Carbohydrate

2019-04-232019-04-23 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE. With my training, I’m interested in nutrition to stay in shape. I read some advice from Arnold Schwarzenegger and I learned some good stuff.

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy in the body. All carbohydrates are sugars that are molecules containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Glucose is synthesis by plants through the photosynthesis process (using the sun’s energy) or by animals during the glycogen synthesis process. But be careful when I talk about glucose (sugar), I’m not talking about table sugar. There are several categories of glucoses (sugars). Here they are:

Monosaccharides

Glucose (blood sugar)
Fructose (fruit sugar)
Galactose (a kind of milk sugar)

Oligosaccharides

Sucrose(table sugar)
Lactose(milk sugar)
Maltose (malt sugar)

Polysaccharides

Plant polysaccharides(starch and cellulose)
Animal polysaccharides (glycogen)

The speed of which carbohydrate metabolized are measured with the glycemic index. A high glycemic index (a large increase in serum glucose) indicate that carbohydrates metabolized rapidly. A low glycemic index (a small increase in serum glucose) indicates that carbohydrates metabolized slowly or differently.

What’s cool now I being able to check the gylcemic index of foods on internet. For example, Chinese restaurant rice has a very high glycemic index compared to brown rice or wild rice.

Carbohydrates are the easiest type of food to turn into energy for the body. When carbohydrates converted to glucose, glucose circulates in the blood and helps muscle contraction. Glycogen in the muscle and liver stored for future use. A supply of carbohydrates is necessary for an ambitious bodybuilder for several reasons:

Carbohydrates are a basic type of energy. Carbohydrate stored in the muscles in the form of glycogen will allow to train intense and heavy.
Size of muscles increases when the body stores glycogen and water in individual muscle cells.
Carbohydrates in the body have an effect that prevents the body from burning excess protein to create energy.
Glucose is the main source of energy for the brain to be operational. Carbohydrate deprivation can have very negative effects on mood, personality and mental abilities.

There is a reason why carbohydrates are really needed as fuel for a workout. This is because most exercises are anaerobics exercises. Anaerobics exercises are flushed through intense puffs and exceed the body’s ability to provide enough oxygen to sustain the effort. But the carbohydrates structure allows to continue feeding the muscles during an exercise for a short period without oxygen. Therefore, when you do intensive weight training or you run a 100 meter sprint, your energy for these efforts is mainly composed of carbohydrates.

Carbohydrate supplement

Intense training creates a demand in the body to replace glycogen and amino acids. Be careful that your body contains enough carbohydrates after training, otherwise your body may start using amino acids (protein) as a source of energy. The period during which the body is in very high demand for carbohydrates is shorter than for proteins. The best results are obtained when you give the necessary carbohydrates to your body about 20 minutes after your training.

This need for immediate replacement of glycogen is the reason why many bodybuilders use a carbohydrate supplement after training with a protein supplement. It’s very useful when you do a strength training with a cardiovascular session (treadmill, stepper or bike). If you do cardio too soon after your strength training, you’ll be depriving your body of carbohydrates. And as you lack energy, your body will quickly use your amino acids (protein) to create the energy that is missing.

Subscribe to my newsletter and share this article if you think it can help someone you know. Thank you.

-Steph

P.S. If you’re in Miami and you like Caribbean food, go to my cousin’s bistro to eat Haitian food, click here .

Find The Gym For Your Goals (Part2)

2017-05-12 by Steph

I read a Nerd Fitness article and I learned good stuff.

If you didn’t read the part 1, click here

Type de gyms

You noticed there are several categories of gyms. That’s why you have to take your time to think about a gym that fits your needs.

Fitness center franchise

In the best known franchises, you will have cheap membership. It’s cheap but you have few amenities, some type of trainings are forbidden, free weight section is limited and often the staff has no experience.

Health clubs/Sport clubs/YMCA

Clubs look like franchises but they have a better service. There is more amenities, towel service, child care, pool, tennis court. Membership can reach $100, some type of training can be prohibited and free weight’s section limited.

Note : Franchises and clubs can be convenient if you travel a lot because with their membership, you can train in different cities.

Locally owned gyms

These gyms have a better equipement, a free weight’s section bigger and a better quality staff than franchises and health clubs. Membership is around $25-50 and it’s real that amenites are less good than health clubs.

Weightlifting club/barbell club/crossfit

It’s a room with bumper plates, dumbbells, barbells and pullup bar. With the membership, you have a coach and classes, that’s why it’s expensive. These gyms are open at certain hours during the day. These gyms have their own workout program, you can’t do your own workout program.

College/university gyms

it’s cheap and you need to paid upfront in full.

You can have a discount « alumini » memberships if you go to the college or university that you attended. If you don’t live near of you old college/university, some gyms offer memberships to family members of alumini or staff, local « senior » memberships or event just local resident memberships. What is great with this type of gym is you can have acces to their full facilty (pool, racquet courts, classes, etc).

Test drive the gym

The next step is to look for gyms in your city now that you know differtent types of gyms.

Do a test in gyms to see if the equipement meets your needs. Some gyms offer pass for 1-2 weeks. During the test phase, go train the same days that you plan to train after signing the contract.

Imagine that you find the perfect gym, you sign the contract and eveydays you train, it’s war. The gym is full of people and you can’t use equipement. This is a situation to avoid.

Here is what is important to see during the test phase :

Is there enough equipment for everyone or you have to fight to have a bench ?
Does the equipment work well ?
What is the gym’s atmosphere ?
Is it clean ?
If you go befoire school/work, is there enough shower available or you have to wait ?

You can read gym’s reviews on internet by searching with Google or DuckDuckGo. Attention, on internet people prefer to complain than to do compliments so be careful. For me the best thing to do is talk to gym members to know what is positive and negative.

Contracts

A lot of people don’t want to have a membership gym because one of their friend had a bad experience to stop a gym’s membership. This for this reason it’s important to take your time to read the contract and understand clauses.

Here things to look at in a contract :

A membership termination clause because for exemple, you move or you lose you job. This is rare but sometimes you can stop a membership if you live near the gym. Usually there is a fee named « early termination fee » (that’s what I have).

The possibility when you’re on vacation ou you have to work for several weeks in another city to freeze your membership.

If the gym goes bankrupt, what happens to members ?

Membership renewal is automatic ?

You know salespersons work with commission so if a sales person make you a promise, make sure that this promise is in writing. Taking the contract at home is the thing I advise you to read it quietly and understand clauses.

If you feel that the salesperson put pression on you or that you don’t feel comfortable for another reason, leave the gym.

Note : There are states that has specific laws. For exemple, you can cancel the contract only 2 days after signed it. It would be a shame if you signed this type of contract without being aware of this clause. This is why it’s important to take the contract at home to read it quietly.

Here different membership’s fees :

Activation fee

You pay these fees when you’re a new member. You pay these fees once.
Monthly cost

it’s a fee you pay every month

Maintenance fee

You pay these fees per year. Attention, some gyms have a special clause that says : « We don’t have this kind of fee now but later, it’s possible to add these fees without telling you ». Be sure to know this clause if it is in your contract.

When I enrolled in my gym, there was an offer for people who applied for registration on internet. Look at gym’s website to know offers but also ask always to salesperson if there are discounts.

In gyms, there is often a membership’s range of price. You need to negotiate, don’t hesitate. Don’t forget that the more you take the more expensive membership, the more the salesperson will have a larger commission. If the salesperson tell you : « No », it doesn’t matter, you tried to get the best price.

By negotiating, somethimes you can register in a gym for the first time without paying the activation fees. To do it, you need to talk to the person who has permission to do this. Sometimes they can call you 1-2 days after to offer you an exceptional offer.

You can also have a nice offer by paying an annual membership up front. Look at the price difference.

Also you can have offers with you health insurance. It’s always with a limited number of gym but look if you have this option.

Stay focus

The difference between a workout at home and a workout in a gym is that in a workout in a gym, you can really make your potential evolve to the maximum.

For exemple, if you do a barbell’s workout, you will have always heavy weight plates to go to the next level. It’s the same thing for dumbbells. You need heavier, it’s here. No need to worry about buying new.

Of course, there are negative pointst to enroll a gym. You have to move there (bike, bus, car, etc), you to wait if you go during busy hours, the cost and do your workout around unkown people.

I repeat, you can train at home to be healthy or gain strength with a bodyweight workout program. You can buy a set of dumbbell, barbell, kettelbell or a sandbag. You can do sprints or walk (like my father) outside with any weather and it’s free.

For me the gym, it’s an important moment of my day. It’s the moment where I’m focus on myself and the society’s pressure no longer exists.

Share this article if you think it can help someone you know. Thank you.

-Steph

Change Your Goal Into A Video Game’s Boss

2016-08-08 by Steph

You have trouble to reach your goals ? Maybe you take it a little too seriously ? I propose to you a concept more funny : Consider your goal as a video game’s Boss. That is cool !

Why a goal = a video game’s Boss ?

When you play a video game and you find yourself facing the Boss, you’re motivated, you’re excited and if you fail, you go again without hesitation learning from your mistakes. Keep this same mindset to the goals of your life.

For fitness do the same thing, takes it as a challenge because when you buy a video game, your challenge is to finish it.
Select specific dates to see your evolution. In a video games your time is always timed.
Give yourself a reward once you have reached your goal. In a video game there is always a great reward.
The Boss allows you to align your training and your nutrition like in a video game where you harmonize your dexterity and your life bar.

Do you what is great ? You learn what you really able to do.

Build a video game’s Boss in real life ?

Yes, it’s possible and it’s simple to set up.

Chosen a discipline you want to learn
Visualize that you are the best in this discipline, be enthusiastic, feel the joy of victory, be invaded by this positive emotion because you’re going to achieve this goal.
Chosen reward you going to offer to you for this challenge
Reverse engineer your training and nutrition process to be in excellent condition for the specific date, the day you’ll be in front of the Boss.
Start today (Fuck excuses) !

You want public video game’s Boss ideas : Powerlifting Competition; Races (sprint, marathon, etc.); Martial Art (belt or competition); amateur boxing fight; Crossfit competition; Other competitions.

Now goes to the next level !

What’s yourBoss ?

-Steph

Change Ton Objectif En Boss De Jeux-Video

2016-08-08 by Steph

Tu as de la difficulté à atteindre tes objectifs ? Peut-être que tu prends ça un peu trop au sérieux ? Je te propose un autre concept plus fun : Considère ton objectif comme un Boss de jeux-vidéo. Ça, c’est cool !

Pourquoi objectif = Boss de jeux-vidéo ?

Quand tu joues à un jeux-vidéo et que tu te retrouve face au Boss, tu es motivé, tu es excité et si tu échoues, tu recommences sans hésiter en apprenant de tes erreurs. Garde ce même état d’esprit pour les objectifs de ta vie.

Pour le fitness fait la même chose prend ça comme un défi car quand tu achète un jeux-vidéo, ton défi c’est de le finir.
Sélectionne des dates spécifiques pour voir ton évolution dans les jeux-vidéo ton temps est toujours chronométré.
Donnes-toi une récompense une fois que tu as atteint ton objectif dans un jeux-vidéo il y a toujours une grande récompense.
Le Boss te permet d’harmoniser ton entraînement et ta nutrition comme dans un jeux-vidéo où tu harmonise ta dextérité et ta barre de vie.

Ce qui est excellent, c’est que tu apprends de quoi tu aies vraiment capable te faire.

Construire un Boss de jeux-vidéo dans la vie réelle ?

Oui, oui, c’est possible et c’est simple à mettre en place.

Choisi la discipline que tu veux apprendre
Visualise que tu es le meilleur dans cette discipline, sois enthousiaste, ressens la joie de la victoire, sois envahie de cette émotion positive parce que tu vas atteindre cette objectif.
Choisi la récompense que tu vas t’offrir pour ce défi
Décompose le processus d’entraînement et de nutrition pour être en excellente condition pour la date spécifique, le jour où tu es en face du Boss.
Commence aujourd’hui (Fuck excuses) !

Tu veux des idées de Boss de jeux-vidéo public : Compétition de Powerlifting ; Des courses (sprint, marathon, etc) ; Art martiaux (ceinture ou compétition) ; Combat de boxe amateur ; Compétition de Crossfit ; Autres compétitions.

Maintenant passe au prochain niveau !

Quel est ton boss de jeux-vidéo ?

-Steph

Your Resolutions? Forgot ?

2016-07-25 by Steph

Do you remember of your resolutions for this year ?

Me neither. I’m sure you woke up on January 1st , hungover with the vision of you in one year, completely different. « This year, things will be different ! ».

I’ll train 5 times a week

I’ll eat better

I’ll go to sleep earlier

I’ll take care of my teeth

Today, how are your daily habits ? Which resolutions you do and which you abandoned ?

If you’re like most of the population of this planet, you’ve probably given up all your resolutions. And you’ve probably tell you :

Damn, I’ve failed again

What doesn’t work with me

A new year where I haven’t kept my promises

Yeah, it’s annoying to feel that you let yourself down. Especially if you made a big statement on your blog or social networks to family and friends.

I have one thing to say : CONGRATULATIONS !

Congratulations because from my point of view, you tried one method that doesn’t work with you. As a scientist, you don’t feel offended when a hypothesis doesn’t. You analyze the data, then you choose a new hypothesis to test.

So your old hypothesis: I CHANGE ALL doesn’t work. That’s done !

Now in your process you can cross off the method: « change all my life at once ».

So next time, change a thing. For example, reduce junk food more slowly this time. I don’t care that you have failed, it happens !

We need to get you back in the game, to make you respawn like in a video game.

The faster you cross off methods that don’t work, the faster you can try something new and see if it works.

Let me show you some alternatives :

I’ll change something today and I’ll stay focused on this thing for 30 days.

Instead of starving and hate my life, I’ll focus to eat a healthy meal every day.

Instead of forcing myself to run on a treadmill that I don’t like, maybe I should try an exercise that I like.

We all struggle when we try to make new changes. We fall on our path until we find the right way to move forward.

« Remember, life isn’t a sprint, or a marathon. It’s a labyrinth » (David Bowie).

So stop to hurt yourself, stop taking it personally and especially stops using the same method each time that never works. « If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always gotten ».

Come back in the game, press Start, respawn and rejoin us !

-Steph

Tes Résolutions ? Oublié ?

2016-07-25 by Steph

Souviens-toi de tes résolutions pour cette année ?

Moi non plus. Je suis sûr que tu t’es levé le 1^er janvier ivre avec la vision de toi dans 1 an, complètement différente. « Cette année, les choses seront différente ! ».

Je vais m’entraîner 5 fois par semaine

Je vais manger mieux

Je vais dormir plus tôt

Je vais prendre soin de mes dents

Aujourd’hui, comment sont tes habitudes de la journée ? Quelles sont les résolutions tu fais et lesquelles tu as abandonné ?

Si tu es comme la majorité de la population de la planète, tu as probablement abandonné toutes tes résolutions. Et tu dois probablement te dire :

Merde, j’ai raté encore

Qu’est-ce qui ne fonctionne pas avec moi

Une nouvelle année où je n’ai pas tenu mes promesses

Ouais, c’est embêtant de sentir que tu te laisse toi-même tomber. Surtout si tu as fait une grand déclaration sur ton blog ou les réseaux sociaux à la famille et amis.

J’ai une chose à te dire FELICITATION !

Félicitation parce que de mon point de vue, tu as essayé une méthode qui ne marche pas avec toi. Comme pour un scientifique, ne te sens pas offensé lorsqu’un hypothèse ne marche pas. Tu analyses les données, puis tu choisis une nouvelle hypothèse à tester.

Donc, ton ancienne hypothèse : JE CHANGE TOUT ne marche pas. Ça, c’est fait !

Maintenant dans ton processus tu peux biffer la méthode :« changer toute ma vie en une fois ».

Donc la prochaine fois, change une chose. Par exemple de diminuer la mauvaise nourriture plus lentement cette fois. Je ne me soucie pas que tu aies échoué, ça arrive.

Nous avons besoin de te faire revenir dans le jeu, de te faire revivre comme dans un jeux-vidéo.

Plus vite tu biffes les méthodes qui ne marche pas, plus vite tu peux tester quelque chose de nouveau et voir si ça marche.

Laisse-moi te montrer quelques alternatives :

Je vais changer une chose aujourd’hui et je vais rester concentrer sur cette chose pendant 30 jours.

Au lieu de mourir de faim et de haïr ma vie, je vais me concentrer pour manger un repas sain tous les jours.

Au lieu de me forcer à courir sur un tapis roulant que je n’aime pas, peut-être que je devrais essayer un exercice que j’aime.

Nous luttons tous quand nous essayons de faire des nouveaux changements. Nous tombons sur notre chemin jusqu’à ce que nous trouvons la bonne façon pour avancer.

Souviens-toi, la vie n’est pas un sprint, ni un marathon. C’est un labyrinthe (David Bowie).

Alors arrête de de faire du mal à toi-même, arrête de prendre ça personnellement et surtout arrête d’utiliser la même méthode à chaque fois qui ne marche jamais. « Si tu fais ce que tu as toujours fait, tu obtiendras ce que tu as toujours obtenu ».

Reviens dans le jeu, appuie sur START, revis et rejoins nous !

-Steph

How To Build The Perfect Female Body

2016-02-25 by Steph

There is a secret to build a sexy woman’s body?

Many coaches will tell you NO. They will tell you that there are physiological needs that are almost the same and it’s just hormones that make the difference. I don’t agree.

I think on some specific points men and women need to train quite differently.

The idea that only the hormones make the difference is wrong. Hormonal differences between men and women account for over 90% of the differences on how the body responds to training and nutrition between men and women.

So I recognize that on almost every level, there are similarities in traning.

A program must be based on objective and goals between men and women are very different.

Here are 6 rules to help you to have a sexy female body

A) The Fake Warm Up

I often see girls who warm up by walking 10 min. on the treadmill. Why you waste your time !?!

Instead, make a worm up in full body with circuits using your bodyweight.

Alternating rope with calisthenic exercises like Jumping Jack. That way, you work the entire body and prepare you neurologically to the workout.

You can add to this a dynamic warm-ups to increase your heart rate for a short period. It allow you to burn more calories and be operational for training.

B) Don’t Be Afraid To Lift Heavy

I still maintain that men and women should train differently for different purposes. But there is a purpose that men and women have in common, is to be toned and have a sexy look. And the best way to accomplish this is to lift heavy.

2 days per month to only lift heavy (75% or more of 1RM) regardless of the objective, it isn’t only cool to lose fat, it will help you have a better look once you have lost the fat.

You see, train with heavy weights allows you to increase both your neurogenic and myogenic muscles to have a toned body.

Yes, I’ve heard “I don’t want to be too muscular, lifting heavy makes me more bigger ?”. Listen, muscle gain is the result of several factors: training ‘s method, nutrition and hormonal environment.

In terms of nutrition, it’s difficult to gain muscle if you don’t eat calories excessively. This is why athletes and bodybuilders eat more than their daily energy needs.

Regarding hormones, girls always gain muscle slower that guys because of sex hormones; mainly testosterone. As a girl, you have a low level of testosterone , so that you will not be “too muscular” in short time, quiet.

So if you see that you have more muscle than you would like, decreases your calories and down the training volume a bit.

For special training “lift heavy” I recommend to do it at least 2 days per month, but the ideal frequency is 1 per week. Let’s go:

3 sets of 5 reps:

Dumbbells squat
Dumbbells push press
Inverted row (add weight if necessary or do pull ups)
Alternating reverse lunges
Plank (hold as long as possible)

Finally, lift the ideal weight that allows you to do just 5-6 reps to work well. The day you can do 3 sets of 5 reps easily, increase the weight next time.

C) On Bike And Sprint ?

Do sprints on a stationary bike is excellent. Dr. John Berardi is a sports nutrition expert and world renowned coach and he noticed something on Olympic athletes.

Make a high-density sprints training on a stationary bike make lose fat in the lower body in a “very high amount”.

Why the stationary bike is so special, I have no idea but after doing my research on this method of sprints, everyone told me it was working. If Olympic athletes use it, enjoy.

In the 2nd part: Just faster; Concentrate on your strengths and Be a Venus.

-Steph