6 Tips for anyone with braces

Tips for Anyone with Braces!

    About 65% of high-schoolers now have had or have braces, so there is a good chance you have them if you are in high-school!  Make sure to use these tips, to maximize your comfort and how well the braces work!!

1.  Use your rubber bands

     This Is probably the hardest thing for me to remember, but use the rubber bands on your braces!!  Your orthodontist will probably give you rubber bands to use with your braces, they are a key part of fixing your bite.  If you don't put them on, it could extend the time you have to wear the braces.  The big of the rubber bands is to pull your teeth forward and back to fix an overbite or under-bite.

2.  Don't use wax if you get braces sores.

     When you first get your braces put on or get them changed slightly, you might get braces sores on the inside of your mouth.  These are caused by the braces rubbing on the inside of your mouth, and it causes a stinging terrible pain.  The orthodontists give you wax to put on the sores to stop the pain, but don't do it!  Short term, the wax will make the pain go away, but it will cause more pain in the future.  If you use the wax, your mouth won't build up callouses, so your mouth will hurt again when the wax goes away.  So don't use the wax, just wait out the pain.

3.  Eating apples, pears or other skinned foods will be uncomfortable.

     Eating fruits is great!  But if you eat pears and apples while you have braces, it can be uncomfortable.  As you eat the fruit, the skin will get stuck in your braces which is annoying and looks weird.  If you eat it at school or work, you could have pear skin in your teeth all day. So either don't eat fruit with skin, or bring a toothbrush to get it out.

4.  Don't eat Taffy, Caramel, or other hard candies.

     They should tell this to you at your orthodontists, but don't eat chewy, sticky, hard candies when you have braces.  If you bite into the taffy, it could break the braces of your teeth, causing you discomfort and extra time wasted because you have to have another appointment to fix it.

5.  Wear a mouth-guard during contact sports.

     If you have braces, you should wear a mouth-guard in most sports, even basketball and soccer.  If you jump up to get a rebound in a game of basketball, you could get hit on your lips or around your mouth.  Two things could then happen: 1. Your cheek skin will be hit onto your braces, which ends up with you having to pick your skin out of your braces and bleeding profusely out of your mouth. 2. The hit could knock part of the braces off of your teeth, causing more inconvenience for you, because you would have to get another appointment.

6.  Brush evenly above and below braces.

Make sure to brush above and below your braces, or else when you get them off the roots of your teeth could be yellow while the tips aren't, or vice versa.  That's not a good look!! So make sure to brush all around your teeth, and floss between your teeth.

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How to lift weights more efficiently and progress faster(For Beginners)

How to lift more efficiently and progress faster(For beginners)

I have been lifting for a few months, though I am still a pretty new I would like to share the stuff that I have learned.  I am on Stronglifts 5x5, and it is going great for me.

1. Start a Beginners linear progression program.

If you are just starting out, you probably don't know the right lifts to do. Follow a program by people who actually know what they are doing! If you make your own program you could waste time, and cause harm to yourself.  Its easy to become unbalanced (Ex: More chest work then back work, which can cause damage to your shoulders).  Programs made by professionals will get you stronger faster.  They will know the right lifts and rep ranges to use.  It will make everything easier for you.  Some great examples for workout plans are:
Starting strength= http://startingstrength.com/
Stronglifts 5x5= http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

2.Focus on form over weight.
Its easy to get caught up in wanting to look stronger and hit your goals, but sacrificing form for weight is terrible.  It can lead to injuries, and it becomes a viscous cycle.  If you sacrifice form one workout, the next workout where you will lift heavier you will also sacrifice your form again because your not strong enough and it will continue for a long time until its even harder to fix.  For example, I have some strong and pretty beefy friends who have been working out for a while, but they half rep their squats.  Don't let your ego cause your body damage!!  Also make sure to start with a low weight when you start a workout plan to make sure you get the form down.

3.Keep a record of your workouts.
If you don't keep a log of the weights and exercises you did in one workout,  you wont know how much weight to use next workout.  If you do Stronglifts, there is an iPhone and android app that keeps track of your weights and tells you what weight to use next time (http://stronglifts.com/apps/).  I also have a notebook that I use to keep track of my accessory lifts.

4.Don't work out too much.
Its easy to think that the more working out you do, the stronger you will get, which is not necessarily true.  Your body needs time to recover, that is when your body builds muscle.  If you can just stick to the plan, you will probably get better quicker because of less injuries and more recovery time.

5.Focus on strength first before hypertrophy.
Start out with a strength program instead of a hypertrophy(Muscle size) program.  To start a hypertrophy workout you need to be able to lift enough weight for it to make an impact.  Start out getting stronger first. Stay in the 3-8 rep range at first to build strength before you progress to the 8-12 rep range.

6.Eat enough!
When you start lifting, you will probably need to eat more calories and protein to help your muscle growth.  If you don't eat enough, you could probably fail at lifts and not get strong as quickly.  Its a great idea to start recording all your food eaten to an app like MyFitnessPal(http://www.myfitnesspal.com/), and don't try to lose weight while lifting.

7.Stop doing crunches!
Abs are one of the only muscles that I do hypertrophy over strength, but not crunches!  Crunches are bad for your back, and they aren't the best workout for building abdominal size and strength.  My six pack is standing out more then it ever has before when I switched to 8-12 heavier weight workouts from crunches.

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