Body Backed By Science

Why is Sleep important? When personal trainers meet with a new client and ask them about their current habits, one question most people don’t anticipate is, how much sleep are you getting? Sleep plays a vital role in weight loss, muscle gain and overall mental/physical ability. We all know to some extent, sleep is important. But when we get caught up in our busy daily lives, we don’t really realize what effects it could have. Sleep deficiencies is linked to obesity alon g with increased risk of kidney disease, diabetes, and increased risk of heart attack. When we are able to sleep well, our body releases hormones to help boost muscle mass and repair cells and tissues. Scientists do know that getting a good amount of sleep is necessary for the body to function properly. Let’s look at how sleep and exercise can help the body. Have you ever had a workout right before bed and tried to sleep? Typically tossing and turning is what happens when we complete a workout right before bed. Stu...

Why the Deadlift?  Today, back pain and limited hip mobility are more common than they have ever been. Often times, back pain can come from weak glutes and weak spinal erectors that cannot maintain the correct position. The deadlift seems to be a missing key component of many good strength-building programs that will help with these. During this compound exercise, there are several targeted muscle groups to include: the latissimus dorsi, trapezius, erector spinae, gluteals, hamstrings, quadriceps, and hip flexors. Some other secondary muscles that are used and play a vital role are your forearms for gripping and oblique’s for trunk stabilization.  There are many benefits to deadlifting. First of all, the movement spans over three joints with extension at the hip, knee and ankle joints. Second, when comparing isolation exercises versus compound movements, compound exercises involve larger muscle groups, which bring out hormonal training. This means those complex movements r...