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Tuesday, April 28, 2015

I'm a Caffeine Addict.... and Proud of It

I wrote an article a few years back promoting the benefits of caffeine and one of them being a hang-over remedy and a way to help snap you back into reality following a night of partying....Well now that all-nigher has taken on a new style, kind of. Instead of taking care of crying, sick 21 yr olds it's now a crying, sick 18 month old. Still lots of crying, just for different reasons. Why is everyone always crying?

Anyways, back to the wonder drug: CAFFEINE. Second only to student loans as my biggest contributor for success during graduate school; caffeine can be very useful for a variety of reasons. There is an enormous amount of research supporting the positive effects that caffeine can have on performance, cognitive functioning and health.

The Energy Drink industry is one of the fastest growing areas of nutritional supplements and is quickly becoming a billion dollar industry. One reason for this is people are suckers for their marketing strategies and catchy slogans such as: “Energy Booster” “Refresh” “Revitalize” “Amped!”  and I happen to be one of those suckers. 
The other reason is probably the fact that they do actually work! It’s no secret that caffeine can make you feel more alert or make you feel like you have more energy; anyone who has had a coffee or slammed a few Redbulls knows that. What’s not as well known is the vast amount of research supporting the numerous benefits of caffeine.

Hundreds of research studies have shown caffeine to be an effective ergogenic aid, particularly for endurance-type events. Caffeine consumption is said to have a “glucose sparing” effect by increasing fat utilization as a fuel source (which is practically unlimited) rather than stored carbohydrates (limited) during long duration activities such as a marathon. It’s been shown to increase time to exhaustion by up to 25%. The military has taken special interest in caffeine consumption because of its performance enhancing abilities as well as it seems to have the ability to increase alertness and delay fatigue. Caffeine can also improve reaction time, increase cognitive functioning and improve memory.

Continue the caffeine craze below:

Monday, April 27, 2015

Mobility Monday: Gut Smash

This is one that I didn't really believe in when i first saw it in Becoming a Supple Leopard but finally gave it and gave it a try (with a half inflated soccer ball) and the results were awesome.  You would be amazed at how tied up you can be through your lower abdomen as you get closer to your hip flexors.  This move allows you to get our abdominals loose after sitting for an entire day or from just general bad posture.

I've had to go back to this one with running as I was getting a tight feeling through my abs and hip flexors and it makes everything that much better.

The audio quality isn't awesome but it is still worth checking out.



Friday, April 24, 2015

Friday Food: Dr. Jagim's High Protein Snack

For those individuals looking for a high-protein, energy dense snack to promote gains in lean muscle mass, Dr. Jagim has a recipe just for you.  Whether you are looking for a quick, on-the-go meal or a post-workout snack this tasty, easy to make meal is perfect for the busy fitness enthusiast.  This is meant for the "bro" trying to bulk up or for the everyday fitness person just trying to get a great protein filled meal

Ingredients:
  • 2 Tbs. Skippy's Natural Peanut Butter
  • 0.5 Cup of Quick Cook Oatmeal
  • 1 Scoop of RAW Garden of Life Chocolate Protein Powder
  • 0.75 Cup of Cascadian Farms Organic Dark Chocolate High Protein Granola
  • 1 Banana




Instructions:
1). Combine oatmeal, protein powder and peanut butter in a bowl with 1/4-1/2 cup of water.
2). Microwave on high for 1 minute.
3). Sprinkle on granola after the 1 minute and add banana slices.
4). Then enjoy!

Nutrition Totals:
Calories: 785 Calories
Fat: 27.4 grams
Saturated Fat: 6.5 grams
Carbs: 103 grams
Sugars: 23 grams
Fiber: 27 grams
Protein: 40 grams


Feel free to insert your protein powder of choice. I opt for the RAW Garden of Life Protein Powder as it's gluten and lactose free which satisfies some of my more specific dietary needs. Plus, it's high in fiber and includes probiotics!  

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Study Spotlight: Does the Type of Creatine You Take Matter?

Dr. Andrew Jagim

Dietary supplements are becoming more and more popular in today's world of athletics and the recreational fitness community. An ongoing concern of most consumers is the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements. One of the most well-researched dietary supplements on the market is creatine. There are over 1,000 peer reviewed publications investigating the effects of creatine supplementation and the list of positive benefits ranges from enhanced strength, power and muscle growth to more clinical-based benefits such as reduced symptoms of neuromuscular disorders, improved cognitive function and improved prenatal brain development. Now that we've established the benefits of creatine supplementation, a common question asked is: "What kind of creatine is the best?" Researchers in the Exercise & Sport Nutrition Lab at Texas A&M University designed an experiment to find out.


What did they do?
Researchers compared one of the more popular forms of creatine (creatine monohydrate) to a novel form of creatine known as Kre-Alkalyn. Kre-alkalyn is known as a "buffered creatine" which is purported to enhance the bio-availability of creatine within the body as it can withstand the acidic environment within the stomach. The study included 36 resistance-trained males who were divided into three groups: 1) Creatine monohydrate; 2) Kre-alkayln (manufacturer recommended dose); 3) Kre-alkyalyn (High dose). In a double-blind manner, the 36 resistance-trained participants (20.2±2 years, 181±7 cm, 82.1±12 kg, and 14.7±5 % body fat) were randomly assigned to supplement their diet with CrM (Creapure® AlzChem AG, Trostberg, Germany) at normal loading (4 x 5 g/d for 7-days) and maintenance (5 g/d for 21-days) doses; KA (Kre-Alkalyn®, All American Pharmaceutical, Billings, MT, USA) at manufacturer’s recommended doses (KA-L, 1.5 g/d for 28-days); or, KA with equivalent loading (4 x 5 g/d for 7-days) and maintenance (5 g/d) doses of CrM (KA-H). Subjects ingested the supplement for a 28-day period and resumed regular dietary and training habits during the study. Subjects were assessed for changes in body composition, muscular strength and anaerobic capacity before and after the supplementation period.


What did they find?
Results of the study indicated that creatine monohydrate lead to a greater (not statistically significant) increase in muscle creatine content as determined by muscle biopsies. Results also indicated that there were no significant differences in body composition following supplementation.



Each group experienced an increase in fat-free mass as determined by DEXA analysis with no differences between groups. Furthermore, there were no differences in body fat.

There was a significant increase in 1RM for bench press in all groups over time (97.6 ± 22.3 to 101.3 ± 22.6 kg, p < 0.001) with no differences among groups. Average power (p = 0.005), peak power (p = 0.003), and total work (p = 0.005) increased in all groups over time for the Wingate test with no differences observed among groups.


Conclusions:
Neither manufacturers recommended doses (1.5 g/d) or KA with equivalent loading (20 g/d for 7-days) and maintenance doses (5 g/d for 21-days) of KA promoted greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, strength, or anaerobic capacity than CrM (20 g/d for 7-days, 5 g/d for 21-days). In addition, there was no evidence that supplementing the diet with a buffered form of creatine resulted in fewer side effects than CrM.


Take Home Message:

According to product claims KA is “up to ten times more powerful than ordinary Creatine”. The findings of the current study do not support claims that consuming a buffered form of creatine is a more efficacious and/or safer form of creatine to consume than creatine monohydrate.  However, there didn't appear to be any differences among groups for all the variables with the exception of muscle creatine content. So there doesn't appear to be much benefit which could be due to the short supplement period.  However if there are no performance-related differences I would recommend going with creatine monohydrate as it is MUCH cheaper than a buffered creatine.


Reference:
Jagim, A. R., Oliver, J. M., Sanchez, A., Galvan, E., Fluckey, J., Riechman, S., ... & Kreider, R. B. (2012). A buffered form of creatine does not promote greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, or training adaptations than creatine monohydrate. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 9(1), 43.

Monday, April 20, 2015

"Abs" of Steel

When you talk to most personal trainers, read any running magazine read scientific articles talking about running injuries they tell you to focus on "the core".  We could write several posts about "the core" and what it truly is defined as and how it is best trained but often most people just think about the "abs" when they are told to strengthen.


We do believe "core" strength is vitally important but we also think that having "abs" of steal when it comes to your hips is also immensely important when it comes to running well and running injury free.  These "abs" are your abduction muscles that are located on the outside your hips.  They include muscles like the glute max, med, minims as well as the piriformis and the other small external rotators.

These muscles are incredibly important for maintaining pelvic position when you run and help keep your hips level. In a research report found that 18.9% of total running energy is devoted to control in the front plane movements.  This can happen because both abduction and adduction occur within that frontal plane.  If we have weak or underachieve hip abductors we cannot control motion in this plane and it can lead to a narrower foot strike and eventually problems down the line with repeated running.

Many research studies have also showed that there is weakening in these muscles in runners who experience injuries compared to those runners who did not.  We recommend just a few simple exercises (see below) to help keep your pelvis in position and get all the external musculature of your hips strong and ready for the repetitive motion of running.  They are easy to work into your other work out routines or to work in as your pre-run warm up.






If you have any questions please let us know and we'd be happy to help.  info@totalathletictherapy.com


Check out the exercises below:

Mobility Monday: Total Motion Release (TMR) for Hip Pain

Most of our Mobility Monday's have been looking how we can address tissue restrictions and pain by actively using some type of tool, band or roller to help release tight tissues and free up the corresponding joints.  This week we take a look at a different type of technique to help reduce pain and increase joint range of motion.

Total Motion Release looks at working the entire body and incorporating different myofasical lines that go throughout the body and using them to help correct issues throughout the body.  To simply state it (and not give it enough credit) you are looking at working on muscles and joints that are completely opposite of where your pain is located in order to have significant relieve of pain.

It is well worth a try if you're having pain and can't seem to fix it with anything else.  In this video the creator, Tom Dalonzo-Baker , works on fixing his hip.

Great Resource: Anatomy Trains-Thomas Myers


Check out our Mobility Pack Giveaway below.  


Friday, April 17, 2015

Friday Food: White Chicken Chili Recipe

It's always a good time for chili and there are endless options for customizing it and making it there own and this recipe is no exception.  Here we lay out a healthy baseline for you to start with and perfect to your liking.  Enjoy.

White Chicken Chili Recipe

  • 1 Tbsp. canola oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 15 oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 15 oz. can navy beans, drained and rinsed
  • 3 cups cooked, diced Rotisserie chicken meat
  • 1 4 oz. can diced green chiles
  • 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp. cumin
  • 1 tsp. oregano
  • kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (optional)
  • 4 sliced green onions (optional)
Heat oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or heavy saucepan. Add onion and garlic. Cook 2-3 minutes. Process one cup chicken broth and 1 can cannellini beans in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add to onion and garlic mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to medium-low. Simmer 20-30 minutes.
Garnish with shredded cheese and onions and serve with sweet cornbread.
Serves 8.

Per serving: 310 calories, 5 g fat, 45 mg cholesterol, 37 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber, 30 g protein, 4% Vitamin A, 12% Vitamin C, 13% calcium, 29% iron

Thursday, April 16, 2015

NSCA Upper North Central Regional Conference Recap



This past weekend the National Strength & Conditioning Association hosted their annual Upper North Central Regional Conference.  It was a great conference covering a wide variety of topics ranging from historic tales from the founder of the NSCA himself, Boyd Epley to cutting-edge youth sport performance programs with a little dose of Division I sport nutrition practices mixed in.  The conference was in Bloomington, MN and I highly recommend checking it out next year.


As was mentioned, Boyd Epley was the keynote speaker and discussed his journey from his days of being a collegiate athlete himself to becoming one of the most successful strength coaches of all time during his tenure with Nebraska.  He shared the struggles of changing the the climate of sports training from one that shunned weight lifting as it was thought that it would just make athletes big, bulky and slow to one that embraced the concept of strength training once everyone saw how dominant Nebraska's football team had become.





Dr. Matt Asuma, DPT, SCS who is a physical therapist at the Institute for Athletic Medicine in Blain, MN gave a great talk on some practical strategies for functional rehab following ACL reconstruction surgery. Dr. Asuma did an outstanding job covering the progressions of rehab-based exercises for those individuals coming back from knee surgery.



It was especially interesting to watch his video demonstrations of the exercises as he was the demonstrator in the videos and was an excellent example of someone who practices what they preach.





The conference then shifted gears a bit when Brittany Francis, who is the head Sports Dietician with the University of Minnesota Football team, spoke about fueling strategies for strength & power athletes throughout the year.

She did a great job providing a quick recap of the importance of sport nutrition strategies in general and moved into how to actually determine caloric and macronutrient needs for athletes during different times throughout the competitive season.




Dr.'s Robin Lund, Ben Meyer and Travis Ficklin, gave a great lecture on some of the biomechanical issues relating to the back squat and how simple variations in rack position (low bar vs high bar), squat stance and depth can influence the different torques generated at the hips and knees.

They also discussed differences in techniques between power lifters and regular back squatters and again how they influenced squat mechanics.






Scott Moody of AthleteFit.com spoke on the AthleteFit philosophy which is:

"Bridging the gap, between the physical aspects of sport and the technical skills associated with sport, in order to elevate the confidence and competitiveness of each player we mentor."


He did an amazing job breaking down some video clips of some of their athletes and walking us through some key things to focus on through training and various "do's" and "don'ts" of sport-specific movement mechanics.  He also provided some great hands-on tips for exercise progressions that focus on sport skills & movement patterns.  All in all it was a great conference and I'm already looking forward to next year!

A FAST Track to Fat Loss: Can Intermittent Fasting Help You Lose Fat?


Intermittent Fasting

         First there was the "Eat 3 square meals a day," followed by "6 small meals throughout the day is best," and now there is "Intermittent Fasting."  It's difficult to keep up with the ever-changing theories of dietary strategies and weight-loss as there always seems to be something new hitting the market.  Intermittent Fasting (IF) is a new diet strategy intended to enhance fat loss and improve body composition.  It consists of alternating periods of fasting (only water and/or calorie-free liquids) and eating. So what's the difference between that and regular eating patterns? Intermittent Fasting designates certain extended periods of time as "Fasting" followed by a relatively short, or none at all, window of time when food can be consumed.  The rationale behind this strategy is that the periods of fasting will maximize fat burning while still maintaining lean muscle mass which is why it is often used to improve body composition.  There are a few different methods of intermittent fasting which are described below.



The Periodic Fast
This method consists of a 24 hr fasting period which is to be used ~1 day per week. The creators of the IF diet don't recommend starting off with this method as it can be difficult for your body to adjust to the sudden lack of food.  The only thing that is allowed during this fast period is water, low calorie beverages (i.e. diet green tea, coffee etc.) and BCAA's (in pill form).  The green tea and caffeine are substances that also promote fat-burning and are thus included during the fasting period.  The BCAA"s are intended to maintain muscle mass and help stimulate the building of new muscle tissue.

Below is an excerpt from the Book: "Precision Nutrition" by Dr. John Berardi which describes a sample day utilizing the Periodic Fast:


".....HOW TO DO IT

Essentially, you pick any 24-hour period, and don’t eat during it. But we like to add a few things to make it easier. Here, we’ll assume a Sunday fast:
10 PM Saturday:
  • Eat your last meal of the day
  • Drink 500 mL (2 cups) of water
10 AM Sunday:
  • Drink 1 L (4 cups) of water + 1 serving greens powder
  • Drink 250 mL (1 cup) of green tea
  • Take 5 grams BCAA (branched chain amino acids) powder (or take 5 capsules)
3 PM Sunday:
  • Drink 1 L (4 cups) of water + 1 serving greens powder
  • Drink 250 mL (1 cup) green tea
  • Take 5 grams BCAA (branched chain amino acids) powder (or take 5 capsules)
10 PM Sunday:
  • Eat a small snack before bed
  • Drink 500 mL (2 cups) of water
Monday:
  • Eat normally....."

The Daily Fast
This strategy breaks up a 24 hr period into 2 windows: 1) A fasting window and 2) An eating window.  The authors recommend a 16 hr fast and 8 hr feeding window.  Now, this doesn't mean that you are eating constantly throughout the 8 hr eating window.  The authors of Precision Nutrition recommend 3-4 meals during the 8 hr feeding window instead of 1 large meal or 8 hrs of grazing.  Now, if you are an individual who trains or exercises during the week (and if you read this blog I hope that you do!) it's recommended that you get your workout in at the end of the 16 hr fast and then consume your first meal immediately after your workout.  This may be challenging for some people as working out on an empty stomach may not be well-tolerated (I just about pass out every time).

Check out more below as well as a real life example with Joel.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Mobility Monday: Your QL is Not a Bone


Low back pain is the most common ailment the everyday person as well as an athlete experiences.  We've touched on in previous posts about how our everyday lives can lead us to this pain from sitting too much, texting all the time, and being hunched over a desk for either work or homework.

On this Mobility Monday we are looking at the quadratus lumborum (QL) as a possible culprit for contributing to your low back pain.  This is an often forgotten muscle until it locks down and lets you know that it is not pleased with your position and care of it. Below is a simple low back mobilization to help restore some motion to the QL and unlock your lower back.  Make sure you spend some time working here as the amount of stress put through this muscle and area is tremendous and it will take some time to completely work out.

If you aren't getting relief after spending some time here it may be worth a look into seeing a athletic trainer, physical therapist or chiropractor to assess your spinal motion and possibly getting a mobilization done to help unlock your spine which can help the muscle also get moving again.  Sometimes it's not always the muscles fault.



Friday, April 10, 2015

Friday Food: Grab n' Go Energy Bars

Peanut Energy Bars
This carbohydrate-rich bar, full of nuts, seeds, fruit and oats, was adapted from Amy Harrison’s prize-winning submission in the Plains (Georgia) Peanut Festival recipe competition sponsored by The Peanut Institute. It includes a little protein, and is a great grab-and-go pre-workout snack on mornings when you don’t have time to digest a full meal or prepping for a long bike ride.

Makes 16 bars

ACTIVE TIME: 15 minutes  
TOTAL TIME: 1 1/4 hours  
EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1/2 cup dry roasted salted peanuts
1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds or other chopped nuts
2 cups raisins or other chopped dried fruit
2 cups rolled or instant oats
2 cups toasted rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (optional)
1/2 cup creamy or crunchy natural peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup or honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Coat an 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine peanuts, sunflower seeds (or other nuts), raisins (or other dried fruit), oats, rice cereal and wheat germ (if using) in a large bowl.
3. Combine peanut butter, brown sugar and corn syrup (or honey) in a large microwaveable bowl; microwave on High until bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes. Add vanilla and stir until blended. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until coated.
4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Press down firmly. (It helps to coat your fingers with cooking spray.) Let stand for about 1 hour to harden. Cut into bars.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 255 calories; 9 g fat (1 g sat, 2 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 42 g carbohydrate; 5 g protein; 3 g fiber; 95 mg sodium; 242 mg potassium.
2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 2 carbohydrate (other), 1 1/2 fat


MAKE AHEAD TIP: Individually wrap in plastic and keep at room temperature for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Stop Reaching for a Bottle of Pills, Fix the Underlying Problem

We are bombarded daily with commercials for a pill to that can fix all your aches and pains or possibly fix any ailment or disease that is affecting you.  Modern medicine has come an exceptionally long way in recent history with advancements in treatments and medication that have not only extended lives but saved many as well.  Despite all of the benefits medicine has provided a question still remains that needs to be constantly asked; Can a pill solve all of our problems?
There are countless ads today for pain medication, gout, high blood pressure, cholesterol and the list continues.  They purport they can cure all your problems with one pill.  Then comes the list of possible side effects that more often than not sound as if they might be worse than what problem you were originally trying to fix.  The idea of a quick fix has become a state of mind for many people and it is now beginning to catch up with us.  Evidence of this is in seen in the fact that our latest generation of children are the first in history that are not expected to outlive the age of their parents.
Chronic disease and illness has become very real and exceptionally so in America.  The return to the basics of diet choice, exercise and changing our lifestyles away from quick, easy and an instant fix is becoming more and more apparent. Chronic pain and chronic disease are two of the main issues our world deals with today and there are alternatives that doesn't involve a prescription pill.
Alternatives to Pain Medication
Pain is present for a reason.  Pain is our bodies process of telling you that something is wrong in the way your mechanics are working and a is stress being applied to an area that it isn't meant to handle that specific load.  The human body is remarkably resilient to the demands that we place on it and it will subconsciously adapt to the positions its placed in most often to become more efficient.  While this unbelievable ability is great it can cause us a long and slow process of setting ourselves up for failure.  
Sitting all day forces the body to adapt to a position which is not a natural to the body.  This starts the process of adaptation and if your body does not completely accept this altered position is sends out signals of pain.  Many of the big pharmaceutical companies will tell you to reach for a bottle of pills to take the pain away and you're cured.  While these medications may provide temporary relief they are not fixing the underlying problem.  Masking pain signals does not solve postural faults and can have other detrimental effects to your health such as stressing your kidneys.
Instead of reaching for a bottle of 4-12 hour pain relief see a medical professional or movement specialist to help you figure out the problem and the root cause of it.  If this isn't your preferred route look to take up a movement practice such as Pilates or yoga to help your body realign and cut the stress of your painful body area.  There is so much more than taking a pill and the rest of your body will thank you later.

Check out Alternative ideas to Weight Loss Pills Below:

Study Spotlight: 4 sets of 10 or 8 sets of 5?

A common question with resistance training program design usually relates to identifying the optimal set/rep scheme or what kind of rest periods should be used if you are trying to get bigger, stronger and faster.  Researchers out of Texas A&M University sought out to identify an optimal resistance training program for just that.



What did they do?
Researchers had 22 resistance trained males complete a 12 week strength training program designed to elicit muscle hypertrophy.  They split the subjects up into 2 groups: A) Traditional rest (Completed 4 sets of 10); B) and Intraset Rest (Completed 8 sets of 5).  The latter design is a set/rep scheme that is an example of "intraset rests" as they technically are taking a break in between their set of 10. Each group completed the same total volume for each compound exercise (40 reps) and trained at identical intensities during each microcycle (i.e. 65%, 70% and 75% 1RM).  Group A rested for 2 minutes in between sets and group B rested for 1 minute and each workout lasted approximately 60 minutes.  Both groups completed a 4-day training split utilizing a push/pull rotation.

What did they find?
The 8x5 group saw a significantly greater improvement is upper body power and vertical jump height. This group also experienced a greater improvement in back squat power however it was not statistically significant.  The 8x5 group also displayed significantly greater gains in bench press and back squat strength as measured by 1RM testing.  What about changes in lean muscle mass? Both experienced experienced significant improvements in lean muscle with no differences between
groups.


Conclusions:
The authors concluded that by utilizing an 8x5 (intra-set rest) scheme you are likely to get more powerful AND stronger than traditional 4 x 10 training. The best part is, you also maximize the potential to pack on lean muscle.  SO, you get bigger, stronger and more powerful all just by adjusting your rest periods within each set.  Your workout will take the same amount of time and you can still use the same training loads & volumes.  Moral of the story, switch it up to 8x5 for awhile to maximize your gains in the weight room!




Research Article
Oliver, J. M., Jagim, A. R., Sanchez, A. C., Mardock, M. A., Kelly, K. A., Meredith, H. J., ... & Kreider, R. B. (2013). Greater gains in strength and power with intraset rest intervals in hypertrophic training. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research27(11), 3116-3131.


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Why Do We Measure Success With a Scale?

By: Andrew Jagim

Progress should be measured using measure of performance rather than a number on a scale or body composition test. Yes, everyone likes to look better in the mirror or wow people at your high school reunion by looking slim and trim. However, I would make the argument that measuring your fitness success using strength or performance measures may be more worth your while in the long run and less mentally stressful.

People will sometimes drive themselves crazy obsessing over calories in versus calories out and always making nutrition and/or exercise-related decisions based on fat loss.  Whereas, if increasing the number of push-ups you can do, or improving your back squat 1 RM by 50 lbs becomes your main priority, it shifts your focus more on improving yourself instead of how you do/don't look good enough. If you concentrate on improving performance and re-fueling using proper nutrient intakes including vitamins & minerals the weight loss goals should take care of themselves and rather act as secondary outcome of your performance based goals.

Otherwise you may obsess over what the scale says, what your body fat percentage is or what you look like in the mirror and therefore may look to un-healthy practices to achieve a "healthy" appearance. I'd like to expand on this topic a little more as it can be confusing.  Just because someone appears to be "healthy" whether it's a low body fat percent or they appear really lean or toned doesn't mean that they are in fact "healthy." Some people may go to extreme measures by following restrictive diets, or excessive amounts of exercise to get the body they think they want. And sure, they may look like they have the perfect body but in reality they may have an eating disorder, or are overtrained or have nagging injuries that they have neglected due to their obsessions over their quest for the perfect body.  As it unfolds, their bodies are on the verge of breaking down and they are far from healthy.  I know because I've been there. I went through a period of training where I was determined to get a six-pack and see how lean I could get. Long-story short, it worked. I had the six-pack, I looked very lean and my body fat percent got down to ~5% as determined via under water weighing. However, I had such bad tendonitis in my elbows I could hardly wash my face. My knees ached from all of the cardio I was doing and my friends kept making comments along the lines of "....are you on drugs?......are you sick or something?" They could tell I did not look right and wasn't my usual self.


Unfortunately my story is more common that it should be and shame on my right? Someone who has made health and fitness their career should know better. As I mentioned earlier, this is more common than it should be and I know too many coaches, trainers, and fitness enthusiasts who have a similar story.


So how do you avoid this slippery slope?
Focus on getting better whether it's betting stronger, more powerful, improving muscular endurance or aerobic capacity; maybe this means improving your back squat PR, or finally being able to complete a pull-up or breaking your last 5K performance.  Whatever your fitness/training goal is make it performance related. Shift the focus to an exercise-specific task rather than a body-weight one.  When you do this it forces you to focus on the nuts and bolts of a training program; meaning you will be exercising to improve your physical performance, eating to facilitate recovery and prepare you for your next training session.


Most of the time your body composition will take care of itself and you will naturally increase lean muscle mass and decrease fat-mass which in turn will help you achieve a healthy body weight and composition which is usually a common goal of most people. So ditch the scale, don't look in the mirror and instead start logging your workouts to start focusing on how your body is performing!

Monday, April 6, 2015

Mobility Monday: Going Around the Ankle (& Why You Shouldn't Do It)

We've covered in a couple other posts the importance of your ankle position and the effect it can have on the rest of your mechanics. If you don't have good ankle position you're squat form will suffer dramatically.  If you collapse in on your ankle with every step during a run you might be dooming yourself to shin splints, knee pain and countless other nagging injuries.

Here we look at how we have been able to work "around" the ankle and trick ourselves into thinking we have full ROM and that our ankles aren't the problem and that we have a stable ankle and good arch.  We must always make sure that we are setting correct position before we test these things to see what truly is the result.  If you start in a good position you can get either good results or good information on to why you didn't.  If you start in a bad position you get nothing but bad results or no information.  Take the time and set up and watch things progress much quicker.



Friday, April 3, 2015

Friday Food: Three Green Pasta w/ Scallops & Pesto Sauce

Three Green Pasta w/ Scallops & Pesto Sauce

Asparagus, green beans and peas give this pasta its name.  Start with an anti-pasto platter of purchased marinated vegetables, cured meats and cheeses.  Serve the pasta with some crusty Italian bread.   A very versatile menu item change out the scallops for anything that you think will taste good with the pasta.  Shrimp or a grass-fed steak are our go to.

Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients:
-1 pound asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
-1/2 pound small green beans (preferably haricots verts), trimmed, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
-1 pound fettuccine

-3 tablespoons butter
-1  10 ounce package of frozen peas, thawed
-2 pounds sea scallops, each one quartered

-1 1/2 cups purchased pesto sauce
-3/4 cup whipping cream
-2 tablspoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation:
Bring large pot of salted water to boil.  Add asparagus and green beans and cook until just crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.  Transfer vegetables to bowl, using strainer.  Add fettuccine to water and boil until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring pasta occasionally.

Meanwhile, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heats.  Add asparagus, green beans and peas.  Season with salt and pepper; stir until heated through and coated with butter, about 1 minute.  Return vegetables to bowl.  Melt remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in same skillet.  Add quartered sea scallops, season with salt and pepper and saute until just cooked through, about 1 minute.  Remove from heat.


Drain pasta and return to skillet.  Add vegetables, scallops, pesto, cream and lemon juice and stir over low heat until pasta is coated with sauce.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Sports Nutrition at the Highest Level: America's Past Time

A recent sport nutrition article in the New York Times shined some light on what the highest level of athletics is doing to try and incorporate sport nutrition into their organizations. The article summarizes how the New York Yankees went out and hired a sports nutritionist to work with fueling their athletes during the season.


Below is excerpt from the article depicting how the nutritional recommendations are simply offered to the players but not mandated in the hopes of naturally instilling sound nutritional practices:

Nothing would be prohibited, but the unhealthy foods would not be on display. If someone desperately wanted a bacon cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake, they could ask for it. Perhaps they would grow self-conscious, like a teenager trying to buy beer, and give in to the grilled salmon, quinoa and nuts.

I think this statement does a nice job of describing how the team sports nutritionists are relying on the players to make the decisions for themselves.

“I’m not there to shove it down their throat,” Sass said. “It’s not going to happen overnight. The goal is to make the best foods for athletes always available. If they want more of it, we’ll provide it.”
       -Cynthia Sass, a nutritionist,

This practice of hiring team sports nutritionists is a rapidly growing trend amongst professional organizations and those at the collegiate level that can afford it.  Mark Texiera of the Yankees is quoted in the article saying that they are actually behind the times a bit and I couldn't agree more. Nutrition is often an over looked aspect of optimal sport performance, particularly for baseball.  A lot of people think of previous baseball players and have images such as Babe Ruth, David Wells or other beer-bellied ball players that don't look anything like an athlete.  However, today's professional baseball players are beginning to treat their bodies more like prized possessions rather than a garbage disposal and are now realizing the value of sports nutrition.

In the past, most players across all levels just relied on their natural talents abilities and had an "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality however for a lot of players they may not necessarily be "broke" but they certainly aren't performing at their highest ability.  Optimal nutritional strategies can help enhance performance, facilitate recovery and prevent injuries; and during a 162+ game season, recovery and injury prevention are a top priority.