Wednesday Video - What is creatine?

You may have heard about this supplement but are not sure what it is or what it does. There's a lot of misinformation out there about Creatine and you may be wondering what is Creatine? Is it safe? What does it do? Find your answers here!

Monday Muscle - Is Exercise Only for Physical Fitness?

“Exercise not only makes you physically stronger, it will also make you more intelligent”
Physical exercise may be one of the most effective and beneficial therapies widely available to everyone to elevate memory performance and helps to boost mental processing speed, memory retention and selective attention skills.

How exercise boosts brain power

Physical exercise has affirmative effects on brain function on multiple ends, ranging from molecular to physiological level.
• Physical exercise improves the heart rate by which more oxygen gets pumped to the brain.
• It aids in releasing an avalanche of hormones, all of which participate in providing a nourishing environment and aids for the growth of brain cells.

Exercise boosts your brain as well

• Exercise stimulates neuro plasticity (brain plasticity) by provoking growth of new cell connections widely in the important cortical areas of brain.
• Exercise has the ability to reduce inflammation and insulin resistance, stimulate the release of endorphins (growth factors) – chemicals responsible for the growth, survival and health of brain cells. The release of endorphins by people who exercise regularly feel alert, have more energy, increased sense of well-being, and have better memory retention.
• Researches from Salk Institute for biological studies, University of California and Stockholm University also proved that exercise boosts brain power.
• Exercise enables your brain to work at optimal capacity by causing the nerve cells to strengthen their interconnections, multiply and protect from damage.

Benefits of physical fitness to Brain

• Boost your IQ and make you think better
• Exercising your body is one of the best ways to boost your IQ and preserve it through old age.
• Exercise boosts blood supply to the brain which helps to give it the energy to think.
• It also promotes the growth of neurons, release growth hormones and neurotransmitters that are essential to the brain’s overall health thus contributing to better memory and concentration.

• Reduce stress & Keep depression away
• One of the most common benefits of exercise is stress relief.

Exercise is a known stress reliever

• It helps to increase the concentration of a chemical known as norepinephrine that helps to moderate the brain’s response to stress.
• Due to the release of endorphins by exercising depression or anxiety can be alleviated.

• Exercise helps in Clear thinking
• Physical fitness can improve positive self-image and boost self-esteem.

• Due to the development of new brain cells it helps to improve overall brain performance and promotes higher thinking, decision making, learning etc.

• Improve memory functions and facilitate information processing
• Moderate to high intensity exercise can influence decision making, perception, response preparation and actual response that forms a part of information processing.
• Physical exercise is a promising mediation to prevent neuro degenerative diseases and other impairments thus improving the memory functions.
• Exercise increases the brain volume in areas involved in executive processing and also enhances phonemic skills in children with reading difficulty.

• Prevents cognitive decline and sharpens the memory

Older exercisers can also benefit 

• As people age, some regions of the brain such as hippo-campus, responsible for memory and learning begin to shrink and leads to increased risk for developing cognitive difficulties.
• According to a study, physical activity poses an antidepressant effect associated with growth of cells in hippo-campus by releasing chemicals in brain that supports and prevent the degeneration of hippo-campus.
• By Exercising, more blood vessels are developed with increased blood flow to the brain resulting in Cognitive (intellectual/ mental) improvements. With greater blood flow, the faster oxygen and other nutrients reach the brain cells.
• Also, physical exercise protects against mild cognitive impairment by improved development and survival of neurons, production of nerve protecting compounds and decreased risk of blood vessel and heart diseases.
• In recent studies it was found that by performing moderate-to-high exercises such as aerobics and strength training results in 39% decreased risk of developing cognitive impairment.

The combination of both mental and physical exercise may be the finest measures to improve overall brain health.

Article source: http://largearticle.com/is-exercise-only-for-physical-fitness/

How to Keep the Weight Off

By David Hung

Imagine this scenario - you’ve spent months working out, eating well and living a balanced lifestyle. As a result of this effort, you’ve been able to get down to your target weight and are feeling great! Then, as a few weeks or months pass, you start to see the weight come back. You are frustrated and tired of feeling like all your hard work doesn’t really pay off in the long run.

Reality Check

Does this sound like you or someone you know? Gaining weight after a major loss is a relatively common occurrence, but fortunately there is a way to effectively address the issue. Although people may be satisfied with their health and wellness after getting down or close to their ideal weight, effort still needs to be made in order to continue to maintain a healthy, fit lifestyle. According to the New York Times (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/how-weight-training-can-help-yo...), the best way to avoid regaining weight after losing noticeable amounts is to incorporate regular weight training sessions into your fitness routine.

Benefits of Weight Training

Weight training is capable of increasing the amount of calories burned throughout the day, which is a major reason why people who weight train don’t gain the weight back. The amount of calories that a person burns each day is dependent on something called non-exercise activity thermogenesis (N.E.A.T.). N.E.A.T. measures how much energy is used for activities like standing, fidgeting and walking, which aren’t related to exercise. Once a person’s weight has decreased then the amount of energy their body requires for these everyday activities decreases. Weight training is one of the few ways in which you can put the effects of N.E.A.T. in your favor and continue to burn calories, which will allow you to effectively keep the weight off.

How to Get Started

Weight training should be done three times a week and should incorporate both upper and lower-body exercises. Coming up with a consistent and comprehensive schedule encourages more movement throughout the day and therefore activates N.E.A.T. to burn more calories. A great way to get started with weight training is receiving supervision. Supervision will provide assistance and help you determine proper form. Proper form is essential as it reduces risk of injury and increases the effects of the weight training exercises. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, people who weight train have a better walking economy and feel like moving is easier compared to those who do not weight train after weight loss. If you want to notice increased movement and calorie burn post-weight loss, weight training is the way to go.

In conclusion, weight training is the most effective way to keep off the weight after losing it. Even though you may feel fit and fantastic after putting in lots of effort and going through a major weight loss, it is important to maintain a consistent and comprehensive weight training schedule so you can ensure that you’ll keep the weight off, stay strong and feel great.