Creating Your Exercise and Diet Schedule
Whether you’re looking to lose weight or build muscle, it’s essential to back up your exercise routine with a healthy diet. The old adage “abs are made in the kitchen” is true, and it is difficult to get lean on the treadmill if your diet is filled with processed, high-calorie foods containing simple carbohydrates and excess trans or saturated fats.
The first step is to determine your baseline goal for fitness, which could be anything from reducing aches and pains to improving cardiovascular endurance or increasing muscular strength. Once you have a goal in mind, it’s time to begin creating your exercise and diet schedule.
Experts agree that consistency is key when trying to turn an exercise routine into a habit, so choosing the same day and time each week for your workout is a good start. For example, if you plan to exercise after work every day, it’s important to commit to this at the beginning so that you can build the habit.
When it comes to preworkout nutrition, timing is also key. Eating a meal or snack that is high in carbs about 1 hour before you exercise can help fuel your workout. The amount of food you eat is dependent on your body size, metabolism, gastric motility and type of exercise; however, for the average 150-pound person, 68 grams of carbohydrates is appropriate.
To promote muscular strength and endurance, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends two full-body, low to moderate-intensity strength training sessions per week that target all major muscle groups. Additionally, ACSM suggests performing moderate to vigorous aerobic activity for at least 150 minutes per week or 300 total minutes of exercise. Kost och träningsschema