superadmin

Male Eating Disorders

Male Eating Disorders

When people talk about eating disorders, most people automatically think of females with eating disorders, but there is a rising number of men and boys now suffering from the problem. Male eating disorders occur all over the country, including Stamford, CT. At the gym, we focus on building strength, not just having the perfect body, but it doesn’t mean it can’t occur. You should know the types of disorders and signs. They include anorexia, bulimia, muscle dysmorphia, and binge eating.

It’s not all about having the perfect body, control, and living up to a mental image.

There are many reasons why eating disorders occur. Having a perfect body, maintaining physical control, and mental body image are three. You can’t change some factors. It might be genetic or learned. People who have family members with eating disorders are more at risk. Personality plays a role. People who tend to be more negative, perfectionists, or have an impulsive personality are more at risk.

You can’t be too rich or too thin.

Well actually, you can be too thin or in the case of men with eating disorders, have a body composition with the lowest possible fat percentage. It can be dangerous. Men and boys may see themselves as skinny or underweight and they develop a new dysfunction called muscle dysmorphia. Bodybuilders often have that problem. It causes them to spend hours in the gym, counting calories closely, and consuming food and supplements that build muscles. The most dangerous symptom, besides an extreme diet, is the use of steroids to build.

What are the symptoms of the other eating disorders?

People with anorexia have a strict list of foods they can eat and ones they can’t. They fear gaining weight, even though they already may be dangerously underweight. Bodyweight plays a role in self-esteem. The thinner the person is, the better they feel about themselves. People with anorexia don’t see themselves as underweight even when their weight is dangerously low. People with bulimia eat large amounts of money at one time and then purge it from their system by vomiting or using laxatives. As with anorexia, they fear weight gain, linking their self-esteem to body weight. Binge eating is similar to bulimia but without the purging. During an episode, their food consumption is out of control and they eat even if they’re not hungry.

  • Of every three people with eating disorders, one of them is male. Most men have muscle dysmorphia and their goal is not to lose weight but to become more muscular and have less fat.
  • Muscle dysmorphia is associated with orthorexia nervosa. It’s an eating disorder that has an unhealthy obsession with clean eating and eliminating certain food groups to the point of malnutrition. The obsession interferes with their daily life and daily activities.
  • Depression and mental issues are linked to eating disorders but it’s unknown which came first, the disorder or the depression. People with eating disorders suffer a higher incidence of substance abuse, depression, and anxiety.
  • Treatment for male eating disorders varies. Each person is unique with their own unique issues and condition level. It’s all about taking healthy weight, healthy eating, or exercise to extremes and neglecting other areas of life.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training


What's Your Inspiration To Get Healthy?

What’s Your Inspiration To Get Healthy?

Discipline can take you a long way once you get fitter. It takes discipline to be an exceptional athlete and win matches. The best athletes in Stamford, CT, have that, but many didn’t when they initially started. When you begin your journey to becoming healthy, it takes motivation and inspiration to push ahead. It’s all about inertia. A body at rest remains at rest unless there’s a driving force. What inspiration or motivation can you use to start and stay with a fitness program?

Identify what’s important in your life and focus on that.

For many people, family and friends are their motivation. Others have a life mission that gets them out of bed in the morning. It may be helping homeless animals or creating the next outstanding invention that changes people’s lives. Those are the types of things that inspire you to keep moving ahead. If your motivation involves protecting your family, you need to get and stay fit to do that. Focusing on getting fitter to ensure you’re around to watch your children grow or to protect your spouse can help you stay motivated until discipline takes over.

Find ways to keep your motivation in front of you.

Keep your motivation in front of you. Visualize yourself going to your children’s graduation or wedding. Imagine how proud you’ll feel. Picture you and your partner together on a long trip celebrating retirement. Write inspiring phrases on sticky notes that will bolster your motivation. Remember, to do big things, you need energy. That energy comes from fitness. Make fitness a habit by making it an appointment you schedule every day at the same time. It then becomes a habit and habits are hard to break.

Identify the things you need to change and create a plan.

You have to act on your motivation to achieve anything. You have to create a goal and design the steps to achieve that goal. Your goal should be precise, measurable, aligned with your inspiration, achievable, and have a deadline. You should be able to break it down into small steps you can conquer in a few weeks or less to boost the driving force of success. Plan carefully. People don’t plan to fail. They fail to plan.

  • You may need some help initially. Trainers and gym partners can be beneficial in this area. They hold you accountable when you aren’t motivated. Sharing your journey with a friend helps.
  • Your inspiration doesn’t have to be noble. Maybe you want to look and feel better. As you get fitter, you’ll notice that your motivation changes. You may also change your goal. It’s okay to find new reasons to get fit.
  • Exercise is vital for fitness, but so is a healthy diet. You can’t out-exercise a bad diet. Your body needs nutrients to thrive and a calorie deficit to lose weight.
  • Track your progress. If you want to lose weight, weigh yourself once a week and record your results. If fat loss is your goal, take measurements. Consistency is key. Record your progress regularly.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training


Get Rid Of Arm Flab

Get Rid Of Arm Flab

Summer clothing is far more revealing no matter what your gender. Short sleeves, t-shirts, and swimwear replace parkas, long sleeves, and sweaters. Having arms with toned arms is an asset that builds your confidence when you take off your jacket or wear short sleeves. That flabby, batwing appearance can come from excess weight and muscles that need conditioning. Strength training is the way to lose flabby arms and cardio workouts can help you lose weight.

A lot of boxing training helps tone arms.

One thing boxing does better than other exercises is getting rid of arm flab. Shadow-boxing uses the arms primarily. It burns tons of calories and helps replace fat with toned arm muscles. Shadow-boxing is an important part of training. You can boost its effectiveness by holding light dumbbells when you do it. Jumping rope conditions the whole body. It improves coordination and cardio. It conditions the shoulders and arms as it burns layers of belly fat. Your arms will get tired before your legs, showing how much it works the upper body.

Bodyweight exercises can eliminate flabby arms.

You don’t need any equipment using push-ups or planks for toning. Your muscles fight the force of gravity as you lift your body or keep it in a lifted position. You’ll work the upper arms more if you hold your hands closer together and slightly touching. Keeping the hands at shoulder-width works the triceps and small forearm muscles. Other push-up variations like side, shoulder-tap, reverse hand, and forearm push-ups also help eliminate flabby arms. They all work arm muscles in different ways.

Tone your arms at your desk.

You can do arm exercises that bring results if you have a place to sit that doesn’t move. You can do a chair dip. Put your feet on the floor with your legs extended, and both hands gripping the sides of the chair. Lift your bottom off the chair and slide forward as you lower your body, keeping your elbow at a 90-degree angle. Hold and then lift your body and slide back onto the chair seat. Another exercise, an overhead extension, uses a weight. A full water bottle will do. Hold it in both hands and lift it above your head. Lower it slowly behind your head. Then lift and lower it in front of you.

  • No matter how much you exercise, if excess fat is causing flabby arms, lose weight. Focus on eating a healthy diet that eliminates highly processed food or food with added sugar.
  • The biceps are in the front of the arm. The triceps are in the back. Batwings, flabby arms, occur when the triceps are weak. Find exercises that tone those muscles, such as tricep dips.
  • Wall push-ups also work, and you can do them anywhere. Stand at arm’s length and place your hands on the wall with your palms flat. Keep your body straight and lower it toward the wall. Push back up to the starting position.
  • Simple exercises like arm circles help tone your muscles and eliminate the flab. Start by making small circles. Then do them in reverse. Continue making larger circles each time and then reduce the size.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training


Boost Your Weight Loss With Lifestyle Changes

Boost Your Weight Loss With Lifestyle Changes

If weight loss is your goal, people in Stamford, CT, say you should start by making lifestyle changes. You don’t have to make dramatic changes or do them all immediately. You can start by changing small things, like snacking on fresh fruit or vegetables and dip instead of candy bars or traditional high-calorie snacks. There’s no need for restrictive diets when you make cumulative small changes.

Dieting isn’t the way.

Diets are often restrictive. They have specific foods you can eat at each meal or for snacks. Sometimes, the ingredients are exotic, or the meals don’t suit your taste. When you make lifestyle changes, you don’t have restrictions. The concept is all about making smarter choices when you select food. Instead of eating white rice, substituting brown rice cuts calories and provides more nutrients, including fiber. Other substitutions you’ll barely notice include using unsweetened applesauce to replace some sugar or oil in baked goods.

Increasing your activity level also makes a difference.

You don’t have to add a traditional workout program to receive weight loss benefits. Changes to increase your physical effort can make a big difference, too. Increasing how much you walk is one of those things. If you have a short distance, walk instead of taking the car. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is another way to increase exercise. Parking further from the store and walking more is another lifestyle change that can make a big difference. Create a short two or three-minute workout and do it. Instead of staring at the microwave when you’re heating food or just talking on the phone, do a few squats, jumping jacks, or lunges.

Drink more water and get more sleep.

Drinking more water can help you lose weight. Studies show that drinking a glass of water before a meal causes people to eat fewer calories. Getting more sleep also helps you shed extra pounds. If you burn the candle at both ends, you may be sabotaging your weight loss and health. When you lack sleep, the body makes more ghrelin—the hunger hormone. It also slows the production of leptin—the hormone that makes you feel full. Lack of sleep can cause you to eat more because you’ll be hungrier.

  • If you are up for a challenge. Try giving up food with added sugar for two weeks. You’ll notice fruit tastes sweeter and your cravings for junk food diminish.
  • Start every meal with a big salad. Make healthy salad dressing, like a balsamic-Dijon mustard dressing that uses five ingredients. Balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper.
  • If you make lifestyle changes, especially when you eat, you’ll lose weight and keep it from returning. Lifestyle changes last longer than dieting and include other benefits, like looking and feeling better from exercise.
  • Switching to a healthier diet means you’ll never fail. You can eat a slice of cake occasionally or have a bowl of ice cream. Just make sure you use portion control and don’t make it a habit.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training


Eliminate Chronic Disease

Eliminate Chronic Disease

Exercise and a healthy diet can help you feel better. Anyone who works out regularly understands that. Did you know that changing your diet, getting more sleep, exercising, and other changes can help eliminate chronic diseases like diabetes, back pain, arthritis, and digestive issues? If you replace highly processed food with whole foods, you’ll immediately notice a difference in how you feel.

One cause or contributor to chronic disease is obesity.

Overweight and obesity is one of the leading cause of preventable death. Excess body fat can cause inflammation. Inflammation can cause chronic disease. While there’s a difference between the two, they both lead to health issues such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, asthma, some forms of cancer, and sleep apnea. Excess weight stresses the joints and throws off the center of gravity to create back issues.

Making lifestyle changes like improving your diet and exercising helps.

Cutting out food with added sugar can reduce inflammation. That can help prevent many health issues, which include the ones caused by obesity and Alzheimer’s disease. Eating more whole foods increases nutrients that can help prevent disease. Vitamins A, C, E, and D, folate, zinc, selenium, and iron, are well-known immune boosters to help keep you healthier. Regular exercise increases circulation to send nourishment and oxygen to every cell. It lowers blood pressure, improves heart health, and improves cholesterol levels.

Other lifestyle changes, like smoking cessation, make a huge difference.

If you smoke, quit smoking. Some people fear weight gain after they quit. Smoking does boost your metabolism. You can counteract the reduction by exercising. Do all types of exercise, especially ones that build muscle tissue. Muscle tissue requires more calories to maintain than fat tissue does, so the more you have, the higher your metabolism. You might snack more when you quit smoking to replace the physical movement of smoking. Have healthy, low-calorie snacks like veggies and dip or fresh fruit ready to fill that gap. Avoid abusing controlled substances.

  • Cut out soft drinks and drink tea and coffee without cream or sugar. Both soft drinks and coffee with additives add extra calories and affect your health. Don’t choose diet soft drinks. Studies show it can increase the fat around your middle.
  • Increase the activity in your daily life. Even if you exercise regularly, walking more and taking the stairs instead of the elevator helps. Studies show that people who walk faster live longer.
  • Stress plays a role in disease. Eating healthy foods, exercising, adequate sleep, and practicing relaxation techniques can help. Learn deep breathing and meditation to reduce stress quickly.
  • Avoid drinking too much alcohol. It’s okay for a woman to have one drink a day and for men to have two. Abusing alcohol can cause weight gain, high blood pressure, digestive issues, stroke, some types of cancer, early dementia, a weakened immune system, and social issues.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training


The Best Supplements For Weight Loss

The Best Supplements For Weight Loss

Most people think of supplements as a way to improve health. There are supplements for vision, muscle building, weight loss, and other issues or conditions. Weight loss supplements won’t replace an exercise program and healthy diet but some will help you shed pounds. Each works differently. Some suppress your appetite while others help burn fat. Including a protein supplement can provide the building blocks for muscle, while making you feel full longer.

One study compared people using supplements to those who didn’t.

The FDA doesn’t regulate supplements like it does medications. Supplements don’t require approval. If a supplement is unsafe, it has to issue warnings. Some companies test their supplements for purity, but few studies exist on the benefits provided. That’s why there is very little evidence that they work. One study followed 70 obese adults. All 70 followed low-calorie diets and exercise programs. Half received a placebo. The other half received a supplement containing caffeine, bitter orange, raspberry ketone, garlic, and ginger. Only 45 completed the study. Of those who did, those given the supplements lost 4.2 pounds. That was 3.6 pounds more than those not taking the supplement.

Combination fat burners may help you lose weight.

Fat burners like green tea leaf extract, green coffee bean extract, and capsaicin do it by speeding up metabolism or increasing the thermogenesis hormone to burn more calories. The “magic” ingredient in green tea is catechins. The ingredient in coffee bean extract is caffeine. Capsaicin is what makes hot peppers hot and speeds up your metabolism.

L-theanine helps keep appetite in check.

L-theanine is an amino acid, the building block of protein. Like protein, it can make you feel full and cut your appetite. It can also reduce the potential for stress eating by regulating your mood. Protein powders, whether from whey or a vegetable source like pea protein, do the same. It also helps build muscle tissue that improves weight loss.

  • Vitamin B-12 is necessary for fat metabolism. There’s a link between a deficiency and fat accumulation and obesity. A deficit in vitamin B-6 can cause fatigue. High vitamin B-6 levels can cause fat to burn more efficiently.
  • Vitamin D deficiency is linked to obesity. Studies don’t indicate whether vitamin D deficiency caused obesity or obesity caused the deficiency. Supplementing may help weight loss.
  • Green powders containing a wide variety of plant-based nutrients, including prebiotic fiber, spirulina, wheat grass, and other dried fruits and vegetables, provide a variety of nutrients that aid digestion and absorption.
  • Probiotics can also boost weight loss if you have an imbalance in your gut. Studies show that obese individuals tend to have less diverse gut bacteria. Consuming probiotics and prebiotics to feed them can aid weight loss.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training


The Benefits Of Resistance Bands

The Benefits Of Resistance Bands

If you can’t always get to the gym in Stamford, CT, due to travel, schedule, or weather, you’ll find a lot of benefits for having resistance bands available as your home gym alternative. They provide an alternative to bodyweight exercises and don’t require an entire gym in your home. If you want an alternative to weights or bodyweight workouts, give resistance bands a try. They’re so inexpensive that if you don’t like them, you can pack them away for just emergency use without feeling guilty.

Resistance bands don’t require an entire room.

These easy-to-store muscle-building giants can be put in a drawer when not in use. They’re easy to pack so you can take them on vacation and workout in your hotel room if there’s no gym. Best of all, resistance bands are inexpensive. They cost less than weights do. You can buy a whole set that includes different resistance levels for the same price as two dumbbells, so they offer more versatility for less money.

You can use resistance bands for more than just strength training.

Resistance bands are also good for flexibility training and warming up. Nineteen studies were included in a meta-analysis that had a total of 649 subjects. Using resistance bands helped athletes warm up, improving their performance. It aided seniors by improving flexibility as well as balance. That helps reduce accidents that can lead to a long recovery and decline in health.

They keep muscles under tension longer.

Using resistance bands in conjunction with bodyweight exercises can boost the benefits you’d otherwise get from the exercise. It can challenge the muscle during all parts of the movement, both during the lengthening and shortening of the muscle. They make your body work harder, so you’ll make faster progress. You can work muscles on all planes, too. The increased resistance on all planes comes from the pull of the bands, not from gravity like dumbbells.

  • If you have a latex allergy, be more careful when purchasing resistance bands. Shop for the non-latex versions. Always check bands before each use to ensure there are no nicks and tears.
  • Resistance bands are excellent for functional fitness training, especially for seniors or people recovering from an accident or illness. You can use them seated, lying down, or standing.
  • The wide variety of resistance in one set of bands allows you to improve your strength gradually at a minimal cost. One set of bands provides workouts for various resistance levels, from the lowest resistance to ones with a lot of resistance.
  • If you’re using resistance bands as an alternative to the gym occasionally, talk to one of the trainers to get help using them. The trainer can help with exercises and movements for different muscle groups.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training


Male Eating Disorders Are More Common Than We Think

Male Eating Disorders Are More Common Than We Think

Most people think of young females when they hear about eating disorders, but men also have similar problems. Of every three people with eating disorders, one of them is male. Male eating disorders have been on the rise, in Stamford, CT, and around the country. Body dysmorphia isn’t limited to teenage girls and women, it impacts men at similar rates. Men and boys are far less likely to seek treatment, making it more difficult to assess the extent of the problem. The types of eating disorders include binge eating, anorexia, and bulimia.

It all starts with unrealistic expectations.

Part of the problem stems from the desire to be sexually attractive. If men or boys carry extra weight, it’s not seen as attractive. Just like their female counterparts, those flat abs and the perfect V are the ideal. Some young men suffer from anorexia nervosa where they stop eating, exercise too much, or put strict rules on the consumption of food. Some experience bulimia nervosa where they eat and then purge their body of the food. The final large group of people with eating disorders are those with binge-eating disorders who eat large amounts and then feel guilty about it.

Some male eating disorders involve the desire to be muscular, too.

Men tend to have a unique subtype of eating disorder called muscle dysmorphia. It’s the obsession with bulking up and cutting body fat to dramatically low amounts. Gaining weight can be part of muscle dysmorphia, too. In one study, one-fourth of men and boys of average weight see themselves as underweight. They want to bulk up so people see them as more masculine. While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to bulk up, many of these young men are obsessively exercising, taking steroids and supplements, and eating restrictive diets. While it may initially seem like a healthy outlet, it’s taken to extremes, affecting both mental and physical health.

There are many reasons for eating disorders.

There’s no one reason for this issue. Some people are depressed and want to find a way to make themselves more acceptable. Others are trying to control their life and do it by gaining control over what they eat. A large group of people with eating disorders have a distorted view of not only themselves but also what the perfect body should look like.

  • Some signs of eating disorders are weight fluctuations, dizziness upon standing, digestive complaints, difficulty sleeping or concentrating, and issues with unhealthy skin, teeth, hair, and nails.
  • It’s harder for men to seek treatment for eating disorders. Most programs are created for women. You can find help by calling the National Eating Disorder Association helpline.
  • While eating disorders are linked to depression and other mental health issues, further study needs to be made to identify if the eating disorder caused depression or if it was the other way around.
  • The desire to be perfect is one common need found in most people with eating disorders. The exceptions are people with binge-eating problems. They tend to have impulse control issues.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training


Can You Relieve Arthritis Pain With Diet And Exercise?

Can You Relieve Arthritis Pain With Diet And Exercise?

As doctors and scientists learn more about arthritis, they find more and more ways to relieve arthritis pain naturally. While medication can help deal with pain, medication can have unwanted side effects/ Solutions like a healthy diet for inflammation and regular exercise also have side effects, but they’re side effects people appreciate, like weight loss, a healthier life, and a general improvement in health. The type of food you eat and the type of exercise you do make a difference in arthritic pain, so always check with your healthcare professional first.

A healthy diet that contains whole foods can benefit people with arthritis.

One of the first things you should do if you have arthritis is to cut out food with added sugar and highly refined foods. Sugar causes inflammation, just as alcohol and refined carbs do. Arthritis is caused by inflammation, so limiting the foods that cause it is the first line of defense. Choosing food that reduces inflammation is the dietary change you should make. Luckily, many foods fit that category.

Foods that reduce inflammation should be at every meal.

At the top of the list of foods to eat should be cruciferous vegetables. These include cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale. The sulforaphane in cruciferous vegetables slows the damage to cartilage caused by osteoarthritis. Eating food that reduces inflammation like those with omega-3, such as fatty fish, walnuts, and flaxseed. Foods with the phytonutrient anthocyanin are also inflammation fighters. Anthocyanin makes blueberries blue. It’s also found in tart cherry juice, giving it a deep red color. Grapes and olive oil both provide anti-inflammatory properties that can bring relief.

Use a guided exercise program with low-impact exercises.

If the location of your arthritis is in your hips, knees, or lower body, a high-impact exercise program might do further damage. Include flexibility and strength training in your workout. Flexibility training improves the range of motion and loosens joints to relieve pain. Strength-building improves muscle and tendon strength to reduce pressure on the joints. Exercise also stimulates the circulation of synovial fluid that cushions the joints and provides nutrients. You also need aerobic exercise to keep your heart healthy.

  • Spices add flavoring and can reduce inflammation. Turmeric, garlic, and ginger are spices that can provide relief. They provide anti-inflammatory benefits to relieve pain. The diallyl disulfide in garlic may rebuild cartilage.
  • Besides increasing food with omega-3 fatty acids, you should decrease foods high in omega-6. You should also reduce saturated fat and trans fats, foods high in salt, nightshades like potatoes and tomatoes, and food high in purines, such as organ meat.
  • If you’re overweight, losing weight can help relieve the suffering, particularly if arthritis is in the hips or knees. Eating healthy food and exercising to shed those pounds also provide a multitude of benefits.
  • Increase your vitamin C and vitamin D intake. Eating food high in vitamin C can help relieve pain and so can getting vitamin D. Whether you do safe sunning, eat fortified foods, or take a supplement, vitamin D has been shown to prevent, slow, and reduce arthritis inflammation.

For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training