“Is running bad for your joints? How to keep fit at a distance? " 10 questions for a fitness trainer and answers to them

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A qualified expert answers.

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Lifehacker has a “Answers” section, within which we launched a thematic day. To do this, we invite a special guest to answer your questions.

This time you were interested in the topic of sports and fitness. We chose the most interesting questions, and our invited guest, fitness trainer Alexei Lebedev, answered them.

What should you know before starting to run? Is it not harmful?

Running is becoming more and more popular and therefore is overgrown with myths. And the fact that this type of activity is harmful to the knee joints is probably the most popular of them. Usually such myths are born when people ignore the rules of training and approach the process incorrectly.

Jogging can be harmful to health only when the load does not correspond to the physical fitness of the practitioner. After all, its volume is individual and depends on a number of factors: age, the level of training of the muscles of the legs and the body as a whole, the presence or absence of excess weight, equipment, history of injuries, running technique and the regularity of sports.

For example, weak muscles in the buttocks and the front of the thigh can cause knee instability. And sneakers with insufficient protection and fixation of the legs while running lead to increased shock loads.

However, when the running load is adequate for your ability, the process only benefits both the cardiovascular system and the joints. Studies show the Dose of Jogging and Long-Term Mortality The Copenhagen City Heart Study that runners live on average three years longer and have a 25-30% lower risk of premature death than those with low physical activity.

Before you start running on your own, follow four steps:

1. Get a comprehensive examination with a sports medicine doctorto understand the current state of the body and its readiness for stress. This step includes a check-up with several specialists, laboratory tests, and a check on the functioning of the cardiovascular system. This will help you avoid overloading and prevent injury.
2. Find the right sneakers and equipment … Running shoes should be soft and firm enough (for good cushioning) and have good fit. Clothing should be appropriate for the season, moisture management and thermoregulation.
3. Dial a functional minimum: Prepare your core, abs, glutes and legs for stress. Functional training repeats the movements that we constantly encounter in life and consists of exercises that allow us to comprehensively develop our athletic performance: endurance, flexibility, mobility, coordination and control of movements.
4. Work with a trainer on your running technique, because retraining is more difficult than starting from scratch. Even minor adjustments to your foot positioning and posture can dramatically reduce your risk of injury.

How to build muscle without supplements like protein and creatine?

Athletic training, genetic code, diet, metabolism and even the environment are all important factors on which the dynamics of muscle gain depends. The formula for effective pumping: a harmonious combination of regular strength training, a competent approach to diet and an attentive attitude to the recovery process.

1. Start each workout with a warm-up … This is an axiom.
2. Work with your own weight … Such a load does not lead to intensive muscle growth, but at the same time activates a significant number of muscle fibers and contributes to an increase in their density.
3. Do resistance exercises … This is the next step after working with your own weight. If your goal is accelerated muscle growth, then you can choose a training regimen to failure with 8-12 repetitions and weights 70-80% of the maximum load. The optimal number of approaches is three or four. And to create metabolic stress, we recommend taking breaks of 30-120 seconds between sets.
4. Pay special attention to nutrition and keep track of calories consumed … Your goal is to provide the body with the necessary amount of energy in the form of fats and carbohydrates, as well as the building material for muscles - proteins. It is the sufficient consumption of the latter that will allow you to build up without sports nutrition. You can effectively build muscle mass by creating a surplus of 10–20% of your daily calories. The ratio of protein, fat and carbohydrates should be 35: 25: 40. Eat small meals regularly and avoid starvation. Reevaluate the percentage of calorie surplus during muscle growth.
5. Don't neglect recovery … The active growth of muscle fibers and regeneration occur during this period. It usually takes 48 to 72 hours, which means that you should train no more than three times a week. Exercise and overstrain slows down the growth of muscle mass.

Which is Better: CrossFit or Routine Iron Training?

There is no single answer to this question, because everyone has their own goals. Correctly put the question like this: what is better specifically for me? Let's figure it out together.

1. Bodybuilding workouts … Classical weight training is suitable for those who want to reduce the proportion of body fat and gain muscle mass, focus on the development of muscles or work out certain zones.

Training with weights is designed in such a way that each muscle group is worked out individually with a series of isolated movements, where the quality of each of them is priority, and not its functionality. Also, be prepared that aesthetics at the forefront determines a strict attitude to the diet when exercising with weights.

2. Crossfit … This type of training is distinguished by a variety of types of load and its high intensity, as well as by the fact that it hits several targets at once: it destroys excess calories, increases the functionality of all muscle groups and increases their endurance.

If your goal is to become more athletic, endurance and strong, without concentrating on individual muscle groups or on the growth of their mass, then CrossFit meets these requirements. But if you have not had a serious sports load before, be careful: beginners have a higher risk of injury when doing intense and complex CrossFit exercises.

How to lose weight without losing or even gaining muscle mass?

At first glance, these goals seem to be diametrically opposed. To lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit for yourself, and to gain muscle mass, you must consume more of your daily value so that the body uses the extra energy to build muscles.

But it is quite possible to burn fat without losing muscle mass. This process is called recomposition (change) and requires a special approach to the organization of the diet and training. A common approach for body recomposition is a “cyclical” diet.

Its essence lies in the alternation of days of eating without carbohydrates with days when carbohydrates are consumed. Thus, on a training day, you provide the body with an excess of calories, and on rest days, reduce their number, while maintaining a small deficit.

Be prepared for a lengthy process and follow a few simple rules:

1. Eat More High Protein Foods … And be sure to control your water balance.
2. Adjust your training program: in any case, do not exercise for wear and tear. Also concentrate on strength training with weights and low reps.
3. Assess your progress regularly … And also adjust your nutrition and training program according to the results.
4. Monitor your weight and body condition … If you start gaining pounds, but the body has become less fit and muscular, reduce your carbohydrate intake on training days. And if the weight began to increase, but the proportions and shape of the body do not change - keep the diet, because in this case the growth is due to muscles, and not fat.

What are the most effective exercises for getting rid of the abdomen and sides?

There is no scientifically proven way to target fat loss in a specific area of the body. This means that you need to work on losing weight in general, without creating an expectation to lose weight in a specific problem area. Remember that fat deposits are unevenly removed, and do not despair if you cannot immediately achieve the desired shape - this takes time and endurance.

Try a combination of cardio and functional workouts. Complement walking, jogging, cycling and jumping rope with a bar, crunches, squats and lunges.

Also, develop a diet for weight loss. To do this, you can use the daily calorie value calculator. Try to create a small deficit of 10-15% of your norm, but do not forget to eat regularly so as not to feel hungry. And the energy value of foods in your diet should correspond to a proportion of 35: 25: 40 (proteins, fats, carbohydrates).

Choose high protein foods like poultry, beef, veal, seafood, eggs, nuts, and legumes. Do not forget about carbohydrates: buckwheat and rice cereals, vegetables and fruits should make up a significant part of your diet. And it is better to refuse fast food and everything that is excessively fatty, salty and sweet.

Should I do myofascial release before training?

Myofascial release (MPR) is a simultaneous effect on muscles and connective tissue that is needed to relax myofascial structures.

Yes, sometimes myofascial release is used in warm-ups to increase the range of motion in the joints, especially if further training involves high-range exercises. However, most often, MPF techniques are still used not before classes, but after them: in this way, muscle regeneration is stimulated and the likelihood of injury during subsequent loads is reduced.

Over time, the sheath that forms the “sheaths” for muscle fibers, called fascia, becomes stiffer, loses its elasticity and begins to affect our mobility. Muscles and fascia are inextricably linked: relaxation or contraction of the membrane directly affects the functioning of the muscle.

And thanks to MPF, you can regain mobility and relax muscles "clogged" after training. Correct myofascial release targets trigger points (small areas of tissue that feel pain when squeezed), allowing muscles to relax, normalizing blood flow, and relieving stiffness.

MPF is also great if you need to relax after intense exertion, recover from an injury, or relieve back, shoulder, or hip pain.

How to keep fit if you work from home and spend a lot of time in a sitting position?

Schedule small breaks throughout the day to devote time to your studies. It's great if you have a minimal set of equipment: a rug and typesetting dumbbells that will provide a full-fledged home workout. Do a top-down warm-up before exercising to warm up your joints and muscles. To do this, start at the neck and work your way towards the bottom of the body.

Then do a simple, all-in-one workout: do squats and lunges, push-ups, crunches, planks, and deadlifts at a comfortable weight to work your back muscles. Increase the load over time - harder exercise and add weight. For example, you can start doing side lunges, squats with overhead dumbbell presses, push-ups with a narrow grip, a plank on the lateral abdominal muscles and a boat on the back muscles.

Alternatively, you can find a suitable distance training program. During the quarantine period, sports organizations, fitness centers, streaming services and sports brands prepared a huge amount of paid and free video content for all tastes for training at home.

You can easily choose the mode of loads and the direction that suits you, and then download the application for home workouts or open the sports section of the video services on the TV and work out at home.

If you don't have enough motivation to act alone, take part in one of the online fitness marathons or try distance classes with a trainer. They are unlikely to replace live trips to the gym, but they will help you create a program, choose the best combinations of exercises and avoid some mistakes.

Regular marathon training, general chats, competitive and team spirit will help you form a habit of activities that you can continue on your own in the future.

However, be careful and avoid marathons that promise quick results. Remember that they create serious stress on the body, which can lead to a rollback of your athletic form after the program is completed and the load is reduced.

What is the best exercise technique for developing strength and muscle endurance: in which blood rushes to the muscles or, conversely, drains from them?

There are different techniques for working on strength and muscle endurance, but there is no definite answer which one is better. Much depends on individual factors: age, state of the cardiovascular system, and so on. However, the development of muscle strength and endurance using each of these techniques is ensured by the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to them with blood flow.

So, the pumping method involves performing a large number of repetitions with low weight, while their pace increases on the final repetitions. When using this technique, fat is burned and the volume of muscle mass visually increases. It turns out that muscle growth is stimulated due to the maximum filling of cells with blood, and the limits of your endurance are expanding due to the active burning of calories.

But pumping has its limitations: you should not use it if you have problems with the cardiovascular system or if the athlete has difficulty gaining muscle mass, since the body will begin to burn muscles with such a load.

Another option is the blood flow restriction technique, which allows arterial blood to flow while restricting venous blood. To do this, using cuffs, bandages and tourniquets, the athlete creates an obstacle for venous outflow in the training area.

This technique has proven itself well in the recovery and rehabilitation of athletes. But I do not recommend using the method on your own, and even more so without a preliminary medical examination. In addition to the list of contraindications, there is a risk of improper application of bandages or tourniquets, which will lead to a negative effect and tissue damage.

Why do I feel worse and ill after intense training?

There can be many reasons: from banal lack of sleep to problems requiring medical diagnosis. But more often than not, such sensations are a sign of overtraining. Try to temporarily reduce the intensity of your activities and increase the intervals between them, and stop underestimating sleep and rest.

And if reducing stress, optimizing intervals and adequate rest did not help you, contact a sports doctor or therapist.

How long will it take for results to drop if you stop exercising?

It all depends on what exactly counts as results, since lack of training affects endurance, strength and muscle volume in different ways. You will feel a decrease in endurance after a couple of weeks without exercising, and the muscle strength indicator may not change much longer. The body, accustomed to burning calories through exercise, will begin to accumulate fat in 4-5 weeks.

That is, you will notice visual changes a month after you stop training, before that only endurance indicators will drop. Muscle memory makes it relatively easy to return to previous results when resuming exercise, but the longer the break, the more difficult it is for the body to cope with this task.

Well-trained athletes, on the other hand, can benefit from taking a short break: recovery and rest create additional potential for performance gain.