Built to last – Fitness Challenge – Day 8

Hello! Are you ready? Let´s go!

Pre-workout Talk:

1. Perform each exercise for the prescribed amount of time, doing as many repetitions as possible.
2. Watch the technique, a poor technique leads to injuries and we do not want that.
3. Once you have completed one exercise, go to the next one.
4. Complete this circuit three times.
5. If you have questions, reach me at the Facebook group.

RECOMMENDATION: Use Evernote to track your workout. Here is the note corresponding to this workout.

Here is a playlist to help you maintain a high training pace.

Today we´re going to work our core, thighs, lats, traps, delts, and biceps. This is the exercise list:

1. Lateral Plank (Left) – 40 seconds
2. Lateral Plank (Right) – 40 seconds
3. Bear Crawl – 40 seconds
4. REST – 20 seconds
5. Resistance Band Squat – 40 seconds
6. Bodyweight Lateral Lunge – 40 seconds
7. REST – 20 seconds
8. Lying Lat Pull – 40 seconds
9. Upright Row – 40 seconds
10. REST – 20 seconds
11. Resistance Band Lateral Raise – 40 seconds
12. Standing Biceps Curl Reverse Grip – 40 seconds
13. REST – 20 seconds

Once you have finished the third round:

COOL-DOWN/STRETCHING

1. Cat-Cow – 40 seconds
2. Child pose – 40 seconds
3. Lying Quad Stretch (left) – 40 seconds
4. Lying Quad Stretch (right) – 40 seconds
5. Figure 4 (left) – 40 seconds
6. Figure 4 (right) – 40 seconds
7. Standing Shoulder Stretch (left) – 40 seconds
8. Standing Shoulder Stretch (right) – 40 seconds
9. Standing Biceps Stretch (left) – 40 seconds
10. Standing Biceps Stretch (right) – 40 seconds

Eating to succeed

The suggested food for today was Salmon. What recipe have you prepared today? Take a picture of your plate and share it with us in the Facebook group.

For the next day, I suggest you: Quinoa. Read my blog about the quinoa health benefits.

Trainer Tips: #Carbs

Carbohydrates are controversial among people trying to lose weight. Because individual carbohydrate needs aren’t one-size-fits-all. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for carbohydrates is 130 grams per day. This is the minimum amount required to fuel an adult’s brain, red blood cells and central nervous system optimally. Without enough carbohydrates to maintain your blood sugar in a happy range, the body starts breaking down protein — lean muscle tissue — into glucose to bring blood sugar back to normal. The RDA of 130 grams carbohydrates per day is a minimum for adult bodies to function properly. Most people need more. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, carbohydrates should make up 45–65% of total calories in our diet.

As you´re exercising regularly, I recommend that carbohydrates represent 60% of your diet. It is very easy to calculate, simply multiply by 2 the amount of protein we have calculated on Monday.

A traditional “low-carb” diet has 40% or fewer calories coming from carbohydrates. There’s no denying that many have lost weight and kept it off successfully with this lifestyle. It’s popular for a reason, but it certainly is not the only way to lose weight — and it may not be for everyone. Eating a low-carb diet (especially a restrictive one) affects your blood sugar levels, which can cause unfavorable side-effects in some people, including being mildly to downright uncomfortable, shakiness, nervousness or anxiety, chills, irritability, lightheadedness, headaches, hunger, nausea, fatigue, blurred vision, lack of coordination and more. These effects and the restriction required can make a low-carb diet difficult to stick with.

Carbohydrates are found in almost all foods and provide 4 calories per gram. Carbohydrate-containing foods generally have a combination of two types of carbohydrates: simple and complex.

Simple carbs are also known as “sugar.” It’s made of up to two sugar building blocks connected in a chain. The building blocks can be glucose, fructose and galactose. Because the chains are short, they’re easy to break down, which is why they taste sweet when they hit your tongue. They are also digested and absorbed into the bloodstream quickly.

Foods high in simple carbohydrates include sweeteners (table sugar, syrup, honey), candy, jellies and jams and refined flour. Fruits, vegetables, beans, and dairy contain simple carbs, too, but they come with vitamins and minerals, plus fiber and/or protein, so they’re still healthy choices.

Complex carbs can be either “starch” or “fiber.” This carbohydrate is made of three or more sugars connected in a chain; they also contain fiber and tend to come in foods that also contain protein and/or healthy fats, as well as vitamins and minerals. They use the same sugar building blocks as simple carbs, but the chains are longer and take more time to break down, which is why they don’t taste as sweet. The longer chains also slow digestion and thus absorption of the monosaccharides all carbs are broken down into, resulting in a more gradual insulin response, as well as increased satiety.

Foods high in complex carbohydrates include bread, rice, pasta, beans, whole grains, and vegetables.

When it comes to choosing carbohydrates to eat or drink, here are three rules to help you choose well:

1. EAT MORE COMPLEX CARBS FROM WHOLE-FOOD SOURCES: Vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds, 100% whole-grain bread, pasta, and brown rice should also be included in this rule. These foods are a source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and protein.
2. EAT FEWER COMPLEX CARBS FROM REFINED SOURCES: Foods like white rice, white bread, and traditional pasta are more processed.
3. EAT SIMPLE CARBS IN MODERATION: Most sources of simple carbohydrates are considered “empty calories” because they’re high in calories but contain little to no micronutrients. They’re a likely culprit when it comes to spiking blood sugar. Fruit and milk are exceptions to this rule because they contain beneficial vitamins and minerals.

See you on Friday!