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Showing posts with the label Diet

Fitness Goes Social

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There's a plethora of fitness apps out there today, and many of them have a social aspect to them. After all, it can be motivating to see see what your friends are doing to stay healthy and fit. Do you ever wonder how that super athletic friend stays in great shape? Follow them on a fitness app and find out! Many of these apps allow for challenges and competitions between you and your friends as well, whether it be who gets the most steps, runs the furthest, or bikes the longest distance, etc. In addition, you can often earn some digital bling like badges, virtual trophies, etc. to commemorate your achievements. Garmin Connect  is probably the one I use most often. I use a Garmin Fenix smartwatch to track my fitness activities and it automatically syncs my activities to my Garmin Connect account. I think the mobile app could still use a little work, especially on the strength training side of things. It's kind of odd that it limits you to 1,000 connections as well. But overall,...

Protein Consumption Techniques to Optimize Muscle Growth

Protein Synthesis and Muscle Growth There's a period of time after a workout in which protein synthesis and muscle growth occurs at an accelerated level. If you look at the growth period on a chart, it isn't a rigid spike like the peak of a mountain. Instead, it's more of a gradual curve like a rolling hill. This time period typically lasts from 36 to 48 hours depending on the intensity of the workout, age, genetics, etc. In order to get the most out of this period of elevated protein synthesis, we need to give the body a good supply of protein and amino acids to support this process. My personal strategy is outlined below, but you should discuss your own nutritional needs with your doctor or nutritionist. Protein Digestions and Absorption The protein from our food sources are digested and absorbed over a time line that looks more like a bell curve as well. How tall or wide that bell curve is depends on the foods that we get our proteins from as well. Whey protein is...