Carbs have a definite ability to increase muscle gain. This is mainly through the hormone insulin, which is what your body releases when it digests carbohydrates. Insulin acts to increase protein synthesis, or muscle growth, which is likely to be one of your top goals!

Insulin increases muscle gain by boosting the transportation of amino acids from your blood stream to your muscles. What’s more, it’s also a key ingredient in binding with muscle cell membranes that trigger a hueg number of reactions that ultimately lead to muscle growth.

Insulin is also anti-catabolic, meaning it stops muscle breakdown; it stops cortisol, the catabolic hormone, from breaking down your hard earned muscles. Cortisol functions to break down muscle tissues and convert it to energy – while insulin levels are higher, cortisol levels are lower.

When you train, the body is in a catabolic state as your levels of cortisol are high. A percentage of this muscle loss can be counteracted by consuming high glycemic index carbs, or fast digesting ones, before working out. In the recovery zone immeadiately after training you also need to consume high glycemic index carbs with protein – after training it’s important to get your nutrition right as protein synthesis levels are high and you’ll need to replenish your energy stores.

This is another function of carbs, to replenish your glycogen stores which have been used up by a hard work out. This will lead to faster recovery and increased performance the next day.

Carbs are an essential part of any supplement programme – make sure you’re getting your fill!

What is whey protein?

Whey protein is a source of protein derived from milk, which contains a huge number of essential and non-essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of muscle which is what makes protein so essential for muscle gain.

Whey protein is fast digesting and can be used both before and after work outs; using a supplement is a useful way of upping the pure protein in your diet without the accompanying fat that would be in most natural foodstuffs.

Why is whey protein so popular?

One of the main reasons whey is so popular in the fitness community is that it is highly bioavailable – this essentially means the amount of protein the body will retain and utilise from the amount you ingest. Whey protein has a perfect score of 100 – if you ingest 25g of whey, your body uses and absorbs the full 25g making it a highly efficient supplement.

Whey is also fast digesting so your body can break down and use the protein right away. This makes it an ideal accompaniment to your post-workout shake.

What type of whey protein should I use?

Whey protein concentrate is typically 65-80% protein – the higher the percentage, the better the quality. Whey isolate is even more concentrated, clocking in at 85-90% protein. This means most of the fat and lactose has been removed, leaving nearly pure protein.

Always go for the highest quality protein you can afford! The purer it is the more costly, but you’ll be getting a better product. If you’re lactose intolerant or watching your carb/fat intake then it could be worth going for isolate for the added purity.

As a beginner body builder, there are three things you need to get straight: you need to work hard, you need to have a tailored training programme, and you need to nail your nutrition and supplements. This is what we’re concentrating on – getting those supplements right!

Protein

Adding protein to your diet can lead to greater improvements in muscle gain and shorter recovery time. You can go for fast release, pre-work out proteins or slower release options which are the ideal addition to post-workout shakes and help to prevent overnight muscle breakdown.

Fish Oils

Fish oils are an important supplement for everyone. They have an anti-inflammatory effect as well as having positive benefits on just about every bodily process. They also aid in fat loss!

Carbs

Taking a rapidly digested carb supplement before, during or after training will help facilitate protein synthesis and glycogen resynthesis, which translates into muscle building and faster recovery. If you’re training at high volumes or looking to add muscle mass this is especially important.

Creatine

There’s a lot of information out there on this one – but the bottom line is that creatine helps you to achieve greater improvements in muscular size and strength than you would have otherwise. Do your research and know what you’re dealing with, but creatine could definitely benefit your muscle gains.

There’s a lot to learn, but if you’re just starting out, getting to grips with the basics to start with is the best way forwards!

Working out regularly has been shown to help ward off the common cold – a report published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine has shown that those who exercise five or more times a week are more protected against colds and the flu than those who only did occasional exercise. Not only that, but if they became ill, chances are they would recover quicker too.

So, how does this all work then? The findings showed that in the three horus following a period of moderate exercise, the immune system and other protective cells are working overtime. These help your body to ward off illnesses. By boosting your immune system like this, you are more protected against bacteria, colds, viruses and harmful foreign bodies.

On average, people suffer from 2-5 colds per year – however, you can reduce this by incorporating more exercise into your regime. If you couple more exercise with healthy eating and nutrition, you’ll definitely be onto a winner – and a healthy lifestyle as well!

Myth Number 1: Eating late at night will make me gain weight

You might think this makes sense – calories consumed right before you lie still for 8 hours are much more likely to be stored as fat as they’re not burnt off, right? Wrong. A night time calorie is just as fattening as a day time one. No matter what the time of day, you need to watch the calories – but eating later at night won’t do any more harm than earlier on. It all comes down to what you’re eating – if it’s unhealthy, of course you’ll gain weight, but that’s because it’s high fat and high sugar. If you’re feeling peckish late on, opt for something healthy and you’ll be fine.

Myth number 2: If I snack, I won’t lose weight.

The same thing runs true with this one – if you’re eating fats and sugars when you snack, yes you’ll pile on the pounds. But if you stick to vegetables, wholegrains and healthy, satisfying foods, there’s no reason why you can’t snack every now and then. If you’re eating the right foods, you’ll be full for longer anyway and should be less liable to snacking.

So, while snacking on the wrong things is bad, swap the crisps for low fat crackerbreads and the chocolate for a piece of fruit and you’ll be well on the way. If you need to graze during the day then do so – it’ll stop you gorging at dinner time which can be just as harmful.

If you do your push ups right, they will build upper body strength and muscle definition, while building a strong core to supplement your core work out. However, if things aren’t as they should be, you’ll be doing more damage than harm. You’ll destroy your good posture and could easily cause yourself injuries – so how should you be doing push ups to avoid these common problems?

You need to avoid committing a few textbook errors. First, don’t let your bum wander up into the air. If you’ve got tight hips and weak glutes, then this could easily be a problem you’ll encounter. If you’ve got an unstable spine you might over arch your back which can lead to injury. Keep your elbows tucked in and don’t droop your head.

So, now we know what not to do, what should you be doing instead?  

1) Tuck your elbows at a 45 degree angle to your body.

2) Clench your bum muscles and keep hips flat and level.

3) Hips, torso and head should all stay in a straight line.

4) Your abs should be squeezed tightly throughout the whole movement.

If you can keep track of all that then you’re definitely doing well – time to hit the gym and show off your skills!

If it’s your first time buying specialist running shoes then listen up. Your first job is to find a running shop, not a big sports wear chain. The employees at a running store will have special training and be able to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.

To start with, they will probably give you some sort of evaluation. They might just watch you run on a treadmill, or video tape your running gait and watch back in slow motion. The variations in how much your foot pronates – or rolls inwards when you land – will dictate what type of shoe is best.

The four main types of running shoes include neutral, stability, motion control and minimal. Neutral shoes won’t interfere with your gait, whereas if you overpronate motion control shoes will help to stabilise your feet.

After all the science, it does boil down to four key points:

1) Is the heel snug? If it’s slipping around at the back of the shoes than keep looking.

2) Can you wiggle your toes? If not, the shoe is too tight.

3) Is there a thumb’s width between your big toes and the tips of your shoes? You’ll need the extra room to allow for the natural swelling of your feet during exercise.

4) And finally, do they feel good?

When you find a shoe that fits all this, then go for it – even if it’s not in your preferred colour!

Maximise your Muscle Tension

You can make muscles stronger in two separate ways – they can increase in muscle size or they can contract harder. Whenever you do an exercise, be sure to maximise your muscle tension throughout your body. This doesn’t just include the muscle you’re working – grip the floor with your toes, flex your quads, squeeze your glutes, everything. This ensures you’re getting maximum benefit and also guards against injury.

Ditch Your Belt

Sure, they may look cool and professional, but ditch your weight lifting belt unless it’s for maximal or near maximal efforts. Using a belt too frequently will inhibit your body’s ability to brace and stabilise core muscles, something that’s essential for full body strength.

Pick exercises that Suit You

Just because you’ve heard an exercise is great, don’t stick with it if it’s causing you pain. If you can feel it putting stress on your back, for example, or if you’re feeling awkward in your joints or connective muscles, find a different one that feels better. Don’t just carry on because someone said it was the best thing since sliced bread!

Don’t Exercise to Failure

Slow and grinding reps, when your muscles are about to give out, are just a recipe for injury. Make sure you finish your set when you have 1 – 3 more good reps in you. This will make sure you’re always using good form and will also mean you recover faster, so you can exercise the muscles more often.

But how’s your technique? Everyone needs to know how to the perfect push up. It’s no use starting bench or chest presses if you haven’t got a good base of strength, so working on your push ups beforehand can help you get the best results possible.

Push ups do one of two things: either they’re an efficient, reliable exercise to build upper body strength and muscle definition, or else they’ll mess up your shoulders and posture – we don’t need to tell you the importance of technique in deciding which of these two outcomes you’ll experience.

So what should you avoid doing? It’s important to keep your bum in line with your back and not to let it stick up in the air. This often happens if your bum muscles are weak or your hip muscles are tight. Also try not to over-arch your lower back, which can be caused by an unstable spine. Don’t bend your elbows too widely and don’t droop your head either!

Here’s the important bit – top tips for the perfect push up!

1) Tuck your elbows at a 45 degree angle to your body.

2) Clench your bum muscles and keep hips flat and level.

3) Hips, torso and head should all stay in a straight line.

4) Your abs should be squeezed tightly throughout the whole movement.

Now, drop and give us ten!

If you’re looking to build fitness for sports such as football, netball or tennis, then high intensity is the way to go. Again, if you’re into short distance track events then this is something you should be working on. Your cardio routines should be build around high intensity interval training rather than lower intensity endurance work outs.

Improving your speed and power are the main reasons behind this. You won’t need to be able to run five miles at a time, but you will need to put on bursts of speed lasting a few seconds and sustain this kind of effort. You’ll also have periods of rest or lighter exertion spaced throughout your work out.

This is why intervals are such a good idea – you can focus on bursts of speed interspersed with recovery periods. Also try to incorporate turns, changes of direction and different movement patterns.

Even if you’re not an elite athlete high intensity intervals could help. They will build your strength and speed as well as helping to build muscle. Make sure to get enough rest though – 3-4 days per week of high intensity training should be enough, especially if you’re just starting out.

Weight training is also considered high intensity training.  If you want to focus more on body building, do 3 days lifting and one day high intensity cardio. If you want to focus more on the cardio aspect, do the opposite – 3 days high intensity cardio, and one day lifting to build muscle.