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Thursday, September 28, 2017

Friday Food: Ranch Er' No?

Keeping the nutrients up, processing down, and taste buds deceived, here is an alternative that Ranch lovers will enjoy.  Most people enjoy ranch dressing on just about anything and here is a good alternative that won't mess with your overall diet yet still give you the fantastic taste.

Provided by Corissa Conard

Ingredients:
-1/2 tub Whole Milk or Greek Yogurt
-1/4 c. Honey-2T. Parsley
-1-2 tbsp Garlic Powder
-1-2 tbsp Onion Salt
-1-2 tbsp Pepper
-1-2 tbsp Dill, optional

The Game Plan:

  1. Put all ingredients into a single bowl, starting at top and working your way down the list.
  2. Stir together and serve with veggies.
  3. I honestly just eye-balled the seasonings as I added them to the yogurt-typically, measuring cups are non-existent in the kitchen.
The Big Nutrients
  • Protein
  • Calcium
  • Pro- & Prebiotics

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Mobility Monday: Kids Athletics

If you ask any person in the training world 'how young is to young to start training kids' you'll probably get as many responses as people you ask.  I think when it comes to that question it is better phrased 'how young is to young to start training kids properly?' and that answer is as soon as they are willing to try and have fun doing it.  Teaching/reinforcing good movement patterns is never a bad thing and can really only have great benefit throughout their athletic career.


Things It Helps:
-Proper Training for Kids
-Preventing Injury in Kids
-Long Term Health


Friday, September 22, 2017

Friday Food: Bacon, Red Pepper, and Mozzarella Frittata

This one is a little labor intensive but we think you will enjoy the result at the end.  So many good things wrapped up into one recipe that we thought we should share it with everyone.  We hope you enjoy.


Ingredients:
-7 slices bacon
-1 tbsp olive oil
-4 large mushroom caps
-2 tbsp fresh parsley
-1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
-4 oz. fresh mozzarella, cubed
-2 oz. hard goat cheese, grated
-1 medium red bell pepper
-8 or 9 large eggs
-1/4 cup heavy cream
-1/4 parmesan cheese, grated
-Salt and pepper to taste

The Game Plan: 
  1. Preheat oven to 350degF.  Prep all of your vegetables first.  Roughly chop 1 medium Red Bell Pepper, 7 slices of Bacon, enough basil to turn into 1/2 cup, and 4 large Baby Bella Mushroom caps (remove steps prior to chopping).
  2. In a hot pan, add 1 tbsp olive oil.  When the first wisp of smoke appears, add bacon to the pan immediately.
  3. Cook the bacon just enough so that it starts to turn brown.  Once that happens, add the chopped red bell pepper.  Stir well.
  4. While the red pepper is cooking, prep the egg mixture.  Add 8 or 9 large eggs to a large mixing bowl along with 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and freshly ground pepper.  Remember that parmesan has a salty quality  to it so you shouldn't need to add extra salt here.
  5. Using a whisk, whisk the egg mixture well so that everything is combined.
  6. Once your red bell peppers begin to soften, add mushrooms to the pan and stir in well.  You want the mushrooms to begin soaking up all the extra fats in the pan.
  7. While the mushrooms are soaking up the fats, chop your 4 oz. fresh mozzarella into cubes.
  8. Add the basil to the top of your ingredients and let it steam for a moment.
  9. Sprinkle the mozzarella cubes on top of all the bacon and veggies.
  10. Add your egg mixture to the pan, making sure it's evenly distributed.
  11. Using your spoon, slowly mix the ingredients and "lift" the ingredients up so that the egg can get to the bottom of the pan.  You want the eggs to be all around and underneath the bacon, red pepper, and mushrooms.
  12. Grate 2 oz. of goat cheese over the top of the frittata, then put it in the oven of about 6-8 minutes at 350degF.  Leave the frittata in the pan and turn the broiler on.  Broil for an additional 4-6 minutes, or until the top has started to turn golden brown.
  13. Remove the frittata from the oven and let rest for 30-45 seconds.
  14. Using a spoon, pry the edges of the frittata away from the pan.  Make sure that all of the sides are was to come off.  Slide out of pan, slice up and enjoy.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Study Spotlight: Squat vs. Deadlift-How Does the Body Respond?


There is little argument that for moving the most amount of weight possible and engaging the maximum amount of lower body musculature the squat and the deadlift are one and two to none.  They have been the staples of many workout routines from the everyday lifter to elite level athletes and for good reason.  When you really think about it though which one of these exercises might elicit the most effect in your musculature?  That is what these researchers set out to find out and this is what they found.


What They Did:
Researchers took a look how the squat and the deadlift compared when looking at the acute endocrine and neuromuscular response.  The areas that they looked at were maximum voluntary isometric knee extensor force (MVIC), measures of central and peripheral fatigue and also salivary testosterone and cortisol.

What They Found: 
This part unfortunately isn't that exciting.  Even with a great load and larger volume-load in the deadlift there was almost no difference between the two exercises.  The only difference seen was great peripheral fatigue that was observed after the squat exercise and that might be due to greater work of the quadriceps.

What it All Means:
The researchers suggest that separate periodization, tapering and programming considerations may be unnecessary when using the squat and deadlift to develop muscular strength.

Ok, now what does that mean?  It has been long held the deadlifts are more fatiguing than squats when it comes to training and that just might not be the case.  Whether you are training for athletic events or a powerlifting competition how you program up to your competition is very important. You want to make sure you go in fresh but also maintaining strength and power.  When it comes to the lower body this article suggests that you could utilize either the squat or the deadlift to maintain lower body strength and not have to worry about the fatigue effects.

This can be helpful depending on what movement you are most proficient at and that you can use that movement to help you get ready for your performance.  All in all, happy lifting whether that be squats or deadlift.

LINK: Acute neuromuscular and endocrine responses to two different compound exercises: squat versus deadlift

Monday, September 18, 2017

Mobility Monday: 21 Shoulder Mobility Drills


The shoulder is a remarkable joint.  It gives us the ability to do so many things from reaching out to grab something to being able to walk on our hands.  The shoulder can be tough as you can go to extremes on either end with your mobility and your stability.  We like to find a happy medium.  One in that you are stable and can create big power and torque through your shoulders and upper body and also still have the ability to move it around as you see fit.  Here are 21 ideas to increase that mobility.



Things It Helps:
-Shoulder Mobility (bet you didn't see that one coming)
-General Shoulder Pain
-Increased Shoulder/Scapular Control


Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Challenging Your Own Beliefs

By: Joel Luedke


I've been having some great conversations over the past couple of days with some of the athletic training students at UW-La Crosse.  These conversations start off with great questions by the students

and then it always seems to morph into me getting onto my soap box and just railing off ideas without trying to sound too "preachy".  We got deep into some ideas about treatment and rehab but it came back around to challenging beliefs and asking ourselves "can we do it better"

That is what this article is based around, challenging your own beliefs.  I've heard about this idea from many different arenas and each time I hear about it I agree more and more.  Tai Lopez (worth looking up) started it all off saying that he doesn't like to hire anyone who agrees completely agrees with everything he does and says.  He prefers the opposite.  He wants someone that doesn't agree with him but challenges the things that he does because in the long run, it makes him and what he does better.  This helps make him a better person and a better business man and if you watch a couple of videos you'll see that it works.

How does this concept apply to your life when it comes to health and nutrition?  Challenge what you know and what you do....all the time.  If you are unsure of what you're doing and if it is right, challenge it.  You need to make sure you can fully explain and answer with the most confidence you are doing what is right.  If you can do this you can with great reassurance, then keep going.  If you can't answer it then all is not lost but it gives you the opportunity to investigate and change what you are doing in order to  get to be where you need to be.

The other great way I heard to challenge your beliefs and see if it stands the true test is the "3 Why Test".  I picked this up from a top CEO of a company in Brazil that took it from basically nothing, gutted everything and then rebuilt it back up to a giant and a huge player. (Thanks Tim Ferriss for the interview)

The basic of the 3 Why Test is you take any process or procedure the you follow.  This could be in treating, treatment, nutrition, or anything else.  Ask yourself "why" you do what you're doing.  Have answer?  Great.  Challenge it again with another why and get more specific.  Just when you thought you were done you have to answer "why" one more time.  If you can firmly back up what you're doing in your training scheme or in how you are going about your nutrition throughout the 3 whys, you probably have something special and worth hold on to.

This is a long way to get around always challenging yourself and asking "can I do it better".  While this applies to health, nutrition and fitness it can be applied to everything in life and constantly work to improve yourself.  This has been a very big part of my life recently and made  huge difference and get so much more out of it and get so many things done in a highly effective manner.

Challenge your own beliefs.

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Mobility Monday: Foot Pressure & Knee Movement in the Squat


We have talked a lot about squatting and what "good" form should look like.  Confused yet?  We hope not (if you are message us please).  This is a great video on looking at some basic tips and ideas on how to break down your foot pressure and also some of the ideal knee movement you want to use in order to maximize your squats. 



Things It Helps:
-Better Squat Performance
-Less Knee Pain
-Better Transition of Strength/Power


Thursday, September 7, 2017

Friday Food: Pumpkin Pie Spiced Waffles

Do we really need to say anything more about this one?  There are so many good things and we searched for it through a ketogenic recipe site.  Please check it out and give it a try.

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup almond flour
-2 tbsp flaxseed meal
-1/3 cup coconut milk
-1/4 cup canned pumpkin
-1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tsp baking powder
-2 large eggs
-3 tbsp swerve sweeter
-7 drops liquid Stevia

The Game Plan: 
  1. In a large measuring jug, combine all of the wet ingredients.
  2. Mix together the wet ingredients well until little to no egg white is visible.
  3. Add all dry ingredients to a sifter.  I highly recommend getting a cheap sifter to do this as I was using a colander before, and it took much more effort.
  4. Sift all dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
  5. Mix together the batter until everything is combined.  The batter should be slightly watery, but will turn into perfectly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside waffles.
  6. Great your waffle maker with coconut oil spray, then pour the batter onto the waffle iron when it indicates that it is ready.
  7. Once the waffle iron tells you that your waffles are ready, check on them to see if they need to go for longer.  If not, remove the waffles from the iron and cut them as needed.
  8. Serve up with some maple syrup and a few pecans if you'd like.  Enjoy!

Monday, September 4, 2017

Mobility Monday: Navicular Bone Drop


This video talks a lot about ACL prevention and how your arch caving in can be a huge predictor of that but it can be applied to so many areas of your life.  If you have generalized knee pain or pain along the inside of your lower leg a lot of it can be caused by the position that you are able to maintain on a daily basis.  These general principles have a huge application across your daily lives.


Things It Helps:
-Knee pain and position
-Foot pain (& collapsed arch)
-Increasing athletic performance


Friday, September 1, 2017

Friday Food: Miso-Ginger Marinated Grilled Salmon

Grilling season is still in full effect, even if it is winding down a little bit with summer.  We wanted to switch it up and try something a little bit out of the box for this grilling idea so we settled on salmon and added a little flavor to it. Enjoy.


Ingredients:
-1/4 cup white miso (fermented soybean paste)
-1/4 cup mirin
-2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
-2 to 3 tbsp soy sauce
-2 tbsp minced green onions
-1 1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
-2 tsp toasted sesame oil
-4 salmon fillets, 8 oz. each
-Salt and freshly ground pepper

The Game Plan

  1. Whisk together the miso, mirin, vinegar, soy sauce, green onions, ginger, and sesame oil in a small bowl.  Place the salmon in a baking dish, pour the marinade over, and turn to coat.  Cover  and marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
  2. Heat grill to high.  Remove the fish from the marinade and season with salt and pepper.  Grill the  salmon, skin side down, and cover closed, until golden brown and a crust has formed, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Turn the salmon over and continue grilling for 3 to 4 minutes for medium doneness.  Drizzle with a little yuzu juice, if desired, and serve.