Hey everyone! Coach Jimmy here again with another round of awesome health and fitness articles from around the web. I hope you all had a super safe and super fun Independence Day. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this, I scrounge up five of the best fitness articles from last week so you can keep on trucking towards your weight loss goals without having to worry about which articles to read in your spare time.
This week, we’ll cover how carbs fuel your workouts, some great grilling tips for your summer barbecues, how colorful foods have amazing health benefits, seven healthy burger recipes, and some neat holiday traditions you can start up with your friends and family.
The Best Health & Fitness Articles From Last Week
How Carbs Can Help You Get the Most Out of Your Workout
“Carbohydrates are…the main fuel source to ingest for optimal recovery allowing for high volumes and intensity of training in subsequent bouts,” – Dr. Jon Bartlett, Ph.D. Victoria University Melbourne
Ingested irresponsibly, carbs can absolutely wreck your diet and cause you to gain a good amount of weight, but if you’re looking for a boost during your workouts, they’re your best friend and should be a regular part of your diet. Plain and simple, carbs are fuel. During low to moderate workouts, you’ll burn fat as a fuel source, but when you turn the intensity level up to 11, your body will switch over to carbohydrates, specifically glycogen, to keep your muscles running.
Realistically, you shouldn’t be omitting carbs from your diet. Depriving your body of the fuel it needs is a good way to cut your legs out from under yourself during a workout. You’ll hit the proverbial wall earlier and it’ll be tougher for your body to recover. You should still limit them however. Dr. John Eric Smith from Mississippi State University recommends 30-60 grams per hour of exercise and 60-90 if you go beyond 2 hours.
15 Helpful Grilling Tips
Even though we’re well into barbecue season, it’s never too late to become a Grill-master! It may be a bit intimidating at first glance, but cooking your food on the grill opens up countless variations on your favorite foods to make you fall in love with them all over again and brings out new flavors that you just can’t replicate on the stove or in the oven. With a bit of practice and experimentation, you can grill up a full week’s worth of food in just a few hours. Follow these tips and you’ll be as master in no time!
Stay Healthy by Eating the Colors of the Rainbow – Summer Edition
Different colors offers different benefits, which is why it’s so important to eat the spectrum!
Variety is the spice of life and by adding in all the colors of the rainbow to your diet, you can supercharge your body with a plethora of benefits not just for your workouts, but for your overall health! Foods rich in phytonutrients are both vibrant in color and jam-packed with nutritional value. By learning the color’s corresponding health benefits, you can better prep your workouts to get that extra edge when you need it the most.
7 Healthy Burgers to Try This Summer
Eating burgers doesn’t have to be bad for you! There’s plenty of research out there on fast food, ground beef in general, and how you should minimize their role in your diet, but there are plenty of healthy variations on that old classic so you can grill them up at your next family barbecue without being weighed down by guilt. Whether you’re a vegetarian or just looking to have some healthier alternatives, there’s a recipe for everyone!
7 Great New Traditions to Start This 4th
Every family has holiday traditions and the 4th of July shouldn’t be any different. There are the timeless staples; fireworks, barbecue, and maybe some adult beverages with some friends, but why stop there?
- Have a flag fashion contest to show off your creativity.
- Get your friends together for a (healthy) eating contest with seedless watermelon quarters.
- Get a healthy taste of New England with a Clam Boil.
- Bring the community together with a neighborhood-wide scavenger hunt.
- Have a silliest photo content with a portable photobooth.