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When it comes to utilizing training & eating well for the goal of enhancing the quality of life, “I don’t have time” is the most common excuse people affirm to themselves.

More often than not, even if you suggest that the benefits of an optimized training and nutrition plan can outweigh the time invested, people continue explaining how busy they are.

If you’re already over this and are ready to take the next step for your greater good, keep reading.

In this article, we are going to give you actionable tips on how you can integrate a healthy lifestyle into a busy schedule.

Why Should You Do This?

Well, quite frankly your success in every aspect of life is primarily based on your physical and mental wellbeing.

In the modern-day lifestyle, you get robbed of quality movement and get access to a load of junk food which in turn may impact the quality of life.

In a sense, being fit and even muscular is something completely natural… Nowadays however the industrial cities impose us on unnatural living patterns, thus making fitness & wellbeing “someday goals” for most people…

At the end of the day, your body is a community of cells that you technically govern and nurture with the things you put into the body & the ways you use it.

You have no valid excuse to not keep your community healthy!

Now let’s talk about training and possible ways to integrate it into a busy schedule (yes, even if you work 12 hr shifts.)

How To Train Efficiently

For most people, it feels like forever to get to the gym, warm-up, do the workout, get back home, shower & eat.

And the truth is, all of this can be quite time consuming so your best bet is to optimize the whole process.

Here are some tips which you can use right away:

1. Find a local gym that is 10-15 minutes away from your home/workplace
2. If you have basic home equipment, use it instead of going to the gym every now and then
3. Train 20-30 minutes every day, rather than 3 hours at once every 2-3 days
4. Do short, intense workouts to save on time and still reap benefits

In essence, if you are a busy individual, there are ways to get around your schedule and fit a couple of training hours per week.

After all, this is for your greater good and it pays off big time.

One question still stands though – What is the best time to workout?

Some people have a schedule that allows them to train during different parts of the day, so let’s have a look at each one and analyze them.

Training in the morning

Upon waking up, your body is in a sense, fasted, meaning that your glycogen levels are lower than usual and therefore, your strength performance would be suboptimal.

Nevertheless, training in the morning is a good way to kickstart your day, as it will give you tons of energy & mood (especially after your breakfast afterwards).

If you can only spend 30-40 minutes for a workout upon waking up, before breakfast, there is nothing wrong with that, just bear in mind that your performance will not be as good, due to the lower energy levels.

Training in the afternoon

As you wake up and get into your day, more and more sunlight passes through your eyes.

That sunlight signals the pineal gland to secrete serotonin, which is a daytime neurotransmitter.

In other words, serotonin makes you feel more awake, alert & gives you energy and mood for your daily activities.

So, you see, your organism is supposed to be fine-tuned to the sun & earth’s cycle and there are periods when your cardiovascular efficiency, muscle strength & nervous system are the most active.

This is generally in the afternoon, between 15:00 & 17:00.

So, if your schedule allows you to train in the afternoon, this would be your optimal choice.

Not only will you sync with the highest biological activity time window of the body, but you’ll also have food in your system and thus, more energy, as opposed to training in the morning.

Training in the evening

Just like the previous two, training in the evening has its advantages and disadvantages.

For instance, workouts after an entire workday can be a massive stress reliever!

On top of that, night time is the recovery time for the body, so with an intense workout, you are priming all the recovery mechanisms of your body and it becomes easier to fall asleep.

However, if you do your workout too soon before bed, you might disrupt your sleep cycle.

This is why we recommend training no less than 3-4 hours before bedtime.

Conclusion

Training and eating well should not be someday goals but more so tools that you use to optimize your performance in all aspects of life, as well as your overall living quality.

As your health should be your number 1 priority, it is important to consider how you can optimize your training process, so that the benefits would outweigh the time invested.

The best practices to do so are to find a local gym, do shorter workouts but more frequently, but also utilize any equipment you have at home, or even your bodyweight.

Furthermore, you can find “time gaps” in your life and replace those with more productive activities like training and cooking.

For example, most people spend at least 50 minutes a day on their Instagram feed and 1 hr a day on watching TV/YouTube.

That’s 2 hours you can easily use to get a workout in and prepare your food for the next 3 days.

Ultimately, proper and regular training sessions will quite obviously optimize your fitness & mood and thus, make you feel better and experience mental clarity, which you can apply anywhere you want.

In part two of this article series, we are going to tell you more about nutrition on a busy schedule and how you can actually spend less time & money to eat healthier and better.

See you there!

Valentine’s Day has over centuries been considered to be associated with passionate romance expressed between lovers. Over the years Valentine’s Day has brought with it an opportunity for lovers to express themselves in different ways while showing their love for their partners. Keeping fit has emerged as one of the top goals being worked towards by couples. Here are a couple of fitness ideas for the upcoming Valentine’s Day that could spice things up in your relationship.

Outdoor Activities

Your Valentine’s Day could take on a new adventure while engaging in fun outdoor activities such as cycling and hiking. Keeping fit and healthy on Valentine’s Day while encouraging your partner to achieve their personal fitness goals will strengthen the bond in your relationship even further while at the same time maintaining a healthy lifestyle to ensure you enjoy each other’s company for many more years to come.

Cooking

Our every day lives might not allow us to enjoy a meal with those we love as often as we would like. Valentine’s Day, however, brings with it an opportunity to have something special and healthy prepared to mark the special occasion. Engaging in a cooking activity with your partner while infusing healthy ingredients into the meal is one way of encouraging living a fit as well as a healthy lifestyle.

Keep It Spicy In The Bedroom

It is no secret that bedroom affairs among couples tend to lose a bit of spark and excitement over time. This can take the air out of the essential sex life within a relationship. This Valentine’s Day give couples a chance to rediscover the fiery spark that may have dimmed over the years. Be sure to spice things up in the bedroom while making a deliberate effort to please your partner on Valentine’s Day.

Dancing

Dancing can be quite the physically demanding activity to partake in. This Valentine’s Day, couples looking to enjoyably keep fit might want to indulge in some dancing to an entertaining tune. Considering going for a dance with your partner will bring the two of you closer together both physically and emotionally, this Valentine’s Day fitness idea will not only highlight your day but as well maintain your physical health.

Indoor Rock Climbing

For this activity, couples are brought together and their bond is strengthened mentally as well as physically engaging routine. While positively challenging each other to stretch their limits through a shared adventurous experience, this Valentine’s Day, couples could strap-on their safety harnesses and inspire each other to the top of the wall. This would make for a pretty memorable Valentine’s Day highlight.

Conclusion

With more and more couples setting fitness goals in their relationships, engagement in frequent fitness activities can considerably help in achieving those set goals. Sticking around long enough to enjoy the company of your partner could be a major force behind setting fitness goals in a relationship. As this Valentine’s Day symbolizes the love cultivated between couples, trying out these fitness ideas will have you and your partner sharing an unforgettable Valentine’s Day.

As you begin your quest to be fit and healthy, you may want to document the entire fitness journey. The hard work and dedication put into working out and engaging in any physical activities should never go unrecognized. You also have to keep track of your nutrition as you chase your fitness goals. Below are some of the reasons why you out to document that entire process:

Accountability

Documenting your fitness journey makes it easy to be accountable to yourself. You put yourself under a strict routine that you are supposed to follow religiously. There is no need to have a partner to keep you motivated. All you got is you. Therefore, you have to put in the work to achieve your fitness goals. That is why you ought to document everything you intend to as much as staying fit is concerned to remain committed and focused.

Know Your Progress

It is very important to assess if your fitness journey is paying off. This means you have to monitor your progress and get to identify areas that need improvement. As a result, you can make changes to your workout or nutrition so that you can easily get that fit body you have been yearning for.

For Comparison

Is it not a good thing to just stop for a moment and appreciate how far you have come? This is the case when you document your fitness journey. You can easily compare your before and after. This will not only make you proud of yourself but will give you the grit to continue with your fitness challenge.

Stay Motivated

The challenges you go through to have a fit and healthy body should never be ignored. You have to record every workout session. Take measurements of your weight, body mass index, and waist circumference at some stipulated time, just to see your progress. This is a very uplifting approach that will motivate you to keep going once you see what you have achieved. In the same spirit, you may decide to make necessary changes to your meal plans and physical activities so that they are in line with the fitness goals you want to achieve.

Follow Your Plan

Respecting your fitness routine, means you follow everything that you have highlighted in your plan. This gives you the commitment to wake up every day and hit the gym or engaging in the physical activities of that day. As you do this every day as expected, you will witness tremendous improvement in terms of your body composition and fitness levels. Failure to stick to your plan will definitely give you unsatisfactory results.

Conclusion

You need a plan and routine if you really want to achieve your fitness goals. This requires you to document your entire fitness journey to identify where you might need to make improvements, track your progress, stay motivated and just appreciate what you are doing all through. Therefore, it is important that you follow your plan to the latter.

Dating has, since the beginning of time, become a platform for lovers to discover who they are in a relationship with. Valentine’s Day brings with it an opportunity to rekindle the romance that often isn’t too prevalent throughout any given relationship. For couples looking to keep the romance going through this love season while involving healthy trends, here are some healthy date ideas for Valentine’s Day;

Get A Couples Massage

This is the perfect excuse to spoil yourself while you spoil her as well. Considering the fact that workdays along with the stresses of everyday life can work up some muscular tension as well as some mental fatigue. A date at the spa for two could be just what you and your partner need to unwind and let go of the tension and stresses of life albeit for a couple of heavenly massage sessions. For your Valentine’s Date, a couple’s massage ranks as one of the best activities couples could go for.

Work Out Together

Working out together on Valentine’s Day could offer the best experience while engaging your partner in active physical activities. Some sit-ups, push-ups, or a jog through your favorite jogging paths will get your day going while helping build your character as a couple. Working out together as well allows couples to inspire each other towards a healthy living lifestyle.

Surprise Her with Flowers

Having flowers delivered to her desk is a tried-and-true strategy for wishing your sweetheart a happy Valentine’s Day, but showing up in person means much more. Spice up her day at work with a lovely bouquet of her favorite freshly picked flowers. While it may seem like a cliché in some instances, flowers have been known to solicit pleasant instinctive reactions setting the scene for the perfect Valentine’s Day date.

See A Local Band

There are no limitations to creativity when it comes to Valentine’s Day date planning. Try coming up with something more to spice up your date on this more than special occasion. Dabbling in some local band activities with your partner could have you enjoyably dancing to a melodious tune while on your date on Valentine’s Day.

Hit Up A Comedy Show

A good laugh on your Valentine’s Day date ought to fill your day with love and joy. Look out for comedy shows and grab your couple tickets ready for an experience in rib-cracking comedy acts. With the entertainment industry coming up with humorous content, enjoying a hearty laugh with your love partner could be just what you need to highlight your Valentine’s Day.

Conclusion

Dating on Valentine’s Day comes as a special occasion to many couples across the world. It brings with it a spark between couples that allows them to rekindle the passionate romance that cements the love between them. A healthy date on Valentine’s Day is an ideal way of turning your date into an exciting and beneficial experience that will strengthen your love life and build on the romantic bond in your relationship.

In the first part of the muscle-building series, you learned that the way you set up the variables in a workout, will practically change the end result.

For instance, training closer to maximum intensity will primarily result in improvements in maximum strength.

On the other hand, workouts that are moderately high in intensity will increase bulk muscle growth along with strength endurance.

In this article, we are going to have a look at how the body provides energy for activity of different parameters.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

ATP – The Body’s Main Energy Source

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the purest source of biological energy for all living beings.

ATP is technically used in every bodily process in most living beings, as this is a pure source of energy that can be used right away.

During intense activity like weight training, however, the ATP stores get depleted fairly quickly, due to the demanding nature of the intense activity.

Once depleted, the body needs to regenerate ATP, in order to continue the muscular activity.

To do so, the body utilizes 3 main energy systems:

1. The ATP-Creatine system
2. The anaerobic glycogen system
3. The aerobic system

Now let’s have a look at each of those!

The ATP-Creatine system

This first energy system is the most powerful, but least sustainable energy system that the body uses.

As mentioned, during intense activity, ATP gets depleted in about 5-6 seconds of work.

Upon use, ATP gets broken down into ADP (adenosine diphosphate).

To recover ATP, the body uses its stores of creatine, joining a phosphate molecule from it with ADP and thus regenerating ATP for another 10 seconds of activity.

That is to say, creatine is not just a supplement – It is the body’s natural, secondary energy reserve!

Think of the ATP-Creatine system as something utilized during a 60-100 meter sprint.

The Anaerobic Glycogen system

Once you are past the 15-second mark of your exercise, intensity naturally drops due to the low amounts of ATP & creatine.

The body then needs to again, regenerate ATP to ensure energy for sustained muscular activity.

To do so, the body starts tapping into its muscle glycogen.

Muscle glycogen is basically the stored form of blood sugar, which is derived from the consumption of carbohydrates.

Through a process called “Anaerobic glycolysis”, the body restores ATP for another 90 seconds, without the need to use oxygen (this is what anaerobic means).

Think of the Anaerobic glycogen system as something utilized during a 200-400 meter sprint.

The Aerobic System

Now, the more you continue your activity after the 2-minute mark, the more intensity naturally drops and the more oxygen starts helping you to regenerate energy.

The aerobic system uses muscle and liver glycogen, as well as fatty acids, to release energy and regenerate ATP, at the presence of oxygen.

This energy system is used to sustain low-intensity, prolonged activities.

As such, the aerobic energy system can be used for hours on end, unlike the first two (i.e you can run at a low pace for hours on end, but you can only sprint 200-400 meters at a time).

Think of the aerobic energy system as something utilized during a 5000-meter cross run.

Why This Is Important…

If you are trying to build muscle, you MUST know the best fuel you can provide your body with…

And now, before we even got through the basic physiology of muscle building, there are two things you can take and use for your nutrition and supplementation:

1. If you are primarily strength training, you can make use of a creatine supplement, which will saturate your muscles and increase output
2. If you are primarily doing bodybuilding training, you can and should consume plenty of carbohydrates, as that will improve your overall performance
3. If you are primarily doing endurance, cardio training, you can and should consume plenty of carbohydrates and fats, in order to optimize endurance

Ultimately, we can say that the ratios of the parameters in a workout, will determine which energy systems & active components get triggered and thus, determine the end result.

Those active components we refer to are namely your muscle fibers.

In the next article of this series, we will give you more insight into the types of muscle fibers, which your body activates, depending on how the training parameters are set.

See you there!

When the task at hand is to build as much quality muscle mass as possible, there are two things you should look at: Your training and your nutrition.

Muscle gaining is technically a process of stimulus, followed by a period of recovery.

At its very essence, muscle gaining is just your body preparing for bigger challenges, ahead of time.

In this series of articles, we’ll take you through everything you need to know, in order to create your PERFECT muscle-building blueprint.

The first part of the series goes over one of the most important things for the goal, namely, analyzing, measuring and setting up your workout.

Now let’s get to it

How to measure a workout

If you think about it, when you are in the gym, you’re working with weights…

Those weights are numbers and when we have numbers, there is a certain level of mathematics involved.

That is to say… There’s actually a mathematical formula for muscle gains!
Your workout can be measured by 3 main variables:

1. Intensity
2. Volume
3. Density

Intensity is a measure of how close you get to your maximum strength capabilities.

The closer you get, the higher your intensity is, meaning that it increases as your working weight goes up.

Volume is a measure of your total working weight, for all of your exercises, sets, and reps.

You can measure volume using this formula: Weight * Sets * Reps = Volume

For instance, using 100 kg for 2 sets of 10 would create a volume of 2000 kg (100*2*10=2000 kg)

Last but not least, we have density, which is a measure of your volume, related to the total time needed for its completion, including rest times.

To measure density, you use this formula: Volume / Total completion time = Density (kg per minute)

For instance, if those 2 sets of 10 with 100 kg take you 2 minutes to complete, this would be a density of 1000 kg/min.

But How Do You Measure Intensity?

Alright, so far you learned the following:

1. Volume = Weight * Sets * Reps
2. Density = Volume / Total completion time

But how exactly can you measure intensity…?

Well, here comes the practical part!

To get an idea of what 100% intensity looks like for you, for a certain exercise, you have to find out the weight you can lift for one single repetition – This will show you your maximum strength capabilities.

To do this, you will use the “One repetition maximum” method.

Again, this method implies using a weight that will take your muscles to failure after one single rep, meaning that you will not be able to complete a second rep unassisted.

How to test your 1 rep max

Before we get to the actionable steps, if you are a beginner, avoid testing your one-rep max, as it may lead to injuries.

Instead, use the same scheme but go for a 5 rep max instead, where you use a weight that takes your muscles to failure at around the 5th repetition.

Here are the steps to testing your one-rep max:

1. Warm-up well – 3-5 minutes of light cardio
2. Do a brief dynamic stretching routine to get each joint through its range of motion
3. Do a set of 8-10 repetitions with no weight on the bar
4. Rest for a minute
5. Load the bar with a decent weight and do 6-8 repetitions
6. Rest for 2 minutes
7. Load the bar with a weight that will allow you to do 3 challenging repetitions
8. Rest for 3 minutes
9. Load the bar and attempt a one-rep max
10. If successful, rest for 3-5 minutes and increase the weight
11. Keep doing steps 9 and 10 until you reach the weight which is certainly your one-rep max

This same scheme can be used by beginners for the 5 rep max method.

Why you need to know this

Alright, this important bit of information we just gave you, is part of what will allow you to create your muscle-building blueprint.

The reason why this is important is that the ratio of these variables is what will determine how the muscles work, what type of energy it uses, and thus, how it develops.

In the next article, we’ll explain to you exactly how these variables affect the way the body provides energy.

See you in part 2!