Prevent injuries : Know how to curve your back

Ever got confused about how to curve your back in a certain type of exercise so you won't injure yourself? I've been there too, and I guess you're not alone in this situation. Let me get you out of this confusion right away. First, for the ones who don't have any back pathology, arching your back in some exercises doesn't involve any risk. On the contrary, if you do squats or deadlifts, where the spine tends to curve, arching your back may prevent new injuries. BUT, for some people, arching their back can turn out pretty unsafe.

                - For people suffering from spondylolysis ( non-union of the vertebral arch ), the extension of the lumbar spine may cause a sliding of the vertebrae ( spondylolisthesis ), which may badly compress elements of the nervous system ( which cause a sciatica ).

                - For people who have not yet completed their growth, or for people affected by osteoporosis, lumbar spinal extension  may cause a spondylolysis and a fracture of the vertebral arch. The vertebrae will be able to slide and badly compress the elements of the nervous system ( which cause a sciatica ).

Unlike the others muscle-development exercises, exercises for abs absolutely have to be done in vertebral winding. If you omit winding your back by contracting your abs and obliques, your hip flexors will accentuate the arch of your back by driving inter vertebral discs forward. This overpressure may lead to lumbago or worst, joint damage by shearing and compression.

I hope this will help to prevent you from having back injuries :)
If you have any questions feel free to ask them below! 


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xx
Chryseis

Bulky muscles V.S. Faculty to adapt to physical activity

Hi everyone! Hope you're all doing well in your fitness journey. Today's post is all about the muscle's adaptation to your physical activities. Let's get started!

So first, there are aerobics/endurance exercises like running on long distances, walking at fast pace, swimming or cycling. They all cause several modifications to skeletal muscles. Did you know that there can be a 10% increase of the amount of capillaries around muscle fibers? That the amount and size of mitochondria ( which produces energy ) increases in them too, and that those fibers synthesize up to 80% more myoglobin ( which transports oxygen in blood ). Wow, that's a lot of good stuff. These transformations allow us to have a better muscular metabolism, an increased endurance, better strength and a better resistance to fatigue.

Aerobics exercises who require moderate muscular effort for a long time DON'T cause muscle hypertrophy ( AKA bulky muscles ) even if the exercises lasts for hours. Bulky muscles are the consequence of intensive against-resistance exercises ( mostly done in anaerobic conditions ) like weight lifting. Because in this kind of activity, you only need strength, not endurance. A few minutes of against-resistance exercises every other day are enough to increase your bulkiness. They can even allow a skinny man to gain 50% of muscle mass in a year.

The increase of muscular volume is mostly about muscle fibers expansion and NOT a multiplication of them. This volume growth is caused by little tears in muscle fibers that heal after your workout. The amount of connective tissue between the cells increases too, which helps with getting bigger muscles. Nevertheless, if you completely stop your exercise program, the fibers that just transformed take back their initial properties.

Doesn't matter of the physical activity you choose to do, you will see results only if you follow the Overload Principle and the Progressive Principle. In other words, when you force a muscle to work hard, its strength and endurance increase. When they get used to give their maximum, you NEED to get overload  so they can work harder. Then, you won't hit a plateau.

Finally, if you start too quickly in an exercise program or that you don't listen to your body when it tells you it hurts, you might inflict yourself some serious overuse injuries. You could have to stop exercise for a while or you could have to stop permanently. Get into your exercise program gradually. And remember, to get the best shape and body you want, you should always combine strength and endurance training.

Hope this helps answering to your questions. If you still have any, feel free to comment below!

xx

Chryseis

Pilates love

Let me present you my new love : Pilates. We've been together for 3 months now and I've never been happier! No but seriously, I never thought that I would actually love doing Pilates and surely not being an addict. 

This all began while I was searching on internet ways to lose cellulite. You know, the orange skin behind your thighs and your butt? Yep I know I was really desperate. I knew that no products on the market would work. ( Why do companies would want you to stop having cellulite? Think about it for real.. ) and I was searching for '' physical '' ways to get rid of it. I stumbled across a lot of pricey training and eating plans and let's be honest, who can afford paying 300$ for something they're not 100% sure about its efficacity. No, those weren't for me. Disappointed, I clicked on one last video on Youtube. 

It was it. I was already in love. Discovered Blogilates. Since I used to be a weight lifter a couple years from now, I kinda had preconceptions about Pilates and Yoga. You know, people doing those sports don't even sweat, right? I have never been so wrong. ( Well I haven't tried Yoga yet ) Pilates is a wonder! This even helped me healing my knees injury that I had for 3 years while nothing else worked. 

Seriously guys, you need to try this out. And no, it's not only a women's thing. A lot of professional male athletes are doing Pilates to increase their flexibility and muscle strenght. And even more, you don't need any equipement but a mat! 

    Give it a try and give me some news! 

xx

Chryseis

Following a trend

So, I don't know about you, but as someone who is really getting into the Physical Fitness world, people don't always look good at me for doing it. Sometimes, they seem really tired if hearing people talking about fitness and all that stuff. Well, it's okay for them, we would be tired with any kind of subject if it would be overtalked around us too. But there's a difference between being bored with a subject and being mad at people for doing what they love.

Let me explain... I was at work the other day and a girl saw me eating tuna and veggies. An other girl asked me why I often ate this meal. I told her that I was training basically 6 days a week and that I cared about having a good diet to go with it. Then, the first girl that I talked about became really upset against me telling me that she was so tired of the '' being fit trend '' that everyone was trying to achieve, that it became impossible to only wanna be slim and it went on and on. I was a little disappointed and mostly shocked. I didn't know that physical fitness was becoming a trend. And well as someone who never followed trends, it was even more surprising.

Let's see, you certainly don't need to be fit if you don't want to, and you don't have to keep yourself from getting fit if you want to. You certainly heard all the quotes like the one in the picture above, saying that fit is the new sexy and etc. The most important part is that you feel confident in your body and that you're healthy. For my part, I didn't only want to become fit to have the nicest body on the beach, I wanted to become more healthy because yep I was eating like crap. Yes, I was slim, but I couldn't even take the stairs without being out of breath. That's mostly why I restarted training like a beast. ( I'll talk about why I stopped in an other post :) )

All that is left to say about that is really cliché but you know, sometimes clichés are real. Do what makes you feel good. Do what makes you happy. Don't feel any kind of pressure from the fitness community whether you're in it or not. If we do it, it's for ourselves first. Just keep that in mind!

Let me know in the comments if you experienced something similar !

xx

Chryseis