Tamara Makar

IFBB Pro Athlete

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

Answering some common questions 1.

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Tammy

I have been receiving a few questions related to my previous posts and in general. I will answer them on here regularly, so keep them coming.

What are electrolytes:

Electrolytes are mineral salts dissolved in the body’s fluid. They include:

* sodium,
* chloride,
* potassium and
* magnesium,
and help to regulate the fluid balance between different body compartments (for example, the amount of fluid inside and outside a muscle cell), and the volume of fluid in the bloodstream.

The water movement is controlled by the concentration of electrolytes on either side of the cell membrane. For example, an increase in the concentration of sodium outside a cell will cause water to move to it from inside the cell. Similarly, a drop in sodium concentration will cause water to move from the outside to the inside of the cell. Potassium draws water across a membrane, so a high potassium concentration inside cells increases the cell’s water content.

What are glucose polymers and maltodextrins?
Between a sugar (1– 2 units) and a starch (several 100,000 units), although
closer to the former, are glucose polymers (maltodextrins). These are chains
of between 4 and 20 glucose molecules produced from boiling corn-starch
under controlled commercial conditions.
The advantage of using glucose polymers instead of glucose or sucrose in a
drink is that a higher concentration of carbohydrate can be achieved (usually
between 10 and 20 g/ 100 ml) at a lower osmolality.

What are multiple transportable carbohydrates?
This term refers to a mixture of carbohydrates (e.g. glucose and fructose;
maltodextrin and fructose) in sports drinks. These carbohydrates are
absorbed from the intestine by different transporters, and using a mixture
rather than a single type of carbohydrate in a sports drink overcomes the
usual limitation of gut uptake of carbohydrate.

I would like to bulk up, how can I do that?
As you probably know, putting on muscle (or shredding fat) lies in your diet/nutrition. If you’d like to put on muscle mass, first thing you need to do is to revise your protein intake. Do you know how much protein you take in? 100 gr of chicken breast contains 25-30 gr protein, 100 gr of white fish has about 24 gr, 100 gr of steak has about 25 gr of protein, 100 gr cottage cheese about 10 gr. Endurance athletes usually take about 1.2 – 1.7 gr protein/kg of bodyweight/day, and bodybuilders take a lot more than that to build muscle. Then you need to revise your carbohydrate intake as well. Carbohydrates/muscle glycogen is the primary energy source when training. If you don’t have enough muscle glycogen, your performance will suffer (less intensity, lighter weights = less muscle), and your body will use amino acids to convert to glycogen (less muscle building). The amount of carb you need to eat depends on a lot of factors: your insulin sensitivity and the rate of your metabolism. People with high metabolism can eat more carbs, and people with high insulin sensitivity (and low metabolism) have to watch their carb intake otherwise they will put on a lot of fat as well along with the muscle.

Keep the questions coming, I will reply to them regularly on here!
hello@tamaramakar.me

Psychology of Supplements

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Tammy

What is a dietary supplement?

A dietary supplement is a product intended for ingestion that contains a “dietary ingredient” intended to add further nutritional value to (supplement) the diet. A “dietary ingredient” may be one, or any combination, of the following substances:

a vitamin
a mineral
an herb or other botanical
an amino acid
a dietary substance for use by people to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake
a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, or extract

Dietary supplements may be found in many forms such as tablets, capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids, or powders. Some dietary supplements can help ensure that you get an adequate dietary intake of essential nutrients; others may help you reduce your risk of disease.

It should be noted that any claims a manufacturer or individual makes about a supplement might change its classification.

Researchers have also differentiated “nonvitamin, nonmineral supplements” (NVNM) as those primarily consisting of herbal, botanical, protein/amino acid, brewer’s yeast, and shark cartilage and a variety of other plant-based and nonplant dietary supplements such as enzymes and fish oil.

In competitive sports specifically, there are both “accepted” and “illegal/banned” substances, including some supplements.

In an interesting quandary for the field of performance enhancement, many supplements marketed to athletes contain banned substances – either overtly or because of impurities in these supplements. Researchers bought supplements from 215 suppliers in 13 countries testing 634 nonhormonal supplements. A meaningful % of the supplements (14.8%) contained substances that would lead to a positive drug test.

Problems also abound for individuals who use supplements to achieve added weight loss and/or muscle gain (or improved recovery after workouts) from their exercise programs.

Considering a worldwide ongoing obesity epidemic, it is not surprising that many individuals are seeking new ways to lose weight. Supplements promise, though probably seldom deliver, a magic bullet of sorts: easy, hassle-free weight loss with little in the way of dietary sacrifice.

Athletes undoubtedly account for a large portion of those who use dietary supplements, and there are a variety of products that are marketed directly at competitive athletes. Elite athletes tend to take supplements more commonly than college or high school athletes, and women used supplements more often than men.

Considering elite Canadian athletes participating at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, respectively, prevalence rates of 69% and 74% were reported. Vitamin use was most common (58-66%), whereas nutritional supplements were used commonly (Atlanta: 35% men, 43% women, Sydney: 43% men, 51% women) often consisting of creatine, and/or amino acid supplementation. Based on results overal, it appears that supplementation increases with the competitive level of the sport and is somewhat higher for female athletes.

There are 3 specific categories: supplement use to build muscle for aesthetic purposes or body image concerns, and supplement use to lose weight for aesthetic purposes, body image concerns, or health.

There is a behaviouristic explanation possible for the use of supplements in that athletes’ use may lead to reward contingencies (eg: more prize money), thereby driving future behaviour. Similarly, supplements that build muscle or promote weight loss could produce rewarding results. Also, there are undoubtedly social influences at work considering that coaches, parents, athletic trainers, and peers have been reported to be influential regarding the decision to take supplements.

Operant conditioning: focuses on the manner in which our behaviour and action are influenced by the outcomes that follow them. Derived from the behaviouristic research tradition, the sum of findings in this area dictate that some outcomes/stimuli strengthen the behaviour that preceded them, and others weaken the likelihood of the behaviour that preceded them. Outcomes that increase the likelihood of behaviour are known as reinforcers, and those that decrease the likelihood of behaviour are known as punishment. In the present context, prize money, praise from others, or rewards due to improved performance are reinforcers of the behaviour to take supplements. Because most legal supplements likely would not produce dramatic sport performance gains, muscle mass gains, or weight loss results, perhaps the best explanation for use is found in other theories. Behaviouralistic explanations, however, might be highly applicable considering the use of illegal substance such as steroid use.

When trying to change attitudes about whether supplements are good or bad, it is likely that some individuals are more persuasive than others. Individuals are more persuasive if they are seen as trustworthy or having pertinent expertise. The supplement industry often uses exactly such a strategy to help market their products. University research and “expert” sport and exercise nutritionists are increasingly being used to support the efficacy of performance enhancing, muscle building, or weight loss supplements. Consumers should consider, however, that a company may contract with 3 universities to test their products and report only the results of the positive outcomes in their advertisements.

Achievement Goal theory: within this theory, it is assumed that there are differences in the manners by which athletes judge their competence or success. Individuals who are task-oriented tent to judge their success on the basis of personal improvement, whereas those who are ego-oriented tent to judge their success on the basis of social comparison with others. Task-oriented individuals typically view personal ability as changeable and exhibit strong motivation regardless of their perceptions of competence. Those who are ego-oriented, tend to view ability as more static and are thus more likely to engage in questionable strategies to ensure winning and would be expected to engage in more frequent doping activities and perhaps a greater willingness to use supplementation strategies.

Body image and eating disorders: Obesity rates have dramatically increased over the past few decades, a similar increase in the ideal body size has not occurred in the female population. In fact, the “ideal” waist size for females may have become unhealthily small. Because of these 2 contradictory trends, it is no surprise that the use of supplements targeted at weight loss has increased dramatically during this same time period. The nation is getting heavier and feeling worse about it, especially the female segment. In one survey, research showed that among women at risk for eating disorders approximately 65% engage in frequent use of “diet pills”.

Adonis complex: There is an opposing set of preoccupation afflicting males termed the Adonis complex, which seems to be afflicting boys and men more specifically during the last few decades. These individuals may compulsively lift weights or exercise, engage in steroid abuse, elect to undergo plastic surgery, or suffer from eating disorders or body dysmorphic disorders, all in attempts to gain muscle mass, change fat distribution, or otherwise alter their appearance to some ideal.

In one of the seminal works in this area, Pop and colleagues interview 108 bodybuilders (55 steroid users and 53 non-steroid users) and found a higher than normal incidence of anorexia nervosa (2.8%) and a surprising incidence of ‘reverse anorexia’ (8.3%), with some of the respondents believing that they appeared small and weak despite their large, muscular appearance. The latter finding indicated that some of these bodybuilders exhibited unusual preoccupations with their appearance. Such pathological preoccupation with muscularity has been termed muscle dysmorphia. As an important link to potential supplement use or abuse, in Pope and colleagues’ research all of the bodybuilders indicating muscle dysmorphia (then termed ‘reverse anorexia’) were in the sample of steroid users, and many reported that the symptoms of muscle dysmorphia were a factor that led to steroid use. As an indication of the degree of this obsession, individuals with this affliction have reported lifting weights for hours a day while sacrificing other areas of their lives. For example, some of these individuals reported earning degrees in business, law or medicine but did not pursue a career or gave up a career in these areas because they needed more time to lift weights. Recent research indicates that bodybuilders suffering from higher levels of muscle dysmorphia are more likely to experience body dissatisfaction, social physique anxiety, and use muscle-building or fat-reducing targeted supplements. At present there is some evidence that supplement use is greater among individuals with muscle dissatisfaction or muscle dysmorphia. It also appears that illegal supplement use may accompany muscle dysmorphia as data indicate that 1 million or more US males have used these substances primarily to promote muscle growth as opposed to performance enhancement purposes. Finally, it should also be noted that research find that some men have become preoccupied with fat, as opposed to muscle, and, in contrast to attempting to gain weight, may develop eating disorders. This suggests that body image concerns among males may drive some to attempt obsessively to build muscle mass whereas others may obsessively work to lose fat. In both cases it is likely that legal or illegal supplementation is a common means to achieve such goals.

An abstract from “Psychology of Supplements in Sport and Exercise – Motivational Antecedents and Biobehavioral Outcomes” by Rafer Lutz and Shawn Arent

Vitamins and minerals

Posted on May 8, 2016 by Tammy

Vitamins and minerals you need for your body to function properly.

Generally you can get all your vitamins and minerals from your diet, but there are certain cases when you need to supplement:

If you are vegetarian,
Eat a diet that’s limited because of food allergies and intolerances,
Or if you have a disease or condition that doesn’t allow you to digest or absorb nutrients properly.

Otherwise whole foods are a lot better sources than supplements as whole foods also contain a variety of nutrients your body needs – not just one. They also contain fibre that is important for digestion and they also contain phytochemicals that may help protect you against cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis or diabetes.

Fat soluble vitamins:
Vitamin A / beta carotene
Helps with healthy vision, bone and tissue growth and reproduction. Vitamin A and thyroid are closely related. A deficiency in either can precipitate a deficiency of the other and ideally should be balanced. In too large amounts, however, vitamin A can suppress the thyroid and depress levels of other fat soluble vitamins – especially vitamin D.
Foods: liver, egg yolks, milk

Vitamin D / calciferol
Often called the sunshine vitamin because your skin produces it after being exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun. It helps your body absorb calcium that is responsible for the normal development and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones.
To get vitamin D you need either sunlight or supplementation.

Vitamin E / tocopherol
It is an antioxidant that protects red blood cells and may play a role in immune function, DNA repair and other metabolic functions. It is also called the ‘anti-sterility’ vitamin as it opposes estrogen.

Water soluble vitamins
Vitamin C / ascorbic acid
It’s an antioxidant that maintains healthy tissue and helps the body absorb iron. Also plays a role in wound healing, reducing stress and making one less susceptible to food allergies.
Foods: orange juice, ripe fruits

Vitamin B3 / niacin
It is one of the 8 B complex vitamins that helps your body convert food to energy. It also helps with blood circulation and improved blood cholesterol levels.

Vitamin B6 / pyridoxine
It is needed to help your body use protein, form red blood cells and maintain brain function. It facilitates amino acid utilisation, aids in calcium metabolism, supports the liver and helps regulate the facilitation and use of glycogen.
Foods: liver, egg yolk, milk

Vitamin B9 / folate / folic acid
It is important in red blood cell formation and for healthy cell growth and function. Very important during pregnancy for the developing fetus.

Vitamin B12
It has an essential role in red blood cell formation, cell metabolism and nerve function.

About minerals in the next post.

How to step up your training – increase intensity

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Tammy

If you go to the gym on most days and you do the same workouts day in day out, not only you will get bored of it but your body will adapt to it, too. That means you will not see changes from the same workout after a while.

There are different techniques for the advanced athletes to step up their training and shock their bodies.

Go to failure: muscle failure is when you cannot do any more full reps with that weight. Most people don’t go to this extent because this is when the going gets tough. When we say you need to do 8 – 12 reps for muscle hypertrophy that means you cannot do more reps than 8 – 12. So if you could do another 3-4 reps with that weight, increase it.

Drop set: that means you do your regular reps with your weight and when you cannot do any more reps (you reach muscle failure) you drop the weights by 20-30% and continue the set until failure. For eg: you are doing bench press with 100 kg, you rep out to failure and when you cannot do any more full reps you strip off 20-30% of the weight (70-80 kg) and continue the set until failure.

Forced reps: you will need a training partner for this, unless you do certain exercises where you can self spot yourself: for eg one arm dumbbell curl. You do your set to muscle failure and when you cannot do any more full reps your training partner helps you with the concentric part of the lift.

Negatives: again, you will need a training partner for this. You only do 3-4 reps with this technique, not the full 10-12 reps. You load the weight heavier than you normally do. For eg: if you do bicep curls with 15 kg dumbbells for 12 reps, then you will use 17 kg or even 20 kg for this exercise. Your training partner helps you with the concentric part of the lift (ie: curling up) and you lower the weight yourself slowly. We are a lot stronger on the eccentric part of the lift, than on the concentric part of the lift, that’s why you need a partner to help you with the concentric part.

These are just a few ideas you could try, if you didn’t know about them.

For a personalized training plan please contact me:

hello@tamaramakar.me or KIK: tamaramakar

For personal training/coaching/contest prep FOR MEN AND WOMEN: please book an appointment in advance and see me at True Gym Mohandeseen.

#spacefitness #panatta

Hercules Olympia and England

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Tammy

Had a fabulous weekend in England last weekend. It was all rush and not enough time for anything, but it was nice to stand on stage again and meet some of my friends, even only briefly.

Left Cairo Thursday afternoon, my flight was scheduled at 5.30 pm. On the way to the airport there was a traffic jam on the road – what a surprise! I was getting a bit anxious therefore I tried to check in on my phone so that I don’t miss that. When I logged on the application to check in, it told me that I couldn’t because the check-in was not available anymore as the flight was at 4.45 pm. It turned out that because the clocks went back a few weeks ago (in the UK, not in Egypt) therefore they changed the time for the flight – although they don’t tell this to you to warn you. So I was running really late and I was even checking my other options when I could travel if I’d missed this flight. But fortunately I got there in the very last minute and checked in. Going through security I’ve met some lovely people, one of them is Ramy who is training in MMA.

Finally I got to London Heathrow at around 10 pm and made my way to Colchester on the train. I got to the hotel around 1 am, very exhausted. The next day I got up and went for a walk in the town centre. It is a lovely place, I really liked the atmosphere of the town. There was a market on the high street, and all the shops you can ask for. I realized how much I missed all these commodities and the green countryside. Cairo is very hot most of the year, even wintertime it’s only mild, not cold. You see the sun 24/7 almost, and the downside of it is that there’s not much rain, therefore there’s a lot of dust everywhere. It’s lovely to see the sun most of the time, and it truly makes up for most things: your mood is instantly better.

Anyway, so I tried to rest a bit on Friday , put a coat of tan on, had my wine in the evening and was waiting for Saturday to come.

Saturday was one of the longest days in my life. The registration was at 8 am at the venue, then we had a physique check where the judges checked all the ladies’ classes if everyone was in the right class, then we had an orientation meeting. This finished aorund 10.30am and the show started at 12pm. A break was planned to be at 4-5 pm, but when 4 pm came the show had not been even halfway through the classes that they planned on judging before the interval. That was a bit disappointing as my class was the second to the last after the interval. I was told the event was supposed to finish around 8 pm, and if there’s a delay then maybe around 9 pm. Well, eventually I got on stage at 10 pm, very tired and thirsty. Thankfully one of my friends was there with me and tried to distract me from all this.

There were 2 physique classes, open and masters and I entered the masters class, but because the event was running so late they merged the 2 classes and we ended up competing in the open class. In the open class I came 4th, but a few days later they posted the results for all the classes, so in the masters class I came 2nd. All the ladies looked great, really nice line up!

After the competition I went to fill up a bit on some food and water. Enjoyed some sweets and a pizza (only one slice, I don’t know why I keep buying pizzas after a competition when I don’t even eat it 🙂

The next morning we went to Harvester to have an all you can eat breakfast – something that I miss here in Egypt 🙂 the food was fabulous, I really enjoyed the pancakes and toast, although the bacon and sausage was a bit too salty for me after a competition diet.

After breakfast we made our way down towards Heathrow and we stopped in Cheshunt to pay a visit in my favourite gym, Monster Gym. I felt I had to use all those extra calories so I had a wicked back workout there. I was also happy to see that my photos are still on the wall 🙂

After training we headed to Langley to meet some friends and have my long awaited steak at the Harvester – yes, I know, it was my favourite place and I really miss it!

The next day I was flying back to Cairo. I had a lovely weekend there and I’m planning on going back in July or August as I couldn’t get to my stuff I left in London, because of the lenght of time and also because my friend who keeps them safe for me was away for work on that weekend.

Back to training now, preparing for the next competition. Watch this space!

Thank you Space Fitness and Panatta for making this trip possible!

Bye Bye Gold’s

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Tammy

Another year has passed. I arrived to Egypt end of March, started lecturing at Gold’s Gym Academy in April and got a job at Gold’s Gym Egypt in May. It was a very happy period indeed. I felt loved and appreciated. Then the months passed and things have changed. It is not shocking at all that most people are not what they show themselves to be. With time and age you get used to it and you just move on. In the past few months it has escalated to a level where I started feeling stressed and pushed. It will always be beyond me why certain people feel that they have to do things to try and make others feel less or as miserable as they are, although they haven’t got much to show up for themselves. Ignorance? Jealousy? Or just simply bad manners? Not important. It’s not worth any more space in my life or on my blog.

The only thing that is important that I have put an end to it yesterday – and I feel free again. It’s like a breath of fresh air, a big relief for me. Finally I can focus on something that I actually like doing: body building and teaching body building/fitness to people who are interested and want to learn.

Finally I am free to do body building seminars anywhere and I can have my private clients as soon as I sort out a gym to train them. I am also available for any guest posing or guest appearance in any gym in Cairo/Egypt. Please get in touch for more details: tamara@tamaramakar.me

Watch this space because big things are going to happen very soon. I have a few competitions lined up for 2015, and I also have my plan B.

Keep people in your life that truly love you, motivate you, encourage you, inspire you, enhance you and make you happy and get rid of the negative shit – job is done, look forward to a happier chapter in my life.

Muscle Mania registration

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Tammy

Yesterday I went to Balance Gym Tagamo to help register a friend of mine for Muscle Mania, and met a lot of other great athletes there, too.

Balance gym is a very well equipped gym in 2 locations in Cairo: in Tagamo and Sheraton. The Tagamo branch is the newer one with brand new Cybex equipment. I always liked training around in different gyms and I never mind travelling for a good gym to train certain body parts there. In the UK people always thought I was crazy because I used to travel an hour for a good gym for legs – well, probably you can see why… The results talk for themselves. When it comes to my training, I don’t compromise.

Muscle Mania Middle East will be held in Cairo next Friday (3rd April) and I really look forward to meeting all these phenomenal Egyptian athletes. Here are a few photos from yesterday:

Feel free to come and say hi when you see me there!

The different body types – mesomorphs and endomorphs

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Tammy

When you first start going to the gym, any changes you make to yourself: your nutrition or just working out will show results because you’re changing your routine. If you pair your training with a solid nutrition plan or just clean out your diet you will see even better results. In the gym, whether you do resistance training or cardio, start with a steady pace, let you body adjust and recover. Start with 2-3 days a week and gradually work it up to 4-5 days a week. You will see and feel how much time you need to recover. Your recovery time will heavily depend on your nutrition and your rest time though. If you’re not eating the right food your recovery will suffer.
The right food could be different for everyone. Something that works for someone might not work for the other. It also depends on your body type – as I said that in my previous post.
I’ve talked about the ectomorphs – the hardgainers – in my previous post.

Let’s see what the characteristics of a mesomorph:
Those are the people who don’t have to put much effort into their diets or training, they naturally have an athletic physique. They put on muscle (and fat as well) easily but they lose fat easily, too. They have well defined muscles, round muscle bellies – the best body type for bodybuilders, but for any athletes really. The best advise for them is to have more discipline. If they paid more attention to what they’re doing in the gym or what they eat, they could take their physiques to a completely different level easily.

The endomorphs are the people I talk to most: the people who put on fat very easily and have a hard time losing it. They have slow metabolism, they are soft and round, usually short and stocky. They put on muscle easily though so it’s not too bad for an athlete if they have the discipline to eat right. Endomorphs also need cardio all year around to keep in shape. They usually have insulin resistance to an extent therefore they really need to know when, how much and what type of carbs to eat to turn it to their advantage.

Personalized training and nutrition plans are available, contact me for details: hello@tamaramakar.me