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I think I did a post on this about a year or so ago (must be the season), but I often wonder if its really worth it to keep working out when you’re sick. I’ve read several articles that would suggest that although you may not have as much energy and intensity when you are sick, you can still get benefit from it. That’s probably true.

I guess the thing that I always wonder is that if I keep working out when I’m sick, and I just prolonging the sickness? Or should I just take some time, get feeling better, and then get back into the swing of things. My natural tendency would be to just get better first.

What have your experiences been in regards to this?

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Do you ever wonder how much water you should be drinking?  A lot of people do. Here is a tip from John Berardi to help answer that question:

How Much Water?
by Dr. John Berardi

You always hear experts recommending that you drink more water but how many of you actually do it? And how much is enough? Well, check out this chart below for some interesting data on water loss.

Water Loss/ Normal Weather No exercise/ Warm Weather No exercise /Exercise in Warm Weather (85° F)

Skin 350 mL/ 350 mL/ 350 mL
Respiratory Tract 250 mL/ 350 mL/ 650 mL
Urine 1400 mL/ 1200 mL/ 500 mL
Feces 100 mL/ 100 mL/ 100 mL
Sweat 100 mL/ 1400 mL/ 5000 mL
Total 2,300 mL (2.3L)/ 3,300 mL (3.3L)/ 6,600 mL (6.6L)

It should be clear that quite a bit of water is lost per day, especially if you’re an athlete. Since most people can get about 1.5L of water from their food and from metabolic water production, for a margin of safety, I suggest:

• Sedentary individuals drink at least 2L or about 8 cups of water per day
• Athletes in normal climates drink at least 3L or about 12 cups of water per day.
• Athletes in hot weather climates drink at least 4L or about 16 cups of water per day.

This tip is provided by Dr. John Berardi of Precision Nutrition.

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As you all know, there are a lot of places online where you can buy your bodybuilding supplements. One site that I came across recently that has good prices and a really good selection is I’llPumpYouUp.com.

One thing I really liked about the site was that they have all the different brands that they offer listed down the right hand side of the site. I know that a lot of ‘gym rats’ have their favorite brands, and so this navigation made it a lot easier to find what I was looking for.

Another nice feature was the reviews area. I always like to read up on a supplement before I give it a try, and not just from the company but from other users. This site has a very good review section with reviews on most of the products that they offer.

I also did a few quick price comparisons with some of the other good, low priced supplement sites I know and I’llPumpYouUp.com was in line with most of them. So if you’re in the market for some supplements give them a try!

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I saw a really cool video on Alwyn Cosgrove’s blog today, it really makes you think about the excuses that you make and why you make them.

Honestly, you can make excuses about anything. It doesn’t matter what it is, you can always come up with an excuse not to do something. I know that if I really want to progress and reach my goals, I have to stop making excuses and find the reason to make things happen. It’s a lesson that I think we all need to keep learning over and over again.

Here’s the video:

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Sponsored Post

If you workout in the basement or in your garage, chances are that these are the months that you have the hardest time getting to your workout because it gets so darn cold! Have you ever gripped the bar and wondered if your hand was going to freeze to it? Not a fun experience!

So if you’re in this type of a situation, you might want to consider getting a good wall heater or gas portable heaters for your workout area. These types of products can make your workout so much more enjoyable during these cold months. Don’t let the cold become an excuse to pack on some muscle (or lose some weight, whatever the goal might be) this winter!

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Today’s Nutrition Tip is about ways to track what you’re eating. You may not feel like you need to track every single calorie or macronutrient that you eat, but it’s good to at least check up on it every now and then to see if you’re on track or not. I’ve used FitDay.com off and on for years and its a great tool. Here are some other recommendations from John Berardi.

How To Manage Your Macronutrients
by Dr. John Berardi

Are you more likely to be able to decipher ancient Greek texts than figure out how to construct a diet containing 30% protein, 50% carbohydrate, and 20% fat? Well then check out the following resources.

1. www.nal.usda.gov/fnic is the National Agriculture Library’s Food and Nutrition Information Center. Here you can find basic information on dietary supplements, an advanced food composition database, information about the food guide, and a listing of interesting resources about special needs, food allergies, etc.
2. www.nutritiondata.com is a fantastic resource and although it uses the food database above, may actually offer a better presentation of the food composition data. It doesn’t offer the other information, though.
3. www.fitday.com is another great food composition site that offers much more including online diet and fitness journals.
4. www.calorieking.com offers many of the same resources as fitday.com but has several excellent additional features such as an online ‘university’ (weekly education about the physiological and behavioral sides of nutrition). The extras cost money but are worth checking into.

This tip is provided by Dr. John Berardi of Precision Nutrition.

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I was reading an interesting article this morning from MSN Health & Fitness about the extra benefits to building muscle. I know that a lot of people feel that building muscle is mainly a vanity thing. Well, with that type of mentality they are really missing out on the regular health benefits of having more muscle on the body.

The article focuses on sarcopenia, the gradual breakdown of muscles as a person gets older. This happens to all of us, and the natural remedy for it is to be doing resistance training. The article also talks about the fact that doing cardio alone isn’t enough. So if you’re the kind of person that loves going for a jog but hates hitting the weights, then you are missing out on the true benefits of resistance exercise.

I’m not going to summarize the whole article, but if you were looking for some extra motivation to go to the gym, this article might just help!

Here’s the link to the article: Special Report: Fight Age With Muscle

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Well, if you were waiting for the last minute to set your resolutions for 2008, this is it! I’m a big believer that if you’re going to set a New Year’s Resolution you need to do it before the New Year, that way you can start the year off with that goal in mind. I know that sounds like a simple idea, but I wonder sometimes how many people wait until the 5th to set their Resolutions.

My wife and I were talking about this last night and are going to break our fitness resolution up into different goals for the quarter, with the overall theme of being more active this year. My personal goal is to get in the best shape of my life, but that is also broken up into smaller, quarterly goals to achieve more specific, measurable things. “Getting in the best shape of my life” isn’t really a goal in itself, but its the theme that I’m setting for this year.

So for the first quarterly goal my wife and I are going off candy and desserts. We are allowing limited portions when its a family party or something like that, but we won’t be buying that stuff for ourselves. What are your plans for the New Year?

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There is a lot of discussion these days about the benefits of pre and post workout shakes. There are also a lot of products on the market these days that promise to be the absolute best thing you can consume to get the most out of your workouts. With all this hype, it can often be confusing to know what you should really be doing.

Leave it to Will Brink to try and cut through the hype and tell you the truth. I read a really good article by him today on this same subject. Rather than going into all of the details that he covers, I’ll just let him do it. The article is a little lengthy, but is a really good read.

So here you go! The Religion of Pre and Post Workout Nutrition.

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As we all know, nutrition is a key part of any fitness program. This especially applies to your workout nutrition. Here is a great tip from John Berardi on the topic:

Protein/Carbs Before Exercise To Burn Fat?
by Dr. John Berardi

While nearly everyone nowadays knows that pre, during, and post exercise nutritional intake is critical for improving protein status and glycogen synthesis, most people fear that the ingestion of protein and carbohydrates during these times will decrease fat oxidation (burning).

Well, put simply, they’re wrong (sticking out tongue).

Studies have demonstrated that even in the presence of a relatively high carbohydrate intake (and large insulin response), the addition of protein to a carbohydrate meal can increase fat burning during exercise.

So it looks like a well-designed pre, during, and post exercise intake will not only improve protein status and glycogen resynthesis but it may actually increase fat burning. Bigger and leaner? Say it ain’t so.

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