Fitness 1 by Coach KK

Personal fitness consulting and training has gained some popularity in recent years with more fitness enthusiasts looking out for hiring a trainer for helping and guiding them to achieve their respective fitness goals. Now weather personal fitness training is a lucrative career option is a whole other topic and deserves its own post, for this article my focus would be only towards aspects that you may or may not be aware of and that may prove to be beneficial while making the choice before hiring a trainer both online and in person. Academic Background : No matter how good looking, well built and fit a trainer is, an academic background can the most ignored aspect which one may consider before choosing a fitness professional. Having a graduation and/or post graduation degree is exercise science, nutrition, strength and conditioning, etc. makes the professional more aware about human anatomy, muscle structure, neuro-muscular functioning, human digestion, supplementation, injury pre...

Most individuals especially men desire a well built and muscular physique, with those perfectly rounded shoulders, tight core and arms which would stick to the circumference of their t-shirt. There are also some who don't really care for looks as such and focus primarily on either lifting or moving as much load as they possibly can. The first example above would relate to Hypertrophy and the second one to strength. Both have different training methods, different recovery strategies and different progression schemes. However, gaining either strength or increasing muscular hypertrophy are not mutually exclusive and both can be achieved by the same individual at varying rates. Training for hypertrophy may overtime also lead to an increased strength and similarly training for strength may overtime lead to increase in muscle mass, provided that diet, recovery and adherence are optimal. Strength can be defined as the force produced by the musculoskeletal system in response to an exter...

Every time one hears of dieting to lose body weight the concept of metabolism surfaces, especially phrases such as "increasing metabolism" or "increasing metabolic rate", etc. For those who are unaware about what this means or its relevance with weight loss may find it exciting or even intimidating at times to having been given the secret power to change/alter their metabolic rate by following a unbalanced, low calorie, nutrient deficient, and bland weight loss diet. Most people dieting to lose weight coupled with being less aware about what metabolism is may end up with a altered metabolic rate, physiological and psychological response than may potentially take them further away from their fitness goal/s. Metabolism Metabolism is defined as " The sum total of all reactions taking place within the body geared towards building it up and breaking it down". Building up functions are based on anabolism (anabolic functions) while breaking down functions ar...

Carrying a gym bag to the gym with you can be quite beneficial. Gym Bags allow one to have access to certain items that may be needed either before, during or after a gym session. Following are some items that I would consider to look into as part of my gym bag accessories list: 1. Gym Bag : Obviously a gym bag is the most essential item that is required to carry all other items to the gym. Following are all great options for a gym bag.   2. Sports Drink : Workout can be dehydrating and as such having a sports drink can be helpful to replenish both energy and electrolytes. You can either make one at home yourself or go for ready made ones like those linked below.      3. Shoes : This is by far the most neglected aspect of preparing for the gym session. Having the right kind of shoes for the activity you would be performing can only enhance your performance. There are specially designed shoes for Olympic Lifting, Power Lifting, Running, Endurance trai...

Sustaining weight loss is as important as losing weight to begin with. After having achieved weight loss most people simply get back to eating what they were before staring the weight loss diet. The result is a regain in both weight and fat to the level that was prior to the start of the weight loss or even more than before in certain cases. While this is certainly not the case with everyone losing weight, these are some who do experience it. During a weight loss diet, the calorie intake is reduced well below maintenance levels and thus as the diet gets over most people just jump back to their maintenance level intake while some even surpass this level taking in a lot more than would be needed. Another aspect to take into consideration is the hormonal status of the individual during weight loss. Cravings are at their peak and resisting food especially high calorie foods is just not that easy after the weight loss diet ends. Not to forget the fact the during weight loss phase, as in...

Most of us who are into strength training must have heard the words "Power Rack" at some point in their training years. While an extremely beneficial piece of equipment, the power rack is rarely found in gyms in India especially gyms in smaller cities and towns. A standard Power Rack consists of four vertical columns attached to each other, hooks for placing the barbell, safety bars for catching the barbell (if it may fall) and a pull up bar. It is designed keeping the most important parameter i.e. Safety in mind for the strength training enthusiast. A Power Rack is easily confused with a squat rack, which most gyms have or even a smith machine which is a totally different equipment serving a different purpose. Some other terms used to describe a power rack are power cage, half rack (which is basically half i.e. having only two vertical columns) and a squat cage. A standard heavy weight power rack should be a compulsory item in a gym or even at home if you train at h...

For those that may not be familiar with calories and macro nutrients can go through  Calculating Current Macros and Calories  this post will give a brief introduction on calculating current calorie and macro nutrient intake. Based on this current intake adjustments can be made to accommodate for a fat loss aimed dietary intake. Do keep in mind that there can be a difference between your recommended daily calorie intake and the current daily intake you'r consuming. If there's a big gap between these two numbers then it may be better to not reduce calories further as it may lead to a further slowing down of metabolism and thereby hindering the fat loss goal. I have done the following calculation taking a hypothetical individual "A" as an example. This is just to explain the concept and you should not assume this to be the recommended fat loss intake and thus should only understand the concept rather than start following it. Example: Recommended Body Weight Maintena...