The last piece of this puzzle is proper diet. Not only is this essential to a person’s physical well-being, it also helps alleviate the main dilemma that we have wanted to solve since the beginning – menstrual cramps.
Although some women are fortunate enough to find relief with pain medications, a more natural approach to alleviate menstrual cramps is through a good/healthy diet.



• Reduce your consumption of salt, sugar and caffeine
(especially during the week before your period).
Chocolates, coffee and soda are big NO-NO’s. =( I know.
I love them, too. =(


Take note, it’s only “reduce”, not “remove” sugar and salt. You could potentially suffer from low blood sugar and fatigue because of the blood loss during your period.


• Increase your intake of calcium-rich foods such as milk and yogurt. Calcium levels decrease about a week to 10 days before the start of your period which can cause PMS-related (premenstrual syndrome) cramping, sleepless nights and depression.


No need to worry, fellow lactose-intolerants. We have green leafy veggies and calcium supplements (remember to consult your doctor for safe and appropriate dosage) to save us from calcium deficiency.





• Avoid red meat (steaks and burgers). It can actually bring on the influx of prostaglandins (pain chemical that causes uterine spasm) into the tissue. Instead, choose low fat proteins like chicken and fish.


Having 6 small meals is what I prefer than 3 large meals a day. It aids in keeping blood sugar levels up and supplies enough energy to make it through the day (including my workout routine).


Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, healthful oils and (except lactose-intolerants) low-fat dairy products throughout the month to keep your body in balance and prevent menstrual cramps during your period.

..never thought i'd be able to go ziplining during my period!..  =)

Living healthy indeed has great benefits. It was through a friend who regularly works out in a fitness gym/center (who “was overweight” and “was” also suffering from dysmenorrhea) that I learned about the good news. Just give it a try and see for yourself.


But remember that these things only relieve primary dysmenorrhea, that which does not have any underlying cause (disease/disorder). In cases of secondary dysmenorrhea, it is best to consult your doctor and discuss treatment.

Exercises against Dysmenorrhea

Since time in memorial, menstrual cramps have always been such a big problem for girls everywhere. Being someone who has gone through extreme lengths (please refer to the previous post) just to relieve the pain, it was ultimately exercise and proper diet that finally allowed me to get rid of the monthly pain monster.


Menstrual cramps may actually be relieved by simple exercises that you can do at home (although it’s better to do it with the assistance of a professional fitness instructor to ensure proper posture and execution). Focus on relaxing (yoga, walking or jogging) and core-strengthening (lunges, crunches and squats) exercises; target the lower abdominal muscles nearer to the uterus.


• LUNGES

Starting position. Stand up straight with hands on waist. Position feet with a little less than shoulder width apart.


With dumbbells. Choose dumbbells of a weight that will enable you to complete the exercise sets you have chosen.Stand up straight with a dumbbell on each hand. Let your arms hang on each side,palms facing your thighs (hammer grip).


INHALE: Take a big step forward (with either leg) while bending at the knee until the front thigh is approaching parallel to the ground, and the rear leg is bent at the knee and balanced at the toes.  NOTE: Don’t let the knee (front leg) go past the tip of the toes. This can aggravate the knee joint if done too much.


EXHALE: Tighten your abs and PUSH back up to your starting position. It’s important to keep weight evenly distributed between both legs.


Complete reps before doing it with the other leg (set # 1). Execute 10-12 reps for 1-3 sets.




• SQUATS


Starting position. Stand with your feet a few inches wider than your shoulders and toes pointing outward at a 45-degree angle. Arch your back and stick out your chest.


INHALE:  Bend your knees. Tighten your abs as you go lower into a squat, taking your hips back, until your knees are at 90-degree angles. NOTE: Focus your weight on your heels. You can do this by slightly lifting your toes. Also, same with lunges, make sure your knees don’t go beyond your toes.


EXHALE: Stand back up to starting position. Complete 1-3 sets of 10-16 reps.


For safe execution, remember to always place your weight on your heels which should be kept flat on the floor. Also, you must maintain a natural arch on your lower back as you keep your shoulders back and your head and neck in a neutral position throughout the exercise.


• REVERSE CRUNCHES







Starting position.  Lie on the floor (mat) and place hands (palm down) on the floor or behind the head. Bring your knees in towards your chest (90 degrees) with feet together or crossed, hips flat on the floor.

With a ball. Sit on a mat and place a stability ball between your legs (at your calves/ankles). Squeezing the ball in place, lie back onto the floor, keeping feet just off the ground, knees bent.


EXHALE: Contract (squeeze) the abs to curl the hips off the floor, reaching the legs towards the ceiling (or at least as far as you can go).


INHALE: Slowly lower to starting position without letting your feet rest in between sets.
Do 12-16 reps for 2-3 sets. It’s a very small movement, so try to use your abs to lift your hips. Avoid swinging your legs and creating momentum.


• BRIDGE (Pelvic Stretch)


Starting position. Lie down placing your back and feet flat on the floor with your knees bent (make sure your feet are under your knees), and arms on your sides (palm down).


EXHALE: Slowly lift your hips up creating a straight (diagonal) line from your knees to your shoulders. Remember to contract your glutes and abs.


INHALE: Gently lower yourself back to starting position. 


Execute 15 reps for 2-3 sets.


• PELVIC TILT EXERCISES


Starting position. Stand up with your feet hip distance apart and your knees slightly bent. Place your hands on your hips near the hip bone.


INHALE: Rock your pelvis forward. Hold for about 3 seconds.


EXHALE: Move your pelvis back to starting position. 


Perform 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps.

It can also be done seated on a chair or lying down on a mat.


Remember: AIR & WATER!


Oxygen and water are needed by your muscles to work on your exercises. Also, hydrated and well-oxygenated muscle tissue is less likely to cramp. So, don’t forget to breathe deeply and drink enough water.


Aside from these two, it is equally important to do some stretching before and after working out to prevent injury.

Wretched Womanhood

     

        
When a female reaches puberty, certain changes in her reproductive system and hormonal levels cause curves to appear (that’s the good part) and menstrual cycle to begin (it may have been good for some, but it wasn’t for me). 


 The monthly period, that’s what they call it. Not in my case. I call mine
“irregularly regular period” (I’d have two regular periods, then a pause
for a month or two, followed by another month or so of normal
menstrual cycles). No, it wasn’t normal. But I still think my “irregularly regular period” was a blessing. At least I didn’t have to suffer from the infuriating abdominal cramps that came with it (ALWAYS!) every month, 12 times a year. 


Dysmenorrhea (or dysmenorrhoea) is a gynecological medical condition prior to or during menstruation that interferes with daily activities, as defined by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). This may not be the most detailed, but for me, it is the best definition of menstrual cramps. It definitely interferes with my daily activities. It actually ruins not only my day, but almost my entire week.  


I already consulted an ob-gyne about my condition. I was young then, so not a lot of things were done (no rectal/vaginal ultrasound). She simply did some inspection, palpation, and percussion on my abdominal and pelvic areas, and prescribed painkillers (Flanax) that I should take regularly on the first two days of my period “before I feel the pain” (analgesics work best when taken before the nerve-endings/pain receptors were stimulated). 


The doctor’s instructions did not work for me. It was impossible for me to predict/follow my menstrual cycle. I was even brought to the ER once and was given multiple shots (I didn’t even know what they were then) before the pain left. 


My irregularly regular period and dysmenorrhea haunted me for almost a decade. NOT ANYMORE. 


My salvation: DIET AND EXERCISE. 


The next entry will discuss and illustrate exercises that work best with women who get annoying menstrual cramps. Here’s to finally putting an end to women’s dilemmas through safe and even extremely beneficial ways!

Fats & Sugar: Are they good or bad?

            

 Fats are not entirely bad to your body. As a nurse, I remember teaching families in the slum areas how their bodies absorb the supplemental vitamins that were donated to them. I teach them the importance of fat in their diet which helps absorbs their daily vitamins. 

There are many good fats that are also essential in fighting bad fats. Personally, I prefer taking fish and vegetable oils. Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLA) is now becoming famous because of its fat-burning and anti-cancer properties. Nuts, seeds and olive oils are some of the essential fats that we can incorporate in our diet.

•   Fat also serves as a protective cushioning of our organs like the heart, kidneys and more 

•   It is also responsible in the regulation of our hormones which includes our sex hormones

•   Fats reduce the risk of heart diseases, cancer, Alzheimer's and depression.

•   For healthy cell membranes

•   Optimum brain functions

•   Healthier skin and joints

Sugar is also beneficial in bodybuilding. They work especially well during post-workouts when your muscles are on a catabolic state where fast are broken down together with your hard-earned muscles. Your post-workout diet should contain protein, carbs, multivitamins and lastly, sugar. Yes, Sugar is important so that you will have insulin spikes in your bloodstream. Your blood will pump nutrients and energy to your starving muscles. This makes your recovery faster. Ingesting a high glycemic index food with a high protein drink will result to a greater insulin spike. 

Incorporating creatine monohydrate on your post-workout meal is also beneficial because it prevents bloating with the help of sugar or what we call insulin spikes. Sugar is also useful in the morning after you wake up when your muscles were already fasting for 7-8 hours.

  Post-workout meal should consist of:

•          Protein shake  (preferable whey protein w/ 20-30g protein)
•          2 bananas
•         1-2 tablespoon of honey or 1 bottle Gatorade
•         Optional  (creatine and glutamine)
• 
  

      

         Any suggestions or reactions please write your comments below... thank you...

Females and Dumbbells

(Weight Training for Females)

Ladies are becoming frequent visitors in gyms nowadays. This is really great because it means that more and more people are becoming conscious and aware of what they can do to get active and healthy. But, if you observe them closely (and admit it, we all do), most of them keep doing the same workout every single day. They use all the gym machines doing a 35-50 rep range. Everybody knows that weight training’s not only for men because women can also benefit greatly from resistance training. Although, there are many things that seem to hold them back. I will tackle some of these issues in this blog entry. The so-called myths of female body building:

Myth # 1 - I don’t want to be muscular or bulky 

                It’s kind of annoying to hear this coming from girls because guys train their butts off to attain just that. I will hear ladies complaining and not wanting to do intense trainings because they believe they will get huge. If this is your main concern, you’re just wasting your time at the gym. Excuse me for my words but that’s the truth. I’m telling you, you will not get bulk unless you are going to take steroids. I’m sure you want to hear some scientific findings to even consider my claims, right? Testosterone is the hormone that produces muscle mass and women have a very small amount of this hormone in their body. About 15-70 ng/dl is the normal range of female testosterone compare to 200-1200 ng/dl for men. With proper training and diet, ladies will gain muscles that are lean and shapely. I hope that I made my point now and end this myth once and for all.

Myth # 2 - Rep range must be endless for females

                Females always intend to have 30-40 rep range on 5 sets because they believe that they should train this way because it’s for toning or fat burning purposes. This can lead to overtraining and this may minimize you muscle gains. You will reach a catabolic state wherein you secrete cortisol that minimizes your muscle building potential.  If you want to have shapely bodies and sexy curves you have to train heavy like us guys. Rep range of 6-12 is very beneficial with only 2-4 sets including the warm-up set/sets. This rep range is for hypertrophy (muscle building) so more muscle means faster metabolism and greater fat burning potential. This means that the ladies should refrain from using the lightest dumbbell for never-ending reps.

Myth #3 - Eating lots of carbs is bad

                First of all the carbs are not your enemy. Stay away from fad diets that restrict you from eating carbs. Carbs is one’s means to get energy that will let you push your last sets to complete muscle failure.  In building new muscles, carbs are also necessary. Even in our normal body processes like breathing, we use energy, or carbs for that matter. Secondly, eating 6-7 meals a day will help your natural fat burning mechanism. Your metabolism will shoot up. Eating small meals every 2-3 hours will help you maintain your hard-earned muscles by constantly giving nutrition to your muscles to prevent its catabolic state. Have a well constructed diet plan that will suit you personally. So don’t be afraid to take carbs and eat frequently because this will lead you to your goal.

Myth #4 - Spot reduction

                There is no such thing as spot reduction. You can never choose a specific body part to burn fat from. I often see girls doing abdominal crunches every single day because they believe that this is necessary for their abs to be visible. For example, if I’d like to make my biceps lean and more defined, I will give my full attention on them and do bicep curls more often. That’s not true. Loosing fat in our body is a holistic thing. Muscles and fats are two very different entities. So don’t expect fat to turn into muscle. But more muscles can lead to lesser fat by making your metabolism faster. This means you need to work out every muscle on your body, not only your abs, if you want maximize your muscle building and fat burning potential.

Myth # 5 - Drinking plenty of water will make me look fat

                How many times do we hear that it is important to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day? Many people still don’t understand the importance of proper hydration. Ladies are more vulnerable to bloating and drinking water is needed to prevent this. Yes, you read that right. Proper hydration is the key so that water retention will be very limited. Ladies can be bloated because of the hormonal imbalance they experience every month (Ladies, I think you know what I mean). If your kidneys feel that your body is not properly hydrated, it will hold on to the water stored on your body to maintain your normal body fluids. That is when water retention happened. So bring a big water container to the gym and make it a habit to make it empty when your workout is done.

Myth #6 - Females should focus on cardio

                You might’ve already noticed how girls hog the treadmills while the macho men pump the irons. Don’t get me wrong, we all know that cardio is highly beneficial on your conditioning and endurance but you should also give resistance training a try. Weight training’s not only for males and there are studies which suggest that females should not make their training regimen to be entirely different from the guys. Too much cardio will result to overtraining that will minimize your muscle gains. 10-15 minutes of cardio training will be enough to make your heart start pumping and start up a good workout session. I suggest that you have your cardio sessions on rest days to make your recovery faster because it will improve your blood circulation. For example, Mondays are leg days, Tuesdays for the biceps and triceps, Wednesdays can be a rest day or cardio day while Thursdays can be for delts, Fridays for chest and back, Saturday rest day or cardio day, Sunday’s a rest day again.

They are many false beliefs in the gym regarding weight training that can somehow hold you back. Don’t let that stop you from achieving your goal. Females can prevent many diseases like arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression and many more with the help of resistance training. You ladies can improve your athletic performance and gain strength through resistance training. You should not make any more excuses because I have already tackled the top myths on female fitness and bodybuilding. So start pumping some heavy dumbbells and start improving your physique.

Reference: www.bodybuilding.com

For any reactions and suggestions feel free to comment thank you....

The Beginning

1999

                Health has always been an issue when I was growing up. Oftentimes, I would be brought to the doctor for fever, stomach aches or some other stuff. I still remember one time when the doctor told my mom not to forget to feed me, much to her annoyance. During high school, I was 5’10 but only weighed more or less 135lbs. I loved sports though and was a pretty active kid growing up. Because of this, I was even able to collect some awards for my performance in tennis, table tennis, badminton, basketball, athletics and many more. But personally, I felt like I was not maximizing my potential with how I was performing.

2004

 I often doubted myself because I had issues with my strength and endurance during basketball training sessions. Trying other sports like MMA or muay thai were out of the question because I was just really scrawny. But at that time, my family already had a membership with YMCA Makati. My dad was able to get a membership where everyone in our family was included. Initially, I tried it to be able to bond with the rest of the family. I didn’t enjoy it at first because seeing countless buff guys in the gym made me a feel and look awkward.

Looking back on it now, I think they were what motivated me. Knowing that I can learn from them, I asked them about bodybuilding and actually picked up a lot of tips from those experiences when I put aside my shyness to give way to curiosity. Being with them really helped me get going. Despite meeting these people, I pumped irons alone most of the time because the gym trainer seemed to be busy for some reason. Maybe he was a bit distracted because I usually see him talking to the girls in the reception area.

2009

Anyway, I started noticing that I enjoyed the fulfilment I got from working out in the form of the pain and soreness. Though, I was inconsistent with my workout regimen. It seemed that I was losing my motivation but the desire to always push myself to reach my potential never stopped. After passing my licensure exam in nursing, I told myself that this would be the best time to get serious with bodybuilding and this is where I am now. The rest is history that would be recorded here in my blog so that we can all share our love for fitness and health.