Tamara Makar

IFBB Pro Athlete

About L-Carnitine

Posted on September 3, 2016 by Tammy

L-Carnitine is one of the naturally occurring amino acids. It is often used as a weight loss supplement. It transports the fatty acids into the cells’ mitochondria where it gets burnt off to use as energy. Your body can produce L-Carnitine from the amino acids lysine and methionine. You can also obtain small amount of L-Carnitine from your diet by eating meat or fish.

L-Carnitine L-Tartrate is the most common form of L-Carnitine that is used in most sport supplements, because of its fast absorption and it may help with muscle soreness and recovery.

In human studies, taking acetyl-L-carnitine daily helped reverse the decline in brain function associated with Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases.

Some studies have demonstrated a potential benefit for reducing blood pressure and the inflammatory process associated with heart disease.

L-carnitine may benefit:

Recovery:It may improve exercise recovery.

Muscle oxygen supply: It may increase oxygen supply to the muscles

Stamina: It may increase blood flow and nitric oxide production, helping delay the “burn” and reduce fatigue

Muscle soreness: It may reduce muscle soreness after exercise

Red blood cell production: It may increase the production of red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout your body and muscles.

L-carnitine has also been shown to reduce symptoms of type 2 diabetes and its associated risk factors.

The main foods high in L-Carnitine are:

– beef
– pork
– fish
– chicken
– milk

L-Carnitine has a greater absorption rate from food than from supplements.

Doses of 2 grams or less per day seem to be well tolerated and safe for most people. Some people have reported nausea or other digestive side effects, but no serious issues have been found.

About ephedrine

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Tammy

The main ingredient in fat burners or thermogenics is ephedrine, a synthetic version of a chinese herb ephedra, or also known as ma huang.

Ephedrine is a drug, rather than a nutrition supplement. It is also used in low concentrations in flu and cold remedies (pseudoephedrine).

Ephedrine is chemically similar to amphetamines, which act on the brain and the central nervous system.

There is some evidence that ephedrine helps fat loss: partly due to an increase in thermogenesis, partly because it suppresses your appetite and partly because it makes you more active.

When taken as an ECA stack (ephedrine – caffeine – aspirin) ephedrine has a greater effect in terms of weight loss and thermogenesis. However the fat burning effect of ephedrine seems to decrease over time.

Ephedrine is judged to be safe in doses between 18-25 mg, that’s the amount that’s used in cold remedies. Doses more than 32 mg a day may triple your risk of bleeding in the brain. Prolonged use and higher doses combined with heavy exercise increase your risk of side effects, like increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, palpitations, anxiety, nervousness, insomnia, headaches, nausea, vomiting and dizziness.

Ephedrine is addictive, and people can develop a tolerance to it, which means you will need to take more and more to get the same effects.

About BCAAs

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Tammy

BCAAs are the most popular amino acid supplements. They contain:

Valine
Leucine
Isoleucine

These 3 amino acids make up to one third of muscle in the body. The body breaks down muscle to get energy, especially during strenuous exercise, to get these amino acids.

BCAAs are converted into 2 other amino acids:

glutamine and
alanine,

which are released in large quantities during aerobic exercise. They can also be used directly for fuel, especially when muscle glycogen is depleted.

Foods high in BCAAs:

Meats: red meat is the highest in BCAAs. Other meats (poultry etc) are high in BCAAs, too because they’re primarily protein. Choose lean cuts, chicken breast without the skin etc
Eggs: they are packed with nutrition and BCAAs, and easy to add to your diet.
Dairy products are high in BCAAs: low fat cheese, milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, frozen yogurt. Additional dairy options could be: cheese, cream and butter.
Liquid and powder protein: very popular source, easy to prepare, drink and digest. If you mix your whey protein with milk, you boost the BCAA content of your shake.

Taking BCAA supplements before and during exercise can reduce muscle breakdown. They may also help preserve muscle in athletes on a low carb diet. It will probably not boost your endurance, however taking 6 – 15 gr of BCAAs daily may help improve your recovery.

Side effects: BCAAs are relatively safe because they are normally found in protein in the diet.

About the hormones: Cortisol

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Tammy

Cortisol is one of the stress hormones that is produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. Stress increases cortisol levels which can be a good or a bad thing. Cortisol is needed in the body to maintain certain physiological processes during time of stress. Without it the body would be unable to respond to stress effectively.
The functions of cortisol are also important to control mood and well-being, immune cells and inflammation, blood vessels and blood pressure, and to maintain connective tissues like bones, muscles and skin.
With effective cortisol metabolism during the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism we can either run away or fight, because cortisol secretion releases amino acids from the muscles, glucose from the liver and fatty acids from adipose tissue in the blood stream to use for energy. So cortisol is good.

Cortisol-like drugs help with inflammations and certain skin diseases because of its anti-inflammatory and immune-suppressing properties.

When we encounter a stressor, either in a physical or psychological senses, the endocrine system tries to set things right by the coordinated actions of the pituitary and hypothalamus in the brain and the two adrenal glands in the kidney. These hormonal signals involve the epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine, cortisol and numerous intermediary hormones to interact to help regulate important aspects of physiology, like cardiovascular function, energy metabolism, immune-system activity and brain chemistry.

Generally speaking, cortisol turns ‘bad’ when you either have too much of it, or you’re exposed to it on a regular basis.

Unfortunately many people’s adrenal stress response overreacts by secreting too much cortisol. Cortisol stimulates certain metabolic processes that increase concentrations of glucose in the blood. These metabolic effects are:

stimulation of gluconeogenesis, that converts amino acids into glucose,
mobilization of amino acids from the muscle tissue, so that it can provide the ‘material’ for gluconeogenesis,
inhibition of glucose uptake in muscle and adipose tissue, which increases the blood glucose levels even more,
and stimulation of fat breakdown in adipose tissue.

Unfortunately the fatty acids that are released by the fat breakdown (lipolysis) reduces the cellular sensitivity to insulin.

Back in the caveman days when a stressor was a tiger or other predator, the stress response was a vital survival technique:

a brief increase of energy levels,
and hormone levels,
and the ability for forceful muscle contractions: the fight or flight mechanism.

Unfortunately nowadays, when we face a stressor, like a deadline at work, or a traffic jam, our bodies undergo the same metabolic stress changes, which leads us to increased disease risks.

Benefits of stretching

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Tammy

Stretching is very important for flexibility, range of motion and injury prevention. Stretching also increases blood flow to the muscle.
There are 2 types of stretching:

dynamic stretching
static stretching

Dynamic stretching you do before you start your workout. The purpose of it is to prepare the muscles and your body – and also your mind – for the workout. It consists of putting your muscles through their full range of motion by way of mobilizing the joints they’re attached to. Dynamic stretches will elevate the muscles’ core temperature and ramp up the nervous system so that your body is ready to lift some heavy weights. It will help reduce the risk of injury and over time it improves your performance and maximizes your movements due to the increase of flexibility in your joints.
Static stretching you use during and after your workout. It helps cool down the muscles, prevents injury and makes sure you lengthen your muscles after contracting/shortening them during resistance training.

How to train for weight loss

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Tammy

In my previous article I outlined a few points for a diet plan for weight loss. As you probably have heard this phrase a million times by now: abs are made in the kitchen. About 80% of your weight loss efforts will come down to your diet.You can estimate how much energy you burn during exercise, but the rule of thumb is that the more intense the exercise, the more calories are burnt.

For eg for a 150 lb person (69 kg) 30 mins of:

walking at 3 miles/hr burns 150 kcal
walking at 4.5 miles/hr burns 233 kcal
martial arts burn 401 kcal.

More often than not you see people in the gym, plodding away on the treadmill, crosstrainer or bike at a speed that allows them to play on their phones or talk to their friends.
Just to compare the calories and how much it takes to burn them off:
A Krispy Kreme chocolate ice donut with Kreme filling is 360 Kcal. That equals to =

94 mins walking
41 mins jogging or
48 mins cycling

A double cheese burger at McDonald’s is 440 Kcal. That equals to =

115 mins walking
50 mins jogging or
59 mins cycling

And usually when people go to McDonald’s or Krispy Kreme they don’t just have 1 donut or 1 burger.
So my point is: with a balanced diet it’s easier to ‘keep in shape’ than doing a yo-yo diet.

If you want to maximise the exercise component in order to shed body fat, choose exercise modes that are physically demanding as they use more energy. So instead of walking on the treadmill at 3-4 mph for 45 mins, do a HIIT training for 20-25 mins. With this type of training – even though you’re out of your ‘fat burning zone’, but you deplete your muscle glycogen stores and your body will be forced to tap into the adipose tissue for fuel. We have an almost unlimited supply of energy in the form of stored fat. Marathon runners fatigue due to glycogen depletion, not fat.
You will also burn more fat post workout, during your recovery, if you engage in high intensity training.
And last but not least: strength train! Girls, boys, everyone. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism is. Building muscle and strength is intense. Intense training depletes glycogen therefore more stored fat is used for energy. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

How to eat for weight loss

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Tammy

There are so many diets out there, no wonder people get confused which one would suit them better. Atkins diet, bloodtype diet, cabbage soup diet, grapefruit diet, slimming world, weight watchers, ketogenic diet, low fat diet, low GI diet….. and the list goes on. Is losing fat as simple as creating calorie deficit? Most diets say: if your calorie intake is less than what you burn off, you will lose weight. Well, that might be true – to a certain extent, but is it only fat that you will burn off?

A pound of fat equals 3500 calories. A pound of muscle renders 600 calories. So 500 calories deficit a day will give you 3500 calories over a week: 500 x 7 = 3500
However there are 2 ways it can go:
– you will either lose 1 pound of fat (3500 calories)
– or you can lose 6 pounds of muscle (6 x 600 = 3600 calories)
Obviously you want to avoid losing muscle tissue. That’s why it is important that you pay attention to the correct calorie deficit based on your current bodyfat levels and activity level. If you have a higher % of bodyfat, you can get away with a larger deficit in the early stages of your diet. But if you have a low(er) % of bodyfat, the calorie deficit needs to be adjusted to avoid losing muscle tissue. In your cutting diet, the type of protein, carb and fat has to be considered as well as how the body processes them.

1 gr of protein = 4 calories,

1 gr of carbs = 4 calories and
1 gr of fat = 9 calories.
In general, high glycemic carbs create a large, temporary rise in blood sugar because they’re quickly digested. Low GI carbs create a lower rise because they’re slower digested.

A rapid blood sugar rise means:

– more insulin is released. A high insulin level promotes quick storage of sugar in muscle and liver. It also inhibits the hormone glucagon which normally tells the body to burn stored fat. Obese people tend to be sugar burners, they mainly burn stored glycogen. Their forthcoming meals restore glycogen (especially if it’s high GI) and the circle goes on, therefore they never get to burn stored bodyfat, they just store more and more.
– Blood sugar levels drop quickly, leaving you feel hungry sooner, so your body needs fuel again. The glucagon is still in short supply, therefore the body does not tap into the stored fat for supply. You feel hungry and will eat again – needlessly, which will lead to increased fat gain over time.

Moderate and high glycemic foods are recommended after exercise when the plasma glucose concentrations are elevated and it facilitates muscle glycogen replenishment.
For tailor made nutrition and training plans contact me on hello@tamaramakar.me, KIK: tamaramakar