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What does Whey Protein do?

Whey protein is far superior to all other forms of protein. It provides the body with the perfect amino acid profile for muscle building, strength and recovery. Bodybuilders and professional athletes all know the importance of using whey protein supplements to help increase size, strength and speed up recovery times.

Whey is also fast ingesting, meaning it gets to where it's needed - fast!  

Whey protein supplements play a huge roll in post-workout nutrition, when your body is in a catabolic state and needs a fast injection of protein.

On top of the muscle building and recovery benefits, whey protein also works as an antioxidant to boost the body's immune system. Scientific studies have shown that regular supplementation with whey protein promotes a strong immune system.

Effects whey protein has on performance:

1. Increased lean muscle mass
2. Decreased recovery times and faster muscle repair
3. Reduced post-workout muscle breakdown
4. Increase metabolic rate

Stretching is SO OFTEN something most people neglect to do at the end of a training session because they are too tired to do anything else.  Or when they do stretch after a workout, they just rush through each stretch and do NOT get the FULL BENEFIT of each stretch.

We stretch to IMPROVE OUR FLEXIBILITY.  Flexibility is the range of motion that is available to a joint or joints.  

FLEXIBILITY is important because:

1. It IMPROVES muscle balance around our joints, thus improving posture
2. It REDUCES the change of INJURY; especially when playing a sport or in everyday activities.
3. It INCREASES the blood and nutrient supply to muscles and cartilage, thereby also reducing muscle soreness after training.

What Happens During Recovery?

Building recovery time into any training program is important because this is the time that the body adapts to the stress of exercise and the real training effect takes place. Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues. Exercise or any other physical work causes changes in the body such as muscle tissue breakdown and the depletion of energy stores (muscle glycogen) as well as fluid loss.

Recovery time allows these stores to be replenished and

allows tissue repair to occur. Without sufficient time to repair

and replenish, the body will continue to breakdown from

intensive exercise.

Symptoms of overtraining often occur from a lack of

recovery time. Signs of overtraining include a feeling of

general malaise, staleness, depression, decreased

sports performance and increased risk of injury, among

others.

So, BE SURE to take days off to rebuild and replenish - they are VERY IMPORTANT - and BE SURE to get your rest.

Drinking enough water is one of the most important things you can do for your body every day. Why is it then that so many of us suffer from chronic dehydration? 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. Most people are so used to being dehydrated that they no longer recognize the normal signal of thirst. We cannot go more than two to three days without water, although we can go weeks without food. The human body is about 60% water, your muscles and your brain are about 75% water, your blood is about 82% water, and your bones are about 25% water. Water is required for everything from regulating blood pressure and body temperature to making sure your heart works correctly and that your brain is capable of doing its daily tasks. 

When our bodies become dehydrated, the thirst mechanism can often be disguised as hunger. This may be a contributing factor to our obesity epidemic. One glass of water shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

When our body is dehydrated it doesn’t work as efficiently, even mild dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%. Slower metabolism means more fat stored and less used as fuel for your body.

Electrolyte is a "medical/scientific" term for salts, specifically ions. The term electrolyte means that this ion is electrically-charged and moves to either a negative (cathode) orpositive (anode) electrode:

• ions that move to the cathode (cations) are positively charged
• ions that move to the anode (anions) are negatively charged

For example, your body fluids -- blood, plasma, interstitial fluid (fluid between cells) -- are like seawater and have a high concentration of sodium chloride(table salt, or NaCl). The electrolytes in sodium chloride are:

• sodium ion (Na⁺) - cation
• chloride ion (Cl^-) - anion

As for your body, the major electrolytes are as follows:

• sodium (Na⁺)
• potassium (K⁺)
• chloride (Cl^-)
• calcium (Ca²⁺)
• magnesium (Mg²⁺)
• bicarbonate (HCO₃^-)
• phosphate (PO₄^2-)
• sulfate (SO₄^2-)

Electrolytes are important because they are what your cells (especially nerve, heart, muscle) use to maintain voltages across their cell membranes and to carry electrical impulses (nerve impulses, muscle contractions) across themselves and to other cells. Your kidneys work to keep the electrolyte concentrations in your blood constant despite changes in your body. For example, when you exercise heavily, you lose electrolytes in your sweat, particularly sodium and potassium. These electrolytes must be replaced to keep the electrolyte concentrations of your body fluids constant. So, many sports drinks have sodium chloride or potassium chloride added to them. They also have sugar and flavorings to provide your body with extra energy and to make the drink taste better.