Archive for the ‘science fair’ Category
Should you Do Cardio Before or After your Weight Training Workout?
August 28th, 2010 | Author: admin
Should you do cardio before or after your weight workout? Many prefer to do their cardio before lifting to get it out of the way and as a general warm-up. I do endorse a 5 minute pre-workout general warm-up for safety’ sake, but for maximum fat loss, post weight training aerobics should be the mainstay of your program.
The funny thing about being on the cutting edge of weight loss science is that people are reluctant to believe you until someone with a M.D. says it is so. Well, wonder of all wonders, it just so happens that a recent study suggests that the best time to do cardio is after a weight workout and that how long you rest between the two can make a difference in both hormone release and fat burning.
This is not new information to bodybuilders who specialize in rapid fat loss year in and year out. My experience as a competitive bodybuilder is what prompted me to use this style of training for fat loss in my clients.
The study was presented at the 2006 ACSM meeting and featured 10 healthy men who did three types of exercise routines on different days: 1) Endurance exercises only 2) Endurance exercise after weight training and a 20 minute rest 3) Endurance exercises after weight training and 120 minutes rest
The weight training workout consisted of six exercises each done for three to four sets of 10 reps. Pretty standard fair and similar to the second phase of the Fat to Fit Program. The cardio exercises consisted of stationary cycling for an hour at low intensity (50 percent of maximum heart rate.
For maximum fat loss I would suggest a higher intensity level and a more High Intensity Interval Training style as opposed to the low intensity approach used in the study.
Doing the weight workout before aerobics led to marked increases in lactate, norepinephrine and growth hormone levels. These are all great things when it comes to maximum fat loss. Before the endurance exercise started those in the 120 minute rest group showed the highest levels of free fatty acids in the blood, while those in the 20 minute rest group showed higher levels of norepinephrine and growth hormone.
During the endurance and weight training exercises, blood levels of free fatty acids and glycerol were higher in both weight training groups than in the endurance only group. The bottom line is that those in both weight training groups were burning more fat during the aerobic exercise than the aerobics only group.
You can compound the case for post workout aerobics further by adding in the fact that not only did the group that did weight training first burn more fat during their cardio but also burned more calories in total by virtue of an increased overall daily metabolism increase and calories expended through the actual resistance training itself.
The study clearly shows that doing a weight workout before aerobics leads to hormonal changes that increased fat oxidation (read weight loss or fat burning) during the following aerobic workout.
Here is another angle to the story. Imagine yourself doing 30 minutes to an hour of aerobics and then going on to do your weight training. How much energy do you really have left to do justice to your weight training? After all that cardio, you have burnt through your glycogen stores (which are the muscle preferred source of fuel) and will not have the energy to stimulate the most outrageous fat burning method available to you. An all day long, increased metabolism, because you stimulated your muscles.
It kind of makes you smile when you find out information like this doesn’t it?
Fun and Easy Science Fair Projects Kids Can Do
January 16th, 2010 | Author: admin
Science fair projects kids can do needs to be fun and easy. In this, one of our science fair projects kids can do, we are going to have a look at water and water evaporating and condensing. The kids will be able to see what happens in each step even though they will have to practice a little patience as things takes a little while to happen.
These two projects will teach kids very good basics to let them understand why they have to do their bid for nature and help slow down global warming by caring for our plant life.
Here is the first one:
Automatic irrigation:
What you will need for this experiment:
* A large rectangle flower box with a few plants growing in it
* A bottle
* Water
What you have to do:
1. Fill the bottle with water
2. Push it, upside down, into the soil in the flower box
3. You will notice a air bubble rising in the bottle as the plants use the water.
4. The water in the bottle will only keep on running into the soil until the soil is completely whetted.
5. Only once the plants have used some more water in the soil and air can escape through the dry soil into the bottle
6. How long the water will last will depends on the weather, how hot it is, how humid it is etc.
7. Now repeat this experiment, but first loosen the soil around the plants a little, being careful not to damage or expose the roots.
8. You will notice that the loosened soil absorbs the water easier.
9. Can you think why?
10. Now explain what you have done and what the conclusion is concerning water and air.
11. You have to explain why the water stops seeping into the soil once it is completely whet and why it starts again once the plants have used some of the water and some of the water in soil have evaporated into the air.
Now for the second of our science fair projects kids can do:
Rain in a flask:
Here we are going to show that water evaporates through small pores in leaves.
What you will need for this experiment:
* A green leaf
* A glass filled with water
* Oil
* A glass flask big enough to fit over the glass of water with the leaf in it
What you have to do:
1. Place the leaf in the glass with water
2. Throw a thin layer of oil on the water
3. Cover the glass and leaf with your glass flask
4. Wait a little while and observe what starts to happen
5. Why does it happen?
6. Why did you throw a thin layer of oil on the water in the glass?
7. Why does it take a little while before the moisture start condensing on the walls of the glass flask?
8. Do the heat from the sun and the cold wall of the flask play any role in the process of the water condensing on the glass walls of the flask?
Now with the results of both experiments, you can reach a conclusion as far as heat from the sun, air and water is concerned:
* How does everything tie together?
* What did you really prove with these two experiments?
* What does it teach us about what plants need to survive?
* What does it teach us about the role of the sun, air and water in nature?
* Can you draw any conclusions concerning this as far as the cutting of the rain forests and how serious it can be for earth?
* Do you think we can already experience some of the negative effects on our climate?
* Can you think of another role trees play in the well being of our planet?
Easy Science Fair Projects Kids Can Do
January 15th, 2010 | Author: admin
Doing science fair projects should be fun for the kids. Here is one of our easy science fair projects kids can do that is fun. It needs very little supplies, it also needs very little work, but it will need a little time. It is very easy though and if you have the time the kids will get a trill out of it.
In this experiment kids are going to look at how organic matter decomposes. Your kid will see that soil teems with life such as worms, slugs, millipedes and beetles that feed on the decaying matter. The decomposers are microscopic bacteria, fungi, woodlice, mites and small insects. This decomposing is the process where all organic material is turned into rich fertilizer for the growing plants in the soil.
This project actually consists of two easy science fair projects for the kids to do. The first your kid is going to look at the conditions needed for the decomposing process and in the second your kid is going to look at the decomposers.
Remember to make meticulous notes from your hypothesis to your conclusion and for your display purposes it is a good idea to take photos of each step as you go.
Having a look at the optimal conditions for the decomposing process:
What you need:
* A trowel
* Good soil
* Dead leaves
* Water and a watering can
* Two clean plastic containers, one with a tight lid
* Tags
* Pen
* Note book
* Camera
* Plastic gloves
This is what you have to do:
Wear your gloves for both of these experiments
1. Remember your notes and photos
2. Using your trowel fill the two plastic containers three quarters full with dry soil
3. Place a layer of dead leaves on top of the soil in both containers
4. Mark the container with the lid “A” and the other “B”
5. Now you water the soil and the leaves in your container marked “A” thoroughly and press the lid on
6. Keep the soil and leaves in the container marked “B” dry, do not add any water to it
7. Place both containers in a dry place and wait a few weeks
8. Have a look at both and you will notice that the leaves in the wet soil will have begun to rot while the leaves in the dry soil has dried and shriveled.
In the next experiment that is the second of our easy science fair projects for kids to do we are going to look at the decomposers.
What you will need:
* Once again your plastic gloves
* A plastic funnel
* A large clear jar with a neck into which the funnel will fit
* Some rotting leaves from a compost heap
* Black paper
* Sticky tape
* A desk lamp
* A magnifying glass
* A field guide
* A notebook
* A pen
* A camera
This is what you have to do:
1. The plan is to see the insects on the rotting leaves
2. You are going to separate them by using a lamp, a funnel and a large jar
3. Place the funnel in the jar
4. Wearing your gloves loosely fill the funnel with your rotting leaves
5. To keep out the light, you have to tape the black paper around the sides of the jar so it is dark inside the jar
6. Now you place the lamp in such a position that it shines onto the leaves in the funnel
7. What you want to happen is for the insects on the leaves to move away from the heat and light from the lamp
8. While doing so they will fall down the funnel and into the jar.
9. After an hour, take a way the lamp and remove the black paper from the jar
10. There will be several insects in the jar
11. Identify them by looking at them with the magnifying glass and the field guide
12. When you are finished, return them to where you found them and be careful not to kill them. These creatures are very important in the eco system of the earth!