Ask Cael: do you have any tips on diet and excercising and maybe some tips on how to restart my metabolism to shed some extra pounds? (answered by “The Great” Coach Casey Cunningham)

Story Published Thursday, December 17th, 2009

name: Neil

question: I\’m a 46 year old assistant high school wrestling coach in morgan county georgia my question is how do i keep in shape to keep up with these young wrestlers do you have any tips on diet and excercising and maybe some tips on how to restart my metabolism to shed some extra pounds. thanks so much, and good luck on a your upcomming season!! I\’m a Huge Penn state fan thanks, Neil

Hi Neil-
I work with Cael here at Penn State and once in a while he has me answer a question so that is why I am responding to you now. I do not claim to be an expert on nutrition but because it is an important part of our sport I try to pay attention to it. As far as diet and exercise goes you just have to be consistent. The big mistake people make is to not eat often enough. You should try to be eating 5 or 6 small meals a day to speed up your metabolism. If you eat only once or twice a day your body will try to hold onto everything you put in it. Usually when I have people start eating more often and drinking more water their body weight goes up a little bit because you body is still in storage mode. Once your body adapts and knows it will be getting food again soon it will start using and shedding the excess. Usually takes a couple of weeks but if you stay disciplined with the types of food you eat and eating more often you will shed the pounds. As far as staying in shape just start slow and build from there. I try to do most everything the guys on our team do so that I do not get behind conditioning wise. I may not do it as fast but I try to at least do what they are doing. If you have not consistently done this then start with a few days a week and work your way up starting with smaller guys for a while even just drilling with them and move on from there. They benefit from being able to work out with you and you are getting in shape. Not sure if this helps but good luck with your team and have fun.
Casey Cunningham

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