle fibers in various muscles, degree of vulnerability and these are just some of many. Let's take these now in turn. For example, let’s suppose you have flat breasts and /or narrow shoulders. I don't want to ruin anyone's dream, but you probably won’t become a successful professional bodybuilder, I'm sorry. But if you have low or short arms, short torso, short legs, strong connective tissue then with the necessary expertise and effort you can be an excellent power lifter. The proportion of muscle fibers may be confusing, but I'll talk about that later. We could take your long arms as an example. You will never be good at bench pressing using heavy weights because the range of movement you need to move the weight on is too big. This is the case with long legs, especially if your torso is also long. You won’t use brutally heavy weights in lifting or squatting. But here we are talking about bodybuilding, which is not done only at professional level. As I say, weight is completely irrelevant. The important thing is to do the exercise properly, within your capabilities. Find the right goal for you and try to achieve it. For proper work, not brutal weights.

Metabolism

The next point in the list is the speed of metabolism, but for this we need to clarify the features of the various body types. Everyone's body is very different, so you might want to check out what type of body you have before choosing a sport or diet. For example, what type of exercise is best for you. If you know the characteristics of your physique, you will find it easier to choose the right diet for you. The three main body types are ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. However, only 28% of humans (ectomorph 9%, mesomorph 12%, endomorph 7%) belong to these classes. The remaining 72% has a so-called constituent of a mixture consisting of combinations of these. Many envy those who are genetically perfect. This feeling was familiar to me, especially 12 years ago and with 40 kilograms more. I can only advise what I've been through. The hard work remains. I don't want to fool anyone, I don't look like them right now, but unlike them, I've set some world records. Plus, I have a body that I can be proud of because I know how much work is behind it. You can do this, too. If you get to know your physique and start working out and dieting, you can aesthetically reach a level that others will envy you. I guarantee you will be much more proud of that body, because it was not something you were born with but you worked for it.

Ectomorph body type

The ectomorph body type is also known as leptomorph, having slender body type with long limbs, small shoulders, flat breasts and fragile bones. They have less body fat than other people. This is because their metabolism is faster, so their body burns more calories and thus stores less fat. It is an advantage to them that they don’t get unnecessary weight, but on the other hand they struggle to gain muscle. For women, the ectomorph is the typical model type, no wonder every woman dreams about it. People in this group eat as much as they want without gaining weight. This type of body is not popular with men as this way it is not easy to build muscles. Due to slim body they are not as masculine as other types. If you have this kind of structure, you will need weight training exercises. If you are an athlete, you may want to try endurance sports. You should pay attention to the increased calorie intake of your diet to help your muscles develop, while covering the already high calorie requirements. I recommend 15% fat, 65% carbs, 20% protein calories.

Mesomorph body type

The most fortunate physique is mesomorph, also known as metromorph, or athlete. With this type, it’s easy for both men and women to build a perfect body for themselves due to easy muscle building, as opposed to other body structures. The mesomorph build have strong bones, typically strong, athletic structure with broad shoulders, hard stomach and narrow hips. They tend to store a lot of fat, but they can easily get rid of it because of their fast metabolism. There is an easy way to determine if you have this type of physique. Using your thumb and middle finger, try to grasp the wrist of your other hand. If your fingers are just touching, then you have a mesomorph body type, if they have more space then no. If your fingers are not touching then you are more likely to be closer to have endomorph structure. The mesomorph build can learn new sports easily and quickly. Whether it is cardio training or strength training, all forms of exercise are suitable for this type. In case of weight training, it is important that all your muscles are evenly loaded, because they can easily become disproportionate due to rapid muscle building. As a result, we often see people with disproportionate muscles in any gym. This is a specific problem in some sports. Take kayak canoe for an example. Huge torso and arms with chicken legs. Developing a workout plan with varied forms of exercise is recommended for mesomorph physique, but it is also advisable to have the same with other body types. If you have the same structure sports that keep up the endurance and strength are perfect for you. You need to pay attention to food because you may be prone to obesity. The key to diet is the proper distribution of carbohydrate and protein. Everyone has to experience what is best for their organism. In my personal experience, it is best to start experimenting with 15% fat, 60% carbohydrate, 25% protein calories. With such a diet, you can avoid weight fluctuations and provide the right amount of nutrients and energy for your development.

Endomorph body type

People with endomorph body type also known as pycnomorphic or robust ones are generally the least satisfied with their bodies. This is because their metabolism is slower, which makes their bodies tend to store more fat. In case of women this happens primarily in the buttocks and thighs, and for men in the abdomen and waist. The body of the endomorph type is strong and resistant to high levels of fat. Bones are thick and strong because they need a firm foundation to carry the excess. Their bodies are round, while limbs short. Endomorph patients should pay particular attention to a balanced diet and regular and intense physical activity. Here, I recommend keeping your calorie intake of 15% fat, 55% carbohydrate and 30% protein. First and foremost, you should pay attention to your carbohydrate intake. With less fatty foods, more vegetables, high-quality carbohydrates and the right amount of protein you don't have to worry about losing weight. If you experience weight gain with this type of meal, I suggest increasing the number and length of your cardio workouts. For the first round, I recommend 3x40 minutes of cardio workout per week. If this is not enough you can raise it to 4x60 minutes. There are those who are forced to lose weight drastically, which I would never recommend and therefore take fat below 10-15%. It may help you lose weight, but it’s not healthy. There are essential fatty acids that should always be consumed. In addition, some vitamins are soluble in fat. You need to understand that fat is not the enemy but too much fat. There are also minerals that your body needs, but they cause large amount of poisoning, such as iron. So it's not just quality but the quantity as well. For people with endomorph type, I recommend strong sports because their bodies and bones are strong. These include strongman competitions, weightlifting or wrestling. Of course, they can still do a lot of cardio workouts, even if they don't want to lose weight. Many people know that being overweight has a negative effect on the heart and cardiovascular system. However, few people realize that sudden weight gain dramatically increases the risk of metabolic diseases, including diabetes. Therefore, as you grow, you also need to pay more attention to maintaining your health. The endomorph build, though easily gains weight also easily builds muscles. It is good news for people with endomorph body type that the body will continue to burn fat after exercising, so it is advisable to end your workout with cardio to keep this process as long as possible due to the increased heart rate.

Mixture of build

If you don’t have a specific body type I recommend the mesomorph diet first. This is closest to the average, which is 15% fat, 58% carbohydrate and 27% protein calorie intake. You have a mixture of types, therefore it is essential to know your own qualities and the diet that you will compose later. For a starter workout, I definitely recommend training for mesomorph body types.

Connective tissue

The next item on the list is vulnerability. This depends on the strength of the connective tissue. Some are easily injured and some will never be hurt. Unfortunately, you have to experience it. For example, if you are more prone to injuries you shouldn’t choose weightlifting because your career may end soon enough. Not only because of the strength of the connective tissue, but for the sake of your entire body and your health. I suggest you go for anthropometry and a spiroergometry examination. These tests can be performed from the age of 7 and represent an evolutionary advantage for athletes over rivals. I refer to these tests in the chapters "Choosing a sport for children" and "Prevention and rehabilitation".

Types of muscle fibers

Another important point is the types of muscle fibers and their amount within the body and within each muscle group. Your skeletal muscles consist of striated muscles, which have three types of muscle fibers, red, white, and so-called intermediate muscle fibers. Red muscle fibers are muscles that slowly contract and play an important role in monotonous forms of movement. Due to their slow contraction, they are unable to exert as much strength as the white muscle fibers. To put it simply, most people with this type of muscle fiber have the maximum strength, elasticity and explosive power than those who have white muscle fibers. But on the other hand they are better in long working hours. The muscles that hold the body in an upright position contain the majority of such muscle fibers. Mostly such muscle fibers include the trapezius, delta, hip flexor, breast, biceps, thighs, and calves, although this proportion varies from individual and muscle. From a bodybuilding perspective, red muscle fibers are difficult to grow and are therefore called "stubborn" muscles. This is also because the red muscle fibers are smaller in size. In contrast, white muscle fibers are larger. Those with such muscles seem much more masculine. They have the advantage of being able to work briefly but intensively because of the rapid contraction of white muscle fibers. These include weight training, short-distance running training and explosive sports. The vast majority of our bodies contain white muscle fibers in the spine, the rhombs, bottom, triceps and, most interestingly, the abdominal wall. Therefore, having hundreds of abdominal workouts makes no sense. Generally, people genetically have 50-60% red and 40-50% white muscle fiber. However, this value may shift significantly. Now you must be wondering that this is all nice and good, but how do I know what it is like for me? There is a simple test for this. It's a good idea to start with, basic exercises for big muscle groups first, after learning the right technique. The large muscle groups are the legs, breasts and back. These are the basic exercises, the three exercises of power lifting, squatting, bench pressing, and pulling up. From these you will need a preliminary test to determine the value of 1RM (1 completed part with maximum weight). Then you have to calculate 80% of 1RM and see how many reps you can do with it. If this value is between 10 and 13, the proportion of red and white muscle fibers in that particular muscle group is approximately the same. If you have less than 10, you have mostly white. If you have more than 13, you mostly have red muscle fibers. It is best to test the aforementioned test on as many muscle groups as possible, as I have already mentioned, the ratio may vary from one muscle group to another.

Summary

The bottom line is that you need to get to know yourself. You need to know your own body, your strengths and your weaknesses. If you have mostly white muscle fibers, you are unnecessarily torturing your muscles with 12-15 series. Sometimes you have to, but if you always do it you'll never reach your goal or only slowly. However if you mostly have red muscle fibers, you will not start to grow from 4-6 reps. Your bones should also be taken into consideration. A basketball player is a basketball player and not a weightlifter. Don't cheat on false dreams by setting goals for which your skeleton is not fit. Take note of how fragile you are and do your best not to get hurt. This is how you set up your program and that is where you find your goals. Be aware of the amount of nutrients and calories you need to burn each day based on your metabolism, and be aware of this in your diet. You have to accept that your abilities are critical to planning your workout and diet. Therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all exercise plan or diet.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Warm Up and Stretching

“Slimming Diet”

Building Muscle Mass

Max Performance

Choosing a Sport for Children

Healthy lifestyle

Just for the sake of order and to avoid any confusion, I have to mention that some professional competitors would stumble upon what I am describing here, but on my defense this book, especially this chapter, was not made for them. In this chapter, I will try to explain the basic pillars of a healthy lifestyle, not the professional ones, as they do not always go hand in hand. By following a few simple rules, we can lay the foundation for a healthy lifestyle. The first step is to summarize what has a positive or negative effect on our health. There are a total of eight different factors, which are:

Nutrition

Air

Water

Sunlight

Exercising

Rest

Habits and passions

Mental state

Nutrition

There is a whole separate chapter on nutrition, so I will not go into details here, just summarizing. In order to maintain or improve your health it is important that you take in high-quality and adequate amounts of nutrients into your body on a regular basis, preferably at a set time each day, depending on the type of food.

Air

It is important that the air we breathe is clean and oxygen-rich. Unfortunately, current technologies are not made with the environment in mind, so the air you breathe, especially when living in a big city, is not the cleanest. That's why I recommend everyone to go to the natural environment whenever they can. Green parks, forests, green areas as far away as possible from the bustle of the city. Oxygen is essential for your body to burn nutrients and create the energy needed for life. As a result, your body has an oxygen uptake capability that you can develop, for example, through proper exercise.

Water

It is important to drink enough clean water. Water is the general diluent for a living matter. It is called the most important bio-catalyst in nutrition science. It can’t be replaced with carbonated soft drinks. Also, research doesn’t agree on exactly how much water is appropriate to consume. I've heard from 1.5 liters to 3 liters, but also read about 8-12 glasses a day. In my opinion, 35 grams per kilogram of body weight is the minimum you need to consume daily, provided you are sitting and not subject to heavy physical activity. This value can be rather achieved by professional athletes, and I don’t recommend it to hobby athletes, although apart from the regular urinary frequency, there’s not going to be a problem. It is important that we drink as proportionally as possible. Thirst is already a feeling of deficiency, which is not good to wait for. You should drink so that you are never thirsty. During training, this is worse because someone who doesn’t drink continuously and only drinks after exercise is already dehydrated but is unable to replenish that amount of water immediately. Although I’m not sure what to think about the idiots running around in the gym with a 5 liter can. As I have already mentioned, the sufficient amount of water should be drunk proportionally and not at once. There is no 2-3 hour exercise where your body needs 5 liters of fluid. During exercise, the recommended fluid intake is 150-350 ml every 15-20 minutes. It depends on your environment, activity and weight. Using water externally is important for the hygiene of the body, but too much bathing can be harmful. Your body's primary line of defense is your skin, whose slightly acidic layer is ruined by too much bathing and artificial shower and shampoo. It is advisable to bathe once a day, and still have a shower rather than a bath. If your skin is dry, be sure to avoid long soaks. In this case, it is better to use glycerin soap made from natural ingredients as a cleanser, as this is no different from your skin's pH. Shower gels are usually alkaline, which can be harmful to your skin's natural value in the long run. If you stick to the usual products, it is better to take care of the composition and choose from organic or at least natural detergents.

In addition to water consumption and hygiene, you can use water in a variety of hydrotherapy methods to maintain your health and ease your pain. For example, a high pressure technology or a thermal bath.

Sunlight

Solar radiation causes the skin to produce vitamin D. Not surprisingly, in countries where the weather is rainy and the hours of sunshine are low, (for example, in the United Kingdom) all vitamin and mineral products contain more vitamin D. Unfortunately, this is no substitute for the beneficial effects of the sun. The ultraviolet rays of sunlight have a disinfectant effect. It kills many pathogenic bacteria. Stimulates life processes thereby strengthens the organism. Its anti-depressant effect is also important. It is a fact that during the winter months, when there are less sunny hours the population is feeling depressed and suffers from depressive symptoms. Sunbathing can be useful for your body, but at the same time you shouldn’t forget about the safety. The thickness of the ozone layer around the Earth is reduced due to excessive air pollution and therefore ultraviolet radiation, in particular, is no longer efficiently filtered. That is why the sunrays are stronger than ever before in human history. Therefore, it is not advisable to spend hours sunbathing, especially from noon to 3 pm when the radiation is the strongest due to the position of the sun against the Earth.

Exercising

Your body is a machine that has been created to work. Unlike any other machine or equipment, the greatest amount of wear in the body is caused by inactivity. The rust of the human body is inactivity. It is a proven fact that those who exercise regularly have a lower risk of infarction and circulatory disease. In addition, exercise reduces high blood pressure, the risk of obesity, and keeps the body in good health. It's a good idea to create a personalized workout program, which of course includes how many times you train per week. For beginners, I recommend training three times a week, and in my experience one hour of training is sufficient. Of course, this changes over time, and they will require more workouts, which will become longer. During cardio workouts, make sure to last at least 30-40 minutes. Intermittent workout interval training is more effective because the body works intensively even an hour later. Interval training is also good for developing muscle (white, fast-contraction muscles), developing speed and explosiveness, and for training anaerobic (oxygen deficient) capacity and aerobic (oxygen) capacity, provided it is properly done. To do this, you should set your workout based on your heart rate. For example, using 1 minute sprints with x intermittent rest. The rest time should be set so that by the end the heart rate point is reduced back to 80 percent of the maximum value. There are several modern calculations to determine the maximum heart rate, but for this you need to use the old-fashioned well-proven 220 minus age. This value is (slightly or very depending on your fitness) lower, so I prefer to use 230 minus age value as a fair value for athletes.

Example: 30 years => maximum heart rate = 230-30 = 200

At the end of your rest, your ideal heart rate = 200 * 0.8 = 160

As part of the cardio workout topic, many studies have found that post-workout cardio workout is more effective. Keeping up the pace is also important in the area of physical activity, which is why you need the right exercise program. No one should doubt that the concept of overtraining is an existing problem, although it is generally only possible for top athletes. Your organism controls your performance when you cross the right boundary. Of course, you may be wondering now.

“Aren’t we training to go beyond our own limits?"

I understand the question, but the answer is NO! We train to push our limits as far as we can, and we take nutritional supplements and power boosters to do it as quickly as possible. However, crossing boundaries is a dangerous stunt. Our body has defensive mechanisms against over-training, and its most basic weapon is the feeling of fatigue. The more we torture ourselves, the more tired we become, but not from training. We will be tired because our body controls us after a while, so that we don't go too far and the longer we sour, the more we are made aware of how tired we should be. No wonder that the modern sciences have already found dope to treat exhaustion. They introduced EPO. We can argue that this has been invented for this or just the useful plus you get from it, but the fact that one of the reasons it is dangerous is because your body does not indicate that it has already done more than it’s capable of. In the strict sense of the word, the racers fall down because they went too far. A lot of times I heard of football players in the news that fell on the pitch and died. Everyone should know that this is because of EPO. In summary, the feeling of fatigue is good friend, not enemy, and should be taken into account when training. I have to note here that the agenda is important in training too. It's best to always train at the same time. If your body gets used to training at a particular time then you can tune in better. Anyone who has trained in their life knows how unpleasant the workout can be if it’s not one as a routine. If you are used to training around 2 in the afternoon, don't be surprised if you can't complete your workout at 6:30 in the evening.

Rest

It is not known that most heart attacks occur between 9 am and 12 pm, 4 and 6 am at dawn and generally after a restless tense day, during which time they have exceeded their tolerance to maintain rhythm (3-6 coffees, 1- 3 cans of cigarettes, 3-6 energy drinks) until the problem happened. It is important that your rest is refreshing. Every cell in your body needs a good amount of time to relax. This is not just about sleeping 7-8 hours a day. Your organism needs at least one day a week to relax from all the week's fatigue. There has been a time in human history when they wanted to change this 7-day system. At the time of the French Revolution, they wanted to create a 10-day system, but as it turned out, we were not born for that biologically. The agenda is also important for relaxation, especially if you exercise regularly. You get stronger not when you train, but when you relax. It is no use "killing yourself" in the gym if you are up late after 3am. The most important part of sleep is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., therefore you should also try to sleep at that time. Most important is 7-8 hours of sleep. Let's not sleep less or more. When setting up your agenda, try to find a time to sleep that can be maintained. By rest I mean not only sleep. You may find that although your program is good at workout, meal and sleep, you still need to skip training. Everyone's life is complex. You may be more exhausted than usual. In these cases, having a cold-hot bath and watching a Harry Potter movie on a comfortable couch is worth more than a workout. Of course, this can happen when you are more experienced and workouts have become part of your daily routine. Beginners should not be mistaken with the feeling of "I don't want to go to the gym”. Active recreation, such as a walk in the nearby green park or in the woods, can also be helpful.

Habits and passion

Your health is not an accident. According to each statistic, unhealthy living causes the most illnesses and deaths. Humans are the only living creatures that deliberately destroy their health with toxic substances. The dangers of drugs, tobacco and spirits were unquestionably revealed. The number one cause of avoidable diseases is tobacco and alcohol consumption. However, it should be added that it is not only the use of these products that extends the concept of bad habits and passions. Unhealthy living is any activity that interferes with the proper functioning of our body. These include poor eating habits, frequent night outs, lack of regular rest, lack of regular exercise, and isolation from the natural environment. To maintain your health, try to avoid harmful passions and develop good habits, such as those listed in this chapter.

Mental Health

The biggest problem in today's world is rush. Everyone is always rushing somewhere for something. You don't have a minute to be a bit alone and in quiet. This relaxed atmosphere is needed to think about things in life. If nothing else you can look at your personal problems from a slightly different angle. It is very difficult to learn how not to worry. It's hard not to be angry with others. With the trials of life, it is difficult to look forward with confidence. However, learning these is an important part of developing healthy mental hygiene, which is essential for maintaining your health. Many people seek help in different religions. I'm not saying that everyone has to go to church, but hope and faith can help a lot. For believers, this is manifested in the hope of a better future, overcoming their day-to-day concerns while being cared by a more powerful creature every day of their lives. This way of thinking makes people feel better, provided they believe in it. I know that many people are not religious, but I think that even for an atheist, it may be an acceptable way of life to hope for a better life, even if that is presented in something else. Either way, it can help you achieve healthy mental health, which in turn, helps you achieve peace of mind and develop a mental and physical balance. Regular active relaxation helps to improve mental health. This could be a workout, or, as I said before, a walk, maybe at a green park or in the woods. The point is that sometimes it’s necessary to break from the closed space. If you think about it, you usually work indoors, and when you go home, whatever you do, you remain indoors. Sometimes you need to change this for your health. Of course, there are those who have serious problems and that is not enough for them. I advise them to seek professional help. Professional athletes have already realized that regular contact with a mental health professional can be important for preparation. People are still ashamed if they need this kind of help, so there are people who try to solve it on their own. Sometimes they succeed, but there are others who don't. The reason for this is a notion of concept that I need to correct now. The psychiatrist, the psychologist and the mental health professional are not the same. Let's look at the definitions.

Psychiatrist: A person who diagnoses serious cases based on the internationally accepted DSM-5 (Diagnostic Manual for Mental Disorders) and tends to help the patient with medication and other treatments and tests.

Psychologist: A person who deals with the comprehensive examination of the human mind, soul, and personality. Different psychological tests and questionnaires reveal different unusual behavioral problems. They are not prescribing medication or other treatments. Their primary patients are people who have unusual problems that they cannot solve on their own and medication has no chance of improving the condition. For example, if someone is suffering from chronic fear and is therefore unable to stand up for themselves.

Mental health professional: a person not involved in the treatment of diseases. As a kind of helper, they find a solution together with the patient to the blockages in the client's life. Not like in the case of the psychologist, the consultation takes place in partnership.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Nutrition

Prevention and Rehabilitation

Choosing a Sport for Children

Nutrition

It is important to clarify some basic terminology. For example eating and nutrition. Eating is a voluntary and conscious process, which is why you can shape it. On the other hand, nutrition is an involuntary process. It covers the processes and transformations that occur in the food in your body. A properly organized diet will result in appropriate nutrition. Furtheron, we need to clarify what is a nutrient. Nutrients are the substances that come with food, thus they help the functioning of the organism and in building up your body.

Types:

Micronutrients: vitamins, minerals, fibers, electrolytes, water (non-energy-providing nutrients)

Macronutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, fat (nutrients providing energy)

Classification:

Building materials: The nutrients that make up the body's cells.

Energy sources: Nutrients that are transformed into other substances and release energy to the body through chemical reactions.

Biocatalysts: Auxiliaries that help body cell building and energy production processes.

I would like to make it clear that in this chapter I am not describing an exemplary diet, but the essential rules. In the second half of the chapter, I’ll give you some examples of diet, and the rest you can find in the end of the book as this topic is extremely diverse. For this reason, I will now list the topics that you can read about in this chapter.

Basic nutrition rules

Nutrition types

Carbohydrates

Fat

Proteins

Vitamins

Minerals

Diet ideas

Recipe ideas

Calorie charts

Basic nutrition rules

First rule: Eat more often and occasionally less.

Unfortunately, the general experience is that people eat twice a day. Many healthy lifestyle advocates often advise 3 meals a day, but I don't really understand how 4 meals a day can be healthy enough. Of course, this depends on the individual. Anyone who due to their work sits all day won’t feel hungry enough to eat 4 times a day. But what about those who do physical work or exercise regularly? Your body needs a lot of nutrients and there are foods that you should not eat at the same time. Not to mention the increased need of calories due to increased physical activity. However this is not the only reason why you need to eat 4 times. Lots of people eat when they are hungry and on those occasions they fill themselves up so they won't be hungry for a long time. The issue with this is that the feeling of hunger is already a shortage, which is not good to wait for. Instead of quelling hunger, you need to eat in order to not feel hungry at first place. Another problem is quantity. You eat lots of good things, but don’t feel satisfied on the long run. With this you only delay your last meal and by the time you would go to bed you feel hungry again and reach out to the good old snacks. I see similar situation from sport perspective. For example, many people believe that the basic condition for losing weight is to eat less and, consequently, to reduce the numbers of meals. It’s true that you need to burn fewer calories than what you consume during the day, but the point is that when it comes to “losing weight” (also known as dieting), you need to make the most accurate diet in order to bring in quality nutrients at the right time. This is what I see in the case of fairer sex, who want to be as prettiest as possible. The fact is that starving yourself is not like clockwork and this is where trouble starts. The starving girl (or boy) will eat when they no longer can bear the feeling. This leads to irregular eating. Another problem is that the person who wants to “lose weight” eats a salad, which is spiced with a little cheese, toast and a pinch of mayonnaise. If you think about it, you will find that the above describes Caesar salad made by an amateur chef, which is not a diet. The problem is that only wrong nutrients get inside of the body. Disordered and unsatisfactory eating will slow down your metabolism and your body will begin to store everything it can get. This is a prerequisite for a percentage increase in body fat. In addition, your body is trying to limit you so you don't want to burn too many calories and therefore you feel tired. The most serious part of consuming inadequate nutrients is the intake of inadequate amounts and quality carbohydrates. This is because your body has a normal carbohydrate household that you need to maintain. Few people know that for the brain to function, your organism uses a lot of energy that requires carbohydrates. Your body will protect and nourish your body at all costs through proper defense mechanisms. The brain, even though it is about 2% of your body weight, uses about 33% of your calorie intake from a balanced meal. If you don’t get it externally, then it will start using your body's internal storage. Such internal storage is in the liver and muscles. In other words, it starts to "break down" your muscles. You must have seen starving African children from commercials. Paper thin arms, legs and small tummy. Thin arms and legs are due to withered muscles because the body protects the brain and uses everything, including the muscles, to provide energy. The small tummy protects their organs because the body accumulates all the fat it finds. The point is, I don't think anyone wants to look like this. This diet is accompanied with intense training. In such cases, it is common for you to suddenly lose 5 kg. However, few people know that the cause of this sudden weight loss is water loss and that your bowels are more empty than usual. That is why these kilos come back extremely fast. With proper diet and exercise, the healthy weight loss is somewhere around 1-2 kilograms / week on long term. This is also accompanied by the fact that people often forget that their bones and muscles determine their shape. You cannot replace your bones, but you can develop your muscles. Many women are afraid of weight training because they think they're going to be too muscular, but if you don't have hormonal problems and you don't shave every morning, you won't be a "Miss. Arnold ”just because you touch a barbell. To sum up, the usual "diets" are slowing down your metabolism, your muscle mass is being reduced, your body fat percentage increased and all of these together worsen the contour of your body. This is the exact opposite of what you want to achieve. With multiple meals, you can avoid the feeling of hunger, which helps to speed up your metabolism. When you consume less food during your meals you will not overload your digestive system. As a result, your body's defensive mechanisms returns to "basic" mode and food is not stored anymore. I do not even recommend various diets to those who want to lose weight. There is no point in temporarily switching to a system to lose weight, then returning to the original diet and lifestyle and losing everything you have achieved. This is what causes the so-called yo-yo effect. It makes more sense to take up on a lifestyle, where you don't have to starve, you just set your diet to calorie deficiency for the first few weeks or months, and once you've done enough your changed lifestyle will remain with a higher calorie intake. Plus, by increasing your physical activity, you also increase your calorie requirements, which helps with weight loss and toning. However, remember that toning (and not just "dieting"), like a healthy lifestyle, starts with eating.

Second rule: Keep away from fast food and pay attention to what you eat

I am aware that this is sensitive for you. For me it also gives a special atmosphere when I grab a pizza or hamburgers with my friends. I’m not saying that this is forbidden, but be careful, because many people overdo it. These occasions are good and necessary for nurturing relationships, but they are not good for your health. At most of these places, they go for the taste. In my opinion one or two times a month is quite enough, and frankly I follow this rule. If you walk more often and are unwilling to give up on these then I suggest that you try to choose something that is good for your health, not just for your gourmet side. You can find other programs to stay in touch with your friends. By the way, it is also worth distinguishing fast food restaurants. I can only give guiding principles for good eating. There is no way to describe all kinds of food, what's good, what's not and why, because there are too many kinds of food and habits, but at the end of the chapter I’ll try to give some descriptions.

Third rule: Have a schedule

A schedule is important in every area of life. This is no different with food. If you always have your meal at the same time, it helps to speed up your metabolism. In addition, a well-written meal plan will help you avoid consuming extra sweets. Most people reach to snacks because of fatigue, watching movies at nights, feeling hungry before bed, or feeling hungry between main meals. A good diet and eating schedule can eliminate the last two reasons from your list, but it can even help you feel less depressed. Here you may have a question.

- Okay, but how should I do it? –

Proponents of a healthy lifestyle say that breakfast should be the most abundant, followed by a weaker lunch and dinner as a small meal. Bodybuilders say that in the morning meal, carbohydrates should be kept to a minimum because in the morning our insulin production will not react quickly. This stands in theory, but in practice they are not feasible for ordinary people. In my opinion, for breakfast you should eat a small amount of fruit. This is a light meal, not heavy for your organism and the fruit sugar will help you wake up. If you need to hurry in the morning, you might want to start the day with a glass of 100% juice. However, you must eat again an hour later. By this time, your body has "awakened" and you can eat something heavier. For example, eggs, rice and white meats. It is better to avoid vegetables and fatty foods. In fact, lunch should be the most abundant. This is because the time between lunch and the next meal is the longest in any diet. In these cases, you may want to eat heavier red meat if you eat it at all. I like white meat more. Make sure you eat vegetables for lunch and have plenty of carbohydrates in your post-workout meal. Vegetables are highly recommended here, while the meat consumption less or if you insist eat white meat. This can be interesting to you because every bodybuilder, athlete and trainer advises that you need protein after exercise to help your muscles develop, but you can also get enough protein if you eat at breakfast and lunch and then drink protein (or muscle mass drink powder) shakes after exercise. Eat small amounts of food for dinner and avoid meat and concentrated alcohol. Consuming them before going to bed leads to dehydration. This is when you wake up at night to drink and / or wake up in the morning with dry throat. The previous meal is only one possible variant. This can however change because everyone is unique just as their life. We do different kinds of work, we work at different times, we sleep and get up at different times, we train at different times, we do different types of workouts, and they all affect our lives, even our eating habits. The described eating system is perfect if you train early in the afternoon, say three or four hours. The bottom line is that you need to find your personalized diet, following the basic rules.

• After you ate you should wait 1.5 hours before exercising.

• You should eat at least 1.5 hours after your workout.

• The last meal can be 1.5 hours before bedtime.

• Sleep preferably by 10 pm at the latest.

• If you desire sweets, eat it at lunch or after training, but never replace actual meals with it.

• For athletes, if 5 to 6 meals a day are required, measure amounts proportionally and observe breaks of at least 3 hours between two meals, provided that the type and duration of training allows it.

Fourth rule: Know the right proportions.

One can have too much of a good thing, and too less. That's why a properly written system is important in your life. You may also overdo it. This is true in all areas. For example, it must have happened once that you slept too much and that caused your depression for the whole day. Furtheron, it may have been that you woke up way early and that your initial enthusiasm was followed by a quick fall into despair. That's why a certain 7-8 hours of sleep is important. It is also important to follow the proportion of meals. Therefore, more experienced people usually calculate the calorie intake and the amount of macro nutrient intake. First, you need to know how many calories each product has. But where do these values come from? Each consumed calorie gives 4184 joules of energy. In the below table you can see the amount of calories and how to calculate its calorie value. I only added alcohol to the table as an interesting thing. I do not recommend anyone to cover their calorie intake with alcohol.

Nutrients

Energy value per gram (Joule)

Energy value per calorie (Joule)

Calorie value per gram (calorie)

Carbohydrate

16700

4184

3,99

Protein

16700

4184

3,99

Fat

39000

4184

9,32

Alcohol

29000

4184

6,93

Example

16700/

4184

=3,99

In addition, you need to know how to set the right ratio between them. This is called macro nutrient intake. You need this because even with the right amount of calories, you may be eating poorly. The proportion of nutrients in a properly formulated diet is as follows.

Carbohydrates: 58%

Protein: 27%

Fats: 15%

On average, this ratio is the best, but it may vary from person to person because these values are just guidelines. That is, it may vary depending on your physique. For those who have ectomorph body type, I recommend 15% fat, 65% carbohydrate, 20% protein calories. Mesomorph body types are made up of 15% fat, 60% carbohydrate and 25% protein. And for endomorph body types 15% fat, 55% carbohydrate, 30% protein make the calorie intake. Those with combined body type first need to recognize their build and choose the appropriate diet, but you can also start with the recommended intake of mesomorph body type, i.e. 15% fat, 60% carbohydrate, 25% protein as this is the closest average.

Nutrition types

Omnivorous or mixed nutrition

This is the most commonly followed type of eating. The amount of meat, fish and vegetables in the diet may vary from one nation to another, depending on their customs, religion, and geographical location.

Carnivorous

The components of this diet are mainly red meat and, to a lesser extent, white meat and fish. Because of the large amount of meat consumed, all other types of food are neglected. This type of diet is too high in protein and fat. Excessive protein intake creates too much amino acid that is being converted into fat or glucose and since it’s not used the body is storing it. It also raises your body's uric acid levels. High fat intake results in additional storage. It increases your body fat percentage and drastically raises your cholesterol. Their combined effects lead to poor digestion and cardiovascular problems.

Lacto Vegetarianism

This type of diet includes only milk and dairy products of animal origin. Considering its nutrient supply it is adequate because milk protein supplements plant proteins, because it is a complete source of protein, that is, contains all the essential amino acids (the body cannot produce it, so it must be administered externally).

Ovo vegetarianism

This type of diet includes only eggs of animal origin. It is a nutritious diet because egg protein supplements plant proteins since it is a complete source of protein. It contains all essential amino acids, 11 of the 13 types of vitamins and 14 of the minerals that are replenished daily.

Ovo-lacto vegetarianism

This type of diet contains only eggs, milk and dairy products of animal origin. A nutritionally recognized and fully satisfactory diet that is easy to follow and suitable for children.

Vegan

It is also called plant based diet. Those who follow vegan diet do not eat any animal products, not even honey. When choosing meals, you need to take into consideration that all the necessary nutrients are provided to your body. You should pay special attention to the amount of protein and B vitamins, especially vitamin B12, as this only occurs in food of animal origin. That is why it is imperative to use nutritional supplements if you are following this diet, if not for else then for vitamin B12. Unfortunately, in my experience, the followers of this diet tend to overdo the quality and ignore the quantity requirements. I would like to point out that those who want to pursue a vegan lifestyle but who do not like or are unable to consume rice regularly should opt for a vegetarian diet. Among plants rice and soy are the easiest sources of protein. However, it is undisputable that soy is an anti-nutrient because it has more disadvantages than advantages, which is why I don’t recommend it to anyone. Instead, I recommend the ovo-lacto vegetarian diet, especially to regular sports enthusiasts. Not to mention that in case of vegan diet you need to plan the nutrients you take in so that your body doesn’t feel lack in anything. This requires knowledge that most people who follow a vegan diet do not have from what I’ve seen. For those with constant planning and frustration, the answer is a more straightforward vegetarian diet.

Semi-vegetarianism

I find this diet best because it’s easy to follow and suitable for training and competitive sports. It is similar to an omnivorous diet, but only within certain rules. This is the most acceptable vegetarian diet. Semi-vegetarians don’t eat red meat and offal. They eat everything else. They contain too much uric acid and fat and have no building blocks that would not be found in white meat, fish, eggs or dairy products. I also follow this diet, but I like to add some extra rules. You should only eat egg yolks moderately because they contain a lot of calories and fat. One medium-sized chicken egg yolk contains 5.8 grams of fat and provides a total of 71 calories. Once I learned from diet tips of professional bodybuilders that they make 15 egg scrambled eggs, but with only 3 egg yolks. It contains 11 of the 13 vitamins (only B9 and C are missing), contains each amino acid, and 14 of the 18 minerals that it needs to replenish daily (depending on the hen's nutrition). That's why spinach (made with iodized salt), boiled eggs, and nuts (soaked for 24 hours to reduce phytic acid) are part of my dietary idea because this combination of foods contains every single vitamin, mineral, and essential nutrient your body needs. Try to consume low-fat milk and dairy products and avoid fatty foods. As a result, do not eat butter and cheese (or only to a very minimal extent). I personally do not drink milk, but sometimes I use dairy products for certain foods. Fruit and vegetable consumption is not only a possible option, as in the omnivore diet, but is a must every day. It does not need to make up most of your meal, but it is essential for proper metabolism.

Carbohydrates

I don’t know the minimum carbohydrate intake. I give this value at 140g / day. An average brain uses this amount of energy from carbohydrates in 1 day. The maximum carbohydrate intake is 7 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. I've heard of an athlete doing a 9 gram diet, but that's extreme. Of course, I recommend this only to athletes with ectomorph body type or for athletes who are subject to long periods of exercise, such as marathon runners. The average value is about 4.5 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. But what do we call carbs? Most people can say it’s sugar, but that's not true. Carbohydrates are also called glucides (glucid comes from the Greek word "sweet") because of their intense sweet taste. A source of energy that quickly supplies the body with the energy it needs to function. Chemically, it is composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Carbohydrates are distinguished by species and group.

Types

Complex Carbohydrates: Slowly absorbed carbohydrates. (e.g. starch)

Simple carbohydrates: Fast absorbing carbohydrates. (e.g. sugar)

Groups

Monosaccharides

Disaccharide

Polysaccharides

Monosaccharides

Monosaccharides are made up of a molecule and are therefore absorbed directly and quickly by your body. The most common monosaccharides are glucose and fructose. They can be found in fruits and honey and the glucose is your body's main source of energy. Actually every carbohydrate in your diet is converted to glucose before it enters the bloodstream and is used by every cell in your body. Your liver acts as a glucose regulator that keeps your blood glucose at a fairly constant level. This is about 1.1mg / ml (1.1gm per liter). Glucose is stored as glycogen, which is converted into glucose by your liver when your body needs energy. Glycogen is also stored in muscle cells, which is converted to glucose in any physical activity. When your blood glucose levels become low and neither your liver nor your muscle reserves can increase it, you get low blood sugar. In addition to the function of the muscles, the energy released in the cells through the combination of glucose and oxygen plays an important role in every process of the body. It is from this energy that your body produces heat. It also gives your brain power to function. Therefore, carbohydrate intake is an important even when dieting. In order for the glucose to reach the cells for insulin, it needs what the pancreas produces. If, for some reason, insulin production is inadequate (such as diabetes), glucose builds up in the blood. Within the cells, glucose needs B vitamins to "burn" and produce energy. When eating refined sugars (i.e. pure sucrose), the body needs to use its own vitamin B storehouse, as these sugars provide only calories but no useful nutrients. Many bodybuilders don’t know that rice is the basis of any bodybuilding diet because of its high carbohydrate content (in addition to containing all 8 essential amino acids and other amino acids) it is high in B1, B3, and B6. Not many people know that brown rice should be consumed more, because it has the highest nutritional value. The white rice loses 70% of its B vitamins and 60% of its iron content during husking and polishing. Husking and polishing are used only for long shelf life. If you want to use rice in a short time, you may want to buy brown.

Disaccharide

Carbohydrates consisting of two monosaccharide molecules. In order to be utilized in your body, they must be broken down by enzymes into their two elemental molecules during digestion. Examples of disaccharides are sucrose, beet sugar, lactose, also known as lactose, maltose and maltose.

Polysaccharides

Complex carbohydrates consisting of several monosaccharides. These molecules also need enzymes to break down glucose into your body before they can be utilized. There are three types of complex carbohydrates. Starch, dextrin and cellulose.

Starch consists of glucose molecule chains. This makes up most of the carbohydrate intake during your meal. It is the main ingredient in flour, but is found in seeds, roots, tubers, leaves and fruits. Starch is produced exclusively by plants, as it is their most important nutrient reserve. Dextrins are fragments of starch molecules, which is why they are called starch extracts. Digestion is easier for your digestive system because the digestive processes are already partially done.

Cellulose is found in all plants, which is why it is called the most common organic material. Cellulose is also called plant fiber. Its molecule is made up of a chain of glucose molecules that are linked together so that your body is unable to break down. Therefore, cellulose is not absorbed and although you cannot use it as an energy source, your body still needs it. It has a sort of bowel cleansing role. It carries the toxins, so bile acids formed in the intestine, such as cholesterol, are not absorbed (lowering cholesterol). The volume of plant fiber multiplies with water to make your stool soft. This facilitates the passage of the colon and rectum. For this reason I recommend regular consumption of fruits, vegetables and cereals, especially in the case of constipation. It can also help prevent diseases like hemorrhoids. Based on the human need for carbohydrates, a balanced diet (excluding diets) should contain 55-65% of the calories from daily dietary intake. For the sake of maintaining your health, this amount should preferably be satisfied with carbohydrates. This is because the breakdown of complex carbohydrates is a relatively slow process that gradually gets into your body providing it with steady energy and vitamins. The absorption of refined carbohydrates is a rapid process that stimulates the pancreas to produce intense insulin, out of normal pace. Due to increased insulin production, high glucose levels lead to a drop in blood glucose levels, which results in a new feeling of hunger. Just think about it, why do you feel hungry after just one hour of abundant breakfast, which consisted of chocolate muesli. These fluctuations in blood glucose levels increase the risk of developing diabetes and atherosclerosis. In addition, these refined sugars provide nutrient-free energy but not vitamins. Therefore, as they are converted into energy, they are deprived of vitamins from your body.

Fat

According to countless books and studies on healthy living, the intake of quality fats is important because there are vitamins that are soluble in fats, and they are involved in many processes in the body. As a result, they have to make up 15% of the calories that is produced by the daily meals. Using the former example an average 70kg person who is not exercising and doing sedentary work has a daily calorie requirement of 2000. 15% of that is covered by fat, which is 300 calories. One gram of fat gives you 9.32 calories, which means you need to eat 32.2 grams of fat for 300 calories. This is divided into 70 kilos of body weight for people weighing 0.46 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. Please note that the calorie requirement increases with physical activity, so the intake of nutrients increases, but as a minimum intake of 0.46 grams / kg body weight / day is acceptable. Fats, like carbohydrates, consist of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. However, they differ according to the type and group.

Types

Lipids: They are formed by the fusion of one glycerol and three fatty acid molecules and are therefore also called triglycerides. They are also referred to as neutral fats.

Complex lipids: Their structure is different because they contain phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen atoms. They are also called lipoids.

Groups

Saturated fatty acids: Among plants, only palm and coconut oil are such. All other saturated fatty acids are of animal origin. Try to consume as little as possible because they increase your cholesterol.

Monounsaturated fatty acids: Useful but not essential for the body. For example, olive oil.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids: Essential for the healthy functioning of the body. They are found in fruits, oilseeds and fish.

Essential Fatty Acids: These are among the polyunsaturated fatty acids. You know them as Omega 3 and Omega 6. You need to take care of supplementing Omega 3 because Omega 6 is typically over-consumed. In Hungary it is 1:16 instead of the correct 1: 4 ratio. The organism is only capable of producing Omega 9, so it is important that you meet the needs of the organism externally. They used to be classified as vitamins, but your body needs them more than they normally need vitamins, so they are no longer considered as such anymore. Nonetheless, the name vitamin F remained.

Proteins

The amount of protein required to maintain muscle mass is 1 gram per kilogram of body weight per day. Opinions are divided on this quantity. Many people think we need less protein (which I do not agree with at all), but in this case, even if they were right, this is not a problem because the body can use the excess as energy. The organism brakes down the proteins into amino acids, and the excess amino acid can be used as energy and possibly converted into fat or glucose. The organism can also convert it to other amino acids according to its own needs. If you want to gain muscle mass, you should aim for this value above 1.625 grams / kg body weight / day but below 2.3 grams / kg body weight / day. I have to note that age influences the amount needed, but it's hard to keep track of it, so you might want to keep 1.625 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, and that's enough. It is interesting to note that there are extreme situations where the protein requirement is much more than the value of the protein needed to maintain muscle mass.

Example

The period of growth

Up to 1 year old it can be up to 3 times higher

One and a half times higher between the ages of 1-6

During pregnancy and breastfeeding it is doubled for the mother

In case of prolonged physical exertion, it is 1.5 times higher or more, because it depends on the amount of exertion

When recovering from surgical procedures, it is one and a half times higher

It's good to know how much protein you have to take in a day. But better yet, you know why. For this question, the most basic question must be asked. What is Protein? Proteins are the most important building blocks of the body. They can be found in the skin, muscles, blood, internal organs and even in the bones. It's no wonder that nearly 20% of the average person's body weight is protein. However, the human body cannot store protein so daily intake is essential. That is why since 1883 experts have called it "protein" after the Greek word "proteios", which means "first place" or "primary" in Hungarian. Each protein is made up of amino acid chains. The nature and characteristics of each protein depend on the order of attachment of its constituent amino acids. Each living being has a different amino acid structure of the protein. These amino acids are composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen atoms (methionine and cysteine contain sulfur atoms, and methionone is an essential amino acid).

During digestion, the body breaks down proteins into amino acids, which, once absorbed, are re-assembled into proteins in the correct order and proportion for the individual. Within some limits, your body (liver) is able to convert amino acids into other amino acids to make its own proteins. There are a total of 20 amino acids in your body, but 8 of them (10 in childhood) are essential (the body cannot produce) for it. Therefore, you should always consume these amino acids in sufficient quantities. I have heard many debates about how many essential amino acids there are. The misunderstanding is that people believe that only essential and non-essential amino acids exist. In fact, there are partially essential amino acids. These include histidine and arginine, which have been proven to be essential in childhood but are no longer essential. There are cases where the body is not able to produce enough, for example in the case of athlete needs or stress situations. In such cases, it is needed in larger quantities than the body can produce. These include arginine and glutamine. Histidine is only partially considered essential because the body does not always need an external source to produce it.

Divided by groups

Essential amino acids:

methionine, threonine, lysine, isoleucine, valine, leucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan

Semi-essential amino acids:

histidine, arginine, glutamine

Non-essential amino acids:

alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, tyrosine

Vitamins

Vitamins are organic compounds that are essential to the human body and can only be ingested with food, with very few exceptions, such as vitamin D. Among the types of nutrients they are classified as micronutrients and their groups as biocatalysts.

Vitamins are often taken in the form of nutritional supplements, so you need to know what the labels on the packaging mean.

EAR: Estimated average requirement.

It is usually written at this value that half of the population has enough of this vitamin. I'd rather say that those below average are probably enough. Vitamin demand depends on your health, weight, age, lifestyle, and even your environment. I recommend you to not to take this figure as base when calculating the right quantities for yourself. The only positive I can argue with is that the RDA is calculated from it.

RDA: Recommended daily allowance

This value, in principle, provides the average healthy adult with a need for vitamins. However you need to know that this value is different in every country. In addition, the extra need coming from living and lifestyle is not added. Not to mention that it was calculated for average healthy people. If you are higher than the average or you are sick then you need more.

ODA: Optimal daily allowance

This amount was invented by nutritionists. This is well above the RDA level. In my opinion, this is enough for everyone.

UL: Upper limit

Most vitamins cannot be overdosed because they are soluble in water and unused excess is excreted in urine. However there are vitamins soluble in fat and they are stored in the body. These are vitamins "A", "D", "E", and "K" (in Hungarian they use the term DEKA). These can lead to vitamin overdoses, which may cause symptoms of intoxication. I suggest that you keep the value of the vitamins you take in with dietary supplements at the ODA level so that the total vitamin intake together with your diet will certainly not exceed UL. This way, you won't get too much or not enough of any vitamin.

I don’t have the opportunity to describe for each vitamin what processes they are involved in because they have thousands of tasks in the body. Therefore, I will only describe a few and also put it into a table for ease of reference. Vitamins help in the efficiency of certain processes. They are essential for achieving the right efficiency, but not for the processes.

Quantity markings

mg: Milligrams

μg: Microgramm

NE: International Unit (IU). Quantity measured on the basis of biological activity of active substances. This means that different substances have different values, expressed in μg NE.

Example:

1 IU vitamin C = 50 μg ascorbic acid

1 IU vitamin A = 0.6 μg beta-carotene

1 IU vitamin A = 1.2 μg alpha-carotene

Vitamins

Other name

NE (IU)

μg

mg

B1

Thiamine

250

B2

Riboflavin

50

B3

Niacin

Niacinamide

30

175

B5

Pantothenic acid

75

B6

Pyridoxine

100

B7

Biotin

200

B9

Inositol, Folic Acid

200

B12

Cobalamin

1000

C

Ascorbic acid

3000

D

Cholecalciferol

2000

E

Tocopherol

500

K

Menadione

120

A

Rethinol

5500

Vitamins

Occurrence in foods

B1

egg, parsley, onion, yeast, potato, tomato, legumes

B2

eggs, mushrooms, cereals, meats, avocados

B3

egg, fish, date, avocado, fig, plum

B5

egg yolks, broccoli, cereals

B6

egg, cabbage, melon, spinach, banana

B7

egg yolk, fruits, brown rice

B9

parsley, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, fruits, salad, spinach, yellow and turnip

B12

eggs, meats, whole grains

C

orange, lemon, pepper, rose hips, tomato, cabbage, spinach, potato

D

egg yolk, fish, oatmeal, champignon

E

eggs, broccoli, brussels sprouts, spinach, meat, honey

K

egg yolks, peas, pumpkins, broccoli, honey

A

egg yolk, sea fish, oranges, carrots, dark green leafy plants

Vitamins

Positive effect

B1

carbohydrate metabolism, nutrition energy, cell metabolism, mental performance improvement

B2

growth, reproduction, immune function, detoxification

B3

breakdown and structure of carbohydrates and fats

B5

support of metabolic processes

B6

alleviation of menstrual pain

B7

baldness reduction, growth

B9

nutrition of brain cells, reduction of hypertension, fetal development

B12

increased sperm production, increased appetite

C

antioxidant, skin elasticity reduction, wrinkle reduction, wound healing acceleration

D

prevention of osteoporosis, antidepressant

E

antioxidant, cancer prevention, anti-inflammatory

K

restoring libido, promoting blood coagulation

A

antioxidant, twilight vision, cell division, cell growth, fetal development, sperm count increase, fertility enhancement

Vitamins

Overdose

B1

It does not contain any of the vitamins B, because the excess water soluble is excreted in the urine.

B2

-

B3

-

B5

-

B6

-

B7

-

B9

-

B12

-

C

It is soluble in water and therefore not contained.

D

It has not been scientifically proven that it is possible, but it is not recommended to take it with vitamin A.

E

It has not been scientifically proven that it is possible, but should not be taken with vitamin K.

K

It is not scientifically proven that it is possible, but should not be taken with vitamin E.

A

fetal damage, miscarriage, bone change, yellowish skin, hair loss, joint pain, kidney problems, dermatitis, headache

Vitamins

Deficiency

B1

loss of appetite, indigestion, depression, loss of brain neurons, fatigue

B2

inflammation of the skin, sunburn, itching of the vagina

B3

dermatitis, diarrhea, bad breath

B5

stomach and intestinal disorders, fall birth

B6

anemia, epileptic seizures

B7

decreased sex drive, eczema

B9

eczema, metabolic disorder, fatty liver

B12

neuropathy (sensation in the limbs)

C

scurvy, weakening of the immune system

D

rickets in children, osteoporosis in adults, autoimmune diseases

E

muscle wasting, infertility, premature aging

K

colitis, haemorrhage

A

wolf blindness, childhood growth disorder, hair fragmentation, cracked lips, gum disease, tooth decay

I tried to find a table showing ODA values and I found a lot. The problem is that they are all wrong, and sometimes they contradict each other. Therefore, for water-soluble vitamins I am giving you an average value calculated from various tables. Also I am showing you the minimum value for fat soluble vitamins. This is good because you will for sure to put enough into your body, but not overdo it. I’m not presenting all the positive effects, symptoms of deficiency, and symptoms of overdose, only the most significant.

These are the average ODA values from multiple tables that I recommend.

All of the fat soluble vitamins can easily be overdosed, but none of them have proven side effects except vitamin A. Reportedly, the high doses of vitamin E and vitamin K deficiency increases the chance of hemophilia, but I haven’t found any research that clearly proves this. Anyway, you don't have to be afraid of it. Truth is that vitamin E can be stored in your liver and fat storage, but in the meantime it is excreted in large amounts in your stool, so overdosing is very difficult.

Interesting facts

Vitamin K inhibits the effects of antihypertensive drugs and vitamin E, so if you take them in a nutritional supplement, make sure you take them in 8 hours intervals.

I follow semi-vegetarian diet, and eating offal is not allowed, which is why I don’t recommend it to anyone, but the fact is that the liver contains every single vitamin.

Minerals

Minerals are organic compounds that are essential to the human body and can only be ingested with food. When it comes to types of nutrients they are classified as micronutrients and their groups as biocatalysts. They are often distinguished as macro and micro elements (trace elements). These only indicate how much they occur in the human body, but besides that they are irrelevant. Many also take minerals in the form of nutritional supplements. Quantitative markings are the same as those required for vitamins, but only in larger amounts. For the sake of simplicity, I will also present the minerals in tables, but I have some interesting points to make. We don't need all the minerals every day, so I’ll write only what we need. Just to give you an example, the role of cadmium, lead and boron in the body is important, but we do not have to replenish it daily and take enough of it with our diet. No separate replacement is required. In addition, it is important to adhere to daily amounts. There are minerals that are also heavy metals. Their overdose has a toxic effect. These include cadmium, manganese, lead and iron.

I couldn’t find ODA tables only RDA tables and cautions for elevated quantities due to certain circumstances. The minimum values are the values of the RDA tables and the maximum values are the average values of the ODA tables.

Minerals

Quantities in milligrams

Zinc

15-20

Phosphorus

700-1250

Fluorine

1.5-3.5

Iodine

0,15-0,35

Calcium

800-1200

Potassium

3000-3500

Sulfur

Not defined

Cobalt

Not defined

Chromium

0.05-0.2

Lithium

1-2

Magnesium

300-450

Manganese

2-5

Molybdenum

0.15-0.5

Sodium

2000-2500

Copper

2-3

Selenium

0.06-0.2

Vanadium

Not defined

Iron

10-18

Minerals

Positive effect

Zinc

prevention of deposition of toxic substances

Phosphorus

strength of bones and teeth, growth promotion

Fluorine

bone formation, improves tooth enamel texture

Iodine

antioxidant (fungus, virus, parasiticidal effect)

Calcium

bone strength, tooth hardness and firmness

Potassium

lowering of blood pressure, regulation of heart rate, regulation of body water flow

Sulfur

insulin and heparin (anticoagulant) production

Cobalt

red blood cell formation, protection against anemia

Chromium

lowering of blood pressure, slowing of aging

Lithium

mood improving, mood stabilizing

Magnesium

Vitamin C utilization (maintenance of calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus balance)

Manganese

antioxidant, sex hormone production, vitamin C and vitamin B assimilation

Molybdenum

maintaining general well-being, increasing potency

Sodium

liquid household regulation

Copper

hematopoiesis, zinc and vitamin C absorption

Selenium

antioxidant, supports fertility

Vanadium

bone formation, proper growth of teeth

Iron

hemoglobin formation, immune booster

Minerals

Deficiency

Zinc

eczema, slow wound healing, lethargy, migraine

Phosphorus

osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle cramps

Fluorine

tooth growth and bone growth disorder

Iodine

underactive thyroid gland, obesity, lack of energy

Calcium

angina, tooth decay, sleep disorders, allergies

Potassium

fluid accumulation, low blood sugar

Sulfur

liver and bile problems, skin disorders

Cobalt

anemia, intestinal complaints, muscle weakness

Chromium

diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity

Lithium

lethargy, cyclic depression

Magnesium

anorexia, hypertension, depression

Manganese

eye and hearing problems, mental disorder, irritability, prolonged coagulation, rash

Molybdenum

rhythmia, vision disturbance, irritability

Sodium

loss of appetite, nausea, indigestion

Copper

iron deficiency anemia, Wilson's disease

Selenium

underactive thyroid gland, Alzheimer's disease, parkinson's disease, sperm formation and maturation disorders

Vanadium

growth disorder, bone deformation

Iron

anemia, infertility, heavy menstrual bleeding, intellectual disability, tongue pain

Minerals

Occurrence in foods

Zinc

yolk, pumpkin seeds, crab, sea fish, mustard

Phosphorus

eggs, fish, poultry, seeds, grains

Fluorine

sea fish, crabs, potatoes, corn, marjoram, parsley, water

Iodine

eggs, sea fish, crabs, shells, algae

Calcium

eggs, poppy seeds, sardines, salmon, beans, greens

Potassium

eggs, potatoes, bananas, citrus fruits, mint leaves, tomatoes, horseradish, green vegetables

Sulfur

eggs, fish, lean beef, cabbage, beans

Cobalt

shellfish, crab, oyster, meat, water, milk, peas, strawberry

Chromium

eggs, meat, mussels, crab, broccoli, grapes

Lithium

It is found in all foods.

Magnesium

egg, apple, lemon, fig, grapefruit, green vegetables, corn, oilseeds, bran

Manganese

egg yolks, green vegetables, peas, beets, nuts

Molybdenum

green vegetables, legumes, cereals, milk

Sodium

It is found in all foods.

Copper

eggs, fish, crabs, peas, beans, plums, snails

Selenium

eggs, seafood, meat, brown rice, oats

Vanadium

seafood, cereals, parsley. oilseeds

Iron

eggs, beans, asparagus, peaches, red meat, oats

Minerals

Overdose

Zinc

causes copper deficiency, metallic taste, chest pain

Phosphorus

binds minerals in the intestines before they can be absorbed, diarrhea, vomiting

Fluorine

fluorosis, discoloration of tooth enamel, leading to severe tooth damage

Iodine

No known symptoms.

Calcium

None because the body drains the excess.

Potassium

None because the body drains the excess.

Sulfur

Inorganic sulfur compounds (sulfides, sulfates, sulfites) can cause asthma attacks. These need not be part of our diet.

Cobalt

thyroid (enlargement) disorder

Chromium

itching, rapid heartbeat, malaise

Lithium

NDI metabolic disease, thyroid growth

Magnesium

None because the body drains the excess.

Manganese

impotence, miscarriage, psychiatric disorders, fever

Molybdenum

It causes copper deficiency.

Sodium

Causes high blood pressure.

Copper

nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness

Selenium

nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness

Vanadium

No known symptoms.

Iron

constipation, vomiting, diarrhea

Diet Tips:

1500 calorie diet

Breakfast

100 g boiled eggs (2 pieces)

100 g rye bread (2 slices)

10 g butter (1 spoon)

3 dl orange juice

Brunch

100 g of strawberry

Lunch

50 g (dry weight) of cooked brown rice

100 g chicken

100 g mixed salad

Snack

100g raspberry, 150g fruity yogurt

"Before" training

100 g banana

During training

1000 ml sports drink / on non-training day, instead of sports drink, you can add 100g bananas to the "pre-workout" and 50g peaches to the snack

Dinner

100 g of spinach

100 g boiled eggs (2 pieces)

Evening

100 g of strawberry

Protein (g)

70.7 (23.1%)

Fat (g)

49.7 (16.3%)

Carbohydrate (g)

185.2 (60.6%)

Energy (kcal)

1484.3

2000 calorie diet

Breakfast

100 g oatmeal

100 g of fruity yogurt

2 dl milk

100 g rye bread (2 slices)

20 g butter (1 spoon)

Brunch

100 g of strawberry

Lunch

100 g pea cooked, 100 g chicken

100 g mixed salad

Snack

300 g apple, 150 g fruity yogurt

"Before" training

100 g banana

During training

1000 ml sports drink / on non-training day, instead of sports drink, you can add 100g bananas to the "pre-workout" and 50g peaches to the snack

Dinner

100 g potato dish

100 g fried chicken

Evening

100 g strawberry

Protein (g)

98.9 (22.1%)

Fat (g)

57.9 (12.9%)

Carbohydrate (g)

291.1 (65%)

Energy (kcal)

2095.7

2500 calories diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

150 g (3 pieces) boiled eggs

3 dl orange juice

Brunch

250 g strawberry

Lunch

200 g lentil pottage

200 g goulash soup

Snack

200 g peaches (1 pc)

150g of fruit yoghurt

"Before" training

100 g bananas

During training

1000 ml sports drink / on non-training day, instead of sports drink, you can add "100g bananas" to the "pre-workout" and 50g peaches to the snack

Dinner

200 g of spinach sauce

100 g (2 pieces) boiled eggs

100 g rye bread (2 slices)

Evening

50 g walnut

Protein (g)

124.4 (23.8%)

Fat (g)

94.6 (18.1%)

Carbohydrate (g)

303.0 (58.0%)

Energy (kcal)

2587.0

3000 calorie diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

150 g (3 pieces) boiled eggs

3 dl orange juice

Brunch

250 g of strawberry

Lunch

100 g boiled brown rice (raw weight)

100 g chicken

200g lentil pottage

Snack

100 g of raspberry

150g of fruit yoghurt

"Before" training

100g bananas

During training

1000 ml sports drink / on non-training day, instead of sports drink, you can add "100g bananas" to the "pre-workout" and 50g peaches to the snack

Dinner

200 g spinach, 100 g (2 pcs) boiled eggs

200 g goulash soup

100 g rye bread (2 slices)

Evening

50 g walnut

Protein (g)

152.7 (24.7%)

Fat (g)

101.7 (16.4%)

Carbohydrate (g)

365.0 (58.9%)

Energy (kcal)

3013.5

3500 calorie diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

150 g (3 pieces) boiled eggs

3 dl orange juice

Brunch

250 g of strawberry

Lunch

100 g boiled brown rice (raw weight)

100g chicken roast, 200g lentil topping

200 g fish soup

Snack

100 g raspberries, 200 g peaches (1 pc)

150g of fruit yoghurt

"Before" training

200g kiwi fruit, 100g banana

During training

1000 ml sports drink / on non-training day, instead of sports drink, you can add "100g bananas" to the "pre-workout" and 50g peaches to the snack

Dinner

200 g spinach, 100 g (2 pcs) boiled eggs

200 g goulash soup

100 g rye bread (2 slices)

Evening

250 g strawberry 50 g nuts

Protein (g)

189.5 (25.9%)

Fat (g)

113.9 (15.6%)

Carbohydrate (g)

428.4 (58.5%)

Energy (kcal)

3527.0

4000 calorie diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

200 g (4 pieces) of boiled eggs

5 dl orange juice

Brunch

250 g of strawberry

Lunch

100 g boiled brown rice (raw weight)

100g chicken roast, 200g lentil topping

200 g fish soup

Snack

100 g raspberries, 200 g peaches (1 pc)

150g of fruit yoghurt

"Before" training

200g kiwi fruit, 100g banana

During training

1000 ml sports drink / of non-training day, instead of sports drink, you can add "100g bananas" to the "pre-workout" and 50g peaches to the snack

Dinner

200 g spinach, 150 g (3 pieces) boiled eggs

200 g goulash soup

200 g rye bread (4 slices)

Evening

250 g strawberry 50 g nuts

Protein (g)

228.9 (27.3%)

Fat (g)

119.5 (14.3%)

Carbohydrate (g)

488.9 (58.4%)

Energy (kcal)

3977.8

6000 calorie diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

200 g (4 pieces) of boiled eggs

5 dl orange juice

During training

1000 ml sports drink

Lunch

300 g cooked brown rice (raw weight)

400 g chicken

400g lentil pottage

400 g fish soup

Snack

100 g raspberries, 200 g peaches (1 pc)

150g of fruit yoghurt

"Before" training

200g kiwi fruit, 100g banana

During training

1000 ml sports drink

Dinner

400 g spinach, 150 g (3 pieces) boiled eggs

400 g goulash soup

200 g rye bread (4 slices

Evening

250 g strawberries 50 g nuts

Protein (g)

389.7 (30.6%)

Fat (g)

168.8 (13.3%)

Carbohydrate (g)

714.8 (56.1%)

Energy (kcal)

5980.2

Diets, as the name implies, are just ideas. Feel free to put together your own diet with calorie charts and a few rules.

Rules

The daily calorie requirement to maintain body weight is 38 calories / kg / day for women and 42 calories / kg / day for men.

Minimum calorie requirement is the same as Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is 22 kcal / kg body weight / day for women and 24 kcal / kg body weight / day for men. That is how many calories our body burns while resting.

To maintain muscle mass, it is advisable to maintain a protein intake of 1 g / kg body weight / day.

The average value of carbohydrate intake of people with endomorph or bulky body type is 3 g / kg body weight / day. It’s worth starting with these values, reducing or increasing the values by 0.5 g / kg body weight as desired. In the case of ectomorph that is, slim body type the average value is 7 g / kg body weight / day, but they do not need to lose weight. If you are physically fit and want to get muscular, then this is the minimum value you need to start with and if this is not enough, increase the dose by 0.5 g / kg body weight / day.

Use the table below to calculate calorie values. For more help have a look at the calorie charts at the end of this chapter.

Nutrients

Energy value per gram (Joule)

Energy value per calorie (Joule)

Calorie value per gram (calorie)

Carbohydrate

16700

4184

3,99

Protein

16700

4184

3,99

Fat

39000

4184

9,32

Alcohol

29000

4184

6,93

Example

16700/

4184

=3,99

Don’t drink half an hour before and after meals. You dilute your digestive juices and slow down your metabolism.

Eat often less food. It also helps to speed up the metabolism.

Complete your meal at least 1.5 hours before training and at bedtime.

Eat (drink) protein for 0.5 g / kg body weight within half an hour after the exercise. And within one and a half hours of exercise, you should eat 1-2 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight, depending on your body type. You will also need it if it’s less than 1.5 hours before bedtime. After workout, your body stores are depleted and need to be replenished, and post-workout regeneration also requires adequate calories and nutrients.

Calorie Charts

Cereals

Cereals (100g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Brown rice, cooked

2.3

0.8

21.7

103.2

Brown rice, dry

7.5

2.7

72.8

345.6

Wheat Germ

23.2

9.7

38.6

337.0

Semolina

12.7

1.1

68.9

335.8

Wheat bran

15.6

4.3

21.7

188.9

Wheat Flakes

12.5

1.5

64.0

319.2

Wheat flour

9.8

1.0

71.0

331.7

Wheat strudel

9.8

1.0

71.0

331.7

Durum flour

9.1

0

75.8

338.8

White rice, dry

2.4

0.3

28.3

125.3

White rice, boiled

6.6

0.6

77.9

342.7

Graham flour

11.7

2.7

60.0

311.2

Buckwheat, cooked

3.3

0.8

19.9

100.0

Buckwheat, dry

13.3

3.4

61.5

330.1

Millet, cooked

3.5

1.0

22.3

112.3

Millet, dry

11.0

4.2

64.4

340.0

Grits

8.8

1.2

78.0

357.5

Corn meal

7.1

1.8

75.6

346.7

Cornflakes

7.5

0.4

80.8

356.0

Rice flour

6.0

1.4

77.7

347.0

Rye flour

10.9

1.5

63.6

311.2

Rye flakes

14.4

2.6

64.0

337.0

Oat

16.8

6.9

55.6

353.2

Oat bran

17.3

7.0

50.8

337.0

Oatmeal

14.7

9.1

59.2

379.7

Cereal

16.8

6.9

55.6

353.2

Breadcrumbs

13.4

5.3

67.5

372.2

Vegetables

Vegetables (100g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Beans, cooked

8.3

0.4

14.0

92.7

Beans, canned

7.4

0.4

16.1

97.5

Beans, dry

21.9

1.1

42.2

266

Broccoli

2.8

0.4

4.0

30.9

Potato

2.1

0.1

15.4

70.8

Beetroot

1.6

0.2

6.8

35.4

Zucchini

1.2

0.3

2.5

17.6

Pickles

0.3

0.2

1.1

7.5

Chickpeas cooked

8.9

2.6

19.8

138.7

Chickpeas, canned

7.1

2.8

16.1

118.7

Chickpeas, dry

20.5

6.0

50.8

340.4

Sweet potatoes, cooked

1.4

0.1

15.,2

67.2

Sweet potatoes, dry

1.5

0

17.1

74.2

Turnip

3.0

0.8

3.0

31.4

Cabbage

1.3

0.1

3.3

19.3

Lettuce

1.4

0.2

1.6

13.8

Garlic

6.4

0.5

31.0

153.9

Cooking Pumpkin

0.6

0.6

5.4

29.5

Iceberg lettuce

0.9

0.1

2.0

12.5

Kohlrabi

1.7

0.1

2.6

18.1

Cauliflower

1.9

0.3

3.0

22.3

Brussels sprouts

3.4

0.3

5.2

37.1

Kale

2.0

0.1

3.0

20.9

Cucumbers

0.7

0.1

3.1

16.1

Corn, cooked

3.3

1.4

19.0

102

Canned corn

2.4

0.5

17.4

83.7

Corn, dry

9.4

4.7

74.2

377.4

Lentils, cooked

9.0

0.4

12.2

88.3

Lens, dry

24.6

1.1

52.7

318.7

Purple Onion

0.9

0.1

10.1

44.8

Purple Cabbage

1.4

0.2

5.3

28.6

Olive

0.8

10.7

3.1

115.3

Eggplant

1.0

0.2

3.5

19.8

Pepper

1.0

0.2

5.4

27.4

Tomato

0.9

0.2

1.3

10.6

Spinach, spinach

3.6

0.6

1.3

25.1

Patisson

1.2

0.2

2.6

17.0

Parsley greens

1.5

0.3

7.1

37.1

Leek

1.5

0.3

12.4

58.3

Radish

0.7

0.1

1.9

11.3

Rocket

2.6

0.7

2.1

25.3

Yellow beans, cooked

1.9

0.3

4.6

28.7

Yellow beans, canned

1.1

0.1

3.2

18.1

Yellow beans, dry

1.8

0.1

3.7

22.9

Yellow peas cooked

8.3

0.4

12.8

87.9

Yellow peas, dry

23.8

1.2

38.2

258.6

Carrot

0.9

0.2

6.8

32.6

Sour cabbage

0.9

0.1

4.2

21.3

Pickle

0.3

0.2

1.1

7.5

Sorrel

2.0

0.7

3.2

27.3

Asparagus

2.2

0.1

1.8

16.9

Pumpkin

1.0

0.1

9.7

43.6

Soybeans, cooked

12.4

6.4

6.9

136.7

Soybeans, dry

13.0

6.8

6.9

142.8

Horse-radish

1.2

0.7

8.0

43.2

Pumpkin

1.2

0.2

2.3

15.8

Cucumber

0.3

0.2

1.1

7.5

Green beans, cooked

1.9

0.3

4.7

29.1

Green beans, canned

1.1

0.5

2.4

18.6

Green beans, dry

1.8

0.2

4.3

26.2

Green peas cooked

5.4

0.2

10.1

63.7

Green peas, canned

4.4

0.4

8.5

55.2

Green peas, dry

5.4

0.4

8.8

60.4

Fruits

Fruits (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Apple

0.3

0.2

11.4

48.5

Pineapple

0.5

0.1

11.7

49.6

Avocado

2.0

14.7

1.8

152.2

Blueberries

0.4

0.1

8.3

35.6

Banana

1.1

0.3

20.2

87.8

Quince

0.4

0.1

13.1

54.8

Citron

1.1

0.3

6.5

33.1

Cherry

1.1

0.2

13.9

61.7

Rosehip

1.6

0.3

14.1

65.4

Dates

2.5

0.4

67.0

281.0

Strawberry

0.7

0.3

5.7

28.3

Blueberries

0.7

0.3

12.1

53.9

Black currant

1.4

0.4

12.6

59.6

Figs

0.8

0.3

16.3

71.0

Watermelon

0.6

0.2

7.2

33.0

Pomegranate

1.7

1.2

14.7

76.6

Grapefruit

0.8

0.1

9.1

40.4

Apricots

1.4

0.4

9.2

46.0

Kiwi

1.1

0.5

11.7

55.7

Pear

0.4

0.2

12.1

51.7

Raspberry

1.2

0.7

5.4

32.9

Mandarin

0.8

0.3

11.5

51.9

Mango

0.8

0.4

13.7

61.6

Raisins

2.5

0.5

71.7

300.7

Sour cherry

1.0

0.3

10.6

49.1

Orange

0.9

0.1

9.4

42.0

Nectarine

1.1

0.3

8.9

42.7

Peach

0.9

0.3

8.4

39.9

Papaya

0.5

0.3

9.1

41.1

Apricot

1.4

0.4

9.2

46.0

Melon

0.8

0.2

7.9

36.6

Strawberry

0.7

0.3

5.7

28.3

Mulberry

1.4

0.4

8.1

41.6

Plum

0.7

0.3

10.0

45.5

Grape

0.7

0.2

17.2

73.3

Fruit Juice

Fruit Juices (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Apple juice

0.1

0.1

11.1

45.6

Pineapple juice

0.3

0.1

12.6

52.4

Lime juice

0.4

0.2

6.6

29.8

Grapefruit

0.5

0.1

9.1

39.2

Orange juice

0.7

0.2

10.2

45.4

Peach juice

0.6

0

10.3

43.5

Grape juice

0.4

0.1

14.6

60.8

Fruit Preparations

Fruit Preparations

(100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Blueberry Jam

0.3

0

59.7

239.4

Canned apple

0.2

0.5

15.0

65.3

Quince Jam

0.2

0

58.8

235.4

Cherry Jam

0

0

60.0

239.4

Strawberry jam

0.4

0

58.2

233.8

Strawberry marmalade

0.7

0.3

19.2

82.2

Raspberry jam

0.5

0

63.3

254.6

Sour cherry jam

0.4

0

70.3

282.1

Orange jam

0.3

0

66.3

265.7

Canned peaches

0.5

0.2

21.2

88.4

Peach jam

0

0

71.0

283.3

Currant jam

0.2

0

61.6

246.6

Apricot jam

0.4

0

64.5

259.0

Apricot jam

1.4

0.4

31.0

133.0

Blackberry jam

0.5

0.4

58.7

239.9

Plum jam

1.3

0

54.0

220.6

Egg products

Egg products (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Boiled hen's egg

12.5

10.6

1.1

153.1

Scrambled eggs

11.2

18.5

0.6

219.5

Fried egg

13.6

14.8

0.8

195.4

Chicken egg

12.6

9.5

0.7

141.6

Chicken egg, protein

10.9

0.2

0.7

48.1

Chicken egg, protein powder

81.1

0

7.8

354.7

Chicken egg, powder

41.1

43.9

1.1

577.5

Chicken egg, yolk

15.9

26.5

3.6

324.8

Chicken egg, yellow powder

33.6

59.1

0.7

687.7

Milks

Milks (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Sheep milk

6.0

7.0

5.4

110.7

Goat milk

3.6

4.1

4.5

70.5

Coconut milk

0.0

8.0

0.0

74.6

Almond milk

2.7

6.4

4.1

86.8

Soy milk

2.9

1.6

1.2

31.3

Cow's milk 3.5%

3.0

3.5

4.6

62.9

Cow's milk 2.8%

3.0

2.8

4.6

56.4

Cow's milk 1.5%

3.0

1.5

4.7

44.7

Milk Products

Milk Products (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Buttermilk

3.4

0.5

4.7

37.0

Drinking yoghurt

2.5

0.7

13.0

68.4

Yogurt

2.9

3.3

3.9

57.9

Yogurt, Fruity

3.6

2.6

13.0

90.5

Ewe-cheese

18.2

21.1

3.0

281.2

Chocolate milk

3.3

1.6

9.0

64.0

Coffee Cream

3.2

10.0

4.2

122.7

Kefir

3.1

3.0

4.0

56.3

Cream cheese

7.0

14.0

1.6

164.8

Cream Cheese

8.5

5.0

23.0

172.3

Condensed milk

7.9

8.7

54.4

329.7

Cow cheese, lean

14.0

2.8

3.5

95.9

Curd cheese, semi-fat

16.0

7.0

2.0

137.1

Milk coffee

2.9

1.4

9.2

61.3

Sour Cream 12%

3.0

120

3.4

137.4

Sour Cream 20%

2.5

20.0

3.8

211.5

Milk powder, lean

50.0

12.0

20.0

391.1

Milk powder, greasy

45.7

17.1

11.4

387.2

Whipped cream

3.2

22.2

12.5

269.5

Cheese

Cheese (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Brie

20.8

27.7

0.5

343.2

Cheddar

22.9

33.3

3.1

414.1

Camembert

19.8

24.3

0.5

307.5

Edam

25

27.8

1.4

364.4

Emmental

26.0

27.0

0

355.4

Feta

14.2

21.3

4.1

271.5

Gouda

24.9

27.4

2.2

363.5

Mozzarella

22.2

22.4

2.2

306.1

Parmesan

35.8

25.8

3.2

396.1

Trappist

23.8

28.2

0.6

360.2

Fish and seafood

Fish and seafood

(100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Eel

18.4

11.7

0

182.5

Shrimp

20.1

0.5

0

84.9

Catfish

16.4

2.8

0

91.5

Herring

18.0

9.0

0

155.7

Lobster

16.5

0.8

0

73.3

Clam

14.6

0.9

3.5

80.6

Caviar

24.6

17.9

4.0

280.9

Salmon

22.3

4.7

0

132.8

Mackerel

18.6

13.9

0

203.8

Oyster

9.5

2.3

5.0

79.3

Trout

21.2

2.7

0

109.8

Carp

17.8

5.6

0

123.2

Sardines, oily

24.6

11.5

0

205.3

Sardines, tomatoes

20.9

10.5

0.4

182.8

Cod

17.5

0.2

0

71.7

Tuna

23.3

4.9

0

138.6

Meats

Meats (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Lamb leg

20.5

4.5

0

123.7

Lamb rump

20.6

5.1

0

129.7

Lamb Sirloin

20.9

5.9

0

138.4

Lamb meat

16.6

23.4

0

284.3

Lamb Leg

21.1

3.3

0

114.9

Sheep

16.6

23.4

0

284.3

Veal rump

20.2

2.6

0

104.8

Veal Sirloin

21.9

2.9

0

114.4

Veal

18.6

13.1

0

196.3

Veal Leg

19.8

1.6

0

93.9

Chicken leg

19.5

3.9

0

114.2

Chicken legs with skin

17.3

12.9

0

189.3

Chicken breast

22.5

2.6

0

114.0

Duck Meat

18.3

6.0

0.9

132.5

Goose-flesh

22.8

7.1

0

157.1

Goose liver

16.4

4.3

6.3

130.6

Foie gras cream

9.1

16.1

2.8

197.5

Goose-grease

0

99.8

0

930.1

Beef shoulder blade

20.1

8.1

0

155.7

Brisket

18.4

19.1

0

251.4

Beef tenderloin

21.7

6.9

0

150.9

Beef flat sirloin

22.3

6.6

0

150.5

Beef loin

21.9

7.4

0

156.3

Reindeer

22.6

3.4

0

121.9

Turkey leg

20.6

3.8

0

117.6

Turkey breast

23.3

2.3

0

114.4

Turkey ham

15.0

4.0

3.4

110.7

Turkey sausage

13.0

20.0

0.8

241.5

Pork Thigh

20.5

5.4

0

132.1

Pork Leg

11.6

10.0

0

139.5

Pork liver cream

10.5

15.5

13.6

240.6

Pork shoulder blade

19.6

7.1

0

144.4

Pork liver

21.4

3.7

2.5

129.8

Pork Ham

22.3

5.7

0.1

142.5

Pork

18.7

5.7

0

127.7

Wild boar meat

21.5

3.3

0

116.5

Wild Rabbit Meat

21.8

2.3

0

108.4

Meat products

Meat products (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Poultry cold cut

10.6

14.0

2.8

183.9

Poultry sausage

12.0

15.0

2.5

197.7

Smoked sausage

28.3

22.4

0.2

322.5

Homemade dry sausage

20.0

43.0

0.5

482.6

Ratatouille sausage

16.4

36.5

3.0

417.6

Summer salami

16.2

32.6

1.0

372.5

Paprika salami

24.0

47.0

0.5

535.8

Winter Salami

25.0

47.0

0.5

539.8

Tourist salami

16.2

32.6

1.0

372.5

Oils and fats

Oils and fats (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Avocado oil

0

100.0

0

932.0

Walnut oil

0

100.0

0

932.0

Peanut Oil

0

100.0

0

932.0

Fat duck

0

99.8

0

930.1

Cocoa butter

0

100.0

0

932.0

Hemp seed oil

0

93.3

0

869.6

Coconut Fat

0

99.1

0

923.6

Corn oil

0

100.0

0

932.0

Linseed oil

0.1

99.9

0

931.5

Goose-grease

0

99.8

0

930.1

Margarine, 80%

0.2

80.0

0.7

749.2

Beef Fat

0

100.0

0

932.0

Mustard Seed Oil

0

100.0

0

932.0

Sunflower oil

0

100.0

0

932.0

Olive oil

0

100.0

0

932.0

Palm oil

0

100.0

0

932.0

Turkey fat

0

100.0

0

932.0

Colza oil

0

100.0

0

932.0

Pork fat

0

100.0

0

932.0

Butter

0,4

80.0

0.5

749.2

Nuts and oilseeds

Nuts and oilseeds

(100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Peanut bush

15.0

60.8

7.0

654.4

Walnut

15.2

65.2

7.0

696.2

Pine nuts

13.7

68.4

9.4

729.7

Peanuts

25.8

49.2

7.6

591.8

Chestnut

1.6

1.3

36.1

162.5

Cashew

18.2

43.9

26.9

589.1

Coconut

3.3

33.5

6.2

350.1

Linseed

18.3

42.2

1.6

472.7

Poppy

18.0

41.6

8.6

493.8

Almond

21.2

49.9

9.1

586.0

Sunflower seeds

20.8

51.5

11.4

608.5

Brazil nuts

14.3

67.1

4.2

699.2

Pistachio

20.2

45.3

16.6

569.0

Sesame

17.7

49.7

11.7

580.5

Pumpkin seed

28.5

35.7

3.6

460.8

Pasta

Pasta (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Durum pasta, cooked

5.4

0.6

32.0

154.8

Durum pasta, dry

12.5

1.4

73.0

354.2

Couscous, cooked

3.8

0.2

21.8

104.0

Couscous, dry

12.8

0.6

72.4

345.5

Puff pastry

6.0

29.0

34.0

429.9

Macaroni, cooked

5.8

0.9

29.1

147.6

Macaroni, dry

13.0

1.5

71.5

351.1

Noodle pasta, cooked

4.5

2.1

24.0

133.3

Noodles pasta, dry

14.2

4.4

68.0

369.0

Penne pasta. cooked

5.4

0.6

31.6

153.2

Penne pasta, dry

12.5

1.4

73.0

354.2

Pasta, strudel plate

9.5

3.6

64.2

327.6

Spaghetti, cooked

5.8

0.9

29.1

147.6

Spaghetti, dry

13.0

1.5

71.5

351.1

Dry pasta with 2 eggs

12.6

1.6

75.0

364.4

Dry pasta with 4 eggs

13.0

2.0

76.0

373.8

Dry pasta with 8 eggs

14.5

3.4

73.2

381.6

Sturgeon, cooked

5.5

1.0

27.0

139.0

Sturgeon, dry

12.9

2.7

66.8

343.2

Whole wheat pasta, cooked

6.0

1.7

26.2

144.3

Whole wheat pasta, dry

13.9

2.9

64.2

338.6

Bread and pastries

Bread and pastries

(100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

White bread

10.7

2.2

34.7

201.7

Half-Brown bread

8.2

1.5

49.0

242.2

Graham bread

10.0

3.5

48.0

264.0

Crescent

9.1

2.3

59.1

293.6

Pretzel

11.0

4.1

71.0

365.4

Pita

9.1

1.2

53.5

261.0

Scones, greasy

8.0

22.0

47.0

424.5

Cake, butter

9.0

21.0

50.0

431.1

Rye bread

8.5

3.3

42.5

234.2

Wholegrain bread

12.5

3.5

36.7

228.9

Wholegrain croissant

7.4

4.0

41.5

232.4

Wholegrain buns

9.1

5.0

51.0

286.4

Roll

9.2

2.3

57.4

287.2

Sweet pastries

(100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Apple pie

2.0

5.0

25.6

156.7

Apple strudel

1.6

1.1

19.7

95.2

Brioche

8.2

10.4

54.0

345.1

Cocoa snail

7.0

24.0

59.0

487.0

Cake

9.3

9.5

49.6

323.6

Bundt

10.0

8.7

58.0

352.4

Jam tart

8.0

6.0

57.0

315.3

Poppy seed strudel

13.2

24.0

19.5

354.2

Sour cherry pie

3.2

9.3

35.7

241.9

Sour cherry strudel

5.3

18.1

48.5

383.4

Muffin

4.2

27.0

49.0

463.9

Pancake

5.0

12.0

25.0

231.5

Sponge Roll

4.2

12.0

62.0

376

Cottage cheese bundle

11.0

6.0

51.0

303.3

Cottage cheese strudel

10.4

4.0

26.2

183.3

Cereal flakes

Cereal flakes (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Granola

8.8

16.8

55.9

414.7

Mush

11.9

0.8

18.0

126.8

Cornflakes

7.5

0.4

80.8

356.0

Cereal

11.2

3.3

66.6

341.2

Rye flakes

14.4

2.6

64.0

337.0

Cereal

16.8

6.9

55.6

353.2

Instant meals

Soup (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Apple soup

0.2

0.2

14.7

61.3

Bean soup

6.1

3.2

15.5

116.0

Broccoli soup

5.7

12.3

14.7

196.0

Potato soup

1.8

1.0

12.8

67.6

Stock

1.2

1.0

6.0

38.0

Broth

1.7

2.6

0.5

33.0

Frankfurt soup

4.1

10.9

8.9

153.5

Goulash soup

4.6

4.3

8.5

92.3

Fruit soup

0.7

3.8

9.6

76.5

Fish soup

15.5

4.9

4.5

125.5

Bouillon, richly

7.1

4.8

6.3

98.2

Kale soup with pinch

4.2

4.8

13.0

113.4

Cauliflower

1.0

1.4

3.9

32.6

Cabbage soup

4.0

5.8

2.8

81.2

Brussels sprouts soup

1.5

1.9

2.4

33.3

Lentil soup with sausage

2.9

3.3

6.9

69.9

Beef soup

5.5

3.3

8.8

87.8

Sour cherry soup

2.4

0.9

15.6

80.2

Palóc soup

4.3

4.8

3.5

75.9

Tomato soup

2.8

2.8

14.6

95.5

Chicken soup

6.7

4.0

4.3

81.2

Green Bean soup

1.1

0.4

8.3

41.2

Pea soup

3.1

0.9

11.6

67.0

Main course (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Chicken paprikash

13.4

11.1

6.8

184.1

Milanese macaroni

15.2

11.5

22.0

255.6

Potato casserole

5.9

14.6

7.5

189.5

Casserole kale

7.4

7.5

12.7

150.1

Fried chicken

21.4

4.5

0.5

129.3

Fried cod fillet

8.3

1.4

0.1

46.6

Szekely Cabbage

9.2

7.4

5.0

125.6

Stuffed Cabbage

14.0

11.2

7.6

190.6

Side dish (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Potato croquettes

4.5

15.5

14.5

220.0

French salad

2.8

10.3

11.4

152.7

Noodles

8.9

4.3

44.3

252.3

French fries

4.7

13.1

33.6

274.9

Parsley potatoes

1.6

5.8

18.7

135.1

Rice

2.9

2.6

25.4

137.1

Egg barley

5.5

1.6

27.0

144.6

Vegetable side dishes

(100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy

(kcal)

Bean pottage

6.1

3.7

16.6

125.1

Potato stew

6.7

3.9

16.0

126.9

Kale stew

1.5

0.8

6.0

37.4

Lentils

17.0

2.7

18.0

164.8

Tomato cabbage

2,1

0.3

9.5

49.1

Spinach, spinach

3.7

3.3

8.4

79.0

Yellow pea stew

7.7

2.4

20.8

136.1

Pumpkin stew

3.3

3.7

14.5

105.5

Green bean

8.9

10.3

24.1

227.7

Green pea stew

3.6

1.6

15.2

89.9

Sauces and dipping

Sauces and dipping

(100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Barbecue sauce

1.0

2.0

30.0

142.3

Bolognese sauce

10.8

8.1

4.6

136.9

Chili sauce

0.7

0.8

26.0

114.0

Garlic Cream

2.0

4.0

14.0

101.1

Ketchup

1.4

0.3

23.0

100.2

Mayonnaise

1.2

68.0

4.8

657.7

Milanese sauce

8.2

7.3

7.7

131.5

Mustard

5.0

6.0

5.0

95.8

Tartar sauce

2.7

15.5

6.4

180.8

Salads

Salads (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Caesar salad

9.8

3.8

6.8

101.7

Greek salad

3.4

8.5

4.6

111.1

Iceberg lettuce

1.8

1.6

4.7

40.8

Coleslaw

0.8

0.1

3.6

18.5

Rucola Italian salad

0.9

0.3

3.8

21.5

Tzatziki salad

2.1

3.4

5.3

61.2

Cucumber salad

1.0

3.8

4,5

57.4

Mixed salad

0.8

3.7

4.7

56.4

Vitamin salad

1.4

0.9

4.2

30.7

Desserts

Desserts and sweets (100 g)

Protein (g)

Fat (g)

Carbohydrate (g)

Energy (kcal)

Sponge finger

8.0

4.0

78.0

380.4

Sugared pancake

7.6

8.8

34.5

250.0

Donut

10.3

10.6

49.6

337.8

White chocolate

5.9

32.1

59.0

558.1

Chestnut puree

2.0

1.8

44.1

200.7

Gummy Bear

4.3

0.1

76.0

321.3

Household biscuits

7.0

8.9

79.5

428.1

Linzer

5.2

21.3

54.1

435.1

Poppy seed dough

13.5

7.2

35.6

263.0

Honey Macaroons

7.1

2.0

79.8

365.4

Peanut cream

5,4.

29.7

56.8

525.0

Peanut butter

22.2

51.4

17.3

636.7

Neapolitan

6.3

28.0

55.0

505.5

Pancake

6.6

12.0

25.0

237.9

Sponge Roll

4.2

12.0

62.0

376.0

Milk chocolate

7.7

29.7

56.0

531.0

Cottage Cheese Dumplings

15.6

7.9

28.4

249.2

Curd snack

4.5

4.9

19.9

143.0

Ice cream

3.5

11.0

22.9

207.9

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Myths

The human body

Nutritional supplements

Nutritional supplements

As I mentioned in the previous chapters, a distinction needs to be made between dietary supplements, performance enhancers, steroids and dope agents. Nutritional supplements are products that supplement your diet, vitamins and minerals. These are consumed during our meals, but due to our high level of physical activity, we are unable to take them in sufficient quantities with our meals alone. This is most common with professional athletes, or with people who practice relatively high intensity workout next to work. The recommended amounts, unless given in kilograms of body weight, are based on the intake of an average person (70 kilograms 170 centimeters tall).

Vitamin C

The recommended daily intake of vitamin C is 30 mg / kg body weight / day, evenly distributed. You can increase the dose if you are ill, you smoke, have muscle fever, or have some inflammation, but no one needs more than 50 mg / kg / day. The water-soluble vitamin is therefore impossible to overdose and has no side effects. You simply pee the excess. It is important for everyone to take it for the sake of health, especially in the autumn and winter months and this is also true for those who do not exercise.

Fish oil

The recommended daily amount of fish oil is 3-9 g / day. It is available in 1 gram capsules and it is recommended that you take 1 capsule 3 times a day. Those who work a lot can take 2-3 capsules 3 times a day. People with high blood pressure and high cholesterol are also advised to have 3 times 3 capsules. Fish oil is the primary source of the essential Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 from sea fish, oilseeds (use only walnuts because the rest is too high in Omega 6 content), linseed and olive oil (buy cold pressed only, use cold only for salad, because while cooking and baking it turns into toxic substances) and you can take it from specially made dietary supplements, such as oil capsules. They serve as energy sources, but they also have many health-preserving properties. They play a role in protecting the joints, lowering high cholesterol, lowering hypertension, reducing inflammation and increasing fat metabolism. I have seen many bodybuilding diets that you should drink a spoonful of linseed oil, while in vegan diet a spoonful of olive oil is advisable. Neither is correct. It’s not allowed to drink oil no matter what kind it is. Drinking oil has long been a cure for constipation, precisely because, when diluted, it passes through the intestinal wall, making it slippery and helping drive the unfortunate. If you use it for quick emptying in the morning, it's great, but don't overdo it. Either put it in a capsule or pour it into a salad or soak in bread, but don't drink it.

Multivitamins and minerals

There are so many quantitative rules, so I can't give you advice on that. Many people believe that the most important nutritional supplement is protein. I would respectfully dispute this. The simplest answer to why is that your body needs vitamins and minerals even if you are not training. The broader, yet easy-to-understand answer is that your body has a lot of biochemical processes going on every day. Performing these processes will have a qualitative impact on your health. To increase the efficiency of these biochemical processes, it is necessary to provide the body with the appropriate amount of bio-catalyst, or commonly known as vitamins and minerals, every day, especially when doing extra physical exercise in addition to daily activities.

Joint protecting

There are so many quantitative rules, so I can't give you guidance on this one either. A joint protector is a must for anyone who is training and / or has a body weight of 100 kg or more. Don’t think you don’t need it. I strongly point out that if you get in trouble, it's too late. Joint pain can be prevented, not eliminated. When the pain appears, it can be treated to decrease it. You can “maintain” your joints so that you are not in a worse condition, but from that point on, you should always deal with this problem and expect it to always hurt. I'm sorry if this is bad news for someone and it's too late for them to learn it because their joints are already in trouble. When I was a teenager, my trainers wouldn't tell me either. Later, I only learned from experience. Many people struggle with this problem, so I would advise the lucky ones to use it. Don't feel sorry for the money. Prevent trouble, don't let it hurt you for a lifetime. Collagen supplements are useful in maintaining the safety of the cartilage and also contribute to the health and beauty of the skin, hair, and nails. The effects of product that contain MSM (methyl sulfonyl methane) are controversial, although they are regularly sold in nutritional supplements as a joint protection.

Isotonic drinks

Appropriate carbohydrate matrices are particularly important before, during and after exercise. In such cases, rapid absorption is important, and of course as always, quality carbohydrates. That is why we can cover this with isotonic drinks. Let's stop here, because there are many concepts, and where there are many concepts, people are confused. There is the energy drink, the sports drink, the isotonic drink, and there is the hypotonic drink.

Energy drink is a consumer good. It was not invented for training, but as another luxury good opposed to coffee. It’d absolutely not recommended for exercise. Sports drink is a generic term. It includes all types of drinks that are designed for sports, including energy-free preparations, but even water is considered to be such. The hypotonic drink has a carbohydrate content below 4%. The word "hypo" means below the level because it is below the proper input level. I recommend this drink for light training.

Isotonic drinks have a carbohydrate content of 4-8%. Higher carbohydrate content is not recommended, as carbohydrate utilization has been shown to be 1g / min during activity, resulting in 60g per hour. Higher doses can already cause digestive problems, bloating, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.

As I described above, your body has a normal "carbohydrate household" that you need to maintain. Your organs need a lot of energy to burn from carbohydrates. With your body's proper defense mechanisms, it will replenish the warehouses that provide it at all costs. If you do not get it externally, you will begin to "break down" your muscles. You can take any BCAA and as much protein as you can, but you will not grow significantly because you can’t reprogram your body. It will protect your brain and your body at the expense of your muscles and it doesn't care about the beach season. The amount of money you have spent on BCAA and protein you could use to light the stove. You would have gain more. Not to mention that carbohydrate charging drastically increases your performance (for me, it was over 10%) so it helps with harder training and faster development. However, it should be added that personalized doses should be experienced as soon as possible as excessive amounts of carbohydrates help obesity. To do this, you need to know what type of body type you have as described in the chapter on "Nutrition". This includes the amount you take with your meal and the amount you take with the nutritional supplement. Of course, in the first phase of the test, be prepared for sudden nausea due to carbohydrate deficiency. Pack some glucose tabs, carbonated soft drink or pre-made isotonic drink.

Another problem I have encountered is that people don’t have enough money so they save wherever they know, which usually has an impact on isotonic drinks. A simple homemade recipe can help with the problem. Grab a 1- 1.5 liter bottle. Add 4 dl of 100% orange juice, 6 dl of clear water, then add 1/3 teaspoon salt and 1/3 teaspoon sugar. Mix it and you already have 1 liter of orange flavored isotonic drink.

Protein or weight gain supplements

If you are trying out a weight gain supplement, I suggest choosing the smallest possible package for the first time. The reason for this is that for people with slow metabolism this can lead to rapid obesity. If a small package doesn't look like anything extra to you, you can continue to use it. For others, protein is a good choice. It is also worthwhile to pay attention to the amounts and calculate the appropriate doses based on your weight and age. In the “Nutrition” chapter, I will go into great detail about protein intake, so I will not do it here.

Other

This includes everything that can help your training and development.

Arginine

Arginine is a partially essential micronutrient, (an amino acid that is essential to children) because depending on physical activity our body may not be able to produce it in sufficient quantities. It is also known as growth hormone boosting agent due to its protein synthesis, immune and nervous system strengthening effects. This made it popular with those aiming to increase lean muscle mass or lose fat.

Arginine has no known toxic effect, but don’t exceed 20 grams per day.

BCAA

BCAA is a mixture of essential amino acids called leucine, isoleucine and valine (2-1-1, but there are already 3-1-1 and 8-1-1 mixtures). They are essential amino acids for the human body, which means that the body is unable to produce them. The only source of these is nutrition and nutritional supplements. This is especially important for your body if you are doing heavy physical work and / or training. It is true that essential amino acids can be converted by your body into other amino acids, but I have to emphasize that nutritional supplements do not replace good nutrition. Recommended daily intake of essential amino acids.

Isoleucine 3 grams

Leucine 6 grams

Lysine         3 grams

Methionine 3 grams

Phenyl alanine 1.5 grams

Threonic 2 grams

Tryptophan 2 grams

Valine         3 grams

Creatine

Creatine is an organic acid that plays a key role in the energy supply of cells, especially muscle fibers. This is because creatine becomes creatine phosphate and the resulting phosphate group plays an important role in the formation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which delivers chemical energy inside the cells. Creatine is made up of amino acids called arginine, glycine, and methionine. It helps to keep the muscles hydrated, to increase and strengthen the muscle fibers. That's why it is used by athletes to achieve greater performance. Nowadays there are many different types available so you can choose this one as well. Cyclic use is recommended for all varieties. In most cases you need to take it in for 8 weeks and then have a pause for 4 weeks (2/1 ratio). It may be worth combining it with a testosterone booster. While you’re not taking one, you charge with the other so the body doesn’t feel any loss. As with most nutritional supplements, you need to try more in order to find the right one, so I can't give you the recommended amount.

Glutamine

Glutamine is a semi-essential amino acid, but it is very important for maintaining health, especially for athletes. The primary nutrient for intestinal bacteria. At high physical exertion, the body is able to use it to gain energy and to replenish glycogen stores after exercise. However, it deprives the intestinal bacteria of the nutrients that causes decrease in the digestive system's defense. Glutamine is a precursor to the antioxidant glutathione, which protects against free radicals and thus strengthens the healthy immune system. Causes muscle cells to hydrate, triggers anabolic processes, increases muscle volume and protects against overwork. Recommended daily intake is 10 grams spread over the day.

L-carnitine

It plays a role in fat burning. Helps in the formation of ketone bodies that are created by fatty tissues, thus creating an ideal state for energy recovery from fat. However, the use of the ketone bodies requires energy which can only be achieved through physical activity. There is no effect without training because ketones are stored again. It’s recommended for dieters. The maximum daily dose is 2 grams, preferably divided by multiple intakes. Studies have shown that L-carnitine administered externally can only be utilized when the body is deficient in L-carnitine. In case you have enough of it additional taking is unnecessary.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Nutrition

Doping and Steroids

Performance Enhancing Supplements

Performance-Enhancing Supplements

By "performance enhancers" I mean taking products that are designed to increase your physical activity by using authorized doping drugs that are not prescribed by the WADA Prohibited List and are not intended to supplement your diet. There is a huge variety. I will talk about only those which I am taking.

Pre-workout

Many people call it spin or pre-workout. One of the most popular easy aids. These products are popular for boosting heart rate and antihypertensive effect. You should take half an hour before training to be tuned in at the beginning of your workout. The oxygen uptake is increased, heart rate and metabolic processes are accelerated. In one word, the muscles' energy supply improves, creating the conditions for perfect exercise. The reason for the increase in heart rate is that caffeine and/or taurine and/or guarana are essential ingredients in these products. In addition to these, of course, there are many other ingredients, depending on the model and manufacturer, thereby widening the palette to find the one that suits you the best. I recommend products that contain high doses of beta-alanine, so you don't have to replace it separately. It is good to change every 3 to 6 months, as the body may become accustomed to a particular type and therefore lose its effectiveness later on.

Testosterone Booster

It is worth clarifying what this is because many people confuse it with steroids while the effect is exactly the opposite. Testosterone boosters optimize your own testosterone production. It is based on tribule, also known as tribulus terrestris. As you get older, your testosterone production will become less efficient, which worsens over time, so you need to optimize it. I would foretell that under the age of 25, it makes no sense to use it, because then your production will be at its highest. Over the age of 30, it is worth starting to become friends with this product because of the extra effect it has at the gym. People over 40 should not necessarily use it for exercise, but because tribule has a positive effect on sexual desire and performance. Younger ones can use it for this purpose. It’s also recommended for many couples who have a difficult time with getting a baby. The use of steroids will have the opposite effect. This is when you inject testosterone externally, which stops your own production because the body no longer produces if you already have too much. This can cause major issue, which I will discuss in the section on "Doping substances and steroids". I don’t recommend steroids to anyone, but if you do, then take it cyclically and between cycles, be sure to use testosterone booster to restore your own production. However, I recommend cyclic use as it may decrease its effectiveness if the body gets used to it. Again, it is good to try different products and sometimes change the model.

Beta-Alanine

It is advisable to take it to maintain the pH of the muscles and to push the limit of muscle fatigue. In fact, this effect is achieved by carnosine. However, carnosine is a two linked amino acid consisting of beta-alanine and L-histidine. Its acid-binding effect plays an important role in increasing athletic performance because, during exercise, the pH of the muscles is lowered, which means that an acidic state arises. This causes that certain burning sensation and muscle fatigue. Carnosine protects the muscles from acidification, thus preventing muscle fatigue. Research has shown that taking beta-alanine can increase muscle carnosine levels by up to 60% and increased muscle carnosine levels can increase muscle performance by up to 20%. Before you would buy it it's a good idea to look at the nutritional supplements you are taking. The recommended daily amount of beta-alanine is 2-4 grams, and plenty of pre-workout products and isotonic drinks have this ingridient, so taking it separately is completely unnecessary.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Nutrition

Supplements

Doping and steroids

Doping and steroids

Let’s talk about the dangers of anabolic steroids. There are other types of steroids in your body and in medicine, that are not anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids increase the growth of bones and muscles through androgen receptors. This is why bodybuilders use it. Besides this, while on steroids, you can increase your muscle mass while losing fat. Every bodybuilder use this, and this is why I don’t recommend bodybuilding as a sport, as I don’t recommend steroids. The life expectancy of bodybuilders are shorter compared to other athletes or non-athletes. What’s more, they are at bigger risk of illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, metabolism difficulties, personality change, liver damage, cardiovascular difficulties, high cholesterol and blood pressure. There are exceptions as genetics greatly influence your body.

One of the side effects of steroids is outbursts. Increased testosterone levels cause you to be more aggressive. You can control this, but can’t avoid it. If a person is aggressive without steroids, then he’ll get outbursts too. You must have seen videos on the internet where a bodybuilder gets in the face of his rival or a judge. This is why.

Let’s not talk about statistics and side-effects now. The reason why I wanted to write a chapter about this is a huge misconception which could have dire results. Some internet ‘experts’ say that steroids don’t cause depression. This may not seem like a big problem, but it is. While it’s true that steroids themselves don’t cause depression (but this is not entirely true, as there are recorded cases), but you can fall into deep depression after steroid use. This is especially dangerous for young people. More and more teenagers use this in order to get better at sports, get into university or win a race. There are two problems; one is that you can get addicted to steroids, similar to drugs. The other is that you get steroids externally, which stops your internal hormone production. If you use testosterone, ask your doctor how to gradually stop your steroid cycle in order to start hormone production again. Many people stop their cycle suddenly which is dangerous, as your hormone production needs 1 to 3 weeks to start again, but I’ve also heard that depending on the length and regularity of use, this could take even a year. All in all, this means that high testosterone levels are followed by low testosterone levels. Low testosterone causes deep depression, which, in many cases, resulted in suicide. What’s more, young people are more susceptible to negative effects, as your body can develop until the age of 21. Parts of your body that are still developing could be; pituitary gland, the testicles, thyroid, pancreas, bone length, tendons and ligaments. Teenagers, even in cases of short use, stop the development of these glands, which means that they will never reich their full potential. They cause irreversible damage in the production of testosterone, sperm, insulin and pancreatic hormones. Their bodies won’t have balanced hormone levels.

Steroids can also induce osteoporosis, which slows down the growth of bones. If you use steroids before the age of 21, you probably won’t reach your height or shoulder width genetic potential. While their bones become stronger, they also become less flexible, making them prone to bone injuries.

Another issue is that the muscle increasing effects of steroids strain the tissues. This causes irregular tendon and ligament growth and connection to muscle and bone. This leads to ligament tear and tendon injury. You must have seen videos of buff guys benching where their chest muscles got torn off. This is why.

Another problem is that steroids increase cholesterol levels. This causes artery sclerosis or even clogging. This increases the risk of blood clots. The blood clot could appear in several places. If it appears in the heart, it increases the risk of having a heart attack, could also cause pulmonary embolism in the lungs and it increases the risk of having a stroke if the blood clot appears in the brain.

You must have heard the expression that steroid users are like huge, three door wardrobes with tiny keys. While this is not false, let’s avoid misunderstandings. The reason why steroids are recommended to be used in cycles (with temporary pauses) is that it stops testosterone production in your body. This means that the testicles no longer produce testosterone and they begin to shrink. Extremely heavy steroid use could cause someone’s testicles to shrink to a level where they will never recover, which means your body will never produce testosterone again. So your penis won’t shrink, but your testicles will. The penis could ‘shrink’ in a way though, as you could even carry buckets of water at first due to high levels of testosterone, but as your own hormone production stops, your sex drive will dramatically decrease. You could call this erectile dysfunction, but this varies person to person.

Women are at more risk from steroid use. Testosterone is also called the male hormone, so taking it is not recommended for women. Women’s adrenal glands and ovaries also produce minimal amounts of testosterone. Steroid user women start to become manly. Body hair growth increases, their clitoris gets larger and their voices become deeper due to their vocal chords becoming thicker. The same happens to men’s vocal chords, but the effect is less noticeable. Their muscles become manlier and their breasts get smaller. Their hair and skin starts to age faster, as the same happens in men. It’s bad for their menstrual cycle and in the case of pregnancy, the fetus develops to be manlier, which is very problematic if the baby is a girl.

People often misunderstand doping. Unfortunately, there’s no exact definition except the definition of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA): 'Doping' refers to an athlete's use of prohibited drugs or methods to improve training and sporting results.’

This definition is not the best as it does not list the prohibited drugs. However, simply put, doping is using everyday things in big doses. This is why professional athletes need to get a medical license from their doctors to confirm that they were treating an illness with medicine. Let’s say that you have a headache, so you take some painkillers, but you also have allergy and you take an allergy pill. That’s it, you may have failed the doping test. Certain elements count as doping in large doses, but this could also be a method, not a drug. Blood doping is when someone takes down their own blood, then injects it back before the race. Of course, it’s not this simple, so don’t try this yourself as you could die. Professionals and technology are both needed for this process.

Athletes are competing to win the Olympics or a World Championship, so they regularly try to enhance their performance with dangerous drugs, even despite the bad consequences. This is why WADA is actively developing new methods to screen cheaters. The prohibition list is refreshed every year, and if someone lands on it, their previous achievements, going back a decade, could be taken away if they find prohibited drugs in their system with the help of new methods.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Nutrition

Supplements

Performance Enhancing Supplements

Exercises

I will try to separate the individual muscle groups, but this is not an easy task, which is why I don’t deal with the individual muscle fibers within each muscle group. You need to bear in mind that there are no exercises that work only on a single muscle group because your body, like your muscles, form a complex system. I also can’t describe the correct implementation of each exercise, so I will only illustrate my personal favorites and the most basic practices.

Before we start, let's clarify the most basic rules.

Don't be afraid to ask.

Investigate the exercises you would like to try out.

Find out what exercises you need to achieve your goal.

Lot of times I see that people go down to the gym and then copy other people. The issue with this is that other people also don’t know what they are doing. I have already said that everyone should find what’s the most suitable for them. Why would you copy other’s actions? Every gym or club has a coach. Don't be afraid to ask him or her for help. Remember, this is why they are there. That is why they are getting paid. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to be in doubt. Unfortunately, most of these coaches are not over-trained. Check out the web, read technical books, watch tutorial videos, go down to trainer-held workouts, even for a single occasion. It is already a huge step to read this book.

Upper body exercises

Back exercises

Exercise name: Deadlift

Muscle used: Lower and middle back muscles, trapezius, thighs, hips

Secondary Muscles: Full Body Exercise

Description: Deadlift is one of the three basic exercises, the third exercise of lifting. Unfortunately, the illustration is not the best, because it is more like a Romanian pull up. When lifting it up you need to sit in the exercise. Try to tighten your shoulders as best as you can. The feet should stand parallel, about the same distance from each other as if you want to jump from one place. After all, the movement is similar. You want to exert an upward force, but now not to push off the ground, but to lift a weight off the ground. Many people do it by trying too much weight, so without moving the weight, they first stretch their legs and then try to lift them from the waist down. When lifting if the dumbbell is not being raised with the workout of the leg then the weight is too much to lift. Take back on the weights and do it normally. Another common mistake is to push your hips forward after a dead end to put weight on because it is too heavy. Any such small mistakes are dangerous because your back will lose its correct position. It must be straight or concave the whole time. Further major mistake is that many people throw away the weight after lifting it up. Putting down the weight is also part of the exercise. That is why they have created a rule in the powerlifting sport. If you throw down the weight instead of putting it down the lift doesn’t count. I recommend the implementation of this rule for everyone.

Tools: For heavier weights, use a weight lifting belt. The hand grip strengthener affects the amount of weight raised. You can use bandage if your grip is not strong enough, but I suggest you try the uneven first. One palm looks up and the other looks back.

Exercise name: Bent-Over Rows

Muscle used: Wide back

Secondary muscles: Trapezius, rhomboid, biceps

Description: To do this exercise, you only need to lean forward so that you can fully extend your arms without your knees in the way. Make sure your feet are bent and your torso held steady at every moment of the exercise. Many hold the bar tight, almost next to their bodies. This exercise is only beneficial if you are practicing with underhand as if you want to train for biceps. In case of overhands it is advisable to use a width close to the pressure width when lying down.

Tools: There is no need for clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Shrugs

Muscle used: Trapezius

Secondary muscles: Deltoid

Description: Begin the exercise with a straight arm. You should pull your shoulders up as if you want to touch them with your ears. Minimally bend your wrists and arms during exercise to keep your elbows away from your body. This way you can increase tension in the herniated muscle. You can also so exercise with dumbbells.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Front Lat Pulldown

Muscle used: Wide back muscles

Secondary muscles: Biceps, forearm

Description: This exercise is great for those who are unable to pull up due to their body weight, physical strength or other reasons. This exercise is sometimes called "Front Lat Pulldown ", but it's not the right expression. We also pull up to the chin or a bit below it. This exercise replaces this, so you don't have to pull it down to your chest. Even the name says that you are pulling it in front. Those who pull it to the breast tend to lean too far and don’t pull at the right angle. It’s important to note that the back should not move in this case. Slightly lean back and look upwards, as shown in the illustration, then pull the bar down to the neck. You don't have to lean back and forth.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Pull up

Muscle used: Wide back muscles

Secondary muscles: Biceps, forearm

Description: During the exercise perform only vertical movements. There is no point in doing caterpillar push up like in crossfit. Doing so will maximally damage your joints. You need to perform the entire series of movements, meaning pull yourself up to the chin and lower yourself until your arm is fully stretched.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Dumbbell rowing

Muscle used: Upper back muscles

Secondary muscles: Rear deltoid, arm muscles

Description: You need to kneel on the bench as if you were straddling, but instead of one leg, the bench leans on the ground. The thigh on the bench should be positioned in perpendicular to your upper body and bench. The arm resting on the bench is located at the top of the bench with stretched fingers. The same arm on the bench should be perpendicular to the upper body and the bench. You need to look at the bench. The working arm runs alongside the body until the weight touches your body. As you pull, the foot on the floor will be stretched all the way out and should not help you in the movement. Don’t rotate your hips or torso while working.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Abdominal wall exercises

Exercise name: Crunches

Muscle used: Upper abdomen

Secondary muscles: Abdominal muscle

Description: The essence of any abdominal exercise is to bring your hips and chest closer together. With each abdominal muscle exercise you can do it in a different way. This is its simplest form. By straining the abdominal wall, you lift your shoulder blade off the ground and repeat it.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Leg and hip thrust on the floor

Muscle used: Lower abdomen

Secondary muscles: Hip

Description: The abdominal wall gets heavier load due to lifting heavier weight. The more you can stretch out your legs the harder the exercise. However, it should not be stretched out so that you unlock your knee. In that case, the extra workload does not help the job anymore, but makes it harder because you will not be able to completely turn off other assisting muscles.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Leg and hip thrust from bench

Muscle used: Lower abdomen

Secondary muscles: Hip

Description: This is a similar exercise to the previous one, except that you use an inclined bench for further load. The foot is located in the lower position, making it easier to reach the end position on a larger path and more difficult. The load increases significantly. Again, the leg should not be fully stretched.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Hanging Leg Raise

Muscle used: Lower abdomen

Secondary muscles: Hip

Description: This is similar to the situation before. In this case the further load means lifting up the leg. This makes it even harder to get to the end position. As with the lighter versions, here, the more you can stretch your legs, the harder the exercise is and you should not unlock your knees here.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Chest exercise

Exercise name: Bench press

Muscle used: Chest

Secondary muscles: Anterior deltoid, triceps

Description: One of the three basic exercises, the second of powerlifting. You need to experience the grip width. You need to have enough grip width, so that when you lower the weight to the bottom of your sternum, your upper arm should go just below your backline. For the sake of shoulder’s safety, they should be stretched as far back as possible. This position can be achieved by pushing your chest as far as you can. Therefore, it is not correct to say that the entire back should touch the bench during exercise. Hips and scapula should rest on the bench. Do not lift your hips during exercise. Many people do this because the weight is too heavy, and by lifting the hips, the length and direction of the pressure changes, allowing new muscle groups to help with the movement. That is, it relieves your breast muscle. To maintain a safe basic position, your feet should grip the ground with the full bottom. Many people put their feet on the bench. I would tell every training newbie that the involvement of stabilizing deep muscles in workflows should not be practiced when lying down under pressure.

The weight moves vertically during exercise. It is a regular, measured practice, when you have a 2: 1 ratio between the time of lowering and pressing out, so that you hold the weight for a tenth of a second when you touch the chest. This way you can’t cheat with the swing nor by bouncing the rod on your breast. I recommend this in every exercise.

Tools: Wristband is mandatory. For larger weights, you may want to use a weightlifting belt.

Exercise name: Incline barbell bench press

Muscle used: Chest

Secondary muscles: Anterior deltoid, triceps

Description: You need a grip of such width that when you lower the weight to the middle of your sternum, your upper arm should go just below your back. The weight can only move vertically during exercise. Your feet should be fully down throughout the whole exercise. Everything is similar to bench press.

Tools: Wristband is mandatory. For larger weights, you may want to use a weightlifting belt.

Exercise name: Dumbbell bench press

Muscle used: Chest

Secondary muscles: Anterior deltoid, triceps

Description: Don’t hold the hand dumbbells parallel to each other. The arms should be kept in the position as in bench press, but your upper arm is not perpendicular to your upper body in the position below. It doesn't have to be here either. To keep your wrists from tensioning so much, it's a good idea to rotate the weights so that your thumb is higher than your little finger. You can see in the illustration below. Your feet should also be on the ground to keep you stable. It is more difficult to hold and guide weights here than when pressed down with a bar.

Tools: Wristband is mandatory. For larger weights, you may want to use a weightlifting belt.

Exercise name: Dumbbell fly

Muscle used: Chest

Secondary muscles: Anterior deltoid, arm muscles

Description: Just like in the case of every other stretched arm exercise, the elbows are slightly bent and thus stiff for the duration of the exercise. Many people bend their arm to make the exercise easier and pull them up with biceps. Returning to the elbows be careful not to unhook it, because it is extremely harmful to the joints. That is why I don’t recommend weight lifting as a sport to anyone, because there is no way of doing without unhooking your elbow. You can clearly see in the illustration below that the arms with the upper body resemble the shape of a "T" letter. There is no need to lower weights deeper than your back. The feet should rest on the ground to maintain stability.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

Exercise name: Cross-Bench Dumbbell Pullover

Muscle used: Chest

Secondary muscles: Triceps

Description: Many people use it for triceps workouts and the explanation is very simple. The more your arms are bent, the less stress your breast gets and the more prominent your triceps will be. Try to stretch your arms as much as possible during the exercise. If you feel that your hips are lifting from the bench no matter what you do, then try stretching your legs to act as a kind of counterweight, but your feet should stay on the ground. Instead of the grip shown in the illustration, I prefer using a weight disc. Put your hands in front of you and create a triangle form by closing your hands and fingers together with your thumbs on top of each other. With this triangle form, you surround the dumbbell handle and hold the weight disc with your palms.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

Exercise name: High cable crossover

Muscle used: Chest

Secondary muscles: Arm muscles

Description: This is a great exercise to isolate your breast muscle. Due to the abnormal load, it is very difficult to replace it. To maintain stability and to be properly executed, you need to sit into it. For this reason, you should bend slightly forward with your back straight. Your eyes should follow the movement of your arms as you can see in the illustration. Your arms should also all the way be slightly stretched. These series of movements resemble wing beat. This is a good friend of breast muscle workouts together with low cable crossover.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

Exercise name: Cable crossover

Muscle used: Chest

Secondary muscles: Arm muscles

Description: By the looks of it, it’s similar to “cross-bench dumbbell pullover”. Keep your arms slightly bent all the way out. To maintain stability and to be properly executed, you need to gently sit into it. For this reason, you have to lean forward with your back straight. You can do it in a staggered position, as you can see in the illustration, but in this case, it is worth switching your feet for each series.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

Exercise name: Low cable crossover

Muscle used: Chest

Secondary muscles: Arm muscles

Description: Great exercise to isolate your breast muscle. Due to the unusual load dumbbells may only be replaced when standing. To maintain stability and to be properly executed, you should gently sit in and bend slightly forward with your back straight. You can do it in a staggered position, as you can see in the illustration, but in this case, it is worth switching your feet for each series.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

Exercise name: Dip

Muscle used: Chest

Secondary muscles: Triceps, front deltoid

Description: Many people use it as a triceps exercise and even though this is a misconception, it’s not irrational. The farther the two hands are positioned, the greater the strain on your chest. Then again if you are moving almost at hip width, your triceps will take over most of the work. Here you should also use a prim 2: 1 tempo. If you do the exercise energetically, you unintentionally help with the back.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

Leg exercises

Bottom exercises

Exercise name: Moving the foot backwards with the lower part

Muscle used: Gluteal

Secondary muscles: Hamstrings

Description: This is a gluteal activating exercise. The flexor muscle is inadvertently engaged in the movement, but concentrate on the muscles of the gluteal. It’s worth to lean onto something with your hangs to maintain stability.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Hip thrust

Muscle used: Gluteal

Secondary muscles: Hips, lower abdomen, thigh muscles

Description: By tensioning the butt lift your hips from the ground, then with the help of your hips and abdominal muscles raise them so that your makes a straight line from your chest to your knees, just like on the illustration. After that slowly lower your hips back to the starting position. The exercise can also be done with your shoulder blades lying on a bench and putting extra weight on the hip.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Hyperextension

Muscle used: Gluteal

Secondary muscles: Lower and middle back, thigh muscles

Description: Lie on your stomach with your arms and legs on the ground. Try to lift your feet off the ground by tightening the butt. To get more exercise, lift your arms out of the ground at the same time as lifting your legs, as if you wanted to lift your chest and then slowly lower it back to the starting position.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Thigh exercises

Exercise name: Squat

Muscle used: Vastus

Secondary muscles: Full body exercise

Description: One of the three basic exercises. The first practice of powerlifting. The feet should be -width shoulder apart and in 45’ angle looking outside. This position is the easiest to get into practice. Most people ruin it in the way that the position of their feet is not appropriate when they try to crouch, so their knees move forward instead of their hips going down. In addition, there is a lot of myth about how deep to squat. As shown in the illustration, the lower thigh and the back of the leg should be in right angle to the lower position. No need to go deeper. Many go too deep, and their bottom turn below them. This is hard to see, so I would suggest to look at yourself from side. It doesn’t matter whether your back bends or your butt turns into lower position. In both cases, you may be injured.

Although this exercise ranks high in every pro program, it is one of the most hated practices among amateurs. This is because of human vanity. Ladies love having nice buttocks and legs, while men like having big biceps, back and breast muscles. Also, men don’t like training on legs while women on breast and arms. The only common point that both genders prefer is the beautiful abdominal wall. That's why couples work out on their stomach. So, considering that mostly men go to the gym and they tend to exercise in the upper body, many people neglect to squat. However, proper leg training is also needed to achieve the right proportion. The strength of the feet is best enhanced by squatting.

Tools: You can put a towel behind your nape so that you don't put too much weight on it. For larger weights, it is worth using a weight lifting belt.

Exercise name: Stiff legged deadlift

Muscle used: Tightening thighs

Secondary muscles: Gluteus

Description: Here I will talk not only about this exercise but also about the Romanian pull-up. Many people think that these two exercises are the same, but that’s not the case. I’ve heard so many time at the gym "I don't feel my hamstrings, but my waist burst." Well, yes, because you're doing it wrong. The biggest problem with stiff legged deadlift is in its name. You shouldn’t do it with stiff legs. There is even a function for minimal knee bending and later straightening, but let's start from the beginning. You start from a narrow stride with your feet parallel to the front. You put the weight close to you, while bending your knees slightly, but just enough to have a pivot point in your hips that the muscles of your gluteus can stretch. You begin with stretching your knees back and then stretching out almost completely with the help of gluteus muscles. The waist and back muscles should not be strained at all.

Exercise name: Romanian deadlift

Muscle used: Lower back

Secondary muscles: Spine muscle

Description: I didn’t include this exercise as a back workout exercise in order to be next to deadlifts for easier understanding of the differences. The starting position is the same. The legs look forward in small straddle-stand with the knees slightly inclined for stability and a safe workout. Put the weight further from you so the pivot point is in the middle of your waist. Lower the weight to your knees. Start by flexing the waste muscles and then stretching with the lower back muscles. You can reach the peak contraction point if you lean back more than the vertical. This can be seen on the illustration.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt, but don’t use too much weight.

Exercise name: Split squat with barbell

Muscle used: Vastus

Secondary muscles: Buttock, hamstrings

Description: Stand upright and step out with one foot forward. Take a squat position with your front foot while your back foot is just touching the ground at the knee. You can also do the exercise by standing up from below, putting your back foot next to the front, or kicking your front foot back into the standing pose.

E       Exercise name: Side split squat

Muscle used: Leg muscles

Secondary muscles: Hips, buttock

Description: Stand upright, then step forward with one foot without tilting your hips. The feet look forward all the way in parallel. Crouch with the leg you step out and leave the other stretched. In the lower position, the buttocks should be in line of the back foot. If you have dumbbells you may want to lower them to the ankle of the bent leg. At the end of the exercise, put yourself back in the starting pose, then repeat the exercise with the opposite leg.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: 45 degree leg press

Muscle used: Vastus

Secondary muscles: Buttock, hamstrings

Description: Lower the weight so that the back of the thigh and the back of the leg are perpendicular to each other. After that press. The knees must not be unhooked when the leg is extended, as it has a detrimental effect on the joints. You can change the relative distance between the feet so that the various muscles are stimulated in many ways and you can train them better.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Thigh workout on a machine

Muscle used: Hamstrings

Secondary muscles: Hip

Description: Stretch your legs as shown in the illustration, then slowly release it. Exercise should be done slowly, carefully, instead of the 2: 1 already mentioned tempo so it with 1: 2 proportion, because here you do the work first and then release. So you push it out and release it twice as long. Many people spoil it by suddenly pushing the weight, and afterwards letting it without resistance.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Lying Leg curls

Muscle used: Hamstrings

Secondary muscles: Buttock

Description: Bend your legs so that the back of your thigh and the back of your leg are perpendicular to each other, then release it back to its starting position. Pay attention to slow and careful movements emphasized at a 1: 2 pace.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Calf exercises

Exercise name: Seated double leg calf raise

Muscle used: Calf (Soleus)

Secondary muscles:

Description: All calf exercises are extremely simple. You extend the foot by stretching it, then lowering the weights below the level of the foot pads, and this is the case with each calf exercise, whether standing, sitting, on a machine or without a weight.

Then why aren't the calves growing?

One of the reasons is that you don’t exercise enough. The calf is one of the special muscles because it is hard to exhaust it. They contain almost exclusively red muscle fibers, which are unable to exert much effort, but are also difficult to exhaust. The reason for this is that you use it on a permanent basis in everyday life, almost without stopping. Think about it. You walk, run, stand, shake your feet, turn, climb stairs, ride the bike, handle pedals in the car and balance on the bus. Therefore, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t respond to your 8-12 workouts. The basic number for calf training is 25-50.

Another reason is that you are doing it wrong. Many people are just pumping, that is, they are practicing in a bouncing way. I recommend you to do 25 times. Do it in a slow and careful 2: 1 tempo until you can, then start pumping until you have 25 times. By the 6th series you will probably pump that half of it.

The third problem is that you don’t know what you are training. It was no coincidence that I used the names of muscle fibers in brackets next to the calf exercises. Seated calf exercises train the Soleus muscle, which helps with calf width and knee stability. Standing exercises strengthen the Gastrocnemius muscle, which is the sightful part of the calves. If you are always doing a seated double leg calf raise don’t be surprised if it’s not sightful.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Double leg calf raise

Muscle used: Calf (Gastrocnemius)

Secondary muscles: Thigh

Description: By stretching the foot, you push the weight and then release the heels below the level of your toes. Do it slowly and carefully in 2: 1 tempo until you can, and then, if you can’t keep it anymore start pumping 25-50 times.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Arm exercises

Shoulder exercises

Exercise name: Barbell Front Raise

Muscle used: Front deltoid

Secondary muscles: Upper chest, mid-deltoid, trapezius

Description: Stand upright with your arms stretched out shoulders wide, raise the bar to eye level with your palms facing down, and then release back the weight. Here I also recommend 2: 1 pace. Bend your feet slightly to maintain balance. Your elbows should be slightly bent to protect your joints.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

Exercise name: Side Lateral Raise

Muscle used: Middle head of deltoid

Secondary muscles: Trapezius

Description: Stand upright, with slightly bent elbows and stiff arms. Lift the dumbbells to the side until your body and arms describe a "T" shape with your palms facing down. Then release it. In the above pose, place your little finger slightly above your thumb to help you focus more on the deltoid's middle head. You may want to do this exercise while sitting on a tilted bench, as you will be less prone to swing and less likely to cheat. In a standing position, bend your feet slightly and sit into it for a stable torso.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

Exercise name: Shoulder Press

Muscle used: Anterior and middle head of deltoid

Secondary muscles: Triceps

Description: Keep the weights slightly above the shoulder with the upper arm just below the water level. Push the weights over your head and then let them down. Perform the exercise in a 1: 1 slow, measured pace, unlike usual. When above your head don’t unhook your elbows. Keep your eyes looking in front of you and look up only when you’re pushing up the weights if that helps you keep your arms stable. However, your back should be straight, not concave as it may hurt your back. You may want to do the exercise on a tilted bench.

Biceps exercises

Exercise name: Barbell biceps curl

Muscle used: Biceps

Secondary muscles: Forearm

Description: Stand with your shoulders wide in a semicircle, bend your arms with your elbows pressed against your body and your palms facing up, then release the weight. Don’t make swinging movements as this will only relieve you of the area you want to train. To achieve a stable position, bend your legs slightly. It may be worth doing the exercise with a French barbell, because the exercise with straight barbell can cause wrist pain. Doing it with a straight barbell you can focus more on your biceps but it’s not worth it if you hurt your wrist in the meantime.

Exercise name: Seated dumbbell curl

Muscle used: Biceps

Secondary muscles: Forearm

Description: Sit on a slightly tilted bench (not the one you see in the illustration) and let the dumbbells next to you with your palms facing you. With your elbows close to you, in a semicircle, bend your arms as you rotate the weights with your palms facing upwards and then release the weight. Here I also suggest following a 1: 2 tempo. The exercise can be done with alternating arms, making sure that the upper body does not tilt in any direction and it can also be done in a standing position where it may be worth bending the leg to maintain stability.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

E       Exercise name: Alternating dumbbell curls

Muscle used: Biceps

Secondary muscles: Forearm

Description: Stand upright and rest your dumbbells next to you with your palms facing each other. Close your elbows in a semicircle and bend your arms without turning the weight. Bend your feet to maintain stability. The exercise can be done on a tilted bench or by touching your opposite side of the chest with one arm in front.

Tools: Wristband is recommended.

Triceps Exercises

Exercise name: Close Grip Bench Press

Muscle used: Triceps

Secondary muscles: Chest, deltoid’s middle head

Description: It differs from the bench press in a way that you have to grab the barbell at shoulder width and in the lower position you should lower the weight to the top of the abdomen so that your elbows run along the body. The back should be concave so that the shoulders are as far back as possible, with the feet flat on the ground, the hips and shoulders remaining on the bench at every moment of exercise. Those who have wrist problems should practice with a French barbell.

Tools: Wristband is a must.

Exercise name: Skull crusher

Muscle used: Triceps

Secondary muscles: Forearm

Description: Lie on the horizontal bench and hold the French bar in front of you with your arms perpendicular to your upper body. You have to fix your upper arm in this position. Lower the forearm in a semicircle to your forehead and push it back to the starting position.

Tools: Wristband is a must.

Exercise name: Triceps extensions behind head with barbell

Muscle used: Triceps

Secondary muscles: Deltoid’s anterior and middle head

Description: It is a good idea to do the exercise on a slightly tilted bench. Sit upright and lift the French barbell with your arms extended over your head. You have to fix your upper arm in this position. Lower your forearm in a semicircle to the back of the head and push it back to the starting position.

Tools: Wristband is a must.

Exercise name: Triceps dips

Muscle used: Triceps

Secondary muscles: Every deltoid head, chest

Description: Squat cross between two benches. Grasp the bench behind your back with your palms facing back and your arms outstretched. Put your heel on the bench with your leg stretched. Lower yourself by bending your arms, then push yourself to the starting position. I recommend using a 2: 1 tempo.

Tools: Wristband is a must.

Forearm exercises

Exercise name: Wrist Curl

Muscle used: Forearm

Secondary muscles:

Description: Sit on a bench. The forearm should be either horizontal at the end of the bench or on your thighs, but important thing is that your wrist should extend on your thighs or on the bench. Your palms should face up. Lower the bar with your hand hanging and tilt it up by bending your wrist. You can also do the reverse exercise, which is good because the forearm is full of tiny muscles and you can use both of these techniques to thoroughly train all of them.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Other exercises

Exercise name: Burpee

Muscle used: Full body exercise

Secondary muscles: Full body exercise

Description: The original Burpee was invented by Royal Huddleston Burpee in 1939, which looked like this.

1. Squat down.

2. Jump into the push-up.

3. Jump back into the squat position.

4. Stand up.

Over the years, the original version has changed. Today after 4th step they tell you to dynamically jump up and clap above your head. Plus, there is already a 6-step form, where you bend your arms and stretch from the push up position and then jump back into the squat and then up. Each version is powerful and extremely hard. Not recommended for overweight people.

Exercise name: Running

Muscle used: Legs

Secondary muscles: Full body exercise

Description: Dynamic running is not equivalent to fast pacing. When running, there is a moment when both feet are in the air. You arrive at your heel and roll over your sole all the way to your toes. This will make your movement airy and you won’t trap like a rhinoceros. The torso rotates as you run and you swing it forward with the opposite arm to the front foot. This is one of the most complex and difficult task for the human body. I've seen to many times coaches making their new patients run, but they couldn't do worse. Those who are unfamiliar with healthy lifestyle, regular exercise, and ideal body weight should not start running. I also agree with Michael Boyle's creed. We are not running to be trained. We want to be trained so we can run.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt, however you need shoes and treadmills designed for this purpose, or on a dedicated track or ground, not on concrete.

Exercise name: Exercise bicycle

Muscle used: Legs

Secondary muscles: Full body exercise

Description: Ideal for beginners and everyone. You may want to do interval training where you adjust your rest time to your heart rate. I will tell you more about this in the chapter “Those on diet”.

Exercise name: Jumping rope

Muscle used: Legs

Secondary muscles: Full body exercise

Description: Ideal exercise for beginners and everyone, but not for overweight people. Rather, it is used as a kind of warm-up exercise, but it may be worth doing it as interval training, in a superset of other exercises.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Stretching exercises

Exercise name: Standing Forward Bend

Muscle used: Legs, back

Secondary muscles: Deltoid, chest, triceps

Description: When standing straight try to stretch your arms as far back as possible and then lean forward as your torso does. Hold for 20 seconds and then return to the starting position. If you are not flexible enough, do so with slightly bent legs and your eyes looking at your feet, not upwards. Repeat the exercise at least three times.

Exercise name: Trunk-bending sideways

Muscle used: Back

Secondary muscles: Abdomen, chest

Description: The feet should be shoulder width. Raise one arm and lean against the trunk in the opposite direction. Hold for 20 seconds, then repeat in the other direction. Repeat the exercise on both sides at least three times.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Gluteus and waist stretch

Muscle used: Gluteus, waist

Secondary muscles: Back, abdomen

Description: Bend your right leg and lift your foot over your left leg. Unfortunately, this is not the case in the illustration. Then turn right and extend your right knee to the left with your left hand for 20 seconds. Then repeat on the other side. Repeat the exercise on both sides at least three times.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Lunges

Muscle used: Leg, deltoid

Secondary muscles: Back, chest, triceps

Description: From one knee position, step forward with one foot and then extend the back foot to kick your hips forward while raising your arms high. Try to stretch your arms backwards. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat with the other leg. Repeat the exercise on both sides at least three times.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Wide-legged forward bend

Muscle used: Leg

Secondary muscles: Hips

Description: Lean forward with wide torso tilts. Hold for 20 seconds and then return to the starting position. How much you lean forward depends on your level of flexibility. Repeat the exercise at least three times.

Exercise name: Wide-angle seated forward bend

Muscle used: Leg, back

Secondary muscles: Deltoid, chest, triceps

Description: Lean forward in a wide-angle. Hold for 20 seconds and then return to the starting position. How much you lean forward depends on your level of flexibility. Repeat the exercise at least three times.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Kneeling forward bend

Muscle used: Leg

Secondary muscles: Back, deltoid, chest

Description: Sit on your heels in a kneeling position. Lean on your thighs while stretching your arms forward. Hold for 20 seconds, then return to the starting position and repeat three times.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Exercise name: Tailor seat

Muscle used: Hip

Secondary muscles: Leg

Description: Sit down with stretched legs. Bend one leg and place it on the thigh of the other leg. Then bend your other leg and place it on the thigh of your first leg. Most people are not flexible enough or have the ability to do so. In this case, you don’t need to place the other foot on your first thigh, but rather place it under your first thigh. Hold the position for 90 seconds and repeat, but now put your other foot on your thigh first.

Tools: You don't need any clamp, bandage or belt.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Exercise Types

Warming and stretching

Prevention and rehabilitation

Exercise Types

It’s hard to describe every type of exercise. One of the reasons why is that new ones come out every year, meaning it’s hard to track alone, let alone describing them. Exercise science is progressing the same as medical science. As I mentioned earlier, the topics I discuss in each chapter are described in books with hundreds of pages. This is why I try to describe the most important parts. This is why I describe the only those exercise types that usually interest people. In order to have an easier time understanding all this, I will give you some recommendations as well.

Exercise Types

Functional Exercise

Calisthenics

Aerobic

Fitness and Wellness

Bodybuilding

Powerlifting

Strongman sport

TRX Exercise

Kettlebell Exercise

Street Workout

Convict Conditioning

CrossFit

Spartan Workout

Stretching

Functional Exercise

The biggest problem with functional exercise is that all they say about it is that it’s functional or goal-oriented in theory. Despite this, every single workout is functional and goal-oriented. It’s good that every exercise type is goal-oriented. If you want to be a runner, you’ll do runner exercises and as a result, you’ll run better. This means that you reached your goal. This is what functionality means.

But this is not what people in the industry mean when they say functionality. According to my personal definitions.

Functional exercise is an exercise that besides preparing you for a goal, prioritizes the following aspects in order of importance:

preventing injury

rehabilitation

sustaining the stability or mobility of joints

working the stabilizing deep muscles

enhancing performance

Functional exercise, although listed among exercise types, can’t be differentiated as this approach should be the basic of every exercise. The most important aspect is prevention and rehabilitation, which I will detail in the ‘Prevention and Rehabilitation’ chapter.

Calisthenics

Calisthenics is about bodyweight exercises. Most people don’t know its name, but no some of its elements as gymnastics from PE class. Pushup, sit up, squat, pull up, leg raise, etc. This is basically the ancestor of every other exercise type and style. It dates back to ancient history. Spartan soldiers were trained like this. You can see muscular men training in ancient Greek reliefs. Bodyweight exercise is simple and this is why it’s still popular. It develops muscle strength, stamina and helps to lose weight. Its disadvantage is that it’s not viable for building large muscle mass, rather explosiveness. It’s still used as assistance exercise in sports. I recommend this for everyone.

Aerobic

Rhythmic, dynamic exercise with music. It can be done with or without equipment. It consists of sport, dance and sometimes martial art movements. It’s usually used for body shaping and fat burning. There are many different types today, such as Zumba or Spinning. Zumba comes from Columbia, and it mixes the simple steps of Latin dances with fitness elements. Spinning is an aerobic lesson done on a stationary bicycle. All forms of aerobic is cardio. The reason why it’s effective is that it’s similar to interval exercises, leads to high calorie loss and high pulse from the anaerobe activity, which leads to the increase of aerobe capacity. Helps to lose weight and to maintain cardiovascular health, also helps mental hygiene. Despite its advantages, it was created due to a misconception. When women gain weight, fat is usually stored in the butts and thighs. These exercises stimulate these parts for increased fat loss in these targeted areas. But this is a misconception which contradicts human biology, because you can’t lose weight from one part of your body only. However, it helps to develop muscles in the targeted areas. Women prefer this form of sport. I recommend it for everyone regardless of gender.

Fitness and Wellness

Fitness and wellness is not that different from each other. Personalized, health maintaining programs are called wellness. This could be aerobe sports, massages, baths, saunas, diets and others. The focus of fitness is a healthy lifestyle, aesthetic appearance, good physical fitness and stamina. Fitness has a larger focus on sports. Helps to lose weight and maintain your cardiovascular health and is also good for your mental hygiene. Fitness and wellness used to be recreational activities, but have grown into a sport. Certain varieties of fitness is very similar to bodybuilding. I recommend it to everyone regardless of gender, however, this sport is better for woman, but most of them prefer the wellness part. The reason why they are afraid of fitness is women bodybuilders. Like I mentioned earlier, women are afraid that they’re going to become Miss Arnold from lifting weights. Weightlifting is needed for body shaping. Bodybuilding is about building large muscle mass. Women usually don’t realize this and fall victim to misconceptions.

Bodybuilding

Everybody knows this, however, this is the one that people understand the least. Its technique is different because it works the body differently. They lift weights not to increase performance, but to increase muscle mass and the looks of the muscles. Bodybuilding competitions don’t reward performance, they reward aesthetics. Average people look at these demigods when they go to the gym, and return disappointed. I wouldn’t call bodybuilding a sport, it’s more like a lifestyle. The most important parts is the symmetry of muscles, increasing muscle mass and the least possible body fat percentage. You can’t reach your goals without perfect nutrition and meal planning, exercise, recovery and steroids. At least not on a professional level. These are important for beginners too (except of course steroids). The big disadvantage is that it’s not healthy. Their cardio and stamina is worse than an average person due to their huge weight.

Men prefer bodybuilding. I think this is special, as this is one of the few sports I don’t recommend for anyone.

Powerlifting

Powerlifting is about developing your body to perform the best on three heavy lifts: squat, bench press and deadlift. Powerlifting associations are trying hard to add powerlifting to the sports of the Olympics, but without results so far. The Olympics Committee’s reason of refusal; they already have a similar sport, which is weightlifting. Powerlifting associations say that the two sports are completely different. I agree with the powerlifting associations, not because of the different exercises, but because of the different dynamics. The two remaining weightlifting sports (there used to be more, but the one-handed and two-handed press is no longer here) are about lifting the weight above your head with the biggest possible momentum. In contrast, powerlifting is about lifting the weight without momentum. There are many rules so that athletes use no momentum at all. Powerlifters often work out in gyms as assistance exercises. Perfect sport for those that want to become very strong. Its disadvantage is that they don’t look after other aspects, such as their stamina and cardiovascular health.

Men prefer this sport and I recommend this only to men.

Strongman Sport

You must have heard about Samson or Hercules. Everyone dreamed of immense strength and there is a sport that helps you achieve it. Not many people know, though, what you need to be strong in if you compete in this sport. Strongmen compete in everyday activities with not everyday weights. Exercise names don’t sound special either; log carry, tractor wheel, strongman pull up, sled pull. Exercises are everyday activities with giant weights. While you’re carrying your suitcase in your office, they are carrying iron bags weighing 120 kilograms. While you’re picking up your kid and putting it in a pram, they are lifting 160 kilogram Atlas stones. They focus on these exercises, but also use weightlifting as assistance exercise. It’s a perfect exercise type for those that want to become stronger. The disadvantage is that it’s not healthy as strongman competitors are all overweight. They don’t take care of their cardiovascular health. Their stamina is worse than an average person due to their weight. You can’t be a good competitor without steroid use, similar to bodybuilding. I recommend this only to men.

TRX Exercise

TRX is a brand name and an acronym. It comes from the expression Total Body Resistance Exercise. TRX exercise is any kind of exercise done with the help of the company’s sport equipment. Randy Hatrick developed the portable harness system we know as TRX. The full name is TRX Suspension Trainer. It keeps one of your limbs in the air while you’re holding yourself on the ground with the other. The resistance is your own bodyweight and the weight is your degree to the ground. You can do many forms of exercise with this system. You can train for strength, stamina, flexibility and even coordination. Pete Holman American physiotherapist helped to develop this system even further. He created TRX Rip Trainer. This is a 1200 centimeter long, 1800 gram heavy rod with a rubber rope attached to one end. It offers asymmetric resistance, which gives your balance a real challenge. You can develop your rotation strength and its control, core stability and dynamic explosive strength. It can be used for rehabilitation as well, but it is becoming more widespread among athletes. It’s really popular, men and women alike can use it. I recommend it for everyone regardless of gender

Kettlebell Exercise

Traditional Russian ball-shaped dumbbell. It resembles a cannonball with a handle. The original 16 kilogram (1 pood, which is a Russian unit of mass) metal weight was used for weighing crops. Later, it became an equipment for training men under the Russian Tsar’s army. In most modern elite squads, the 24 kilogram (1.5 pood) weight is used. Its advantage is that it doesn’t take up much space. You can develop your stamina, explosiveness and core strength without a proper gym (soldiers’ life). It’s important to note that while gym workouts stimulate individual muscles, kettlebells are for full body workouts that focus on getting lean and losing fat. It makes sense, since more muscles working means more burned calories. Another difference is that you don’t grab it by its center of mass, but by its handle, which is far from the center. Proper form is very important. Due to the irregular weight balance and movement, kettlebell workouts could cause injury. I don’t recommend using it without proper training and knowledge. However, with proper knowledge, this could be therapeutic as well, as it’s great rehabilitation for people suffering from spinal issues. I recommend it for everybody.

Street Workout

Street workout, also known as street fitness, became popular in the poor areas of the United States. It’s done outdoors, usually in playgrounds, and this is why it’s also called ghetto workout. Another popular name is freestyle calisthenics. The reason for this is that the type of exercise is based on calisthenics (using your own bodyweight). Pull up, triceps dips and pushups. These exercises were combined with acrobatic elements, and that’s how today’s freestyle style was born. The exercise is nice to watch due to the acrobatic elements, hence its popularity. It’s become a full-fledged sport with world championships. Despite its popularity, it has the same flaws as aerobic does. While aerobic offers resistance to lower body, street workout trains the upper body only. Street workout athletes have strong and big upper bodies while having small and thin legs. This gives them an advantage since less weight means easier exercises. I read a critic that said all exercises that were created to bypass gyms are the bastards of the fitness industry. While I understand the rationale behind this statement, I find it a bit harsh. I agree that a gym with good equipment offers much higher quality workouts than equipment that were created to replace gyms. Let’s take aerobic and street workout as an example. I’d say that these are the symbols of human vanity. Aerobic is usually done by women where they try to get toned legs and butts, while street workout is for men that want nice upper bodies and big biceps. Despite this, I think there is a place for these workout types. People always want new things, but we shouldn’t throw away our old knowledge. I don’t recommend this sport for anyone.

Convict Conditioning

Paul Wade invented convict conditioning. Articles about the author seem to be contradictory. What’s certain is that he is not a trainer. Not a fitness guru that learned about this field. He is a convicted criminal that was jailed for about twenty years in prison. As with other exercise types, this was invented due to need and shortage of equipment. Paul Wade was a skinny guy that needed to be strong in order to defend himself. Using calisthenics exercises and everyday items available in prison, (e.g. mop or bucket) he invented an exercise type. This is what he wrote about after he came out of prison in his famous book, known as convict conditioning. It’s not that different from calisthenics. In my opinion, this was just a smart attempt from a convict to get back to society and make some money. I’m glad he’s successful, because his book contributes to the reasons people get out of their sofas. However, they’re assistance exercises at best, as many elements are the same as in calisthenics. So I don’t think convict conditioning is a new invention. Many of its elements have been in use for thousands of years.

CrossFit

The name comes from the words cross and fit. The reason for this is that the goal is to be fit through crossing many exercise types. This is a good concept, however, due to lack of knowledge, the delivery is problematic. This is the type of exercise where I can’t just talk about the exercise. I can’t stay silent about my negative experiences. CrossFit fans are very biased, even more so than others. I haven’t read so much bullshit like in CrossFit articles. My favorite is when they not only use the definition of functional exercise, similar to other sports, but they also try to explain it like this.

„The intended use of the human body given to us by evolution and the use of its basic abilities, strength maintenance, optimization, development”.

This is when they try to fit in some clichés into a sentence to sound smart. If the author of the article doesn’t know what functional exercise means, then don’t use it. Rather, read ‘Advances in Functional Training’ by Michael Boyle. It functional exercise doesn’t ring a bell, then you can read about it again as it was the first exercise type I described.

Another favorite of mine is when a Paul Wade quote welcomes me on the home page. He is the creator of the convict conditioning. The creator of an exercise type that doesn’t use professional equipment, while CrossFit (which combines everything) is all about weightlifting, kettlebell, TRX, medicine ball exercises, gymnastics ring exercises, rope exercises, etc. The only common thing between the two exercise types is that both contain elements from calisthenics. So on a CrossFit page, they quote a person that never ever had anything to do with CrossFit. I mean, they could quote Bruce Lee or anyone else. The next bullshit is this.

„Developed muscles inflexibility limit you in the gym, you may be strong, but your muscles are not explosive enough and you won’t be able to protect your girlfriend on the streets.”

Let’s clear this up. First of all, muscle inflexibility is not dependent on how you work out, it depends on your workout program.

Second, you won’t be able to defend your girlfriend on the streets just because you do CrossFit. If you want to do this, go learn martial arts, not CrossFit. Third, I don’t understand the connection between inflexibility and lack of explosiveness. The author may be thinking about people with abnormally large muscles, which limit their everyday movement. Not many people live on our planet whose muscle mass would limit their explosiveness. Especially if the goal movement is striking, punching or sprinting as mentioned.

The next one is my favorite.

„With functional exercise, we avoid the typical bodybuilder illnesses such as shoulder or knee pain. We move the body naturally and don’t murder joints with the fashionable, two-dimensioned pumping movements.”

My masseur fell into the chair laughing when I showed her this. She graduated in a British university as a masseur, chiropractic, acupuncture specialist and physiotherapist. About 80% of his clients are CrossFit lifters, weightlifters and marathon runners. Primary complaints is that their rotator cuff is injured, waist and back pain, knee joint pain and inflammation in the hamstrings. Why? Because these quotes are not true. The CrossFit weightlifting snatch and jerk is not part of our natural movement. These two exercises are very common in CrossFit. Please show me where we use these movements in our everyday life. The other biggest joke is the „fashionable” part. CrossFit made these movements popular and fashionable. No one loves these movements because they are so professional. People have no idea what a professional lift is. Even CrossFit trainers have no idea. I know this because I saw workout programs with 15 to 30 snatches or jerks in every set. Among professional weightlifters, this number is between 4 to 8. Not to mention that they do a large number of lifts with average people that don’t always have the physique of a weightlifter. Also, a good professional knows that the worst thing you can do to your elbows is to finish an exercise with outstretched elbows. They can’t do this any other way. Snatch and jerk are the two exercises that if you do correctly, you will still be injured in time. Moreover, this is why I don’t recommend CrossFit to anyone. If I can choose another exercise where I won’t be injured, why would I choose one with a risk of injury? The theory CrossFit was built upon is good. It’s not good if you get your ‘food’ from one place only. I train in the gym, but also use kettlebells, TRX, rowing machines, I regularly run and do martial arts and yoga. I do several types of exercises. I recommend the same to you, but know why you’re doing it. If you still want to choose CrossFit, then do it. However, let me give you some advice.

Don’t believe anything you hear. If you hear something, do your research.

Learn to say no. CrossFit is a service and you are the buyer. You can tell your coach that you will do anything except snatches and jerks because a guy said in this book that you shouldn’t do it.

Spartan Workout

In my opinion, Spartan workout is what CrossFit wants to be. Natural movement, lots of running, set exercises, interval exercises, which help the intermediate fibers stimulation to the muscle fibers. What’s more, as a side effect of the anaerobic workout, your aerobic stamina will improve as Michael Boyle said in his book, ‘Advances in Functional Training’. These contribute to your overall explosiveness. These exercises are done outside, which improve your mental hygiene. It also helps to increase your muscle strength, causes fast and lasting weight loss and body shaping, decreases cholesterol levels and increases lung capacity. Its disadvantage is that, similar to kettlebell and TRX workouts, it helps in leanness instead of muscle mass building. This sport, like bodybuilding, is a special sport because you do different things when training and when competing. True, they try to do the same exercises here, but that’s not really possible. There’s a huge area in a race with obstacles, mud, water or snow. This is usually not possible with a workout.

The following races exist: Sprint, Super, Beast, Ultra. The length and obstacles differ. There are races for children as well, and also Endurance races. These are not simple races, they’re rather closer to training programs, from 4 hours to the 60 hours Agoge. I recommend Spartan workout for everyone, as going to a race is not a requirement.

Stretching

Stretching is special workout focusing on flexibility. People do several types of stretches in order to improve flexibility. This is a special exercise type as the goal is not physical performance or aesthetics. This is a kind of assistance sport with the goal of preventing changes in your body due to work or working out. Its primary task is to improve your overall wellbeing, make your joints mobile and to improve your mobility and flexibility. This exercise is very demanding for less flexible people. Focusing, relaxing music and breathing techniques can help you.

You should do stretching with every exercise. Even if you don’t skip stretching, they are usually done in a few minutes. However, stretching lessons last for 60 to 80 minutes. Lessons may vary, but their structure is this: moving joints (mobilizing), warm up, static stretching, rest, active isolated stretching. I recommend this especially for athletes, but also do other people, regardless of gender. It also prevents many issues that come with old age.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Exercises

Prevention and Rehabilitation

Active ‘Indestructible’ Youth

Warm Up and Stretching

In my experience, even coaches tend to avoid or underestimate the importance of warming up and stretching. Not to mention those that just go to the gym every once in a while to lift some weights. Warming up and stretching prevents injuries, but also significantly increases performance and recovery, this is why I dedicated a complete chapter to this topic. In order to understand every aspect of this topic, we need to clarify some definitions and differences.

Warm-up

Stretching

Flexibility

Mobility

Of course, there are modern inventions that can’t be categorized like this, such as active warm up. What’s more, stretching is used as some kind of warming up in many places. And people tend to misunderstand the difference between flexibility and mobility.

Warming up

Warming up is a preparation for high intensity physical exertion or exercises. Warm ups have several phases, such as moving your joints, short cardio workout and the exercise specific warmup exercises. You can understand this by understanding your body.

Tendons, ligaments, joint and their warmups

Your muscles are attached to your bones with the help of joints and tendons. Your tendons move in a ‘protective shell’ called tendon sheath. This is called ‘bursae mucosae’ which is a sac filled with mucus that helps the skin, the muscles and the tendons glide upon each other in order to prevent friction.

The joints are in the joint sheath. At the end of the joints are cartilages with a smooth surface. There’s the joint fluid that fills the gaps between cartilages and in the joint sheath, making their surfaces slippery, similar to tendons. Ligaments hold together joints, fixing them in place even under heavy load. Warming up your joints helps to spread the lubricating fluid around. This way, you can ensure that your tendons and joints are lubricated, which is needed to prevent friction. It’s like oiling up a machine before use.

Cardiovascular system and short cardio workouts

Your heart rate increases due to exercise, as does your oxygen intake and your metabolism. This means that muscles get energy more easily, making your workout more effective. This is why you need a short cardio exercise before working out. For example, you could do a 10 to 15 minute run at varied speeds or cycling.

Somatic nervous system and warmup exercises

It’s the part of the nervous system associated with the skeletal muscles. In order to ensure good stimuli transfer, the nerves are covered in a sheath. A regularly repeated movement means that your body sends more stimuli to this neural pathway. This leads to a thicker sheath, which means that less stimuli is ‘lost’ during the transfer. It’s like grounding an electric cable. This is why specific warmup exercises are important. Doing exercises with small resistance helps in movement coordination, actives muscle memory and prepares the area’s muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments to the upcoming bigger load. I recommend starting the first set with 40% of your 1RM. The number of warmup sets depend on the individual and on the type of exercise. I usually recommend 1 to 3 sets. If you’re using small weights with lots of repetition, then 1 set is enough. If you’re using large weights with less reps, then I recommend doing 3 sets. As you’re increasing the weight, decrease the number of repetitions to prevent exhausting yourself. It’s important to note that the weight difference between the first warmup sets and the first exercise sets should be the same. For example, if your bench press one rep max (1RM) is 150 kg, and you begin your workout with 120 kg (80% of your 1RM) with 8 reps per set, then your warmup sets should look like this.

1st warmup set: 1RM 40,0% = 60 kg, 12 reps

2nd warmup set: 1RM 53,3% = 80 kg, 8 reps

3rd warmup set: 1RM 67,7% = 100 kg, 4 reps

Workout sets: 1RM 80,0% = 120 kg, 8 reps

There’s a difference of 20 kg (13.3% of the 1RM) between sets. The number of reps decrease as the weight is increased so that your muscles don’t tire out, but still get prepared. I recommend doing your warmup sets like this.

For example, if you’re doing sets with 12 reps, then do this:

1st set: 16 reps (133%)

2nd set: 12 reps (100%)

3rd set: 8 reps (67%)

Other warm up types

There are theories that say you need additional warmup exercises besides these warmups, such as Turkish get-up, HALO exercise, activation of your glutes and upper glutes, and abs exercises. In my opinion, this is a half-truth. If you include these in your warmups, your warmup will be more thorough. But it’s a lie that you need to do these every time, and if you don’t, your warmup is worthless.

Turkish get-up

A great exercise. If your technique is right, it shows which joints are problematic. If you feel pain in any of your joints or have a hard time with smooth movement when doing this exercise, then it means a certain area is problematic and needs correction. It’s not only good for testing, but also restoring your joints. This is why we call this an FMS (Functional Movement Screen) corrective exercise.

HALO exercise

This is an active warmup exercise. Active warmup exercises stretch a muscle while working another. HALO exercises do this for example to your chest and rotator muscles. As I’ve mentioned before, every active warmup exercise is somewhere between a warmup and a stretch.

Activating your glutes and upper glutes

This is about warming up your glutes before and during your lower body workouts. Many athletes find it difficult to connect their lower body strength to their upper body. Some think weak core muscles cause this, but it’s more likely due to weak glutes.

Abs exercises

Doing abs exercises as a warmup is not a bad idea. Abs are different muscles from the rest of your body. They are fast twitch muscles and don’t benefit much from doing exercises with big repetitions. But they recover fast, so you can train them often. Abs exercises can help in increasing your metabolism, preparing your body for a bigger load and you don’t tire out. You can use it for warming up, but it doesn’t substitute a stamina workout or a cardio warmup before working out.

Stretching

Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity, achieve comfortable muscle tone and to repair structural changes in muscle. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility, and range of motion. There are many types of stretches. I’ll talk about the difference between stretching cold and warm muscles and the difference between static and active isolated stretching. Why is this important? Structural changes can occur in your body due to training, overtraining or aging. Some muscles get shorter, while others get longer. Some people think that these changes can be corrected, while others disagree. Some think that regular stretching is a preventive measure and is great for rehabilitating shortened muscles. In my opinion, this is partly true. Stretching is a great preventative measure, but there are shortened muscles that are very hard or impossible to rehabilitate, mainly in the elderly. If a muscle got shortened due to years of neglect, then it will take years of rehabilitation to restore. The same goes for lengthened muscles. Regular activity and building these muscles are great for prevention, but is hard to do when you’re older. It’s better to prevent something than to fix it.

The stretching exercises will be detailed in the ‘Exercises’ chapter.

Stretching cold and warm muscles

Stretch only when warmed up, regardless of the type of stretching. I don’t recommend stretching cold muscles. Muscles are more prone to injury when cold because they are stiff and can’t stretch out so easily. Contrary of this, I’ve heard opinions that say stretching warmed up muscles is necessary, but doesn’t improve flexibility. The reason for this is that once the warm muscles cool down, they get shortened, so stretching cold muscles is necessary. This is false. The reason? Too much half-truths. While it’s true that stretched, warm muscles get shortened once they cool down, so people are not very flexible in their everyday lives compared to e.g. a hot yoga class outside where you’re warmed up and the temperature is 36°C/97°F. Flexibility improvement is dependent on the intensity, time and technique of the stretching. Cold muscles can’t stretch as much as warm muscles. This is why you’re better off stretching your warm muscles, even if they get a bit shortened once they cool down. Flexibility can be improved if you stretch with warmed up muscles, and the risk of injury is much lower.

Static and active isolated stretching

Improving your flexibility is necessary for increasing your performance and maintaining your health. This is why stretching regularly is recommended. Static stretching is usually done at the end of the workout as the tissues are warm enough for stretching, and stretched muscles become less sore. This is all true, but not the real reason. It was proven 40 years ago that static stretching before working out decreases your performance. So in the next decade, nobody had done it. Later, they found out that completely ignoring static stretching decreases flexibility, as you can’t substitute it with anything else. This is when the modern system that’s still in use, was created. Warming up before working out and static stretching after finishing the workout. I don’t think this is the right approach. It’s better than nothing, but don’t forget that bigger goals have bigger requirements. Don’t try to save time by not warming up or stretching. I think it’s useful to do static stretching before working out between the 2nd and 3rd phase of the warmup. First, do some moving, then your short cardio workout. Then you can do the static stretch and the warming up sets. If you’d like to include something else, such as, HALO exercise, Turkish get-up, abs workout, etc. do it after stretching. With this order, you can avoid stretching cold muscles and the decrease of performance that comes from static stretching before working out.

Active isolated stretching

Do active isolated stretching between sets. The goal is to stretch the antagonist (opposite) muscle. With this, you can stretch the currently used muscle groups, decreasing muscle inflammation from working out, increasing performance and improving metabolism, which leads to less soreness. This stretch, unlike static stretching, is not done in a stretched out position for a longer period, but in cycles of a few seconds. You can spend your rest time between sets more productively this way.

Flexibility

Flexibility refers to the range of motion for a given joint. This is influenced by structural changes.

Mobility

Mobility is the ability of a joint to move freely through a given range of motion without restriction from surrounding tissues. A joint could have mobility problems even if it’s flexible and healthy. E.g. doing an activity is painful or you can do it only slowly.

Foam rolling

Tissues could become the subjects of structural changes. These changes effect the tissues’ length and density. Foam rolling is used to decrease density. It ‘massages’ certain areas to help remove knots. This plays a great role in stretching, improving your performance and overall wellbeing. Foam rolling is important and is recommended to do every day, but it’s not as effective as a massage. The details of foam rolling is described in the ‘Prevention and Rehabilitation’ chapter.

Workout opening and closing exercises

Let’s summarize what we’ve learned. Begin your workouts with foam rolling. If you have knots in your muscles, massage it well with the help of the foam roller. You must not stretch the knots and you shouldn’t stress it with exercise either. It’s basically the same as a knot in your shoelace. If you tighten the laces, the knot becomes harder, so you need to get rid of the knot first. Once that’s done, you can begin the first phase of the warmup, the moving. With this, you lubricate your ligaments, cartilages and joints. Then comes the short cardio workout, making your metabolism faster and preparing your body for working out. I recommend interval workouts with varied tempos, which will be detailed in the ‘Slimming Diet’ chapter. Then comes the static stretch. The first areas you should stretch out is the ones that you’ll be working out, but you can do a full body stretch as well. Improving flexibility is important in order to prevent injuries and increase your performance. Then add the extra exercises you’d like to do (HALO exercise, Turkish get-up, abs exercises, glute activation, etc.). I think the best scenario is if you do these on separate workout days, but do the glute activation on leg days. Once you’re finished, you can start your workout. Do warmup sets to activate muscle memory and to prepare your muscles, tendons and ligaments to the heavy load. Between sets, do active isolated stretching to prevent the early onset of ‘swollen’ muscles, increasing your performance and your recovery. Once the workout is done, I recommend you do another interval workout with varied tempos to improve your aerobic (requires lots of oxygen) and anaerobic (does not require lots of oxygen) capacity. Then do a longer, more thorough static stretch to improve your flexibility and speed up your recovery.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

The Human Body

Exercises

Exercise Types

Prevention and Rehabilitation

„Slimming Diet”

Prevention and Rehabilitation

First, let’s clarify the definitions of these expressions. In training methodology, prevention means creating a training plan where the possible injuries in the future are taken into account. This could be overtraining, or muscle tearing due to this (or other reasons), muscle pain, ligament tear, tendon sheath inflammation, sports hernia, tiredness, loss of function and pain in joints. This may be surprising, but choosing a sport for athletes falls under the same category. This makes sense since if someone wants to be an athlete, it’s recommended to choose a sport where you’re genetically gifted and have realistic goals. No matter how much you want to believe that it’s just a question of willpower and support to become the best, it’s not true. The head of the Hungarian Physical Education University’s exercise physiology laboratory, Dr Máté Petrekanits said the following in an interview:

„I’ve been doing this for 33 years and I can tell you that it’s true what you read, 95% of your stamina is genetics!”

If someone’s genetically not gifted, they won’t become good marathon runners, no matter how hard they try. All in all, it’s recommended to choose a sport where you fulfill the requirements. This is why professional athletes are put under load examinations. It’s also called performance diagnostics examination, exercise physiological examination or spiroergometric examination.

From sport physician to spiroergometric examination

„No need to overcomplicate things. If the sport physician said that you can do this sport, then everything’s fine!”

This is a sentence often heard from trainers, but sadly, it’s not true. Sport physicians test you according to the minimum requirements of a certain sport so that you won’t get seriously hurt. However, this does not guarantee that you’ll be successful. Sport physicians examine you in a calm state, which doesn’t show how you perform under load. They may be doctors, but can’t see the processes in your body. This is why you need electrocardiography (ECG) or a spiroergometric examination. I also recommend these examinations to people that are not professional athletes. It’s important to know your own body and its limits to be healthy.

First, you need a sport anthropometry examination. This helps you to choose an optimal sport, the optimal place in said sport and gives you an appropriate training type and program. This helps you to get the maximum out of your body. It gives you an advantage over other athletes that didn’t choose their sport accordingly. You can read more about sport anthropometry examinations in the ‘Choosing a Sport for Children’ chapter.

This is followed by the ECG examination during your calm, resting state. This happens in your resting state, meaning you need to lie down. ECG electrodes are placed on your body to monitor your heart frequencies and a blood pressure meter is placed on your arm to monitor your blood pressure. The heart frequency and the blood pressure show the state of the blood flow and the arteries. This can be optimal, normal or abnormal. Physical and mental load bearing (stressed state, relaxation degree) is measured by heart frequency variability. Heart frequency variability is analyzing the so-called R-R intervals. It’s designed to show the periodic changes in your heart. In the ECG diagram, the phases of the working heart; stimulus creation and conducting, and other phases, are marked by waves. The letters P, Q, R, S, T and U mark these waves, as it can be seen on the figure below.

The changes in these waves could mean several kinds of diseases. The examination of the waves and the length of the R-R intervals show the autonomous working of the nervous system. Analyzing this data is useful for professionals as it can influence other examinations as well.

Vagal tone. The activity of the vagus nerve, the 10th cranial nerve and a fundamental component of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system

Sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. The two parts of the autonomic nervous system, formerly known as the vegetative nervous system. They work alongside each other, but with the opposite effect.

Baroreceptor activity. Baroreceptors are sensors located in the cardiovascular system, responsible for sensing blood pressure and relaying the information to the brain.

Thermoregulation, the control of body heat.

Peripheral vasomotor activity. The limbs’ blood vessels tone and blood flow.

Renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system. A hormone system that regulates blood pressure, its main task is to increase blood pressure.

This is followed by the ECG under stress. This is needed as you can’t judge the load bearing capacity of an individual based on looks alone. This is influenced by age (biological age in the case of children, not their actual age), gender, fitness and health. This screening helps to identify health risks, such as predisposition to obesity. This leads to an improvement in training effectiveness. The max pulse number is calculated from the previous examinations. The stress test is finished once the subject reached this number. The examination, however, continues until the subject recovers to his resting heart rate and breathing. The examinations are done on treadmills and the speed is usually gradually increased. Similarly to a regular ECG examination, electrodes and blood pressure meters are placed on the body. Moreover, a breathing mask is also used. The examination is over if an abnormal change or health problem is detected.

The spiroergometric examination is a kind of stamina test where the functions of the cardiovascular and breathing system is examined. The primary aspects are:

Maximal respiratory rate (BF 1/minute value): it’s divided into 15-second intervals throughout the whole examination. The 60-second interval is highlighted where you reached your max respiratory rate.

Maximal ventilation (V’E liter/minute value): the biggest value of the inhaled or exhaled air in liter/minute. It’s divided into 15-second intervals not only during the stress, but also before to compare it to your resting rate and to see how quick your body recovers.

Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max value): the maximal value of the inhaled and transported oxygen during the examination. This is measured in absolute (oxygen consumption liter/minute) and relative (oxygen consumption milliliter/minute/bodyweight kg) forms alike.

Maximal carbon dioxide/oxygen rate (RQ, also known as RER value): the number used in calculations of basal metabolic rate when estimated from carbon dioxide production. The carbon dioxide/oxygen rate is measured before, during and after the examination in 15-second intervals.

Maximal heart frequency (HR 1/minute value): the maximal heart rate in a 60 second interval. Heart frequency is measured in 15-second intervals before, during and after the stress test in beats/minute.

Heart frequency variability (R-R interval length): The change in the R-R interval is measured in when resting and when under stress. The two examinations’ results show correlation between age, blood pressure, oxygen intake, metabolism functions and lactic acid curve, which shows overall fitness and the increase in lactic acid under stress.

Healthy Mental Hygiene

It’s not uncommon in athletes that they’re unable to perform even though there’s nothing wrong with them physically. This is why Olympic athletes have their own psychologists. Sports psychologists are mental hygiene professionals. The difference is that psychologists help people with mental illnesses, while mental hygiene professionals help everyday people when they are presented with an obstacle which prevents them from living a healthy life. This will be detailed in the ‘Healthy Lifestyle’ chapter. Athletes are stressed due to the expectations of their trainers, parents or even themselves, which leads to anxiety. This affects sleep, recovery, thinking and performance. Many young people, especially from poorer regions, start playing sports in hopes of a better life and they don’t realize that sometimes less is more. It was the same with me as well. I was a rower in my teens and went to train 12 times a week. A week before the national championship, I trained 17 times a week. I added it all up; with cycling, running, rowing machines and rowing, my distance was around 80 to 100 kilometers. Another thing that gave mi a disadvantage was that I performed well, which I thought was the result of training. I think back and realize that I could have achieved so much more with less training and better understanding. I’m above 30, my recovery is nowhere near as good as in my teens, but I still beat world records with 4 to 6 training sessions a week. As the saying goes.

„Brains over brawn”

But try to explain that to a teen that wants to win Olympic medals or sees that Lionel Messi makes 40 million euros per year. This is why I recommend seeking professional help even at a young age. Healthy mental hygiene is an essential part of success and a healthy lifestyle. This is why a psychological examination is recommended after a spiroergometric exam.

Functional training

The biggest problem is that functional training is taught in theory only, and the only thing they say about it is that it’s functional or goal-oriented. Every single exercise type is functional, according to popular websites. So, reading these, you could ask two questions.

1. If it’s not goal-oriented, then what is it?

2. Why is this in the ‘Prevention and Rehabilitation’ chapter?

The answer to both questions is the definition of functional training.

Functional training is a training that besides preparing you for a certain sports’ technical goals, prioritizes the following aspects when designing a workout plan:

preventing injury

rehabilitating existing problems

sustaining the stability or mobility of joints

working the stabilizing deep muscles

enhancing performance

So the point of functional training is to prevent, rehabilitate, sustain, work and enhance. It can’t be differentiated from exercise types as every single one should include it. Unfortunately, there are different trainers for personal training, power training, functional training and other sports, and due to this, everyone has a different opinion about who’s right and who’s wrong. The problem is not the difference between the sports, but the incompetence of the trainers and athletes. It’s not enough that the workout plan is tailored to the individual or the sport they’re doing. The athlete may perform the exercises with bad form, compensates the flaws with different muscles and the trainer doesn’t notice it. However, exercises done with good form can lead to inflexibility if stretching is not adequate. Not to mention the risk of injury due to neglecting warming up. I’ve seen a triple jump athlete partially tear his hamstrings in the middle of an exercise. I’ve seen a bodybuilder tear his bicep who wanted to lift his 14-year-old son above his head at the beach for fun. Incorporating functional exercise into a workout plan begins with some tests. These help identify the problem that athletes don’t feel or don’t want to know until the problem is not big enough. Unfortunately, trainers neglect this unless there’s an injury, though it’s not hard if you know what you’re looking for. You need to look for three things.

Muscle weakness

Loss of function in joints

Lengthened or shortened muscles

Muscle weakness

Physiotherapists know that 80% of injuries come from muscle weakness. Weakness in certain muscles cause different problems. A disease or health problem can be identified from observations. In people with rotator cuff injuries, the rhomboid muscles and traps are weak.

People suffering from lower back pain are usually weak in deep abs, internal abdominal obliques and the transverse abdominis.

You can see that the problem does not come from the painful area. Let’s take a look at the first example. If you have a rotator cuff injury, your professional trainer who doesn’t want to send you to a physiotherapist, will tell you to rest for a week, take painkillers and ice the area. If it doesn’t work out, then he sends you to a doctor who will tell you that you have (the statistically most likely injury) a wear in the joint at the highest point of the shoulder. Surgery or creams containing steroids are prescribed only in critical cases, but (statistically) yours is not critical, so you need to rest and you’ll heal. 8 to 12 weeks of mandatory rest. This is when athletes lie to the trainer that the doctor said everything’s ok, and they swallow their tears while training. However, if you had gone to a physiotherapist, then you’d have received a new training program. Painful exercises (statistically overhead press and bench press movements) are replaced by their antagonists (rowing, pulldown). The number of sets and reps is increased and the weight is significantly decreased. The point of the exercise is to strengthen the rhomboid muscles and the traps to eliminate the original problem. In rehabilitation, it’s important to strengthen the muscles surrounding the injured area and to increase blood flow. This helps to transport the fluid that was leaked to the inflamed area as a coolant so that new fluid can leak there. It’s like when you’re icing an injured area, and you replace the ice. The situation’s similar if someone is feeling pain in their lower back. The first thing a physiotherapist would do is to strengthen the core muscles, while a fitness trainer hates the word ‘core’. Core muscles are those muscles that stabilize the pelvic floor. Your body is stabilized by the abs at the front, spinal erectors at the back and the glutes on the sides and back.

Loss of function in joints

The ‘joint to joint’ approach is popular, but quite lacking in practice. Joints have a function, which is either mobility or stability. Loss of function in joints come from injury, bad posture or bad form in exercises. In these cases, the joints responsible for mobility, such as the ankle, hips or dorsal spine area lose their mobility and become more stable. When this happens, the nearest stable joint, usually the knee or the lumbar spine tries to compensate this loss of function and becomes more mobile. The mobility of the stable joint causes pain. So if you have knee pain, you probably have ankle or hip problems. If you have lumbar spine pain, then your hips or dorsal spine has less mobility. Loss of mobility in the dorsal spine may affect the cervical spine or the shoulder joints as well.

Lengthened or shortened muscles

Due to training or overtraining, or simply aging, structural changes happen in the human body.              Some muscles get shorter, while others get longer. The standing on the theory, which says these structural changes can be corrected, are divided. Some say that prevention or rehabilitation for shortened muscles is regular stretching. In my opinion, this is partly true. Stretching is important for prevention, but certain shortened muscles are hard or impossible to rehabilitate, which usually happens in older people. Shortened muscles, which became shortened due to years of neglect, take almost the same years of rehabilitation to correct. The same goes for lengthened muscles. Regular activity and strength exercise is good for prevention, but hard to do at an older age. Prevention is easier than correction. Stretching is detailed in the ‘Warmup and Stretching’ chapter.

Other topics regarding prevention

Kettlebell and TRX

Kettlebell and TRX workouts are useful for both prevention and rehabilitation. Besides having a lot of positive effects, they develop stability and the core muscles. This equipment is the basics of physiotherapists, but I’ve also heard about orthopedic doctors developing kettlebell workout plans for people with spinal injuries. Special exercises stimulate the areas where most people suffer from muscle weaknesses while they avoid the painful areas of the muscle weaknesses or joints due to loss of function. A great example is the HALO kettlebell exercise. It’s one of the few ‘perfect’ active warmups because it develops a muscle while stretches another. It helps to preserve the mobility of the shoulder joint. It mobilizes the rhomboid muscle, traps, pecs and the muscles of the rotator cuff. It can be used even in cases of mild rotator cuff injuries.

Fitness, Wellness or Massage

Since the topic is prevention, I need to mention fitness and wellness. Do you remember their definitions?

‘Personalized, health maintaining programs are called wellness. This could be aerobe sports, massages, baths, saunas, diets and others. The focus of fitness is a healthy lifestyle, aesthetic appearance, good physical fitness and stamina. Fitness has a larger focus on sports.’

Health maintaining programs, also called prevention. Of course, this doesn’t mean that in order to be healthy, you must choose a sport. Baths, saunas, diets are useful in prevention, but massage especially. It’s no surprise that athletes have a trainer, mental hygiene professional, nutrition advisor and a massage therapist. Many people don’t understand the significance of a massage and what happens in the body during a massage. In order to get a chemical reaction, the tissues are irritated to speed up healing. This is soft tissue treatment. Besides massage therapists, manual therapists and physiotherapists also use them. However, not everyone can afford going to a massage therapists regularly. I recommend them the use of a foam roller. It’s not the same as a massage, but you can use it every day. I also recommend it to people that regularly go to a masseur.

Inflammation cooling or ice bath

You must have heard that inflamed areas need to be cooled down. And you probably don’t know how to do it right. Most people do it like the movies. They grab a bag of ice or frozen vegetables, put it on the painful area and keep it there until the pain is no longer present. This is a problem since your joints can easily get cold, the skin frozen, the veins could get spasms, which increases the inflammation. What’s more, in order to prevent freezing and catching a cold, the area gets an inflammation. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Not to mention that cartilage wear increases in inflamed joints. Seeing the whole process, you must realize that it’s worth doing only right, like most things. When icing an inflamed area, don’t put the ice directly to the area. Put it in a cloth to prevent sudden cooling. Ice packs are not right as they don’t cover the injured area, just a certain part. Ice gel is better, as you can mold it onto the injured area, but frozen peas are good, too. It’s also important to periodically cool the area. There’s no consensus on how many minutes is the limit, but there are two important aspects.

The time period of the cooling and the ‘resting’ period between the two cooling is equal, or the ‘resting’ period is longer

It’s better to cool the area in several times in short periods.

I personally recommend 3 minutes of cooling/5 minutes of rest 6 times or 5 minutes of cooling/10 minutes of rest 4 times.

The effectiveness of ice baths is also controversial. Some people think it’s actually bad for you. While some say that your body adapts and recovery slows down. Some also say that it’s just a placebo effect. But the old truth applies to this topic as well.

„Know the extremes and use the golden mean.”

You must not use ice baths regularly. Use it to treat inflammation only. There are other ‘treatments’ for muscle soreness or speeding up recovery, such as massage or light aerobic exercise. While it’s incredibly unpleasant, even for people that do it regularly, it’s useful for chronic (long period, slow recovery) pain. This is because it’s cooling down a large area or a full body. When an area is inflamed, we are talking about an isolated inflammation, but the traces of the inflammation are found in the whole body. This is why cooling down a large area is more effective in decreasing inflammation than isolated cooling.

Similarly to cooling, opinions differ on the ice bath as well, so the ‘golden mean’ can be applied here. The first misconception is that you need to stay in as long as you can. Your joints can get cold, so staying for more than 10 minutes is not recommended. Another misconception is that you need to bathe in ice. Fill the tub with water around that’s around 10°C/50°F (no need for colder water). Put the ice in once you’re in the tub. You’re not using ice to sit in freezing water, but to prevent the water getting warmer due to your body heat. Thermal conductivity is 25 times faster than air and its heat transfer is 4 times larger. From calculation (4 x 25 = 100) we know that the body cools down in low temperature water 100 times faster than low temperature air. Meaning you’ll lose a 100 times more heat. This is why DiCaprio died in Titanic, not because the water was colder than the air for Kate Winslet on that swimming wardrobe. Jokes set aside, water gets heated up 100 times faster than air, and we use ice to prevent the water from heating up due to your body heat. An average person with a height of 170 cm/5’ 6” and bodyweight of 70 kg/155 lbs has a body surface area of about 1.82 square meters/19.5 square feet. We are warm-blooded creatures, meaning our body temperatures are regulated. The smaller the contact area is with cold water, the smaller the heat loss. Using ice baths are recommended for knee joint inflammations and leg or thigh pain. This is why you don’t have to lie down in an ice bath if the inflammation is found in the upper body. That being said, my opinion is that you don’t need to worry about hypothermia (too much lost body heat, body cure temperature below 35.0 °C/95.0 °F) if you keep the 10 minutes, 10 Celsius rule, even if you submerge your whole body.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Healthy lifestyle

Warmup and Stretching

People with diabetes

Choosing a Sport for Children

People with diabetes

In this chapter I won’t discuss what you should and should not eat. If you have diabetes you have probably talked to a diabetologist or endocrinologist who has explained the basic rules. Here I will write about some of the observations and biological processes to facilitate understanding of cause.

The glycemic index (GI) is most important in diabetics and diet. GI is a ranking of the ability of certain food to raise blood glucose levels, expressed as a percentage of the glucose-raising ability of glucose in the food. This means that glucose is 100 percent ratio and compared to that, we give the food's ability to raise blood glucose. This is because your body converts all carbohydrates into glucose. Dieters should avoid such food because too much blood sugar results in too much insulin. Because of the high insulin, after a high blood sugar level, too low blood sugar level occurs. The energy that is received in this way cannot be used by the body, therefore it is being stored as fat. In addition, too low blood sugar levels will make you feel hungry again as your body tries to maintain your average (4.7 mmol / liter) high blood sugar level. This is also a problem for non-dieters, because if you frequently eat high GI meals, your pancreas will be overloaded and may become "tired". This is one of the direct causes of diabetes because the hormone (insulin) produced by the beta cells of the pancreas helps utilizing carbohydrates (glucose) as energy. Otherwise, they accumulate in your blood, creating too high blood sugar level. Whatever they say, diabetes cannot be cured. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks beta cells of the pancreas because it cannot distinguish it from substances derived from outside the body. Type 2 diabetes is a type of insulin resistance in which the pancreas produces insulin but is unable or unable to perform its function effectively. Thanks to modern medicine, no type can be considered as a fatal disease today. With medication, change of lifestyle and regular exercise you can keep it in under control and have a full life. You may be wondering why GI values are important for diabetics when they have no insulin production. For two reasons. One is that if you eat food that has high value in GI, your insulin levels can increase very quickly due to a lack of insulin. Hyperglycaemia or in more severe cases, ketoacidosis coma may occur. Hyperglycaemia means high blood sugar, which can cause malaise, tiredness, shortness of breath, thirst, dry mouth and urgent urination. This is called ketoacidosis when ketone bodies accumulate in the blood due to lack of insulin. Symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fruity breath, hyperventilation (over breathing), and confusion. When a person loses consciousness due to ketoacidosis, we refer to ketoacidosis coma, or commonly known as "diabetic coma". I don’t think this name is right because it suggests that coma occurs due to blood sugar or blood insulin levels, whereas here the lack of insulin has an indirect role.

The other important thing you need to know if you have diabetes is your insulin dose. Lot of my acquaintances have diabetes, so does my sister, and their common point is obesity. The problem is not that simple as you would think. Because of the lack of insulin, your cells are unable to take up glucose, which results in a hunger for cells that generates a feeling of hunger. Therefore, you cannot stop eating sweets. In such case your intake of carbohydrates is too high and you need to inject plenty of insulin. This gives a huge amount of energy to your body, your cells are well-fed, but they are unable to use that amount, so your body stores it as fat. The other problem is that a large amount of insulin suddenly lowers your blood sugar, which makes you feel hungry again, even if you already have enough energy. So first you get hungry because of the hunger of your cells and then because your blood glucose is too low. In practice, high blood sugar is followed by a high dose of insulin followed by a low blood sugar which will make you hungry again. In other words because of cell starvation you take in further carbohydrate and instead of your pancreas, you give your body too much insulin. That's why you gain weight! That's why it's important to have a good diet for people with diabetes (and everyone). This allows you to set your blood sugar level, cell nutrition and low insulin levels, which are prerequisites for weight loss. Why? Because high insulin production inhibits the formation of ketone bodies. The formation of ketone bodies is an essential part of losing weight. This is the process of ketosis. This is a metabolic state in which part of the body's energy supply comes from ketone bodies in the blood. This occurs when the body converts fatty acids into ketone bodies. However, ketosis requires a low and stable level of insulin, which can only be achieved with a steady blood sugar level. This is also important because exercise helps your body to mobilize glycogen stores in order to have enough energy for exercise, but with diabetes you don’t have insulin to use so your blood sugar levels increase drastically, leading to hyperglycemia or even diabetic coma. Therefore, you shouldn’t train hard without a proper level of blood glucose. It is true that during exercise your blood sugar will rise, as will the number of ketones, but it matters to what extent. There are 4 significant differences between the desired ketosis for weight loss and the ketoacidosis with dangerous consequences.

1. With ketosis blood sugar levels are much lower.

2. With ketosis insulin levels are higher. Still low and stable, but higher than ketoacidosis.

3. With ketosis, the concentration of ketone bodies in the blood is much lower.

4. With ketosis, the body produces only the amount of ketone needed for energy supply, that is, only what it uses up, which is not the case with ketoacidosis. In the case of ketoacidosis high level of hyperketonaemia (a large increase in the ratio of ketone bodies in the blood) occurs that the body is no longer able to cope with. It is true that achieving ketosis is the goal to reduce body fat, but using a so-called "ketogenic diet" is very dangerous. Originally, the ketogenic diet was invented to treat a variety of illnesses and not to lose weight. Research has shown that it can be effective in treating epilepsy and diabetes, but only under medical supervision. It has also been shown to increase the risk of developing autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes in case of healthy people (who don’t have any kind of chronic disease).

Summary

Don’t eat food that has high glycemic index (GI) values because they increase your blood sugar too fast.

Set up your nutrition system to adjust your blood glucose level. If you can adjust your blood sugar level, your insulin level will not fluctuate too much.

You should never have to inject too much insulin. Too much insulin prevents the formation of ketone bodies, making you unable to lose weight.

Too much insulin together with too much glucose, gives the cells exceeded energy that the body won’t be able to use, so it is stored as fat. This increases obesity.

Too much insulin will result in low blood sugar which will make you feel hungry again, no matter how much you eat or your body needs it.

Don’t use ketogenic diet without medical supervision.

Don’t use ketogenic diet if you are healthy (do not have any chronic illness). The ketogenic diet is made for medical purposes as a special diet for people with epilepsy and diabetes. It’s not a dieting method. If healthy people follow it they increases the risk of developing autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Healthy lifestyle

Prevention and rehabilitation

For elderly people

“For Dieters”

I guess this is the part that most people will read, thanks to the representatives of the weaker gender, so I would like to say hello to everyone once again.

Before going into the details of "dieting", I have to say that a lasting, conceptual build requires a lifestyle change and not "dieting". This is also because it’s not enough to reach the shape you want but to maintain it. Just think about it. Why do you want to lose weight? Because you put on weight. Because of your lifestyle. What do you do to lose weight? "Dieting". What do you do then? You are back to your old lifestyle. What happens then? You are getting obese again (better than before). And the circle starts again. This is called the yo-yo effect. To avoid this, you need to change your lifestyle in which you would follow an initial calorie-deficient diet for a few weeks in order to lose weight and then change to a normal calorie intake system to maintain your ideal weight. You must have noticed that I am quoting “dieting”. This is because this expression is incorrect. The only way to lose weight that I know of is called liposuction. Every meal change is a part of a diet set to achieve the goal. There are several types of diet. Here, of course, we are dealing with the diet used for "losing weight". But from what do you rumor diets won’t help you reach your goal, even if your balance is less. The reason for this is that most people starve themselves under “dieting” even though the real calorie-deficient diet is not about that. I always ask, what's the point? What is more important? How much the scale shows or if you look good? Well, the point is that you look good and whether you feel good in your skin. It doesn't matter what the scale shows. Just to understand what I'm talking about. Your shape, externally, is determined by your bones, your muscles and the amount of fat deposited. You can't change bones, but you can build muscles and lose weight. So what is the purpose of “dieting”? Lose weight and build muscle. Let's see what really happens.

When you start starving yourself, the biggest problem is not taking in the minimum daily requirement of quality (slow-absorbing) carbohydrates. As a result, your body starts depleting its carbohydrate stores because it focuses on ensuring the functioning of your organs and not the beach season. Your body, liver and muscles have carbohydrate (glycogen) stores. It mobilizes glycogen primarily from the liver, but once it is depleted, it must be refilled. Because of starvation, your liver will not be replenished, so from that point your body will remove glycogen from your muscles, meaning your muscle mass will begin to decline. In addition, glutamine (an amino acid) is used by your body in larger amounts. It is able to replenish glycogen stores from glutamine, provided it is enough. This means that the gut bacteria (the most important nutrient is glutamine) doesn’t get enough of it. This leads to the destruction of the gut bacteria and the uptake of your gut flora. That's why they say that after longer fasting cures and all sorts of "dieting", the gut flora needs time to recover. You should not be overwhelmed immediately.

Another problem is that the lack of meals also reduces your fluid intake because you are also taking in a lot of water with your food. Due to lack of water your brain begins to produce what is called ADH, which increases the rate at which your kidneys absorb water, thereby reducing the amount of urine. This is how your body tries to protect itself from dehydration. Yes there is only one problem. Most "diets" do not prohibit the consumption of caffeine and alcohol. Alcohol and caffeine reduce your ADH production. As a result, your kidneys don’t retain water making you more dehydrated. There is even a period called "drying" in case of bodybuilders during the pre-race weight loss period, when the intake of water is very low and they also drink some white wine. This is one of the biggest bullshit in the world. There are few unhealthy things you can do against yourself. In addition to the fact that water is the most important bio-catalyst for your body, and in the absence of it, the biochemical processes in the body are unable to do the work or are less effective, and the problem is that dehydration is also a cause of hunger. A constant feeling of hunger develops.

The feeling of hunger is also enhanced by the fact that the primary source of energy for your cells is carbohydrate (glucose, which is made from glycogen), in the absence of which your cells are starving. Your body increases the feeling of hunger because it wants to get to more energy. The other major problem is irregularity. Because of your irregular eating, your body doesn’t know when you will eat next. Due to cell starvation, low glycogen levels and irregular eating, the body activates its defense mechanisms. Therefore, it increases fat storage and tries to store everything as fat. Plus, it limits you so you don't feel like doing high-intensity work which requires energy. That's why you feel constantly tired.

So what was the goal? Lose weight and gain muscle. What have you achieved? You have lost muscle mass and increased fat. This is the exact opposite of the plan. Now let's talk about what is the right way.

People start starving because they need less calories than they are using. This is true. They forget, however, that the body needs substances other than calories in order to function properly. If your body needed only calories, you could take it either from alcohol or chocolate. Interesting fact is that the alcohol contains the most calories after fat, therefore it fattens. As I already mentioned in section “Nutrition” there are macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are calorie-rich nutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat) and micronutrients are non-calorie-nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fibers, electrolytes, water). You need to provide your body with all micronutrients in sufficient quantities, even during "losing weight". There are also macronutrients that are essential (the body cannot produce them, therefore must be administered externally). These are the 8 essential and semi-essential amino acids, or the Omega 3 essential fatty acids, especially if you are dieting. The tables at the end of the chapter "Nutrition" will help you in this. A well-designed lifestyle, like a well-designed diet, starts with regularity and if you follow a few simple rules you won’t have to worry.

Always do everything at the same time. Sleep, eat and exercise at the same time. If your body gets used to the rhythm, the defensive mechanisms will diminish because your body, even if it has a lower calorie intake, is constantly being supplied. This way you will not be constantly tired, hungry and fat storage will decline.

Exercise regularly. This will improve your well-being, but it is not necessary. On the one hand, it increases your calorie requirements, so when you are on a calorie-deficient diet, you are going to have to rely on your own stores. On the other hand, it speeds up your metabolism. This also helps to eliminate storage.

Do not consume fast-absorbing carbohydrates. Fast-absorbing carbohydrates have a high glycemic index (GI). GI is a ranking of the ability of certain food to raise blood glucose levels, expressed as a percentage of the glucose-raising ability of glucose in the food. This means that glucose is 100 percent ratio and compared to that, we give the food's ability to raise blood glucose. This is because your body converts all carbohydrates into glucose. Dieters should avoid such food because too much blood sugar results in too much insulin. Because of the high insulin, after a high blood sugar level, too low blood sugar level occurs. The energy that is received in this way cannot be used by the body, therefore it is being stored as fat. In addition, too low blood sugar levels will make you feel hungry again as your body tries to maintain your average (4.7 mmol / liter) high blood sugar level. This is also a problem for non-dieters, because if you frequently eat high GI meals, your pancreas will be overloaded and may become "tired". This is one of the direct causes of diabetes because the hormone (insulin) produced by the beta cells of the pancreas helps utilizing carbohydrates (glucose) as energy. Otherwise, they accumulate in your blood, creating too high blood sugar level. Another reason not to eat high GI foods is because of the stimulation of insulin production. Low insulin levels are a prerequisite for weight loss. Why? Because high insulin production inhibits the formation of ketone bodies. The formation of ketone bodies is an essential part of losing weight. This is the process of ketosis. This is a metabolic state in which part of the body's energy supply comes from ketone bodies in the blood. This occurs when the body converts fatty acids into ketone bodies. However, ketosis requires a low and stable level of insulin, which can only be achieved with a steady blood sugar level. If you eat GI food with high level, this will not work.

Talking about ketosis, it is important to mention my concerns about the ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet was actually invented to increase the concentration of ketone in the blood, and this hyperketonaemia is also called the body's "running out" mode. It is true that achieving ketosis is the goal to reduce body fat, but using a so-called ketogenic diet is very dangerous. The ketogenic diet was invented to treat a variety of illnesses and not to lose weight. Research has shown that it can be effective in treating epilepsy and diabetes, but only under medical supervision. It has also been shown to increase the risk of developing autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes in case of healthy people (who don’t have any kind of chronic disease).

Dietetic food

There is a wide selection of foods to choose from. The tables at the end of the "Nutrition" section, including diets and calorie tables, can help you make your choice.

The following are the foods to avoid when dieting. Cheese, pastry, butter, fat, fatty meats, fatty foods, mayonnaise, garlic sauce (based on mayonnaise), all kinds of biscuits and chips, chocolates, chips, various sugars, gummy sugars, carbonated soft drinks and all dessert and food that contains ingredients from the list.

The list of slightly recommended food is the following: French fries, frozen packs, pasta, oil, margarine, salt.

The list of recommended food is detailed in order to refute all allegation that.

„Poor dieters have nothing to eat."

I have heard a lot of debate about what kind of meat they should eat, so I list those that can be consumed along with the diet.

White meat: lamb, chicken, duck, goose, rabbit, turkey

Fish: amur, silver carp, trout, carp, catfish, perch (For gastronomic purposes, fish are not meat and are treated separately)

Edible crops: barley, wheat, sorghum, buckwheat, millet, corn, rice, rye, oats, other cereals and cereal flakes

Legumes, beans, lentils, yellow peas, soy, green peas

Other vegetables: artichoke, broccoli, potato, beetroot, sweet corn, sweet potato, blackcurrant, onion, kohlrabi, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, eggplant, paprika, tomato, spinach, parsley, parsley, rhubarb, radish, asparagus, carrot, sorrel, tomatillo, pumpkin, cucumber, celery

Fruits: apple, banana, cherry, strawberry, watermelon, apricot, kiwi, pear, raspberry, sour cherry, peach, currant, rolling, melon, blackberry, plum, grape.

However, it is important to know that fruits contain fructose. It is able to replenish the glycogen stores in the liver but helps excessively in obesity. Therefore, let's not just live on a diet called fruit. Try to choose one that has a lower carbohydrate content and a higher protein content. They are included in the calorie tables in the "Nutrition" section. On the other hand, it is useful because it is juicy. It replenishes the fluid well so you will have no problem with dehydration. I do not recommend dried fruits because crystal sugar is added during the drying process.

Seeds: nuts, pine nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, cashew nuts, coconut, pistachios, sweet chestnuts, hazelnuts.

These seeds have a very high calorie content, so I have to note here that the recommended daily amount is 0.7 grams per kilogram of body weight. Not to mention that it is only the nut that has the right ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids (1: 4). All others have thousands of times more Omega 6s than Omega 3s and are therefore inadequate for Omega 3 replacement. If you like to eat the rest on a regular basis, then you should definitely increase your daily dose of Omega 3, which is most easily done with fish oil capsule.

Diet Tips

1500 calorie diet

Breakfast

100 g boiled eggs (2 pieces)

100 g rye bread (2 slices)

10 g butter (1 spoon)

3 dl orange juice

Brunch

100 g strawberry

Lunch

50 g (dry weight) of cooked brown rice

100 g chicken

100 g mixed salad

Snack

100g raspberry, 150g fruity yogurt

"Before" training

100 g banana

During training

1000 ml sports drink / non-training day, instead of sports drink, you can add "100g bananas" to the "pre-workout" and 50g peaches to the snack

Dinner

100 g of spinach

100 g boiled eggs (2 pieces)

Evening

100 g strawberry

Protein (g)

70.7 (23.1%)

Fat (g)

49.7 (16.3%)

Carbohydrate (g)

185.2 (60.6%)

Energy (kcal)

1484.3

2000 calorie diet

Breakfast

100 g oatmeal

100 g of fruity yogurt

2 dl milk

100 g rye bread (2 slices)

20 g butter (1 spoon)

Brunch

100 g strawberry

Lunch

100 g peas, 100 g chicken

100 g mixed salad

Snack

300 g apple, 150g fruity yogurt

"Before" training

100 g banana

During training

1000 ml sports drink / non-training day, instead of sports drink, you can add "100g bananas" to the "pre-workout" and 50g peaches to the snack

Dinner

100 g potato dish

100 g chicken

Evening

100 g strawberry

Protein (g)

98.9 (22.1%)

Fat (g)

57.9 (12.9%)

Carbohydrate (g)

291.1 (65%)

Energy (kcal)

2095.7

Diets, as the name implies, are just ideas. Feel free to put together your own diet with calorie charts, following a few rules.

Rules of diet

Your diet requires up to 32 calories per kilogram of body weight per day.

The minimum calorie requirement for a diet is the same as the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is 22 kcal / kg body weight for women and 24 kcal / kg body weight for men. That is how many calories our body burns while resting.

In order to maintain muscle mass during the diet, it is advisable to maintain a protein intake of 1.6 - 2 / kg body weight / day.

Carbohydrate intake for endomorph body type or bulky, people should be up to 3 g / kg body weight / day. For mesomorph body type, i.e. athletes should be up to 5 g / kg bw / day. It is worth starting with these values, and if you are not experiencing significant weight loss, you should reduce your intake by 0.5 g / kg. In the case of ectomorph, slim body type the intake should be up to 7 g / kg body weight / day, but they don’t need to lose weight, precisely because in numbers they don’t come up with minimum nutrient values in addition to dietary calories.

Example

Body weight = 70 kg => calorie requirement = 70 * 32 kcal = 2240 kcal

Protein requirement => 1.6g * 70 = 112g =>

Calorie content = 112 g * 3.99 = 446.9 kcal

Carbohydrate requirement => 7g * 70 = 490g =>

Calorie content = 490 g * 3.99 = 1955.1 kcal

Total calories without fat

1955.1 kcal + 446.9 kcal = 2402 kcal> 2240 kcal

Just enough protein and carbohydrate calories are more than the maximum calorie value of a calorie-deficient diet for weight loss and the amount of fat you intake is not even counted in.

Use the table below to calculate calorie values. You will find further help at the end of the chapter "Nutrition".

Nutrients

Energy value per gram (Joule)

Energy value per calorie (Joule)

Calorie value per gram (calorie)

Carbohydrate

16700

4184

3,99

Protein

16700

4184

3,99

Fat

39000

4184

9,32

Alcohol

29000

4184

6,93

Example

16700 /

4184

= 3,99

Don’t drink half an hour before and after meals. You dilute your digestive juices and slow down your metabolism.

Eat less more often. It also helps to speed up the metabolism.

Eat at least 1.5 hours before training and bedtime.

Eat (drink) 0.5g / kg of protein within half an hour of training. And within one and a half hours of exercise, you should eat 1-2 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight, depending on your body type. You will need it even if you’re not going to sleep for at least 1.5 hours. After exercise, your body stores are empty and need to be replenished and the post-workout regeneration process also needs the appropriate amount of calories and nutrients.

If you have a bulky (endomorphic) body type it is worth keeping your last meal free of carbohydrates. They get fat easier, therefore this makes it easier to control it. An exception to this is of course if you are training late in the afternoon or midnight, as it is essential to have a large amount of carbohydrates after your workout.

Don’t eat large amount of fat, meat and alcohol during your last meal. They are slow to digest, a process that can degrade sleep quality. In addition, they promote dehydration. In these cases, you wake up in the evening because you are thirsty, you need to pee and wake up in the morning feeling dry.

If you are not experienced in diet preparation, make sure to include cooked spinach with boiled egg, iodine and some nuts. With this combination, you get all the minerals that you need to replace every 18 of them, as well as the 13 vitamins, all the essential, semi-essential and non-essential amino acids, and the essential Omega 3 fatty acids. If you are unable to eat this every day during the diet, that is no problem, but boiled eggs should be included. This is one of our best food. It contains 13-14 minerals, 11 vitamins and all amino acids.

Myths

“Do lots of crunches to remove fat from your stomach.”

This is one of the biggest bullshit. Abdominal training, as the name implies, trains your abdominal wall. It is true that the body needs to burn calories to do muscle work, but it is impossible to train enough on the stomach to burn enough calories to lose weight. That's one of the problems. The other thing is that there is no such thing as removing fat from one place, just as gaining weight only on one place doesn’t happen. More experienced ladies know that even after losing bigger weight, even the breast size will be smaller (no one will change the size of the basket, as that requires significant weight loss), because it is also a high percentage of fat.

“It’s enough if you don’t eat after 6.”

These kind of rules drive me crazy. Everyone has a different rhythm. We do different kind of work, have different bodies, health, and so on. You can't drag a schema to everyone. If you work out from 6 to 8 in the afternoon, then after workout you have to eat, no matter what time it is.

“Don't eat carbs and you'll lose weight."

The body's main energy provider is carbohydrate. You mustn’t have lack in it. This theory is the basis for wasting, which results in significant muscle loss and a high degree of fat storage (or what the body would store if there was one). Carbohydrates are not the problem. You shouldn’t eat food with a high Glycemic Index (GI). However, this rule should be followed not only by "dieters" but by everyone.

"You shouldn’t do weight training because you will only gain muscle, but you won’t lose weight."

If I could sell as many books as many times as I've heard it from women, I'd be a millionaire. Unless you have a hormonal problem, you will not be too muscular with weight training, especially if you are not doing heavy weight or strength training and especially if you are on a calorie-deficient diet. It is true that those with endomorph body type must be careful not to be too muscular, because they are fit for power training and heavy workouts, but in order to be very muscular, they need to have calorie surplus.

“It doesn’t matter from what you drain the calorie, it will only remain the same.”

That's right, but the body doesn't need calories only. If this was the case, then you could get daily calorie intake from chocolate and alcohol, but in this case your body will not get the vitamins and minerals it needs. You wouldn’t have enough protein to maintain muscle mass. You wouldn’t receive essential (substances that the body cannot synthesize, so it must be received ready) substances. Plus, you can't lose weight. Chocolate has too high GI value and therefore raises the level of insulin, which inhibits the formation of fatty ketone bodies. Without this the fat loss could not even begin.

Workout

Exercise is also important for a healthy lifestyle, not to mention diet. It is practically impossible to lose weight without sufficient amount of physical activity. Exercise 3-6 times a week. Always do strength training workouts to improve your muscles and enough cardio workouts to burn calories. It is advisable to do the two at a separate workout or do cardio training after a weight training session. This is also important because cardio workouts should last up to 1 hour (generally 30-40 minutes) and weight training should be at least as long (1.5 hours as a rule) if you do it right. When training for cardio, it is important not to run at the very beginning. Most coaches say you will be really coached by running, but the reality is that you need to be coached to be able to run. Running is the most difficult exercise for the body, all muscles, strings, ligament and circulatory system are in use. You need everything to run. Run only if you are already trained and you only want to be more trained. I recommend climbing, cycling, ergometer training, and interval training as well. Interval training is also good for muscle development, speed and training explosiveness. Furtherone it’s good for anaerobic (oxygen deficiency) and aerobic (oxygen) capacity training, provided it is properly constructed. To do this, you should set your workout based on your heart rate. For example, using 1 minute sprints with x intermittent rest. The rest time should be set so that by the end the heart rate point is reduced back to 80 percent of the maximum value. There are several modern calculations to determine the maximum heart rate, but for this you need to use the old-fashioned and well-proven way. 220 minus age. This value (slightly or very depending on fitness) is below the real value, so in case of athletes I prefer to use the value given from 230.

Example: 30 years => maximum heart rate = 230-30 = 200

At the end of rest, your ideal heart rate = 200 * 0.8 = 160

Even with weight training, it may be worth following some rules. Every person is different. This is also true for the composition of the muscles. Every person has different muscle groups with different composition. There are white (with fast contraction, glycolytic), red (with slow contraction, oxidative) and so-called intermediate fibers in the muscles. Intermediate fibers are the ones we can train to resemble white or red muscle fibers. We can only train the red and white muscle fibers to "get in shape". The white muscle fibers are the ones that are capable of delivering unbelievably high energy. These are needed for explosive power, speed and high maximum physical strength. White muscle fibers can be 100 percent energetic, but after maximum 1 minute they get tired. Red muscle fibers can provide about 70 percent of the energy of white muscle fibers, but for much longer time. Depending on your workout, even for hours, see iron man athletes or marathoners. These muscles are not as spectacular in appearance. Bodybuilders call these "stubborn" muscles because they find it difficult to grow them spectacular. You need to do some basic tests to measure the composition of your muscles. Perform a maximal lifting test (squats, pull-ups, and lying down). The value of these will be your 100 percent, 1 RM. Calculate 80 percent of these and see how many pieces you can do with that weight. If less than 10, the muscle group is predominantly white. If it's 10-13 then this is about 50-50 percent, which is the same for most people. If you can do more than 13, then the red muscle fibers are in majority in that muscle. Depending on this you can choose how many pieces you need to make and how much weights in each series to make your workout ideal for your muscles. If you have more white muscle fibers do 6-8 pieces in series. If you are average, then 8-10 pieces and if you have more red muscle fibers then 12 to 15 workouts are good for you. Of course, you need to change the way you exercise (after 3 months), but this should be the starting point for your training. If you are a sports person, this can change accordingly. For example, if speed and explosive power are important in a sport, it is better to train white muscle fibers. In this case, the former tests will only be good for reviewing your pace of development. If you basically have red muscles you will progress slower than others. The other is the training method, which is the separation of the muscles.

This depends on the individual and training, therefore I can only give you guidelines, because you need to experience it. It's worth getting a coach. There is a program where you train all your muscles during each workout. If you choose this, do 3 exercises and 2-3 sets for the big muscle groups (breasts, back, legs) and 2 exercises and 1-2 sets for the small muscles. It's a good idea to do this only if you do weight training only 2 times or up to 3 times a week. If you exercise at least 3 times a week, I recommend you to train with different muscle groups during each workout. Separate them according to the major muscle groups to which you assign the secondary muscles.

Examples

Exercise 1: breast, front and side shoulder, triceps

Exercise 2: back, back shoulder, biceps

Exercise 3: Legs, buttocks, abdominal wall

This is how I split my workouts, but I train 5 days so I have two extra days that look like this.

Exercise 4: biceps, triceps, forearm, all three shoulders of the shoulder

Exercise 5: Abdominal wall, buttocks, back (here I only do lifting exercises, and with Exercise 2, I only do pulling exercises. If you only train for 3 days a week, you should also do lifting and pulling back exercises in Exercise 2. )

Preparing for the competition

If you need to be prepared for a competition and your goal is not just everyday well-being and better physical fitness, then unfortunately you won't get away without coaching. Preparation for a particular sport even differs in the structure of auxiliary sports. I am not familiar with all sports types, therefore I won’t try to make such programs here. I can only give you some general rules to check your coach's program.

It is important to set up a personalized functional workout program, even if you are not training for competition. The basic requirement is to perform certain tests before developing the program.

Estimating the value of 1 RM (1 maximum pressure) in power lifting figures (push up, lifting, squatting).

Check the muscle composition of muscle groups with the 80% test.

Assessing the condition of joints (joint pain, reduction of joint range of motion).

Assessment of physical condition (current and past injuries, current performance on surveyors and sports, technical deficiencies, physical deficiencies such as stiffness).

You will find a full description of functional training in the section "Prevention and Rehabilitation”.

The best workout for a given sport is always the pursuit of the sport itself, and within that, the distance training you have to complete at the competition. This is the way to get the right technique and the right energy distribution. Appropriate muscle memory can be developed, which increases efficiency, and further concentration during exercise. The basis and mode of use of any auxiliary sport depends on the design of the functional training program described in the first paragraph.

Summary

Define a system in your life. An agenda. When you sleep, eat, train. This will help your organism to switch onto “dieting” mode.

Define a nutrition system to bring in all the nutrients you need. Use values that are appropriate for your body and your weight.

Eat cooked spinach with iodized salt, boiled eggs and nuts as often as you can, but boiled eggs every day.

Don’t eat food with high Glycemic Index to adjust your blood glucose. If you can adjust your blood sugar level, your insulin level will not fluctuate too much.

Too much insulin prevents the formation of ketone bodies, making you unable to lose weight.

Too much insulin together with glucose, gives the cells too much energy that they will not be able to use, so it is stored as fat. This increases obesity.

Too much insulin will result in low blood sugar, which will make you feel hungry again, no matter how much you eat or whether your body needs it.

Eat less and often to speed up your metabolism.

Don’t follow ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet is made for medical purposes, a special diet for people with epilepsy and diabetes. It’s not a dieting method. Its use in case of healthy people increases the risk of developing autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes.

Exercise regularly to speed up your metabolism, increase your calorie intake and shape your muscles. For this you also need cardio training and weight training.

Ask your coach to help you with your program.

Perform appropriate tests to develop your functional workout. You will find a full description of functional training in the section “Prevention and Rehabilitation”.

- Estimating the value of 1 RM (1 maximum pressure)

- 80% test (muscle composition test)

- assessing the condition of joints (joint pain, reduction of joint range of motion)

- assessment of physical condition (current and past injuries, current performance in surveyors and in the sport, technical deficiencies, physical deficiencies such as stiffness).

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

• Myths

• The human body

• Nutrition

Building Muscle

This chapter is for everyone that wants to build mass. The reason I call this ‘mass’ is because you can’t avoid fat while building muscle. You must have heard the expression calorie deficit. It means that you eat below your daily caloric need. The opposite is calorie surplus. Muscle building can be achieved with calorie surplus only, which leads to energy storage, meaning fat. Calorie surplus is needed as your body needs extra nutrition to build muscle. It’s like a wall. The higher you build, the more bricks you need. Obviously, you can’t do what many others do: ‘It doesn’t matter what I eat and how much, I need the extra calories’. Think about the wall. You can use bricks only, otherwise it won’t be sturdy. To increase or build your size, you need a good diet since you want to increase your muscle mass the most, not your fat. A good diet starts with doing things regularly, and by keeping a few, simple rules, you will succeed.

Stick to a daily routine; sleep, eating, drinking, moving or doing sports, taking medicine and supplements.

Work out regularly. It improves your overall wellbeing and also increases your muscle mass, speeds up your metabolism and decreases fat storage.

Avoid fast digesting carbohydrates. These carbs have a high glycemic index (GI). GI measures the rise in the blood glucose levels. It’s compared to the same amount of glucose consumed. For example, glucose is at 100%, food is compared to this level. This is because your body changes every carbohydrate to glucose. You need to avoid these types of food due to the fact that high blood sugar levels cause high insulin secretion. Due to the high blood sugar levels and insulin secretion, a low blood sugar level follows. Your body can’t store all the energy it gets, so it stores it as fat. What’s more, too low blood sugar level causes hunger as your body tries to maintain the medium level (4.7 mmol/liter). This is problematic as eating foods with high GI values often causes your pancreas to overexert themselves and it could ‘get tired’. This is one of the main causes of diabetes because the beta cells produced by the pancreas produce a hormone (insulin), which helps to use carbohydrates (glucose) for energy. Without these, your blood gets overflown with this, causing high blood sugar levels. Another reason why you should avoid high GI foods is because it stimulates insulin production. Low insulin level is required to lose weight, or to decrease fat storage. Why? Because high insulin production prevents creating ketones. Ketones play a huge part in decreasing fat storage. This is called ketosis. It’s a metabolic state where the body partly gets its energy from the ketones in the blood. This happens when the body transforms fatty acids into ketones. However, you need to have a low and stable insulin level to get ketosis, so you need a stable blood sugar level. If you consume foods with high GI levels, this is not going to work.

Food

You can eat many types of food. The ‘Nutrition’ chapter could help you with the diets and calorie tables. I recommend the semi-vegetarian diet. It’s easy to keep it and it’s great for working out and competing. It’s similar to the omnivorous diet with a few exceptions. This is the least strict vegetarian diet. Semi-vegetarians don’t eat red meat and offal. These contain too much uric acid and fat and don’t have the nutrition compared to white meats (lamb, chicken, duck, goose, hare, turkey), fish, eggs or dairy. I follow this diet as well, but want to give you some extra rules and advices. Be careful with egg yolks, as they contain lots of calories and fats. One average chicken egg yolk contains 5.8 grams of fat and 71 calories. Professional bodybuilders make scrambled eggs from 15 eggs, but 3 egg yolks only. Try to drink skimmed milk and dairy and try to avoid fatty foods. So don’t eat butter or cheese (or just a minimal amount). Eating fruits and vegetables isn’t an option; you must do it every single day. This doesn’t need to be the main part of our diet, but it’s necessary for a proper metabolism. The fiber that’s in fruits and vegetables is very important for our health, especially when we’re trying to build size. Fiber is a carbohydrate called cellulose, which is non-digestible. This is why people didn’t care about fiber for a long time. It’s a kind of broom in the intestines, which, for example, clears gall acids produced by cholesterol. What’s more, the volume of fiber increases due to water, and makes your stool softer and will give you an overall easier time at the toilet. This is important, as building mass requires lots of nutrition and protein, which can cause constipation, so you can compensate this downside easily.

Another important thing is quality food. Simple carbohydrates (sugars) are not only bad because their GI values are high, but because they provide energy without nutrition, so your body needs to get its Vitamin B from within, as this is required for producing glucose. This is one of the reasons why 75% of bodybuilding diets consist of rice and chicken. This is because rice is not only a slow digesting carbohydrate, but also high in Vitamin B and it has essential (meaning your body can’t produce it) amino acids. While I agree that rice is important, I recommend brown rice. Shelling and shining is widespread as it provides a longer shelf life, but it loses 70% of its Vitamin B content and 60% of its iron content.

Another great example is that even if we consume enough fats, we may not have enough essential Omega-3 fatty acids. You get Omega-3 from sea fish, oily seeds (consume walnuts only, as the others have too much Omega-6), linseed and olive oil (buy cold pressed olive oil only and use it on salads when cold, as it produces toxic substances due to heating), supplements, oil capsules. These give you energy, but are also healthy. They protect your joints, decrease cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and inflammation and increases fat metabolism.

Diets

3000 calorie diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

150 g (3 pc) boiled eggs

3 dl orange juice

Snack

250 g strawberries

Lunch

100 g boiled brown rice (raw weight)

100 g cooked chicken

200g lentils pottage

Snack

100 g raspberry

100g fruit yoghurt

Pre-Workout

100g banana

During Workout

1000 ml sports drink / on days you don’t work out, you can add an extra 100 g banana and 50 g peach instead of a sports drink

Dinner

200 g spinach pottage, 100 g (2 pc) boiled eggs

200 g Goulash soup

100 g rye bread (2 slices)

Evening Snack

50 g walnuts

Protein (g)

152.7 (24.7%)

Fat (g)

101.7 (16.4%)

Carbohydrate (g)

365.0 (58.9%)

Energy (kcal)

3013.5

3500 calorie diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

150 g (3 pc) boiled eggs

3 dl orange juice

Snack

250 g strawberries

Lunch

100 g boiled brown rice (raw weight)

100 g cooked chicken, 200g lentils pottage

200 g fish soup

Snack

100 g raspberry, 200 g peach (1 pc)

100g fruit yoghurt

Pre-Workout

100 g kiwi, 100g banana

During Workout

1000 ml sports drink / on days you don’t work out, you can add an extra 100 g banana and 50 g peach instead of a sports drink

Dinner

200 g spinach pottage, 100 g (2 pc) boiled eggs

200 g Goulash soup

100 g rye bread (2 slices)

Evening Snack

250g strawberry, 50 g walnuts

Protein (g)

189.5 (25.9%)

Fat (g)

113.9 (15.6%)

Carbohydrate (g)

428.4 (58.5%)

Energy (kcal)

3527.0

4000 calories diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

200 g (4 pc) boiled eggs

5 dl orange juice

Snack

250 g strawberries

Lunch

100 g boiled brown rice (raw weight)

100 g cooked chicken, 200g lentils pottage

200 g fish soup

Snack

100 g raspberry, 200 g peach (1 pc)

150g fruit yoghurt

Pre-Workout

200 g kiwi, 100g banana

During Workout

1000 ml sports drink / on days you don’t work out, you can add an extra 100 g banana and 50 g peach instead of a sports drink

Dinner

200 g spinach pottage, 150 g (3 pc) boiled eggs

200 g Goulash soup

200 g rye bread (4 slices)

Evening Snack

250 g strawberries, 50 g walnuts

Protein (g)

228.9 (27.3%)

Fat (g)

119.5 (14.3%)

Carbohydrate (g)

488.9 (58.4%)

Energy (kcal)

3977.8

These are just diet plans. You can create your own with the help of the calorie tables and nutrition values

Rules in mass building diets

Daily caloric needs with people looking to build muscle with 3 to 6 workouts with weights and 0 to 3 cardio workouts, depending on body type:

- Endomorph body type: 50 calories / bodyweight kilograms / day.

- Mesomorph and mixed body type: 55 calories / bodyweight kilograms / day.

- Ectomorph body type: 60 calories / bodyweight kilograms / day.

However, these are just examples, and with professional athletes, these are just minimum values and could even be doubled. So it may be worth it to experiment and increase it as you want.

In order to not lose muscle mass, it’s recommended to eat 2 to 2.3 grams of protein / bodyweight kilograms / day.

People with Endomorph bodies should consume a minimum of 3 g of carbohydrates / bodyweight kilograms / day. People with Mesomorph bodies should eat a minimum of 5 g of carbohydrates / bodyweight kilograms / day. People with Ectomorph bodies should eat a minimum of 7 g of carbohydrates / bodyweight kilograms / day. These are the recommended starting values and if you don’t see a significant growth, increase it by 0.5 g / bodyweight kilograms / day.

Use the table underneath to count calories. You can get further help at the end of the ‘Nutrition’ chapter.

Nutrition

Energy per grams (Joule)

Energy per calories (Joule)

Calories per grams (calories)

Carbohydrate

16700

4184

3,99

Protein

16700

4184

3,99

Fat

39000

4184

9,32

Alcohol

29000

4184

6,93

Example

16700/

4184

=3.99

Avoid drinking 30 minutes before or after a meal. You’ll dilute your digestive juices, slowing down your metabolism.

Eat smaller portions more frequently. This speeds up your metabolism.

Avoid eating 1.5 hours before working out or before going to bed.

Once you finish your workout, consume 0.5 grams / bodyweight kilograms of protein in 30 minutes. It’s also recommended to consume 2 grams / bodyweight kilograms of carbohydrates in 1.5 hours after the workout, even if you’re going to bed soon. Your body’s nutrition storages are depleted after a workout and needs to be restocked, and you also need calories and nutrition for recovery.

For the last meal of the day, avoid consuming lots of fat, lots of meat and alcohol. It takes a lot of time to digest these, which could decrease sleep quality and increase dehydration. This is why you wake up in the middle of night because you’re thirsty or because you need to pee, then wake up dehydrated in the morning.

Exercise

Exercise is a requirement for a healthy lifestyle, but especially for increasing size. You can’t increase size without proper workouts. Work out 3 to 6 times a week. Do weight training to improve your muscles and cardio to improve your cardiovascular system. Try to increase the number of cardio workouts as your body weight increases. This is not only effective against being overweight, but also decreases the chances of complications due to sudden weight gain such as cardiovascular diseases or diabetes.

It’s recommended to separate the two, or do cardio after weight training. This is important because cardio workouts take at most 1 hour (may change in extreme situations) and weight training take at least 1 hour (or more in extreme situations) if you’re doing it right.

At the start of your cardio workout, it’s important to not run. Most trainers say that running makes you really fit, but you need to be fit in the first place to be able to run. Running is the hardest exercise for the body since it uses your muscles, tendons, ligaments and your cardiovascular system. You need everything for running. Run only if you are fit in the first place. Instead, I recommend scaling stairs, cycling, ergometer training and interval training. Interval training is great for improving muscles (slow- and fast twitch muscles), speed and explosiveness, anaerobic (lack of oxygen) and aerobic (oxygen) capacity, if it’s done right. It’s recommended to adjust your training according to your pulse. For example, sprint for 1 minute, then rest for x seconds, and repeat. You need enough rest so that your pulse decreases to 80% of your max pulse. There are other modern calculations for determining your max pulse, but the old method works fine. Subtract your age from 220. This value (depending on your level of physical fitness) may be lower or higher than your actual value, this is why I recommend athletes to subtract from 230.

Example: 30 years old => max pulse=230-30=200

Pulse at the end of rest: 200*0.8=160

It’s recommended to follow some rules when it comes to weight training. Muscle groups could change in a person. There are fast twitch muscles (glycolytic), slow twitch muscles (oxidative) and intermediate fibers. The intermediate fibers are the muscles you can train, which then assimilate to your slow- and fast twitch muscles. Slow- and fast twitch muscles can be trained to ‘be fit’. Fast twitch muscles contract quickly and powerfully. This is what you need for explosiveness, speed and physical strength. The force output of fast twitch muscles are a 100%, but they tire out quickly. Slow twitch muscles have a force output of about 70%, but don’t tire as fast and can be contracted for long periods, even hours depending on fitness, e.g. iron man athletes or marathon runners. These muscles don’t have that spectacular look. Bodybuilders call these ‘stubborn’ muscles, as growing their appearance is very hard. To measure your own muscle structure, you need to do a few basic tests. Measure your max lifts (squat, deadlift and bench press). This is your one rep max, or 1 RM. Calculate 80%, and see how many reps can you do with this weight. If it’s less than 10, then it’s mainly fast twitch muscle. If it’s between 10 to 13, which is the average, it’s 50-50. If you can do more than 13, then slow twitch muscles are the majority. Depending on this, you can adjust your training accordingly. If you have more fast twitch muscles, do 6 to 8 reps per set. If you’re average, then 8 to 10 reps per set. And if you have more slow twitch muscles, then 12 to 15 reps per set. Of course, you need to change up your workout (every 3 months), but this is a good start. Also, if you’re doing some other sport, this could change depending on the sport itself. For example, if speed and explosive force is important, train your fast twitch muscles. In this case, these tests are good for measuring your progress. If you have more slow twitch muscles, then you’ll have a slower progress with 6 to 8 reps per sets and bodybuilding compared to those with lots of fast twitch muscles. To the contrary, your endurance will be better, especially if it comes to running.

Another training method is the separation of muscles. This greatly varies person by person, so I can give you guidelines only. It’s recommended to contact a trainer. There are training programs where you train every muscle per session. If you follow this, do 3 exercises with 2 to 3 sets per large muscle groups (chest, back, legs) and 2 exercises with 1 to 2 sets per small muscle groups. It’s recommended if you do weight training 2 to 3 times a week only. If you work out at least 3 times a week, then I recommend targeting different muscle groups per workout. Separate them according to large muscle groups, and train the smaller muscle groups accordingly.

Example:

workout: chest, front and side of the shoulders, triceps

workout: back, back of the shoulder, biceps

workout: legs, glutes, abdominals

This is how I divide my workouts, but I train 5 times a week, so I have two extra days.

workout: biceps, triceps, forearms, all three parts of the shoulders

workout: abdominals, glutes, back (only lifting exercises, and only pulling exercises on the 2nd back workout. If you work out only 3 times per week, you need to do lifting and pulling exercises on your 2nd day as well.)

Preparing for competition

If you’re preparing for a competition and you’re not training to feel better or be fit, then you need a trainer. Preparing for a certain sport is very different from another. I’m not an expert on every sport, so I can’t give you a personalized program. I just tell you some guidelines, which help you to check the training plan your coach gave you.

Having a personalized, functional workout plan is important, even if you’re not training to compete. To do this, you need to do some basic tests before creating the program.

- Measuring your 1RM (one rep max) in the big lifts (bench press, deadlift, squat).

- Measure your muscle group structure by doing the 80% test.

- Measure the condition of your joints (joint pain, decreased joint mobility).

- Measure your physical fitness (present and old injuries, present performance, technical insufficiency, physical insufficiency, such as stiffness).

You can find the whole description regarding functional exercises in the ‘Prevention and Rehabilitation’ chapter.

The best training for a certain sport is always doing that sport, in a near competition environment or distance. The exception is bodybuilding, as the workout greatly differs from the competition. You can develop the right technique, energy distribution, muscle memory, which increases efficiency and your concentration under load. Every assistance sport depends on the functional workout plan.

Supplements

This is a topic, which you should look into once your diet is all set. •              Diet supplements are called supplements because they supplement your diet. Your digestive system digests solid food. In cases of great stress, it’s recommended to supplement your diet, but it doesn’t substitute a balanced diet. If you can’t get enough nutrition from solid foods, this is a better alternative compared to not eating. What’s more, it costs less to eat right than to buy supplements.

The most important part of gaining weight is the diet. Many people buy loads of weight gainers and do strength training instead of thinking a bit. They want to increase their size. This means that your body needs more calories than it burns, since if you burn everything, your body won’t have fuel to build muscle. Your body can’t grow muscle or fat without a calorie surplus. I’ve heard many people say that they can’t grow, even though they take weight gainers. This is because they don’t eat enough calories even with the weight gainers. This is a problem thin (ectomorph) people tend to struggle with while they take weight gainers with high protein content, even though they need lots of carbs due to their fast metabolism.

Another problem is that many people don’t know how they get the energy for training. Everyone knows about anabolic processes, they know that it builds your body. ‘This is what I need to grow my muscles’, as most people say. Catabolic processes are less popular, especially since some people see them as the enemy. Catabolic processes break down molecules. I’ve come across bodybuilders that take pills to prevent catabolic processes because they’re afraid of losing muscle mass. This is bullshit, especially since catabolic processes give you energy while working out so that you can effectively stimulate your muscles. What’s more, one process can’t work without the other. The goal is to get the balance between the two. When it comes to a diet, weight gaining, rehabilitation or preparing for a competition, there’s one goal. You can achieve this balance with a good lifestyle, diet and training plan only. Let’s see an example. Your diet is good, but you need a bit of a boost, but don’t know much about weight gainers. This list will help you. In the ‘Other’ category you can find things which can help you, but are not needed or I don’t recommend them. Don’t be surprised that you begin this like others who are not looking to gain weight.

Vitamin C, 30 mg / bodyweight kilograms / day, divided throughout the day. You can increase the dose if you’re sick, sore, have an inflammation or if you’re a smoker, but no one needs more than 50 mg / bodyweight kilograms / day. It’s a water-soluble vitamin, so you can’t overdose and it has no side effects. You simply pee out the excess.

Fish oil, 3 to 9 g / day. You can get these in 1-gram capsules, the recommended dose is 1 capsule 3 times a day. If you’re doing a labor intensive job, you can take 2 to 3 capsules 3 times a day. People with high blood pressure and cholesterol are recommended to take 3 capsules 3 times a day.

Joint protector. There are many recommendations, so I can’t give you guidelines. It’s a must for people with labor intensive jobs. Fish oil capsules help, but collagen supplements are good for cartilages, skin, hair and nails. The effects of supplements containing MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane) are disputed, but it’s still widely available.

Multivitamins. You can find the detailed list about which vitamins and minerals do what in the ‘Nutrition’ chapter. Multivitamins are a simple solution to your body’s vitamin needs. I recommend all of these even to people that don’t work out on a regular basis. This is the least you can do to be healthy.

Other supplements

Protein or weight gainer. The difference is that weight gainers have a lot of carbohydrates. I personally recommend weight gainers to people with ectomorph (thin) bodies, as they need the calories to grow. This causes too fast growing in people with mesomorph (athletic) and endomorph (dense) bodies, so stay with protein supplements. Weight gainers give you a huge energy boost, but also lots of fat. I learned this the hard way.

Testosterone enhancer. To calm down the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and relatives, this is not steroids. It’s a performance enhancer made from a plant called tribulus terrestris. This helps you optimize your testosterone production. It doesn’t give you extra testosterone. I recommend to people above 30, as before the age of 30, your testosterone production is at your peak, but decreases as you age. This means that it’s pointless to take it below 30, just a waste of money. It’s also an aphrodisiac, couples use it that want to have children but are having a hard time with conception. Men and women can take it alike, the aphrodisiac works both ways.

Doping and steroids. I don’t recommend these. While true that they significantly increase the anabolic processes, the cost is too great. You can read more about the danger in the ‘Doping and Steroids’ chapter. You can find other supplements at the ‘Supplements’ and ‘Performance Enhancers’ chapters.

Summary

Create a routine in your life. Set a time for sleep, eating and training. This helps your body to adapt to gaining weight.

Create a diet routine so that you get your nutrition goal. Use the proper value for your body type and bodyweight. The ‘Nutrition’ chapter can help you here.

Don’t eat food with high Glycemic Index so that your blood sugar levels stay optimal. If your blood sugar levels are good, your insulin levels will be stable.

Too much insulin prevents the creation of ketone bodies, which makes it harder to lose fat.

Too much insulin with too much glycose gives too much energy to the cells, which they can’t use, so they store it as fat cells. This increases your body fat.

Too much insulin causes low blood sugar levels, which cause you to be hungry regardless of when you ate or whether your body needs nutrition.

Eat often and smaller portions to increase your metabolism.

Do regular weight training to increase your metabolism and to improve your muscles.

Do regular cardio workouts to improve your cardiovascular health.

Ask for the help of a trainer to create your own program.

Do the tests to create your own functional training plan. If you want to know more about functional training, read the ‘Prevention and Rehabilitation’ chapter.

1 RM value (one rep max)

80% test (to determine your muscle composition)

joint function test (joint pain, loss of joint mobility)

physical state (current and old injuries, current performance, technical flaws, physical flaws, e.g. stiffness).

Take Vitamin C, fish oil, joint protector and multivitamins. Read the ‘Supplements’ and ‘Performance Enhancing Supplements’ chapters to help you reach your goals.

Don’t use steroids and doping, you can read more about their dangers in the ‘Doping and Steroids’ chapter.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Supplements

Performance Enhancing Supplements

Doping and Steroids

Max Performance

This chapter is very similar to the ‘Building Muscle Mass’ and the ‘Slimming Diet’ chapters. It’s because every goal requires a structured system, and building such a system requires a foundation. This is the same foundation. Max performance is what competitors and athletes, such as myself, strive for. They have a goal, and to reach that, they need max performance. This performance could be varied, depending on the goal. If you fall under the same category, I have bad news for you. You should read the whole book. I deliberately created different chapters so that people can find what they want. I know that few will read the whole book. Why? Because we live in the age of immediate satisfaction. Life is so fast in the 21st century that people order ready-made food just so that they don’t have to prepare it themselves. They read the last pages of a book so that they’ll know the ending. They cannot wait to see what happens in a TV show, so they binge watch all six seasons in a weekend. I tried to satisfy this need, but I can’t do it with you. I’ll try my best to summarize the things you need, but if you really want to reach these hard goals, this shouldn’t be the last book you read. My book is a great start, but you need to progress to other literature. This gives you the basics, the foundation which you can build upon. I knew that this will be hard before I began writing this book, but I tried my best to beat this obstacle. Michael Boyle wrote this in his book called Advances in Functional Training:

‘It’s easy to feel special and immortal at a young age, but when you’re under the pressure of others’ training plans, life is no longer so easy.’

He also taught me the famous saying of Oscar Wilde:

‘I’m not young enough to know everything.’

As I was reading these, a saying came to mind by Laozi:

‘The more you know, the less you understand.’

These sayings describe how I felt during the writing of this book. I feel I’ve created something better than I initially thought. This is why I know that you’ll need the whole content of the book to reach your goals. Despite this, I’ll try my best to summarize the things you’ll be needing.

Summary

Build a routine. Do everything at a set time. Sleep, eat and work out at a set time. Your body will adapt to this routine. You’ll be better rested and will want to work out.

Avoid fast digesting carbohydrates. These carbs have a high glycemic index (GI). GI measures the rise in the blood glucose levels. It’s compared to the same amount of glucose consumed. For example, glucose is at 100%, food is compared to this level. This is because your body changes every carbohydrate to glucose. You need to avoid these types of food due to the fact that high blood sugar levels cause high insulin secretion. Due to the high blood sugar levels and insulin secretion, a low blood sugar level follows. Your body can’t store all the energy it gets, so it stores it as fat. What’s more, too low blood sugar level causes hunger as your body tries to maintain the medium level (4.7 mmol/liter). This is problematic as eating foods with high GI values often causes your pancreas to overexert themselves and it could ‘get tired’. This is one of the main causes of diabetes because the beta cells produced by the pancreas produce a hormone (insulin), which helps to use carbohydrates (glucose) for energy. Without these, your blood gets overflown with this, causing high blood sugar levels. Another reason why you should avoid high GI foods is because it stimulates insulin production. Low insulin level is required to lose weight, or to decrease fat storage. Why? Because high insulin production prevents creating ketones. Ketones play a huge part in decreasing fat storage. This is called ketosis. It’s a metabolic state where the body partly gets its energy from the ketones in the blood. This happens when the body transforms fatty acids into ketones. However, you need to have a low and stable insulin level to get ketosis, so you need a stable blood sugar level. If you consume foods with high GI levels, this is not going to work.

Eat quality food. Simple carbohydrates (sugars) are not only bad because their GI values are high, but because they provide energy without nutrition, so your body needs to get its Vitamin B from within, as this is required for producing glucose. This is one of the reasons why 75% of bodybuilding diets consist of rice and chicken. This is because rice is not only a slow digesting carbohydrate, but also high in Vitamin B and it has essential (meaning your body can’t produce it) amino acids. While I agree that rice is important, I recommend brown rice. Shelling and shining is widespread as it provides a longer shelf life, but it loses 70% of its Vitamin B content and 60% of its iron content.

Another great example is that even if we consume enough fats, we may not have enough essential Omega-3 fatty acids. You get Omega-3 from sea fish, oily seeds (consume walnuts only, as the others have too much Omega-6), linseed and olive oil (buy cold pressed olive oil only and use it on salads when cold, as it produces toxic substances due to heating), supplements, oil capsules. These give you energy, but are also healthy. They protect your joints, decrease cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and inflammation and increases fat metabolism.

The tables, diets and calorie tables at the end of the ‘Nutrition’ chapter may help you in choosing a diet. I personally follow a semi-vegetarian diet, meaning I don’t consume red meat and offal.

Eat fruits and vegetables on a regular basis due to the fiber content. Fiber is good for your intestines. It’s a kind of broom in the intestines, which, for example, clears gall acids produced by cholesterol. What’s more, the volume of fiber increases due to water, and makes your stool softer and will give you an overall easier time at the toilet. This is important, as building mass requires lots of nutrition and protein, which can cause constipation, so you can compensate this downside easily.

Diets

4000 calories diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

200 g (4 pc) boiled eggs

5 dl orange juice

Snack

250 g strawberries

Lunch

100 g boiled brown rice (raw weight)

100 g cooked chicken, 200g lentils pottage

200 g fish soup

Snack

100 g raspberry, 200 g peach (1 pc)

150g fruit yoghurt

Pre-Workout

200 g kiwi, 100g banana

During Workout

1000 ml sports drink / on days you don’t work out, you can add an extra 100 g banana and 50 g peach instead of a sports drink

Dinner

200 g spinach pottage, 150 g (3 pc) boiled eggs

200 g Goulash soup

200 g rye bread (4 slices)

Evening Snack

250 g strawberries, 50 g walnuts

Protein (g)

228.9 (27.3%)

Fat (g)

119.5 (14.3%)

Carbohydrate (g)

488.9 (58.4%)

Energy (kcal)

3977.8

6000 calories diet

Breakfast

150 g rye bread (3 slices)

200 g (4 pc) boiled eggs

5 dl orange juice

During Workout

1000 ml sports drink

Lunch

300 g boiled brown rice (raw weight)

400 g cooked chicken

400g lentils pottage

400 g fish soup

Snack

100 g raspberry, 200 g peach (1 pc)

150g fruit yoghurt

Pre-Workout

200 g kiwi, 100g banana

During Workout

1000 ml sports drink

Dinner

400 g spinach pottage, 150 g (3 pc) boiled eggs

400 g Goulash soup

200 g rye bread (4 slices)

Evening Snack

250 g strawberries 50 g walnut

Protein (g)

389.7 (30.6%)

Fat (g)

168.8 (13.3%)

Carbohydrate (g)

714.8 (56.1%)

Energy (kcal)

5980.2

These are just diet plans. You can create your own with the help of the calorie tables and nutrition values.

Daily caloric needs with people looking to build muscle with 3 to 6 workouts with weights and 0 to 3 cardio workouts, depending on body type:

- Endomorph body type: 50 calories / bodyweight kilograms / day.

- Mesomorph and mixed body type: 55 calories / bodyweight kilograms / day.

- Ectomorph body type: 60 calories / bodyweight kilograms / day.

However, these are just examples, and with professional athletes, these are just minimum values and could even be doubled. So it may be worth it to experiment and increase it as you want.

In order to not lose muscle mass, it’s recommended to eat 2 to 2.3 grams of protein / bodyweight kilograms / day.

People with Endomorph bodies should consume a minimum of 3 g of carbohydrates / bodyweight kilograms / day. People with Mesomorph bodies should eat a minimum of 5 g of carbohydrates / bodyweight kilograms / day. People with Ectomorph bodies should eat a minimum of 7 g of carbohydrates / bodyweight kilograms / day. These are the recommended starting values and if you don’t see a significant growth, increase it by 0.5 g / bodyweight kilograms / day.

Use the table underneath to count calories. You can get further help at the end of the ‘Nutrition’ chapter.

Nutrition

Energy per grams (Joule)

Energy per calories (Joule)

Calories per grams (calories)

Carbohydrate

16700

4184

3,99

Protein

16700

4184

3,99

Fat

39000

4184

9,32

Alcohol

29000

4184

6,93

Example

16700/

4184

=3,99

Avoid drinking 30 minutes before or after a meal. You’ll dilute your digestive juices, slowing down your metabolism.

Eat smaller portions more frequently. This speeds up your metabolism.

Avoid eating 1.5 hours before working out or before going to bed.

Once you finish your workout, consume 0.5 grams / bodyweight kilograms of protein in 30 minutes. It’s also recommended to consume 2 grams / bodyweight kilograms of carbohydrates in 1.5 hours after the workout, even if you’re going to bed soon. Your body’s nutrition storages are depleted after a workout and needs to be restocked, and you also need calories and nutrition for recovery.

For the last meal of the day, avoid consuming lots of fat, lots of meat and alcohol. It takes a lot of time to digest these, which could decrease sleep quality and increase dehydration. This is why you wake up in the middle of night because you’re thirsty or because you need to pee, then wake up dehydrated in the morning.

Work out regularly. It improves your overall wellbeing and also increases your muscle mass, speeds up your metabolism and decreases fat storage.

Try to increase the number of cardio workouts as your body weight increases. This is not only effective against being overweight, but also decreases the chances of complications due to sudden weight gain such as cardiovascular diseases or diabetes.

It’s recommended to separate the two, or do cardio after weight training. This is important because cardio workouts take at most 1 hour (may change in extreme situations) and weight training take at least 1 hour (or more in extreme situations) if you’re doing it right.

If you’re not doing a long-term, monotonous sport, then I recommend interval training. Interval training is great for improving muscles (slow- and fast twitch muscles), speed and explosiveness, anaerobic (lack of oxygen) and aerobic (oxygen) capacity, if it’s done right. It’s recommended to adjust your training according to your pulse. For example, sprint for 1 minute, then rest for x seconds, and repeat. You need enough rest so that your pulse decreases to 80% of your max pulse. There are other modern calculations for determining your max pulse, but the old method works fine. Subtract your age from 220. This value (depending on your level of physical fitness) may be lower or higher than your actual value, this is why I recommend athletes to subtract from 230.

Example: 30 years old => max pulse=230-30=200

Pulse at the end of rest: 200*0.8=160

Muscle groups could change in a person. There are fast twitch muscles (glycolytic), slow twitch muscles (oxidative) and intermediate fibers. The intermediate fibers are the muscles you can train, which then assimilate to your slow- and fast twitch muscles. Slow- and fast twitch muscles can be trained to ‘be fit’. Fast twitch muscles contract quickly and powerfully. This is what you need for explosiveness, speed and physical strength. The force output of fast twitch muscles are a 100%, but they tire out quickly. Slow twitch muscles have a force output of about 70%, but don’t tire as fast and can be contracted for long periods, even hours depending on fitness, e.g. iron man athletes or marathon runners. These muscles don’t have that spectacular look. Bodybuilders call these ‘stubborn’ muscles, as growing their appearance is very hard. To measure your own muscle structure, you need to do a few basic tests. Measure your max lifts (squat, deadlift and bench press). This is your one rep max, or 1 RM. Calculate 80%, and see how many reps can you do with this weight. If it’s less than 10, then it’s mainly fast twitch muscle. If it’s between 10 to 13, which is the average, it’s 50-50. If you can do more than 13, then slow twitch muscles are the majority. Depending on this, you can adjust your training accordingly. If you have more fast twitch muscles, do 6 to 8 reps per set. If you’re average, then 8 to 10 reps per set. And if you have more slow twitch muscles, then 12 to 15 reps per set. Of course, you need to change up your workout (every 3 months), but this is a good start. Also, if you’re doing some other sport, this could change depending on the sport itself. For example, if speed and explosive force is important, train your fast twitch muscles. In this case, these tests are good for measuring your progress. If you have more slow twitch muscles, then you’ll have a slower progress with 6 to 8 reps per sets and bodybuilding compared to those with lots of fast twitch muscles. To the contrary, your endurance will be better, especially if it comes to running.

Another training method is the separation of muscles. This greatly varies person by person, so I can give you guidelines only. It’s recommended to contact a trainer. There are training programs where you train every muscle per session. If you follow this, do 3 exercises with 2 to 3 sets per large muscle groups (chest, back, legs) and 2 exercises with 1 to 2 sets per small muscle groups. It’s recommended if you do weight training 2 to 3 times a week only. If you work out at least 3 times a week, then I recommend targeting different muscle groups per workout. Separate them according to large muscle groups, and train the smaller muscle groups accordingly.

Example:

workout: chest, front and side of the shoulders, triceps

workout: back, back of the shoulder, biceps

workout: legs, glutes, abdominals

This is how I divide my workouts, but I train 5 times a week, so I have two extra days.

workout: biceps, triceps, forearms, all three parts of the shoulders

workout: abdominals, glutes, back (only lifting exercises, and only pulling exercises on the 2nd back workout. If you work out only 3 times per week, you need to do lifting and pulling exercises on your 2nd day as well.)

Having a personalized, functional workout plan is important, even if you’re not training to compete. To do this, you need to do some basic tests before creating the program.

- Measuring your 1RM (one rep max) in the big lifts (bench press, deadlift, squat).

- Measure your muscle group structure by doing the 80% test.

- Measure the condition of your joints (joint pain, decreased joint mobility).

- Measure your physical fitness (present and old injuries, present performance, technical insufficiency, physical insufficiency, such as stiffness).

You can find the whole description regarding functional exercises in the ‘Prevention and Rehabilitation’ chapter.

The best training for a certain sport is always doing that sport, in a near competition environment or distance. The exception is bodybuilding, as the workout greatly differs from the competition. You can develop the right technique, energy distribution, muscle memory, which increases efficiency and your concentration under load. Every assistance sport depends on the functional workout plan.

Diet supplements are called supplements because they supplement your diet. Your digestive system digests solid food. In cases of great stress, it’s recommended to supplement your diet, but it doesn’t substitute a balanced diet. If you can’t get enough nutrition from solid foods, this is a better alternative compared to not eating. What’s more, it costs less to eat right than to buy supplements.

Anabolic processes build, while catabolic processes break down. Breakdown processes are not bad. This is how you get energy to work out. The goal is to get the balance between the two. It doesn’t matter if you want to lose weight, increase size, rehabilitate or prepare for a competition, balance matters. Your lifestyle, diet and workout plan is good if you have this balance.

Vitamin C, 30 mg / bodyweight kilograms / day, divided throughout the day. You can increase the dose if you’re sick, sore, have an inflammation or if you’re a smoker, but no one needs more than 50 mg / bodyweight kilograms / day. It’s a water-soluble vitamin, so you can’t overdose and it has no side effects. You simply pee out the excess.

Fish oil, 3 to 9 g / day. You can get these in 1-gram capsules, the recommended dose is 1 capsule 3 times a day. If you’re doing a labor intensive job, you can take 2 to 3 capsules 3 times a day. People with high blood pressure and cholesterol are recommended to take 3 capsules 3 times a day.

Joint protector. There are many recommendations, so I can’t give you guidelines. It’s a must for people with labor intensive jobs. Fish oil capsules help, but collagen supplements are good for cartilages, skin, hair and nails. The effects of supplements containing MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane) are disputed, but it’s still widely available.

Multivitamins. You can find the detailed list about which vitamins and minerals do what in the ‘Nutrition’ chapter. Multivitamins are a simple solution to your body’s vitamin needs. I recommend all of these even to people that don’t work out on a regular basis. This is the least you can do to be healthy.

Protein or weight gainer. The difference is that weight gainers have a lot of carbohydrates. I personally recommend weight gainers to people with ectomorph (thin) bodies, as they need the calories to grow. This causes too fast growing in people with mesomorph (athletic) and endomorph (dense) bodies, so stay with protein supplements. Weight gainers give you a huge energy boost, but also lots of fat. I learned this the hard way.

Testosterone enhancer. To calm down the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and relatives, this is not steroids. It’s a performance enhancer made from a plant called tribulus terrestris. This helps you optimize your testosterone production. It doesn’t give you extra testosterone. I recommend to people above 30, as before the age of 30, your testosterone production is at your peak, but decreases as you age. This means that it’s pointless to take it below 30, just a waste of money. It’s also an aphrodisiac, couples use it that want to have children but are having a hard time with conception. Men and women can take it alike, the aphrodisiac works both ways.

Doping and steroids. I don’t recommend these. While true that they significantly increase the anabolic processes, the cost is too great. You can read more about the danger in the ‘Doping and Steroids’ chapter. You can find other supplements at the ‘Supplements’ and ‘Performance Enhancers’ chapters.

Stretch regularly and use a foam roller. Foam roller, especially before working out, helps to optimize the thickness if your tissues. Like clothing iron, it makes your muscles flat, eliminating cramps and knots. Stretching is recommended before and after working out. It helps to keep your muscles healthy, and also prevents your muscles from getting shortened.

Go to a masseur regularly. Stretching and foam rolling is useful, but a massage is more effective. It creates chemical reactions which increase your recovery.

Go to a sport anthropometric and spiroergometric examination. These can be done from the age of 7. These examinations give you a picture about your current physical state, the correct workout types for you, the correct sports for you, positions, possible body height and weight.

If you’re frustrated, depressed or you’re struggling, don’t be afraid to ask for help. The task of a mental hygiene professional is to help you overcome this obstacle.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Supplements

Performance Enhancers

Doping and Steroids

Elderly

As we get older, we need less activity, but if I asked you why, you’d probably say because we get older. While this is true, it’s not that simple. Aging is part of life, but with a few explanations, maybe I could give you better wellbeing, health in your old age, or even a longer lifespan.

Our body consists of 70 percent water, which decreases to 50 percent by the age of 65 to 70 due to muscle atrophy and less water intake due to less activity. This is a problem as water is the most important biocatalyst. Biocatalysts are materials (water, vitamins, minerals) that are necessary for certain processes, but don’t give energy to the body. So why is this important? Because the less you drink, the more dehydrated you are, and the more dehydrated you are, less biochemical processes can be completed in your body, and less biochemical processes mean worse health. In the end, you’ll be stuffing yourself with countless pills instead of drinking 1.5 to 2 liters of water a day. Of course, it’s not easy for an elderly person to drink this much, especially if they’re not thirsty. This is when I usually talk about the older generation. You must have heard that people born after 1900 (that survived the wars) lived longer in average compared to earlier or later generations. When I ask why, people usually say it’s due to cleaner environment, calmer lifestyle, better quality food or better hygiene, but these are just a part of the answer. The real answer is much simpler. Most of these people worked in agriculture or animal husbandry. Meaning that the retired, old people still worked the fields and fed the animals. They were physically active, unlike people nowadays. My mother still mentions my grandfather, who went to the doctor at the age of 80, complaining that his shoulders hurt from carrying the chicken feed bags weighing 50 kilos. The doctor smiled and said:

‘Well, maybe you shouldn’t carry that bag.’

Before he died in his sleep at the age of 86, he pruned the roses, cooked green bean pottage and repaired the chicken coop’s fence. What I’m saying is that the elderly (and not just them) need to be active in their daily lives. The more people neglect themselves, the harder it is to keep their health. Exercise also helps you to maintain your muscle mass, which means your body will need more water, making you thirsty. Exercise improves your wellbeing and releases dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that makes you feel good after working out. Simply put, your body rewards you for the healthy exercise.

This helps you to maintain exercise as a habit and motivates you.

Another important thing they did is drinking. They regularly drank beer, wine and some even drank a thimble (2 centiliter) of pálinka before meals, so that they would ‘have more gastric acid’. Their water intake was high due to drinking beer and wine. Many nutrition specialists would cringe reading this, as they are being taught that alcohol dehydrates your body. But let’s think this through. Alcohol has dehydrating properties on our body due to an ADH hormone in our brain, which causes our kidneys to take away water. Alcohol prevents the production of this hormone. This means that the kidneys absorb more water, which will become urine. However, to completely stop ADH production, you’d need a lot of alcohol. You’d need to drink a lot of beer or wine for this. Of course, it’s more beneficial if you drink water to cover your fluid intake. However, in my experience, the elderly that don’t consume alcohol don’t drink anything instead. The reason for this is that you only drink water if you’re thirsty, but you drink alcohol because of the feeling. I can give you a personal example. My mother worked in elderly care in Germany. The 79-year-old woman she was caring for had two sisters; one was 92 and the other was 86 years old. None of them were alcoholics, but they liked drinking alcohol. My mother tried to make them quit, but I told her to don’t. I asked her what they drink. She said they drink 2 bottles of cider, 3 deciliters of wine for dinner, 2.5 deciliters of champagne and two glasses of cognac. I explained to her these things and told her to try to convince them to lose the cognac and replace the wine with must, as the cognac and the wine contain the highest levels of alcohol among these drinks. Cider beer (which is actually a type of wine) are between 1.2 and 12 percent, store-bought ones contain 4.5 percent, and she was drinking this one. Wines are between 5 to 21 percent, but most of them are between 12 to 14 percent. She was drinking a 13 percent wine. Champagne is around 7 to 11 percent, but usually 8.5 to 9.5 percent. She was drinking a 8.5 percent one. This is not high alcohol consumption, especially from 1 to 2 liters only. Hard liquor (e.g. cognac) is between 36 to 60 percent. Drinking a bit from these hard liquors could contain a lot of alcohol, which drastically decreases ADH production.

Nutrition experts could say that your body can’t process this much alcohol in a day. Let’s take this lady for example. She drinks 1 liter of 4.5% cider, which has 45 ml (grams) of alcohol. 2.5 dl 8.5% champagne has 21.25ml (grams) of alcohol. The wine, since it was replaced to alcohol-free must, shouldn’t be calculated, but why not, let’s add it to the list. 3 dl of 13% wine has 39 ml (grams) of alcohol. Your body can burn 1 gram of alcohol per 10 kg of bodyweight per hour. This lady weights 60 kilos, which means she burns 6 grams of alcohol per hour. She consumes 45+21.25+39=105.25 grams of alcohol in a day, if she drinks wine instead of must. She burns 6 grams every hour, so she needs 105.25/6 =17.54 hours to completely burn all alcohol. If she drinks must instead of wine, she consumes 45+21.25=66.25 grams. Her body needs 66.25/6=11.04 hours to burn it all.

The other thing nutrition experts may not agree with is that alcohol is very rich in calories, so it gives you many calories, but no nutrition. This is completely true. Alcohol has 29000 joules of energy per gram. This means that 1 gram of alcohol gives you 29000/4184=6.93 calories. According to the previous calculations, this is 105.25*6.93=729.4 calories, which is more than half of what a 79-year-old lady, weighing 60 kilograms, needs. I can’t argue with this, however, not drinking water is not better, as it causes our caloric needs, overall wellbeing and exercise needs to decrease. This means that the statement, which says that we don’t get enough nutrition due to the caloric value of alcohol, is false.

Summary

If you drink alcoholic beverages, avoid the ones with high amounts of alcohol.

If you can choose between not drinking and drinking a bit of alcohol, choose alcohol, but the ideal, most healthy option is drinking clean water.

The daily alcohol intake should be lower than what your body can process in 24 hours.

When taking medicine, avoid drinking alcohol 1 hour before and after to avoid the chemical reaction with the alcohol and the medicine.

Be active every day, I recommend working out according to your physique as well.

Eat vegetables and fruits every day.

Take 30 mg of Vitamin C per bodyweight kilograms, but don’t take more than 500 mg at once (only if your bodyweight is above 100 kg and/or you’re sick and/or you’re a smoker). E.g. if you weigh 70 kilos, you need 70*30=2100 mg of Vitamin C per day. The best is if you take it 4 times (or 5 times) a day in 500 mg dosages every 3 to 4 hours.

Take fish oil capsules. Joint protection is important for all age groups, but especially for the elderly. What’s more, fish oil soothes inflammation, decreases cholesterol levels and protects the cardiovascular system.

Stick to a daily routine; sleep, eating, drinking, moving or doing sports, taking medicine and supplements.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Warmup and Stretching

Prevention and Rehabilitation

Diabetes

For the eager "indestructible" golden baby

As a teenager, everyone starts to try their power, to test their masculinity. This is perfectly normal. At the age of twenty, they just start to think about what they would do differently. This is true for each subject, and there is no difference in terms of body size, physique or health. As the saying goes, only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others. That's why I usually say they're smart. In order to give all prospective sages a chance, I will write my story. In high school, in my sophomore year, I was already stronger than the average. There were 36 of us boys in the class so competing was part of our routine. I was always "in the game" because after looking back at the old pictures even though I looked like a living skeleton, I was one of the strongest. On one occasion, some of my friends figured out how to organize an arm wrestling home tournament. I participated as well with confidence in my strength. I got into the top 4, but it was a great price to pay for all of us. After a 17 and a half minute game in the semi-finals, I got a lifetime tendonitis that I always have to deal with. I can't do some gym exercises and I could say goodbye to arm wrestling forever. I know many people now think I was weak, but if you think about it, I was not a multiple world record holder, however I was already rowing, going to national and international competitions. The other thing many people believe is that this cannot happen to them. Just think about it. Even those thought in this way to whom it eventually happened. They had the same chance as you and yet they were hurt. Then why wouldn't it happen to you? Don't be naive or arrogant. Let go of your pride and listen to yourself. Don't let others drag you into stupid things. If they want to jump off the third stairs let them go and don’t be the first just to show off. Look it up. Make sure that something can be done without injury and with proper practice. None of us who had bigger biceps before the race and got arthritis knew that next to proper technique and equipment you also need developed forearms, shoulders, and back.

Even at a young age, it is worth thinking about basic nutritional supplements, such as joint protection and vitamin and mineral supplements. Especially when you exercise. I do not recommend weight gaining exercises at this age because it can interfere with the natural growth of the body. As my coach said when I was a teenager.

"In this age, you get stronger by sitting in front of the computer and fart!”

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

• Exercises

• Warming and stretching

• Prevention and rehabilitation

Choosing sport for children

Healthy training is an essential requirement for physique. The prerequisite for achieving results is setting a realistic goal. However, such a goal cannot be set without a body definition. Why is it so important if your child just wants to play football? Your child will feel comfortable learning new things with his companions. It could be football or anything. For a small child, anything new is something that has never been tried before. This is enough in childhood, but as it grows, this positive experience of novelty will be replaced by a sense of success. Assuming the child has a sense of success. According to all studies, the majority of young people stop exercising at the age of 15-16. Why? Because the right aspects were not taken into account when choosing the sport. For example, the child's current wish, the parents' unfulfilled desires, the other children go there too and the so on. The real question is what kind of sports a kid can excel at if he or she wants to pursue a professional way after growing up. In many associations, they usually decide whether a child is fit for the sport by looking at them. Exercise plans developed for athletes meet the requirements of the sport and not the child's personal development, which in many cases is not in align with the kid’s development. Physical endowment is not optimally utilized. Simply put, they don’t take into account the body type and genetically determined factors but only what is visible to the eye. This is because no training can change genetics. There are some anthropometric examinations available to help you determine the parameters that determine what kind of training your child needs for rapid development and in which sports you can gain a competitive edge over your peers. They say a child is talented if he or she does more with the same effort than others. With these measurements we can give them this.

What is anthropometry? Auxiliary science of humanity, which deals with the systematization and comparison of the descriptive and measurable features of the human body. It is based on the knowledge of physiological, hereditary, biomedical and ethnographic methods. A good coach will optimally develop the abilities and will not set unattainable goals if they know the athlete's genetically determined abilities. Even if the coach only keeps the child's training appropriate for the sport, if the sport has been selected based on these criteria, we have ensured the child's chances of success for the future.

Many people wonder, what the parameters are that only such an examination can determine. These include, for example, the physique, which can be slender (ectomorph), robust (endomorph), or athletic (mesomorph). These include possible adult height, bone, body composition, tendency to gain weight, optimal body weight, or even biological age (which may differ from your calendars) and these are just a few of the many. Dozens of parameters are mapped during tests. This test (together with the load test) is recommended from age 7, but is also available for adults. In many countries, anthropometric examination is a common practice. If you are not able to request such an examination, it is advisable to consult a nearby sports doctor. They cannot provide as detailed information as such examination, but they can help you with what your child is not advised to do.

Last but not least, if you want your kid to go to gymnastics or to a sport where it is important to be able to jump on a somersault, I recommend that you take your child to gym from the age of 3 and then take them to anthropometric examination. This is important because research has shown that children who have learned to jump on a somersault before the age of 6 can see where their feet will reach in the air. Anyone who learns this later jumps from feeling and is no longer able to adjust in the air.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Myths

Nutrition

Nutritional supplements

Pregnant and Breastfeeding Mothers

Dear mother or soon to be mother! I’ll try to explain everything the best I can, but this is not an easy task. Please excuse me if my explanations seem like listings in some places.

Before the ideal childbearing, there’s a preparation for conception, which requires at least 3 months. In this period, the most important factors from parents, but especially the mother are the following:

right mental state

ideal physique and bodyweight

optimal nutrition

quitting your addictions

Right mental state

Giving birth is a hard thing both mentally and physically. Preparing for this can’t hurt. If you need another person to prepare for this mentally, I’d recommend seeking the help of a mental hygiene professional.

Ideal physique and bodyweight

Physical preparation is needed due to the extra weight during pregnancy. There are two important factors when reaching this. Developing the appropriate muscles (core muscles, abdominal wall, spinal erectors, obliques, perineal muscles) and getting rid of excess weight. Developing your muscles lead to an easier time during pregnancy and childbirth, and getting rid of the excess weight help you prevent complications after pregnancy. In case of obesity, this could be a hernia (every 4th woman), gestational diabetes, complications during pregnancy, pregnancy toxemia (poisoning), urinary track infections, edema, high blood pressure. Contrary, if the mother’s bodyweight is below the optimal weight, then the child’s bodyweight will probably be lower. BMI (Body Mass Index) was developed to help people in reaching the optimal bodyweight. This is how you can calculate yours.

Height: 160 cm / 1.6 m

Bodyweight: 55 kg

BMI = 55 / (1.6 x 1.6) = 21.484

Optimal nutrition

BMI is said to represent the optimal nutrition level. I disagree with this due to the calculation. Just because your weight is optimal to your height, you can still be malnourished. We can’t ignore your health, body fat percentage and ideal muscle mass. Ideal bod fat percentage for men is between 8 to 12, while it’s 12 to 16 for women, however, the average is around 35 percent, but I’ve also read that the optimum is between 20 and 29, but this is bullshit. It’s true that women have higher body fat percentage since they have less muscles (Around 45 for men and 40 for women), but women below 40 need to be below 16, and women above 40 still need to be below 16. It’s the same when it comes to eating and nutrition. So, if your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, your value is normal. Moreover, a value between 20 and 22 is the best. I recommend creating a diet plan and a workout plan with a nutrition expert and a personal trainer. I recommend decreasing your calorie intake by a small value so that you lose 0.5-1kg per week and reach your ideal BMI.

Quitting your addictions

Quitting your addictions is a subject that doesn’t require a whole lot of explaining. Smoking, consuming alcohol, caffeine and drugs have a negative influence on fetus development. According to research, there’s a link between factors that have a negative influence on fetus development and chronic illnesses in the elderly. This means that the habits of the parents, especially during pregnancy, influence the whole life of the child. You read that right. Parents. Not just the mother. Addictions can damage sperm in men, and if only the father smokes, that still influences the child’s health as they live under the same roof. This is called passive smoking which is worse then active smoking as the smoke doesn’t go through any filters during passive smoking. An active smoker doesn’t inhale this smoke, but a passive smoker does, and without any filters. It’s also recommended to quit contraceptives 3 months prior the pregnancy (I recommend consulting with your doctor) as this influences your vitamin and mineral need. And this is where optimal nutrition comes in the picture. Besides having an ideal body mass index, muscle mass and body fat percentage and overall good health, it’s important to reach your optimal vitamin and mineral needs so that you don’t become malnourished. It’s especially important for pregnant and conceiving mothers to consume Vitamin B6, B9, B12, C and zinc. These vitamins and minerals protect the fetus development. Among these, Vitamin B9, also called Folate, is the most important. In pregnant mothers, the optimum is the double of what an average adult needs; 400 mg.

Exercise for pregnant women

I don’t recommend regular exercise for pregnant women. The most you can do for your child and yourself is proper nutrition, quitting your addictions and regular walks in fresh air, in a park or a forest, far from the noise and smog of the city. If you really want to be active, then take these rules into heart. The main reason for hernia in pregnant women is pressure in the belly. This does not only hurt the mother, but it also hurts the development of the baby. So pregnant women are not allowed to do exercises that increase abdominal pressure. They’re not allowed to do sit-ups and leg exercises where the upper part of the thighs reach the belly. Exercises with bending and pulling are not allowed either. You can’t use ergometer exercises either. However, shaking also hurts the development of the fetus, so exercises with position changes need to be nice and slow to minimize shaking. You can’t run, use elliptical trainers, jump, break-outs or high intensity cycling. But this may not be enough. Malnourishment is also bad for the fetus. You don’t need to stop eating to be malnourished. You could take away the nutrition from your baby by doing high intensity exercises. Due to the intensity, your body needs the nutrition, which temporarily stops the baby from receiving it, which may lead to consequences. This means you are not allowed to do any competitive sports in this period.

There are exercises you can do. Slow cycling with high seat, slow walking, arm and chest exercises, pulling back exercise with no bending or pulling. Women like to do leg and butt exercises. This is hard during the pregnancy, but there are exercises, which you can do, but carefully.

I apologize for the male illustrations, but these are the only ones I had.

Exercise: Wide stance squat

Muscles used: Hamstrings, glutes, back

Description: Do it with small weights and without belts and straps, until the first or at most second trimesters. Due to the wide stance, the thighs don’t reach the belly and your upper body is also straighter. This exercise does not increase pressure in the abdominals. However, it puts a great deal of stress on the perineal muscles in pregnant women especially, so don’t overexert yourself. Also, avoid squatting too low, using big weights or doing the exercise too quickly and you must not do it at the last trimester.

Exercise: Leg extension

Muscles used: Hamstrings

Description: This exercise is done sitting, which doesn’t affect the fetus. Thanks to the handles, you can keep yourself stable. There’s a similar exercise, which is also done sitting, called leg curl. It’s great for developing the muscles in the back of your thighs and butt. You can do it throughout the whole pregnancy.

Exercise: Standing side leg kicks

Muscles used: Hamstring, butt

Description: The standing position, which is also stabilized by your hand, does not endanger the fetus. You can do it throughout the whole pregnancy.

Exercise: Single leg kick back on bench

Muscles used: Hamstring, butt

Description: You’re in a stable position during the exercise, so there’s no danger for the fetus. You can do it, however, avoid it during the last trimester due to the size of the belly.

Exercise: Single leg kickback

Muscles used: Hamstring, butt

Description: The standing position, which is also stabilized by your hand, does not endanger the fetus. You can do it throughout the whole pregnancy.

Recommendation:

If you found this interesting, I’d recommend the following chapters:

Myths

Nutrition

Supplements

Used and recommended literature:

Michael Boyle Advances in Functional Training

Frédéric Delavier Strength Training Anatomy

Frédéric Delavier Women's Strength Training Anatomy

Gabriella Silye Nutrition for Maximum Sports Performance

Gabriella Bánkuti I’ll Change, I’ll Do It!

Gabriella Bánkuti Basics for Your Health

J. D. Pamplona Roger New Lifestyle

Table of Contents

The Methodology of Physical Training and Healthy Lifestyle

Introduction

Foreword

Blurb

Myths

Diet tricks

Too much burden

Time

Too much physical strain

Unhealthiness

Miracle trainers and miracle exercises

„If your muscles are sore, do some exercises!”

The Human Body

Genetics

Metabolism

Ectomorph body type

Mesomorph body type

Endomorph body type

Mixture of build

Connective tissue

Types of muscle fibers

Summary

Healthy lifestyle

Nutrition

Air

Water

Sunlight

Exercising

Rest

Habits and passion

Mental Health

Nutrition

Basic nutrition rules

First rule: Eat more often and occasionally less.

Second rule: Keep away from fast food and pay attention to what you eat

Third rule: Have a schedule

Fourth rule: Know the right proportions.

Nutrition types

Omnivorous or mixed nutrition

Carnivorous

Lacto Vegetarianism

Ovo vegetarianism

Ovo-lacto vegetarianism

Vegan

Semi-vegetarianism

Carbohydrates

Monosaccharides

Disaccharide

Polysaccharides

Fat

Proteins

Vitamins

Minerals

Diet Tips:

1500 calorie diet

2000 calorie diet

2500 calories diet

3000 calorie diet

3500 calorie diet

4000 calorie diet

6000 calorie diet

Calorie Charts

Cereals

Vegetables

Fruits

Fruit Juice

Fruit Preparations

Egg products

Milks

Milk Products

Cheese

Fish and seafood

Meats

Meat products

Oils and fats

Nuts and oilseeds

Pasta

Bread and pastries

Cereal flakes

Instant meals

Sauces and dipping

Salads

Desserts

Nutritional supplements

Vitamin C

Fish oil

Multivitamins and minerals

Joint protecting

Isotonic drinks

Protein or weight gain supplements

Other

Arginine

BCAA

Creatine

Glutamine

L-carnitine

Performance-Enhancing Supplements

Pre-workout

Testosterone Booster

Beta-Alanine

Doping and steroids

Exercises

Upper body exercises

Back exercises

Abdominal wall exercises

Chest exercise

Leg exercises

Bottom exercises

Thigh exercises

Calf exercises

Arm exercises

Shoulder exercises

Biceps exercises

Triceps Exercises

Forearm exercises

Other exercises

Stretching exercises

Exercise Types

Functional Exercise

Calisthenics

Aerobic

Fitness and Wellness

Bodybuilding

Powerlifting

Strongman Sport

TRX Exercise

Kettlebell Exercise

Street Workout

Convict Conditioning

CrossFit

Spartan Workout

Stretching

Warm Up and Stretching

Warming up

Tendons, ligaments, joint and their warmups

Cardiovascular system and short cardio workouts

Somatic nervous system and warmup exercises

Other warm up types

Stretching

Stretching cold and warm muscles

Static and active isolated stretching

Active isolated stretching

Flexibility

Mobility

Foam rolling

Workout opening and closing exercises

Prevention and Rehabilitation

From sport physician to spiroergometric examination

Healthy Mental Hygiene

Functional training

Muscle weakness

Loss of function in joints

Lengthened or shortened muscles

Other topics regarding prevention

People with diabetes

Summary

“For Dieters”

Dietetic food

Diet Tips

1500 calorie diet

2000 calorie diet

Rules of diet

Myths

“Do lots of crunches to remove fat from your

stomach.”

“It’s enough if you don’t eat after 6.”

“Don't eat carbs and you'll lose weight."

"You shouldn’t do weight training because you will only gain muscle, but you won’t lose weight."

“It doesn’t matter from what you drain the calorie, it will only remain the same.”

Workout

Preparing for the competition

Summary

Building Muscle

Food

Diets

3000 calorie diet

3500 calorie diet

4000 calories diet

Rules in mass building diets

Exercise

Preparing for competition

Supplements

Other supplements

Summary

Max Performance

Summary

Diets

4000 calories diet

6000 calories diet

Elderly

Summary

For the eager "indestructible" golden baby

Choosing sport for children

Pregnant and Breastfeeding Mothers

Right mental state

Ideal physique and bodyweight

Optimal nutrition

Quitting your addictions

Exercise for pregnant women

Used and recommended literature:

Table of Contents

The Methodology of Physical Training and Healthy Lifestyle

Introduction

Foreword

Blurb

Myths

Diet tricks

Too much burden

Time

Too much physical strain

Unhealthiness

Miracle trainers and miracle exercises

„If your muscles are sore, do some exercises!”

The Human Body

Genetics

Metabolism

Ectomorph body type

Mesomorph body type

Endomorph body type

Mixture of build

Connective tissue

Types of muscle fibers

Summary

Healthy lifestyle

Nutrition

Air

Water

Sunlight

Exercising

Rest

Habits and passion

Mental Health

Nutrition

Basic nutrition rules

First rule: Eat more often and occasionally less.

Second rule: Keep away from fast food and pay attention to what you eat

Third rule: Have a schedule

Fourth rule: Know the right proportions.

Nutrition types

Omnivorous or mixed nutrition

Carnivorous

Lacto Vegetarianism

Ovo vegetarianism

Ovo-lacto vegetarianism

Vegan

Semi-vegetarianism

Carbohydrates

Monosaccharides

Disaccharide

Polysaccharides

Fat

Proteins

Vitamins

Minerals

Diet Tips:

1500 calorie diet

2000 calorie diet

2500 calories diet

3000 calorie diet

3500 calorie diet

4000 calorie diet

6000 calorie diet

Calorie Charts

Cereals

Vegetables

Fruits

Fruit Juice

Fruit Preparations

Egg products

Milks

Milk Products

Cheese

Fish and seafood

Meats

Meat products

Oils and fats

Nuts and oilseeds

Pasta

Bread and pastries

Cereal flakes

Instant meals

Sauces and dipping

Salads

Desserts

Nutritional supplements

Vitamin C

Fish oil

Multivitamins and minerals

Joint protecting

Isotonic drinks

Protein or weight gain supplements

Other

Arginine

BCAA

Creatine

Glutamine

L-carnitine

Performance-Enhancing Supplements

Pre-workout

Testosterone Booster

Beta-Alanine

Doping and steroids

Exercises

Upper body exercises

Back exercises

Abdominal wall exercises

Chest exercise

Leg exercises

Bottom exercises

Thigh exercises

Calf exercises

Arm exercises

Shoulder exercises

Biceps exercises

Triceps Exercises

Forearm exercises

Other exercises

Stretching exercises

Exercise Types

Functional Exercise

Calisthenics

Aerobic

Fitness and Wellness

Bodybuilding

Powerlifting

Strongman Sport

TRX Exercise

Kettlebell Exercise

Street Workout

Convict Conditioning

CrossFit

Spartan Workout

Stretching

Warm Up and Stretching

Warming up

Tendons, ligaments, joint and their warmups

Cardiovascular system and short cardio workouts

Somatic nervous system and warmup exercises

Other warm up types

Stretching

Stretching cold and warm muscles

Static and active isolated stretching

Active isolated stretching

Flexibility

Mobility

Foam rolling

Workout opening and closing exercises

Prevention and Rehabilitation

From sport physician to spiroergometric examination

Healthy Mental Hygiene

Functional training

Muscle weakness

Loss of function in joints

Lengthened or shortened muscles

Other topics regarding prevention

People with diabetes

Summary

“For Dieters”

Dietetic food

Diet Tips

1500 calorie diet

2000 calorie diet

Rules of diet

Myths

“Do lots of crunches to remove fat from your

stomach.”

“It’s enough if you don’t eat after 6.”

“Don't eat carbs and you'll lose weight."

"You shouldn’t do weight training because you will only gain muscle, but you won’t lose weight."

“It doesn’t matter from what you drain the calorie, it will only remain the same.”

Workout

Preparing for the competition

Summary

Building Muscle

Food

Diets

3000 calorie diet

3500 calorie diet

4000 calories diet

Rules in mass building diets

Exercise

Preparing for competition

Supplements

Other supplements

Summary

Max Performance

Summary

Diets

4000 calories diet

6000 calories diet

Elderly

Summary

For the eager "indestructible" golden baby

Choosing sport for children

Pregnant and Breastfeeding Mothers

Right mental state

Ideal physique and bodyweight

Optimal nutrition

Quitting your addictions

Exercise for pregnant women

Used and recommended literature: