How To Make Your Core Strong

One of the most important part of our body is- the core, which is essential to correctly perform strength training exercises, to lift a maximum amount of weight and to reduce risk of injuries. And without a strong core, there would not be much that you would be able to do in the gym, as there will always be a chance of failing to go that extra mile and staying injury-free.

Here are a few workout for the same, which we think can get your core in the 'A' shape and help lift heavy weights better, without getting injured. 

Ab Rollers

There are two words that best describe this core exercise- deceptively hard! 

How to: Keep your abs tight when rolling both in and out, and be careful not to go too far on the rollout to avoid strain or injury. Stay under control and you’ll feel these beasts the next day, even though you’re doing them at body weight- strange ehh? If you feel strong enough and want to up the ante, then opt for a bosu ball while doing them. 

Sets: Start with 4 sets of 8 and gradually work your way up to sets of 12-15.

Hanging Leg Raises 

How to: Bring your knees up past parallel as if you’re bringing them all the way to your chest. A bit of swinging back and forth is inevitable, but do your best to fight momentum and feel those lower abs burn. Once you start gaining strength to workout on your body weight with ease, throw a dumbbell between your feet and get going for a much more defined workout that will give you amazing results in long run.go to work. 

Sets: Considering the stress that this workout gives on your lower body, try keeping it to 4 sets of 20-25 reps. 

Cable Crunches

Oh yes, these do hurt!

How to: Use the same rope you use for triceps rope pulldowns and perform the motion as if you’re going down into a fatal position. Make sure that your arms are just there to hold the weight, but not pulling it down.Your abs should do all of the work, and keep a nice controlled motion going.

Sets: 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Physioball Twists

How to: Do them with your arms straight out and hands together at first and then when you’re comfortable hold a medicine ball or dumbbell in your hands. A highly functional exercise for any athlete looking to improve core strength, this one will give you perfection redefined that you were missing in your core. 

Sets: 4 sets of 10-12 on each side.

Planks

How to: The beauty of these is that you can do them anytime, anywhere. Keep your butt down and your back flat while keeping your abs tight.

Sets: 4 sets of 60 seconds each is all you need.

Read More

Branch Chained Amino Acids

Most of the people, who have slogged hard in the gym would know, without a doubt, that consuming Branch Chained Amino Acids (BCAA’s) in supplement form before and after workout can contribute to measurable gains in not only muscle strength, but also in size.

Now the question that might crop in your mind is- that job is done by proteins too...so what's the big deal about BCAA's? Well, allow us to tell you a little more about it.

What is BCAA's
The very first thing that you need to know is that BCAA’s are the building blocks of protein and they make up over 30% of the muscle tissue in your body. When you intake a high quality protein source of food, the protein is broken down through digestion, leaving you with BCAA’s which are then sent through the blood stream and used as fuel, to repair and build your muscle, and many other important functions of your body including brain function.

BCAA's simplify the job of converting each amino acid (Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine) into energy during intense exertion. Therefore, the more BCAAs that are present in the muscles, the more they will be used for energy, slowing the breakdown of muscles cells and preventing catabolism. In layman's language, BCAAs trigger protein synthesis, increase energy expenditure and have been shown to improve glucose tolerance.

The best part? 

Even if you are inactive for some time in relation to your workout, BCAA's help you minimize fat gain and muscle lose from inactivity.

Why take them?
There is one thing that you need to understand, and that is- Branch Chains are not similar in free form compared to whole form, let's say- chicken or whey protein. The best part is- in free form, BCAA’s are instantly digested and taken straight to the blood stream without going through the process of digestion, thus giving you better results.

Best time to take
There are people who take BCAA's before and after workout. And no they are not wrong in doing so. However, the best time to take these is while you are sweating it out in the gym, because when you workout, your body is constantly losing amino acids as you tear down your muscles via different form of weight lifting and cardio exercises. Consuming BCAA's while cracking those muscles would help you from not letting your body go catabolic and maintain the anabolic state with utmost ease.

Benefits

Better Testosterone, Cortisol Ratio and Muscle BuildingNot many people know that cortisol degrades the muscled, which can lead to fat gain. However, BCAAs have been found to minize its effect and the stress that comes with workout. Needless tosay, less cortisol means a more favorable testosterone to cortisol ratio that results in faster recovery and much better muscle development.

Leucine helps in gaining strength
There should not be a doubt in your mind, even for a second, for the fact that your muscle will only grow if you have strength in you to keep up with the schedule of your workout. If you lose on strength, you lose on everything. Studies have revealed that even the untrained gym-goers who take 4 grams of leucine a day in conjunction with a 12-week resistance training program can increase strength by 41 percent. And those are just the basic numbers that we are talking about.

Increases reaction time
Now that is something you can't be trained for, right? You either have it or you don't! However, reaction time can be improved if you have higher level of BCAAs blood levels. Studies say that if you eat three grams per kg of bodyweight of protein in a day, there are chances that your performance in the gym and in other activities that involve quick reactions, can significantly improve.

Some of the other benefits of BCAA's are: Improved insulin sensitivity, helps in reducing muscle soreness, lean muscle buildup and decreasing depression.

Read More