Calories & Working Out

By Cliff Pape

Have you ever tried lifting weights only to feel so fatigued that you could not effectively lift the weights? If this is true, then you may want to look at what you ate the day of your workout. You should because you need a steady supply of calories in order to work out effectively.

Calories are often a misunderstood concept. Most people look at calories as something that is bad. This is most assuredly not the case as calories often deliver a number of helpful benefits that greatly aid in making a workout more effective and productive. For those wondering how this is so, let's take a closer look at the impact that calories commonly will have on a workout.

So we can do this, we must define what a calorie is. A calorie is a unit of energy that compromises food and is the fuel our body needs to perform tasks. Calories are problematic when we eat more than we burn. The unused calories then become fat which is stored fuel intended to be used at a later date.

Without an adequate amount of calories, it becomes more difficult to workout effectively. If you cut back on the number of calories you consume, you will discover yourself being more fatigued and not having the proper energy when performing your workouts.

There is another benefit to ingesting a decent amount of calories when you workout. You cannot grow muscles without calories. Lean muscle mass needs a decent amount of calories in order to enhance its size and shape. This is why bodybuilders eat huge amounts of calories. They need thousands of calories per day in order to maintain a 250lb muscle bound frame.

Of course, you do not need to eat the same amount of calories as a bodybuilder if you are not carrying a huge amount of muscle mass. But, you will want enough calories to maintain the muscle mass you have. And because lean muscle mass metabolizes calories, you will burn up a lot of what you ingest provided you do not go crazy and eat an outrageous amount of them.

It is very good to avoid ingesting your calories from bad quality food. You don't want to absorb a lot of calories from junk food, sugars, and saturated fats. Not only will this lower the physique you want to develop but it can also hurt your overall health. Bad choices in food never really deliver anything of value and their composition of empty calories is the reason for this.

Yes, the role calories play in workout sessions is more involved than most people imagine. This is why it is helpful to understand the role they play when devising one's diet and exercise plan. - 31828

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