Fitness 1 by Coach KK

Muscular growth is one of the major goal that is desired by many. While it does have a genetic element influencing it right from the beginning following are some reasons/tools which may or may not be relevant to you: 1. Genetic potential: By how much a particular muscle will hypertrophy has a lot to do with the genetic potential of the individual. Some people have good biceps in comparison to triceps while some have really wide lats and rounded delts in comparison to pecs. 2. Caloric Intake: Muscles generally grow more in a caloric surplus in comparison to caloric deficit or caloric maintenance. Check you current intake and compare it with you goal oriented caloric intake. For more information read  Calculating Current Macros and Calories 3. Volume of training: The highest contributing factor to muscular hypertrophy is overall volume for the particular muscle group. Volume is expressed quantitatively as reps times sets times load. 4. Training age: How much time you&

Protein is one of the three macro nutrients, the other two being fat and carbohydrates. While the typical Indian diet provides plenty (sometimes even excess) of fats and carbohydrates, it is said that it doesn't do justice towards meeting daily protein needs. How much protein is actually needed by an individual each day is a totally different question which deserves its own discussion ( Click Here  for more on protein intake), so I won't even touch that here. However, I will list down below certain foods which would provide enough complete protein (well at least for me) to reach (my) daily protein goal. 1. Milk 2. Paneer (cottage cheese) 3. Beans/Lentils + Grains 4. Soy 5. Eggs 6. Chicken 7. Fish 8. Tofu If not consuming these foods on a regular basis a deficiency of protein may occur. For example monetary issues, lack of accessibility, not knowing how to cook, ignorance towards these foods, improper meal planning, etc. are some reasons due to which these m

Most individuals starting/following a fitness program are either working or studying (in college/school). While this may be an easily manageable task for some, others struggle in coping with the stress that may often accompany managing multiple activities every single day. Firstly, the structure of a fitness program should be planned in such a way that it blends in with an individual's current lifestyle having minimum interference (if any) with their respective work/study life. Of course, having a "normal/general" lifestyle to begin with is a necessary precondition to this.  Secondly, having certain options (in diet, workout, cardio, etc.) goes a long way with adherence to the fitness program. For example substituting low intensity cardio sessions with high intensity ones not only saves time but may also help in a more caloric expenditure overtime. Similarly, splitting workout sessions (in certain cases), more eating options (for less available cooking time, taste

Starting and/or following an exercise and diet program for a period of time is one thing but what should an individual do after he/she has achieved his/her respective goal. For goals such as weight gain, etc which thrive on an increased caloric intake, after achieving the goal going back to maintenance slowly or even further increasing calories may be followed depending on the new goal the fitness enthusiast may have. On the other side, for individuals following a weight loss/fat loss program who have achieved their goal may find that things don't usually work out as they had assumed. While this may certainly not be the case for all, some fitness enthusiasts can face the issue of an ever increasing weight and/or increasing body fat percentage weeks/months after they completed the diet. In situations like these following a reverse dieting approach may prove to be beneficial. When following a weight loss diet usually the consumption of food (calories) steadily goes down, w

Most people starting/following a fitness program find it surprising to know that they can eat the foods they like and still achieve their fitness goals. The portion size of their favorite foods would obviously be limited, but they may get away with it if they are consistent. Flexible Dieting has been around for some time but is only recently gaining popularity mainly for the benefits it offers. The basic idea behind flexible dieting is that you eat the foods you like throughout the day by simply keeping track of their respective macro nutrients. Being close to or on point with your daily/weekly macro nutrient intake numbers may assist you in achieving your nutritional goal, provided that the macro nutrient numbers and your daily/weekly caloric intake values are correct to begin with. Some benefits of flexible dieting include flexibility to eat your favorite foods, varied food intake option, ease of preparing/combining foods you prefer, comparatively easier to adhere to diet

Diet undoubtedly is an important element of a fitness program. Most fitness goals such as weight loss, fat loss, weight gain, etc. are influenced directly by the type of foods consumed during the duration of the fitness program. A lot of individuals starting their fitness journey rely on either general diet plans or specifically prepared ones for the entire program. Benefits of these may include an easy to follow approach, knowing what to eat for the entire day/week/month before hand, quick results,etc. while drawbacks may include not knowing what dietary steps to follow after the program ends, adaptation of metabolism to a different caloric intake, weight loss/gain still continuing after the program is over and results are achieved, regaining weight and body fat weeks/months after the program(weight/fat loss) ended, limited food items included in program, etc. While these drawbacks are certainly not experienced by everyone, it would be wise to keep an eye out for them. N

Most fitness enthusiasts consider supplementing their diet with certain nutrients in the quest for their fitness goal. Weather these supplements are actually needed by them is a completely different question altogether. This blog post is however focused on buying supplements in India.  Most supplements available in India are of foreign origin, while there are certainly some that are fully manufactured in India. Some people prefer to buy supplements from trainers, while others prefer their local shops as an ideal place to make the purchase. There are even some who buy supplements from unknown sources being lured away with either heavy discounts or false promises or both. While all of the above mentioned sources can be some of the easiest means of buying your favorite supplement, they may not be the best. For supplements manufactured in countries other than India, checking the official website of the brand you want to purchase is a good place to start. Most companies displa

Success on a fitness program is dependent on not only following an exercise pattern rigorously but giving an equal if not more attention to proper nutrition based on your goal. Many times individuals starting an exercise program may not see results that they expect and start hopping from one exercise program to another. In situations like these they usually forget to check their nutritional intake, which may the reason for their slow or in certain cases extremely slow progress. Some common reasons for nutrition becoming a limiting factor for many during a fitness program include time, budget, not knowing where to start, quantity of food, type of food necessary, timing of nutrient intake, food preparation, etc. There are also some individuals who start relying on nutritional supplements solely as their chief source of nutrients and show only a casual attitude towards whole foods thereby depriving themselves of the benefits that whole foods may offer. If you get stuck on a fitn

An essential part of a fitness training program in addition to exercise and nutrition, is appropriate rest and recovery. Unless and until an individual following a fitness training program is not fully recovered from their previous sessions, it may become difficult to progress ahead with the program without hitting a plateau. Although recovery from exercise itself is an ingrained process that the human body is capable of accomplishing on its own, the only catch being the time it may take to do so. While it is advisable to follow certain training strategies to help with recovery, they alone can’t get the entire job done. That is why coupling training strategies with proper nutrition, hydration, sleep, stress management, etc. is a better approach to an effective and efficient recovery from an exercise session. A diet that caters towards appropriate macro and micro nutrient intake so as to supply the body with enough nutrients and hydrating yourself properly throughout the day espec

Cooking forms an integral part of any fitness program. While we may consider regular exercise, healthy eating habits, etc as essential components of a fitness program, more often than not we prefer to outsource the cooking aspect on a fitness program to someone else. Any fitness program weather fat loss, weight loss or weight gain requires eating as per the goal desired. For those living with families, it may sometimes become difficult to consume meals as per the desired goal due to various reasons including depending on others to cook meals for them, not knowing how to cook, etc. Also, preparing two separate kind of meals, one for that member of the family following a specific diet and the other for the remaining members, not only becomes more time consuming but at the sane time may not be financially efficient for some. In some cases it may even happen that the entire family may have to consume meal prepared as per the likes of one member who is on a fitness program. While

When starting a fitness program, having specific goals helps a lot. With goals we can focus on attaining a clear objective. The more specific and realistic a goal, the higher is the possibility of achieving it. On a fitness program it may also happen that we lose focus from our goal due to some reason. Having a deadline and writing down goals may prove to be helpful for this. Goals may wary between a short-term one ranging anywhere from few weeks to few months and long-term ones extending to multiple years. While making a fitness goal is an individualistic decision, it may be beneficial to not make compromises for short term gains. Short term fixes like crash dieting, extremely low calorie diets, performance enhancers, etc while providing immediate results may compromise long term health and well being. Goals such as losing weight, gaining weight, improving strength, etc. are some of the most common fitness goals we hear off. There are numerous examples of people achieving these g

Carbohydrate is one of the three macro nutrients, with the other two being protein and fat. While for protein and fat questions like minimum amount, maximum amount etc. do come up, very rarely are these associated with carbohydrates. Carbohydrates is also the one food that is readily available for consumption. The type, quantity and timing of carbohydrates may have a major impact while on a fitness program. Tolerance for carbohydrates is a highly individual factor. While complex carbohydrates (especially fiberous carbohydrates) maybe beneficial for almost all and can be included as part of most dietary strategies, simple carbohydrates such as simple sugars may pose as a major obstacle in the path of certain fitness goals. Carbohydrate tolerance is mainly evaluated on an individual's capability to efficiently utilize carbohydrates (the simple sugars) for daily energy needs/expenditure rather than holding on to it by storing it as fat for later use. Lean individuals generally