Maximize Sports Fitness Training by Improving Your Level of Body Fat
Maximize Sports Fitness Training by Improving Your Level of Body Fat
Losing weight is often a priority for athletes when they want to improve their sports fitness training. However, athletes must remember to not only focus on losing weight. It is much more important to lose body fat and maintain muscle, rather than focusing on the number on the scale.
There are some general rules for weight loss. If you are around 100 pounds, you should lose a half pound every week. If you are closer to three or four hundred pounds, you can lose three pounds a week.
As with many things, age and genetics have to be factored in to determine how fast you can lose weight during your sports fitness training. A twenty-year old is going to have a much easier time than a fifty-year old. If you have always been able to do sprints and jumps and are naturally athletic, you will have an easier time losing weight. Someone who excels in distance running will not lose body fat as easy as someone who can sprint and jump.
The last few pounds of fat are always the hardest to lose. Your body tends to cling to these last pounds for fear you are trying to starve yourself.
Remember to not focus on the scale! Muscle really does weigh more than fat. So even though you are exercising and eating well, the scale may not move. This is because you are increasing your muscle. This is not a bad thing during your sports fitness training. Your clothes will start to fit better, and your energy will increase. You will begin to feel better all around.
I recommend being very careful using the scale. Find an outfit that doesn't fit you very well. Use this as your watermark for success during your sports fitness training. By eating well, exercising, and maintaining your motivation, you will notice improvements in how you look and feel. Focus on physical performance, not numbers on a machine, and your performance will continue to improve.
There are some types of sports that have to have a specific number on the scale, such as wrestling. These athletes need to monitor their calories, sodium, potassium, and other variables in their workouts. These types of athletes tend to be in tune with their body and know exactly what they must do during their sports fitness training to get their body where they need it.
People who are new to exercise and dieting will feel confused by the scale at first. Remember to not get discouraged!
Body Fat Testing
A better measurement than a scale is a body fat test. This measures the quality, rather than the quantity, of your weight loss. You can lose weight but not body fat, and this is not desirable.
Your body can lose muscle and water while still increasing body fat. People who refuse to eat enough for fear of gaining weight often follow this path. If your body is forced to go long periods without many calories, your body thinks it is being starved and begins to break down muscle fiber for energy. It also starts to store more fat, to use in lean times. This is not a good way to approach your sports fitness training.
A body that is starving considers fat to be more important than muscle. So your body conserves your fat instead of your muscle. In order to lose fat, but not muscle, you need to eat foods that are muscle-building and fat-burning. This is the only way to ensure quality weight loss.
Body Fat Levels
A man's body fat level should be between 6-9%, and a woman's should be between 10-14%. Some people can even go lower than this. These are just the optimal levels you want to achieve to be in good shape.
There are instances where a higher level of body fat can be good, and even necessary. In football, for example, an offensive lineman can hold upwards of 20% body fat. In softball, a pitcher will do well to have a higher body fat percentage because more weight may actually generate a stronger force on pitches.
Sadly, our society accepts being overweight as normal. The average body fat for men is over 20% and over 25% for women. This is not just overweight this is obese. When I tell people what the optimal body fat levels are, they think it is impossible to obtain such numbers. It is not.
Most people in America today eat a diet full of high glycemic carbohydrates, bad proteins, and loads of saturated fat. They eat tons of processed foods and don't exercise, or they do not understand how to exercise correctly. For proper sports fitness training, this diet and lack of exercise is disastrous.
In just one year of proper diet, exercise and increased motivation, you will be amazed to see the difference in your body.
Types of Body Fat Testing
There are different ways to test body fat. Hydrostatic, or under water, and the Bod-Pod are currently considered to be the best methods. I use a test involving skin fold calipers. With this test, I can see where the fat loss is coming from. I prefer a ten-site test on my clients.
What to Expect When Losing Body Fat
A reasonable goal is to lose one-fourth to one point of body fat percentage per week. Some bodybuilders and advanced athletes will lose more than one point a week. Sometimes this happens because they are using illegal drugs in order to speed up their weight loss. It is much better to lose this weight naturally because drugs often have negative side effects.
Some people want noticeable muscle definition. Places that you desire great muscle definition, such as your arms, shoulders, or abs, need to have a reading on your caliper of less than ten millimeters. Personally, I believe readings below five millimeters are perfect for noticeable muscle definition.
To see what I mean more clearly, take a look at these pictures.
When you do measurements on yourself with a set of body fat calipers, you will instantly understand what I am saying. A stomach that measures 30 millimeters is a stomach that needs some work done! Don't pacify yourself by claiming you have thick skin. If the site reading is high, you know you are fat at that site. By working on your sports fitness training, you can reduce that fat. Start improving your diet, exercise, and motivation, and you can watch that fat site start to disappear!
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