What you eat after your workout is as critical as your pre-workout nutrition. The food you take after a workout plays a significant role in muscle repair, growth and overall recovery. Health expert JJ Virgin shares what you need to take and why it’s important to do so.

After your workout, you’ll want to combine carbohydrates with protein. This pairing helps support muscle repair and growth. It optimizes recovery by replenishing the glycogen stores that your body uses during exercise.

Studies indicate that the synergistic effect of carbohydrates and protein is more efficient at restoring muscle glycogen than carbohydrates alone. This combination aids in muscle repair and can improve performance in workouts, even up to 60 hours after the initial exercise session.

Combining carbohydrates and protein also enhances muscle protein synthesis during and after your workout, optimizing muscle repair and growth. Moreover, it contributes to the broader context of whole-body protein synthesis,...

What you eat before and after a workout will affect your performance and recovery. According to fitness expert JJ Virgin, eating the right balance of nutrients before a workout can provide you with the energy and strength necessary to perform at your best. After exercising, your focus should shift to recovery, which involves repairing muscle tissues, replenishing energy stores, and reducing inflammation. Here are her tips on what you need to know about the food you should eat before working out.

• Eating the right foods before working out boosts your exercise effectiveness. The right pre-workout fuel impacts your performance, how your body builds muscle and burns fat, and your overall health goals.
• Carbohydrates are essential for energy before resistance training. Choose slow-releasing, low-glycemic carbs like berries or sweet potatoes to keep blood-sugar levels steady, ensuring consistent power and performance.
• Research indicates that a mix of carbohydrates and protein better rep...

Whether you’re a newbie or veteran at exercising, you’ll need to watch out for exercise mistakes that impact your workout’s effectiveness. Health expert JJ Virgin shares the top five to look out for and what to do about it.

1. Overdoing Cardio and Neglecting Strength Training
Like acid-washed jeans and bleached hair, the cardio-obsessed 80s have faded away. Yet even today, I see folks trudging on the treadmill, usually thumbing through a magazine or catching up on Real Housewives on that little TV screen. I want to gently guide these folks into the weight room. Strength training does so many things, including boosting metabolism, increasing bone density, and steadying blood-sugar levels.

As you get older, muscle becomes critical: once you turn 30, muscle mass begins to decrease about 3-8% every decade. After 60, that loss becomes even higher. During prolonged periods of cardio, your body may start breaking down muscle tissue for energy. Some types, including running or cycling, can ...

We hope this Labor Day weekend finds you well and ready to RISE Together this weekend!

We have a few questions for you this weekend….what do you think is the best exercise proven to help you:

·      Melt off body fat, lose weight and keep it off 
·      Rev up your energy 
·      Breakthrough stress 
·      Boost your mood 
·      Increase your earning potential 
·      Enhance your love life 
·      Tone and tighten your entire body 
·      And much, much more…

Want to find out? 

What’s the best exercise to help you accomplish all of these wonderful benefits? Drum roll, please……

Here’s why walking ranks #1;

1.    It’s convenient- Walking is something you can do anytime, almost anywhere. You can walk inside or outside. No need for special gear, gym memberships or fancy equipment, all you need is a safe area to hoof it and you are on your way.  

2.    It’s inexpensive- Two words: “It’s Free!” Walking doesn’t cost anything. The only cost is for the only essential piece of equipmen...

How are you? How are you feeling? 

No question, it’s been a challenging few weeks for all of us and most likely under the weight of this situation you’ve felt its impact in some area of your life-body, mind, heart and spirit. We wanted to share with you some simple strategies over the coming weeks to help you gain strength to overcome obstacles you may be facing. We have discovered one of the best ways to help you do that is to boost your emotion through “motion”.  

According to fitness researcher, Michael Bracko of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the psychological aspect of exercise has been overlooked for some time now. Bracko states, “The psychological benefits of exercise are as important, if not more so, than the physical benefits. The physical needs and outcomes of exercise, whether it’s to lose weight, tone muscle, or address obesity dominates what we hear about, but lots of people who exercise don’t see stark physical benefits,” said Bracko. 

Researchers, lik...