Newsletter
HotBod April 01
Welcome to all the new subscribers to the HotBod newsletter as well as those who have been with us from the beginning. Each month we'll explore issues relating to the three major areas of fitness: exercise, nutrition and supplementation. As always, your comments, questions and suggestions are always appreciated.
TRAINING CORNER: Does Chest Training Reduce Breast Size?
Women often avoid chest training. They mistakenly believe that direct chest exercises will reduce the size of their breasts. This reasoning, however, is misguided.
It is important to realize that breast tissue is comprised mainly of fat: and you can't spot reduce fat! Just like abdominal exercises won't make your stomach any flatter, training the chest will have no direct influence on diminishing breast tissue. Now it's true that exercise in general will decrease the amount fat throughout the body. But, if anything, cardiovascular exercise will have more of a direct effect on reducing breast size than bench presses or chest flyes.
In fact, targeted training can significantly improve the appearance of your chest and make it appear as though "you've got more than you've actually got!" By utilizing different movements and training at a variety of angles, you can target various parts of the chest to achieve complete development. For example, rounding out the upper pectoral region gives fullness to the bustline; adding to the middle aspect enhances the overall shape of the chest; and developing the inner portion creates the illusion of cleavage.
So don't avoid chest training; embrace it. By understanding the fine points of bodysculpting, you can develop a chest that defies gravity and withstands the ravages of time. Beginners should choose mostly compound movements (such as presses and push ups); more advanced trainees can add various types of flyes to the mix. Make sure to perform the exercises on both incline and horizontal planes.
NUTRITION CORNER: Meal Timing
One of the biggest mistakes that women make in their diets is to consume only one or two meals a day. They feel that by starving themselves, they'll melt away fat quickly and easily. Big mistake!
When you go without eating for more than a few hours, your body shifts into a "starvation mode" as a means of conserving energy. It accomplishes this by decreasing production of thyroid hormone, which in turn causes a slowdown in metabolic rate; the longer the period in between meals, the more these effects are heightened. In addition, recent studies suggest that a hormone called ghrelin also is involved in the process. When the stomach is empty, ghrelin is secreted and signals a part of the brain called the hypothalmus to slow down fat utilization. These so-called "negative feedback loops" ultimately result in an increased deposition of bodyfat.
Frequent feedings attenuate these negative effects and even help to increase metabolic function. For example, spreading out nutrient consumption has been shown to significantly increase the body's internal production of heat (a process called thermogenesis) which, in turn, helps to burn calories rather than allowing them to be stored as fat. Blood sugar levels also remain more stable, reducing the food cravings associated with starvation and therefore preventing the tendency to binge out.
For best results, you should space out your meals evenly, eating five or six times a day at regular intervals. Make sure that the meals are small; calories do count! Figure out your total caloric needs and divide your calories in fairly equal portions over the course of the day.
SUPPLEMENT REVIEW: Folic Acid
What is it: Folic acid is vitamin that's abundant in many green vegetables (such as spinach, brussel sprouts, broccoli and asparagus) as well as legumes and liver.
What it does: Folic acid is involved in many of the body's metabolic processes and is vital to normal bodily function. A deficiency can lead to various forms of anemia and neural tube defects during pregnancy
However, more studies are needed before a conclusive opinion can be given on pyruvate. Until then, consider other alternatives.
The verdict: Because of the propensity for deficiency, it is often beneficial to supplement with folic acid. This will help to ensure proper health. Non-pregnant women need about 400 micrograms; an additional 200 micrograms is necessary during pregnancy.
SUPPLEMENT GRADE: A
