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Muscular Endurance Definition | Fitness, Health & Exercise Glossary

What does Muscular Endurance Mean? Find out the Definition of Muscular Endurance and How to Test for It. 

Definition of Muscular Endurance

Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or muscle group to do repeated contractions against a less-than-maximum resistance for a given period of time. This is in contrast to muscular strength, which is the greatest amount of force that a muscle or muscle group can exert in a single effort. 

Many daily activities, including sports and weight training, require muscle endurance. Activities like duration or distance running, biking, skating, swimming and climbing all require muscular endurance, since the muscle is under load or tension for extended periods of time. 

Types of Muscular Endurance

There are three primary types of muscular endurance and activities that require muscular endurance or can help enhance it:

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Cardiovascular Endurance Definition | Fitness, Exercise & Health Glossary

What’s the Definition of Cardiovascular Endurance?

Definition of Cardiovascular Endurance

Cardiovascular endurance is the ability of the heart, lungs and blood vessels to deliver oxygen to working muscles and tissues, as well as the ability of those muscles and tissues to utilize that oxygen.

Cardiovascular endurance is also frequently called cardio-respiratory endurance, cardiovascular fitness, aerobic capacity, aerobic fitness or is sometimes more broadly termed “endurance” — although endurance may also refer to the ability of the muscle to do repeated work without fatigue. It is also one of the five components of physical fitness.

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Barilla Plus Pasta | Healthy Food of the Day

Barilla Plus Pasta is higher in protein, Omega-3s and fiber than regular pasta. The question is: How does this healthier version of Barilla pasta hold up in the taste department? 

Nearly everyone loves a good plate of pasta. And provided you don’t smother it with Fettuccine Alfredo sauce or heap on the Italian sausage, pasta can actually be a tasty and filling addition to a healthy diet … in moderation.

The issue with most traditional pastas made with semolina flour is that they are relatively low in fiber and protein, and aren’t made with whole grains.

While a plate of spaghetti can make a pretty solid post-workout meal (your body uses the carbohydrates more efficiently after weight or resistance training), many a spare tire was built on top of too many bowls of penne. And the fact that most people overestimate what a serving of pasta really is (sometimes eating as much as three servings in a single setting), the extra calories can start to add up quickly.

One option is to switch to one of the 100% whole wheat versions of pasta out there, for example Hodgson Mills Whole Wheat pasta. However, some people find the flavor of whole wheat pastas to be a bit strong. The texture sometimes also suffers because of the presence of wheat bran.

Barilla Plus Pasta To The Rescue

Enter Barilla Plus Pasta – a multigrain pasta that is not only higher in protein than your average semolina pasta, but also higher in fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids, a class of healthy fats that has been associated with lowered risk of heart disease.

The first thing to understand about Barilla Plus Pasta is that while Barilla labels it “multi-grain” you shouldn’t confuse it with “whole-grain.” Barilla Plus Pasta is still made with semolina and durum flour — the basis of all traditional pastas — and these flours have been refined to remove the bran and germ. So it’s not 100% whole grain.

What Barilla has doneis enrich their Plus Pastas with the addition of a grain and legume flour blend made from lentils, chickpeas, spelt, barley, flaxseed, oat fiber, oats and egg whites.

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Negative Calorie Foods: Fact or Fiction? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Are Negative Calorie Foods for Real or Just A Bunch of Diet Hot Air? The Fitness Nerd Separates Fact from the Fiction Around Negative Calorie Diets.

Dear Fitness Nerd,

What’s your opinion on negative calorie foods? I’ve read that certain foods like celery require more energy to digest than they provide in calories. Is this true? And if it is, do you have a list of negative calorie foods? Thanks! (Aimee B — Dallas, TX)

Negative calorie foods are one of those dieting concepts that sound so good that you want to believe it’s true.

Just the term “negative calorie foods” conjures up images of eating all you want, and still losing weight. It’s a very powerful promise — and one that fad diet and weight-loss pill marketers rely on on every day to sell you their latest pill, potion or ”weight-loss-secret-revealed” eBook.

Take a look under the hood though, and you’ll find that the concept of negative calorie foods has more in common with a good urban legend than with solid nutrition advice. And like an urban legend, negative calorie foods do have a grain of truth at their center, but that’s about it.

What Is A Negative Calorie?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of negative calories and negative calorie foods, here’s the short version:

The theory is that a negative calorie food is any food that requires more energy to digest than the energy (calories) actually contained in the food. The idea here is that by eating these foods, you can burn more calories than you consume and lose weight more rapidly and efficiently. 

Origins of the Negative Calorie

The concept of negative calorie foods has been around for almost a decade, and has been popularized via two main sources: Internet discussion boards and the 1999 book, Foods that Cause You to Lose Weight: the Negative Calorie Effect, by Neal D. Barnard, M.D. 

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How Many Calories Should I Eat To Lose Weight? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Looking to lose weight, but not sure how many calories you should eat to achieve your goal? It’s actually not that hard if you know what to do.

Dear Fitness Nerd,

My New Year’s Resolution this year is to lose some weight. Not a lot — about 10-15 lbs. I don’t want to try diet pills or any thing like that. I’d prefer to do it by getting my diet in order, believe it or not. However, I am a little unclear on how I should determine how many calories I should eat to lose weight. I know I’m not supposed to go under 1,000 calories, but how many should I eat? Can you help? Thanks!  –Madison H. (San Jose, CA.)

Great question, Madison. How many calories you should eat to maintain, gain or lose weight is one of those fitness and nutrition fundamentals that is pretty easy to figure out, once you know how to go at it.

The simple answer is that most females can lose weight by reducing their calories to around 1500 a day and males, to around 2000 calories a day. 

But this isn’t a very scientific, nor particularly effective, method of determining how many calories you should eat each day to lose weight. Taking a “one-size-fits-all” approach doesn’t take into account a person’s weight, height, age and activity levels which can all impact how many calories you should eat each day. And taking this approach can also cost you muscle, which you always want to try to spare.

A much better approach is to calculate your own specific calorie requirements, and use that to determine how many calories you should consume to lose weight.

Calorie In, Calorie Out: The Key To Weight Loss

While there are all kind of theories out there about tactics to lose weight that don’t necessarily involve calorie-counting (for example, changing your carbohydrate, protein and fat intake ratios like on the South Beach or Ketogenic diets), at the end of the day, the best place to always start is with calorie-in, calorie-out. 

Yes, changing your macro-nutrient mix can help for some people, but this violates the 80-20 rule: Focus 80% of your effort on the 20% of tactics that get you the best results. Once you’ve done that, you can try other approaches to shave off those last few pounds. For most people, controlling how many calories they eat will produce 80% of their weight loss results.

The good news is that figuring out how many calories you should eat to lose weight isn’t terribly hard — all you’ll need is bathroom scale, a pen, piece of paper and a connection to the Internet. By the time you are done, you’ll have a pretty good idea of exactly how many calories you should be eating each day to hit your weight loss and fat loss goals.

However, before we get started, it’s important to understand a couple of terms, including what a calorie is, something called your Basal Metabolic Rate (or BMR or “resting metabolic rate”)  and your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE.) This will help you make more sense of the discussion going forward.

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Stevia Gets FDA Approval as Natural Sweetener | Diet and Health News

FDA gives Stevia green-light as natural food and tabletop sweetener; Coke and Pepsi will be the first to introduce Stevia-sweetened soft drinks

Stevia-fans in the U.S. can finally rejoice: Last night, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) officially approved the use of stevia as a food-grade sweetener - paving the way for everything from stevia-sweetened soft drinks to stevia-based tabletop sweeteners.

Until now, stevia was not approved as a food sweetener in the U.S. — forcing stevia manufacturers to market and sell the natural sweetener derived from the leaves of the rebaudioside Aplant as a supplement, rather than a sweetener. However, last night’s announcement by the FDA now gives food manufacturers the “all clear” to start using stevia as a zero-calorie, natural sweetener.

Pepsi and Coke Ready to Introduce Stevia Sweeteners

Both Coca Cola and Pespi already have stevia-sweetened products waiting in wings, and yesterday’s announcement means consumers who are looking for alternatives to artificially-sweetened zero-calorie soft drinks and beverages will have a number of alternatives come the first of the year. PepsiCo will market their stevia sweetener under the brand PureVia and Coke’s rival stevia-sweetener is called Truevia.

If you’re a cola fan, you may still have to wait a few months for Stevia-sweetened cola, since the sweetener tends to work best with citrus-type beverages. Soft drink manufacturers are still trying to figure out how to make a Stevia-sweetened cola product that tastes comparable to colas sweetened with cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

What Is Stevia?

Stevia is a shrub in the chrysanthemum family that is native to northeastern Paraguay. First discovered by natives of Paraguay, the plant has been grown, harvested and used in South America to sweeten foods and beverages for more than 200 years. The stevia leaf is a good source of natural, zero-calorie sweetness. Stevia is 300 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar) and is heat stable — meaning you can cook with it without altering it’s flavor or properties.

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Losing Belly Fat: How Can I Do It? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Trying to lose belly fat can be frustrating. The Fitness Nerd takes a look at the best ways to get rid of belly fat and keep your stomach flat … for good.

Hi Fitness Nerd,

I have a question about losing belly fat, and getting in better shape overall. I’m 24 years old and 5′ 7″ if that helps.

So here is my story… All through college, I never weighed more than 145 lbs. (that was at my heaviest). I was competing in the Miss America pageant system, walking back and forth to class, etc. But eating the same as I do now. While this helped keep my belly fat in check — I never really was able to achieve that truly flat belly that I was looking for.

Two years later, I weigh just under 170 lbs. I don’t look that heavy, all the weight is in my buttocks and belly. I went on a special eating program to get ready for the Miss USA pageant a few months ago and was very strict with it for 3 months, brown rice, grilled chicken, eggs, sweet potatoes, green beans, salad, yogurt, and lots of water plus cardio and very small weights every day. I GAINED weight!! (about 10 pounds).

So I got very, very frustrated and quit all together. Now I have a job where I sit at work all the time, and my hours are unusual so it’s difficult for me to workout all the time. Also, I am frustrated with how I look in clothes, really want to lose the belly fat and am ready to do something to change that. I typically just do cardio at the gym, but not as religiously as I could. I get bored with it easily. I do like lifting weights though. Also, I had a personal trainer, but just wasn’t making the progress I wanted. So I stopped that as well.

My diet is pretty off - I still eat a lot of grilled chicken and brown rice (just because I love it). But, my biggest issue is that I don’t eat fruit or veggies at all - except select salads, and green beans. I eat a lot of turkey and cheese sandwiches, pizza, and drink a good bit of Coke.  I’m also kind of a picky eater. It’s time for me to change, I just want something that I know will work.

How do I get rid of the belly fat for good?  Can I lose belly belly fat, or am I just a lost cause? Thanks for your help!! (Elle — Alabama)

Elle, losing belly fat is right at the top of the list for most people when it comes to fitness goals. So you’re definitely not alone.

The challenge, of course, is that there are no easy, fast, ”silver bullet” solutions to losing belly fat, regardless of what all the “Belly Fat Diet” ads say.

If you are looking for 1 way to lose belly fat, you’re probably going to be disappointed. Also, if you’re looking for the best way to lose belly fat fast, I don’t want to get your hopes up. This is going to take some work and changes on your part. But if you want to succeed …. you will.

If you really want to reduce belly fat, it really takes a combination of diet and exercise — and the most effective combination will vary considerably from person-to-person, as you’ve learned first-hand. While improvements to diet and lots of cardio might help one person get rid of their belly fat, others do better with less cardio, better diet and more weight training.

So the trick is finding what works for you. You can either accomplish this with the help of a good personal trainer (which, unfortunately, you may not have had)  or you can try to go it on your own, based on what you learn about yourself and what works.

The good news is that you aren’t hopeless, and there are some pretty effective way to lose belly fat, starting today.

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