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Is Being Addicted To The Gym A Bad Thing?

Is Being Addicted To The Gym A Bad Thing?

Published by on February 10, 2023 | Leave a response

Being addicted to the gym can be good or bad, depending on how you act on that addiction. If you love going and don’t miss a session, then it’s good. However, if you love going so much that you workout intensely for long hours every day, it might not be to your benefit. You can work out too much. What happens then? You actually lose ground, make exercising more exhausting and lose muscle mass in the process.

Doing too intense of strength-building workouts can deplete your body and muscle tissue.

One area of exercise that requires close attention to intensity is strength-building. When you workout, you cause microtears in the muscle tissue. As those tears heal, they build bigger and stronger muscles. However, it takes a couple of days for the healing process, which is why you should only do strength-building on the same muscle groups every 48 to 72 hours. Not only will your muscle tissue not heal, but those microtears also cause stress on your body. Stress can affect the proper functioning of the immune system.

Stress fractures can also occur when you do repetitive exercises.

Runners often face the problem of stress fractures, especially if they’re doing too much running, too soon. Stress fractures are tiny cracks in the bone. The repetitive pounding of the foot on the pavement puts them at high risk. Repeated jumping also can cause the same problem. Stress fractures are the most common in the foot and the lower leg, so if you’re into cardio, switch up to different types of workouts and include low-impact ones in the mix.

True exercise addiction is real.

If you go to the gym and ignore other important areas of your life, focus all your energy and thoughts on getting ready for, going, or recovering from exercise, and are unable to limit your time at the gym, you may be suffering from exercise addiction. Like any addiction, it can take over your life to the point where you don’t feel like you have control. Exercise releases neurotransmitters that make you feel good. They’re the same as drug addiction. If you feel like you have to workout, it may be the desire to trigger that reaction.

  • Identify whether you simply love your day at the gym or have a real addiction. The number of days you go, the amount of time you spend and your intensity level will tell a lot.
  • Skip working out for a short time if you feel you have an exercise addiction until you can take control again. When you go back, limit the number of days and time you spend.
  • Studies show that people with other types of addictions, such as tobacco, alcohol or drugs, and people with anorexia, bulimia, or body image disorder can lead to exercise addiction.
  • Signs that you’re working out too much include exhaustion, anxiety, depression, frequent illness, difficulty falling asleep, and a dramatic increase in resting heart rate.

For more information, contact us today at Team-ISC

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Why You Should Use Gloves When Lifting Weights?

Why You Should Use Gloves When Lifting Weights?

Published by on January 25, 2023 | Leave a response

Part of building muscles is lifting something heavy. For most people, that means lifting weights. You see it in almost every gym in Sacramento, CA. Some of those people use gloves, while others use their bare hands and chalk up heavily. There are good reasons for either choice. Your hands get sweaty and gloves hold that moisture. They require frequent washing, so the fibers break down faster. Some people have a skin reaction to the moisture holding gloves, and they can make skin conditions already occurring worse.

There are also good reasons to wear gloves while lifting.

One of the main reasons to wear gloves is to protect the skin. If you lift weights regularly, it can cause blisters and over time, the build up of calluses. Gloves help protect the hands. It can prevent the small blisters that can occur when lifting weights and reduce the pressure on the hands that occurs when lifting. It puts the work back onto the chest and back muscles, as it increases the capacity for pressure on the hands.

You’ll have a better grip when you wear gloves.

Hands sweat and that sweaty grip means they can lose their grip. Whether you’re lifting barbells or dumbbells, the problem with losing grip can range from annoying to downright dangerous. You’ll have a more consistent strong grip without the need to constantly chalk up during your workout when you wear gloves. It makes the workout go smoother and keeps you safer in the process.

Gloves add hand support.

Just like a lifting belt adds more support to protect the back, gloves provide support around your wrist. That helps protect the hands and the wrist, improving your lifting movements. It keeps the hands stable and acts like having an extra tendon or ligament in the wrist might behave. Since it makes it more stable, it also means you can hold the lift longer, improving the strength of the grip and the strength movements.

  • Chalk is messy. It sticks to the hands, but the rest of your body is sweaty, too, so it gets a good dose of chalk. It also lingers in the air, making breathing more difficult.
  • Make sure your gloves have wrist straps if you want to be stronger. Wrist straps distribute weight not just to the fingers, but forearms as well. They let you lift more than bare hands alone would allow.
  • Be prepared to replace gloves frequently. Most will get worn away after a few months. Shop carefully for the quality you want and look for ones that are breathable, comfortable and supportive. Fit is also important.
  • Use different gloves for different purposes. Each type of glove provides a different level of support. Know your reason for buying the glove. Is it callus protection, padding, wrist support or just sweaty palms?

For more information, contact us today at Team-ISC

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Is Your BMI Really A Good Measure Of Your Health?

Is Your BMI Really A Good Measure Of Your Health?

Published by on January 10, 2023 | Leave a response

You’ve probably heard the term BMI at the doctor’s office or being discussed on health oriented shows. BMI is an acronym for body mass index. It uses the relationship between your height, gender and weight to draw a conclusion about how healthy you are or aren’t, based on whether you fall into a healthy category, extremely thin, overweight or obese. It’s a quick way to measure your health, but not always accurate. While doctors often use it, they get to see the patient and don’t rely strictly on the index. Insurance companies and others often use it and do rely heavily on it.

If you have a lot of muscle mass, you might be labeled overweight or even obese.

If you’re extremely muscular, such as a competitive body builder, you might be labeled as overweight or obese based on the BMI index. That can cause life and health insurance rates to increase, since the underwriters don’t have the option of meeting you in person. It often requires a picture to show your build. Why is the BMI so inaccurate in this case? The answer is simple. Muscle mass weighs more than fat does per cubic inch. So, if two people were the same height and weight, the one with more muscle mass would look thinner. Or, if two people wore the same size clothing and were the same height, but one had a higher ratio of muscle mass to fat, the muscular person would weigh more because of the extra muscle tissue.

Some people have a larger frame than others do.

You’ve probably heard the term, “big-boned.” While most people use it inaccurately, there are differences in bone structure. Some people have larger, denser bone structures. However, it only makes a difference of a few pounds, but those few pounds can push you from a healthy BMI category to one that’s overweight. It won’t add 20 to 30 pounds, so it doesn’t make much difference for most people.

It’s not the ultimate word on your overall health.

If you depend on the internet or the blood pressure machine at your local pharmacy to be your doctor, you need to switch physicians and go to a real health care professional. Identifying your state of health requires more than just your BMI number. Physicians use it as a quick way to alert them to look further into potential problems like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea and other weight related problems.

  • If your BMI went from healthy to overweight or to extremely thin, it’s an alert to health care professionals that you may have an issue. It’s another way BMI usage can be beneficial.
  • One measure of health that’s more accurate than BMI is measuring waist circumference. People with a higher waist circumference, even though their BMI shows healthy, are more at risk for a serious condition.
  • RFM is almost as simple as BMI, and far more accurate. RFM is a ratio of height to waist measurement. It’s 64-(20x height/waist circumference) for men and for women it’s 76-(20x height/waist circumference).
  • In approximately 80% of the cases, BMI does identify weight issues. That still makes it a good tool for doctors, where they can see the patient and have access to other information.

For more information, contact us today at Team-ISC

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What Is The Link Between Sleep And Weight Loss?

Published by on January 1, 1970 | Leave a response

It seems logical to connect staying up longer with weight loss. You’re moving around more, which burns more calories. If you don’t eat more, you should burn more calories. That’s not necessarily true. There is a link between weight loss and sleep, but the lack of sleep often causes you to pack on the pounds, not lose them. Aside from the potential of eating more, lack of sleep negatively affects your body and makes it harder to shed extra pounds.

Lack of sleep disrupts hormone levels.

When you have adequate sleep, your body produces a balance of hunger hormone—ghrelin—and satiety hormone—leptin. When you lack sleep, the body produces more ghrelin and less leptin. You’ll feel hungrier. It causes you to overeat because not enough satiety hormones trigger to tell your body you’re full. Your body works against you, making you excessively hungry throughout the day. Lack of sleep can also leave you feeling dragged out and exhausted. Many people turn to high-calorie sugary treats for a lift, which adds excess calories.

Lack of sleep slows your metabolism.

Your body requires continuous calories to provide energy, whether asleep or awake. It uses calories to pump blood, digest food, maintain body temperature, grow hair, build muscle tissue, and maintain hormone and chemical levels throughout the body. It is called the basal metabolism rate—BMR. You can raise your BMR in several ways. Building more muscle tissue is one way. Another is to get adequate sleep.

You burn more calories when you sleep soundly.

How sound you sleep also makes a difference. There are four stages of sleep. One stage is REM—rapid eye movement and the other three are NREM—non-rapid eye movement. You go through these four stages several times a night. When you have poor sleep quality, you may not enter REM sleep or limit the amount you get. REM sleep burns more calories and is necessary for a healthy body. You can boost the calories you burn when you sleep by eating a small amount of protein, like cottage cheese or warm milk, a half hour to an hour before bedtime.

Sleep sounder and burn more calories by keeping your room cooler. Studies show that temperatures at 65 to 68 degrees help you sleep better than cooler or warmer temperatures.

People who sleep well at night have more energy the following day. They tend to be more active and burn more calories.

Eating a big meal before falling asleep can disrupt sleep. Some people do require a small snack to sleep well. It’s instinctive. Early man needed to stay awake until he found food to prevent starvation.

One of the most helpful ways to improve sleep is a sleep schedule. Going to bed and arising at the same time daily sets the circadian rhythm that controls sleep so you fall asleep quicker. You must keep the schedule every day, including weekends.

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