The Importance of Essential Fats

Many people get confused when it comes to looking at fats in their diet, they think that there are no essential fats as its fat and will make you put on weight around the waist.

The truth is that there are different types of fats, some of these fats are only used as fuel and are not needed in your diet but there are also important essential fats that your body needs.

Essential fats are actually called EPA's or Essential Fatty Acids. These essential fatty acids make up important parts of the biological process within the human body yet cannot be constructed by the body so have to be obtained by our diet.

The essential fatty acids that you need in your body are called Monounsaturated fat and Polyunsaturated fat (collectively called Trans fats). To obtain the correct amount of these essential fatty acids you need to take in an estimated 15ml per 25kg (55lbs) you weigh.

Looking further in to essential fatty acids from a science point of view you will understand that trans fats can be broken down further in to Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9 fatty acids.

Dietary requirements show that the best ratio of taking Omega fatty acids is 50% Omega 3, 25% Omega 6 and 25% Omega 9 fatty acids although this ratio is not easily obtained on a daily basis unless really scrutinising your diet.

Below is a list of foods that you can gain your essential fatty acids from

* Fish (Tuna, Herring, Mackerel among others)
* Cereal
* Whole grain wheat
* Nuts (Peanuts, Walnuts, and other nuts)
* Oils (Olive oil, Sunflower oil and Safflower oil)
* Bananas
* Seed (Hemp seed and Flax seed among others)


So what does fatty acids actually do for my body and training regime?

* Enhance stamina by between 40% and 60%
* Improve muscular development
* Allow more frequent training
* Speed recovery from exhaustion
* Speed healing due to injuries
* Improve sleep
* Improve concentration
* Improve skin condition

Summary

Ensure that you are taking essential fatty acids in to your diet and that they make up 20% of your total calorific intake so you can maximise your gains.

A Weak Week

First I wish to apologise for not posting all week, but this is due to me having a weak week. Yes this week saw me in the gym four times and each time I felt my energy sapped so I could not lift the weight I am accustomed to lifting.

I saw my bench press reduced by 10kg (22 lbs) and my barbell row down by 10kg (22 lbs) also, at first I thought it was down to the way I was eating but this seems to not be the case.

Sometimes you can have small periods where you don't have the energy physically or mentally to lift the weight you normally would, when this occurs you just have to try and train through it.

Luckily for me today I saw my rut end and I was able to bash out the weights as normal. I was training chest and triceps alone today as my training partner was not able to make it.

Im hoping that tomorrow will see me lifting well on my back and biceps!

Todays lifting min 8 reps

Decline Bench Press - 90kg (200 lbs)
Dumbbell Bench Press - 36kg (80 lbs) each hand
Pec Deck - 80kg (176 lbs)
Cable Crossovers - 22.5kg (50 lbs) each hand
Tricep Cable Pulldowns - 32.5kg (71.5 lbs)

I then finished off with core work.

Caffeine

You may wonder why caffeine has been added to the supplement section rather than the nutrition section. The truth behind this is that even though caffeine is not a supplement from a store you buy it is still a supplement used for various reasons in weight trainnig.

Caffeine is a stimulant that affects the central nervous system and is found in many food products but in its most natural form is found in Tea, Coffee, Guarana Berries, Kola Nuts, Cocoa and Yerba Mate.

Although foods with added caffeine may hold higher levels of caffeine in their ingredients compared to the list above, caffeine in its natural form is the best supplement to take.

For those who are unsure of caffeine levels in products, the average cup of coffee holds 100 milligrams of caffeine.

So how does caffeine works as a training supplement?

Lifting More

Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system (CNS) by activating the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), this branch of the central nervous system causes an increase in heart rate, an improvement in blood flow and blood pressure to the muscle as well as the release of glucose from the liver.

Due to the above some power lifters and body builders actually drink coffee while they are training to give them an edge. The edge is due to the increase in blood flow to the muscles which can help lift that extra few reps or that extra few pounds/kilograms in weight.

Fat Loss

Caffeine carries Paraxanthine which aids lipolysis through helping the body to use fatty acids as a fuel. Not only this, caffeine is also believed to suppress a persons appetite and also help with energy expenditure (burning calories) through the thermogenic effect.

Mental Alertness

As well as aiding fat loss and the potential for greater physical strength caffeine also improves mental awareness making a person more alert and improving reaction times. Given that a persons mental state of mind can also be a big factor in how much they can lift caffeine can give a person the mental strength to lift that extra rep due to feeling alert and awake.