Eat Clean, Get Lean, Feel Great

Eating clean isn’t about being extreme or fanatical about the foods you eat.  It’s about making better choices and realizing that moderation is the key.

Eating clean means opting for more of the foods we know are good for us — whole grains, leans meats, fruits, vegetables, and good fats (the kind that comes from nuts and seeds) — and less of the stuff we know is not so good — processed foods, sugar, sodium, and bad fats (for example, trans fats).

Here are some basic rules for eating clean:

Stick with the Basics

The closer foods are to their natural states, the better.  That means unsalted, without added sugar, grass-fed, free-range, meats, and whole fruits and vegetables.  Add more “real” food to your diet, and improve your overall health.

Beware of Boxes and Cans

Most foods that come in a box, and many that come in cans, are processed in some way.  They either add “bad” stuff or strip away “good” stuff.  As a rule, the closer a food is to its original form, the better it is for you.

Be a Label Checker

Try to spend a little time reading the ingredient lists of the foods you and your family eat.  Generally, the healthiest foods contain the fewest ingredients.  If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, don’t eat it.

Avoid Bad Ingredients

Trans fats, food coloring and dyes, artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, and nitrates and nitrites have been linked with everything from heart attacks and strokes to tumors and certain cancers.  Steer clear of foods that contain these ingredients.

Be a Smart(er) Shopper

Foods that are low in sugar and fat, and high in fiber, are great choices as meals and snacks.  Add to your grocery list foods like hummus, tuna and salmon, whole-grain breads and pastas, chia seeds, quinoa, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and lean meats; and spices and condiments like peppercorn, canola oil, and garlic powder.

Eat at Home

It takes a little forethought, planning, and preparation, but home cooking can help you cut calories and improve nutrition.  There are lots of online resources that can provide quick, easy-to-prepare, nutritious recipes for you and your family.  Try “one-dish” meals, which contain a vegetable, protein, and complex carbohydrate.  Use a slow cooker or Crock-Pot and program the time you want your food to be ready.  Cook large, family-sized portions and freeze leftovers for meals later in the week.  Try new foods, combinations, and preparations.

Your thoughts?

WE BUILD STRONGER ATHLETES!

We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.

Eat Clean, Get Lean, Feel Great

Eating clean isn’t about being extreme or fanatical about the foods you eat.  It’s about making better choices and realizing that moderation is the key.

Eating clean means opting for more of the foods we know are good for us — whole grains, leans meats, fruits, vegetables, and good fats (the kind that come from nuts and seeds) — and less of the stuff we know is not so good — processed foods, sugar, sodium, and bad fats (for example, trans fats).

Here are some basic rules for eating clean:

Stick with the Basics

The closer foods are to their natural states, the better.  That means unsalted, without added sugar, grass-fed, free-range, meats, and whole fruits and vegetables.  Add more “real” food to your diet, and improve your overall health.

Beware of Boxes and Cans

Most foods that come in a box, and many that come in cans, are processed in some way.  They either add “bad” stuff or strip away “good” stuff.  As a rule, the closer a food is to its original form, the better it is for you.

Be a Label Checker

Try to spend a little time reading the ingredient lists of the foods you and your family eat.  Generally, the healthiest foods contain the fewest ingredients.  If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, don’t eat it.

Avoid Bad Ingredients

Trans fats, food coloring and dyes, artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, and nitrates and nitrites have been linked with everything from heart attacks and strokes to tumors and certain cancers.  Steer clear of foods that contain these ingredients.

Be a Smart(er) Shopper

Foods that are low in sugar and fat, and high in fiber, are great choices as meals and snacks.  Add to your grocery list foods like hummus, tuna and salmon, whole-grain breads and pastas, chia seeds, quinoa, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and lean meats; and spices and condiments like peppercorn, canola oil, and garlic powder.

Eat at Home

It takes a little forethought, planning, and preparation, but home cooking can help you cut calories and improve nutrition.  There are lots of online resources that can provide quick, easy-to-prepare, nutritious recipes for you and your family.  Try “one-dish” meals, which contain a vegetable, protein, and complex carbohydrate.  Use a slow cooker or Crock-Pot and program the time you want your food to be ready.  Cook large, family-sized portions and freeze leftovers for meals later in the week.  Try new foods, combinations, and preparations.

Your thoughts?

WE WILL HELP YOU BECOME A BETTER ATHLETE!

We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.

Who Needs Carbs? Who Doesn’t?

While low-carb diets have increased in popularity over the past several years, they’re not necessarily the right choice for athletes and active individuals.  In fact, there are very few populations — people with neurological disorders (e.g., Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s), sedentary people, and those who are metabolically dysregulated (e.g., diabetes) — in which some research supports a lower-carb diet.

Here’s an article from Precision Nutrition titled, Carb Controversy: Why Low-Carb Diets Have Got It All Wrong.  Highlights from the article include:

• Eating an appropriate amount of carbs can help you look, feel, and perform better.
• Most of us require some level of carbohydrates to function at our best over the long-term.
• Healthy thyroid function requires adequate energy and carb intake.
• Research shows that lowering carb intake can adversely affect your muscle mass even if protein remained constant — insulin is crucial for building muscle.
• The big “secret” might be a high-protein diet rather than a low-carb diet.
• There’s a difference between processed, refined carbs and whole-grain (minimally processed), high-fiber carbs.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

6 Ways to Sculpt Your Abs

Everyone wants a lean, muscular physique and six-pack abs.  And, although there are lots of people and products making lots of promises, you can do all the abs exercises you want but, until you lose that layer of fat covering your midsection, the only thing you’ll accomplish is strengthening the muscles hidden beneath the fat.

Here are 6 tips to help reveal your abs:

1. Burn fat.  Doing lots of abs exercises won’t help you lose fat (I once read that it takes 250.000 crunches to burn one pound of fat!).  To lose fat, you’ll need total-body strength training, a certain type of cardio called interval training, and a diet that is consistent with your goals.
2. Lift weights.  Every time you exercise, you should aim to work every major muscle group.  Research shows that the metabolic impact of strength training persists for up to 48 hours, post-workout.  The more lean muscle you build, the greater the number of calories you burn, at rest.
3. Keep moving.  Turn your strength training workout into a metabolic circuit by minimizing rest intervals between sets.  Alternate between upper- and lower-body exercises, or push-pull exercises.  Increase the intensity even more by mixing in cardio exercises like step-ups, jumping jacks, running in place, or jumping rope.
4. Work your entire core.  Don’t limit your focus to your abs.  Find exercises that work your entire core, from shoulders to hips.  We really like to incorporate planks – 4-point, 3-point, side, and several other variations – into our core work.  Rotational exercises, using kettlebells and medicine balls, tend to be higher-intensity and are also effective core exercises.
5. Add intervals.  As discussed in a previous article, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is one of the best ways to burn fat.  HIIT involves alternating intervals of high- and low-intensity activity.  HIIT works equally well, whether the type of exercise is resistance/strength training or cardio.  The key is to go hard during the high-intensity portion of the interval, and keep moving, even during the low-intensity portion of the interval.
6. Eat smart.  If you really want to get a ripped six-pack, doing the right abs exercises is only part of the equation.  Avoid (or, at least minimize) foods like white grains, pasta, fruit juices, and other processed, high-sugar foods. Ultimately, excess blood sugar gets stored as fat.  Make sure your carbs are whole grain and high-fiber.  Increase your protein consumption by eating more lean meats (chicken, turkey, fish), eggs, and dairy (milk, Greek yogurt), and add a daily protein shake to your diet.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Eat Clean, Get Lean, Feel Great

Eating clean isn’t about being extreme or fanatical about the foods you eat.  It’s about making better choices and realizing that moderation is the key.

Eating clean means opting for more of the foods we know are good for us — whole grains, leans meats, fruits, vegetables, and good fats (the kind that comes from nuts and seeds) — and less of the stuff we know is not so good — processed foods, sugar, sodium, and bad fats (for example, trans fats).

Here are some basic rules for eating clean:

Stick with the Basics

The closer foods are to their natural states, the better.  That means unsalted, without added sugar, grass-fed, free-range, meats, and whole fruits and vegetables.  Add more “real” food to your diet, and improve your overall health.

Beware of Boxes and Cans

Most foods that come in a box, and many that come in cans, are processed in some way.  They either add “bad” stuff or strip away “good” stuff.  As a rule, the closer a food is to its original form, the better it is for you.

Be a Label Checker

Try to spend a little time reading the ingredient lists of the foods you and your family eat.  Generally, the healthiest foods contain the fewest ingredients.  If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, don’t eat it.

Avoid Bad Ingredients

Trans fats, food coloring and dyes, artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, and nitrates and nitrites have been linked with everything from heart attacks and strokes to tumors and certain cancers.  Steer clear of foods that contain these ingredients.

Be a Smart(er) Shopper

Foods that are low in sugar and fat, and high in fiber, are great choices as meals and snacks.  Add to your grocery list foods like hummus, tuna and salmon, whole-grain breads and pastas, chia seeds, quinoa, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and lean meats; and spices and condiments like peppercorn, canola oil, and garlic powder.

Eat at Home

It takes a little forethought, planning, and preparation, but home cooking can help you cut calories and improve nutrition.  There are lots of online resources that can provide quick, easy-to-prepare, nutritious recipes for you and your family.  Try “one-dish” meals, which contain a vegetable, protein, and complex carbohydrate.  Use a slow cooker or Crock-Pot and program the time you want your food to be ready.  Cook large, family-sized portions and freeze leftovers for meals later in the week.  Try new foods, combinations, and preparations.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

Who Needs Carbs? Who Doesn’t?

While low-carb diets have increased in popularity over the past several years, they’re not necessarily the right choice for athletes and active individuals.  In fact, there are very few populations — people with neurological disorders (e.g., Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s), sedentary people, and those who are metabolically dysregulated (e.g., diabetes) — in which some research supports a lower-carb diet.

Here’s an article from Precision Nutrition titled, Carb Controversy: Why Low-Carb Diets Have Got It All Wrong.  Highlights from the article include:

• Eating an appropriate amount of carbs can help you look, feel, and perform better.
• Most of us require some level of carbohydrates to function at our best over the long-term.
• Healthy thyroid function requires adequate energy and carb intake.
• Research shows that lowering carb intake can adversely affect your muscle mass even if protein remained constant — insulin is crucial for building muscle.
• The big “secret” might be a high-protein diet rather than a low-carb diet.
• There’s a difference between processed, refined carbs and whole-grain (minimally processed), high-fiber carbs.

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?

6 Ways to Sculpt Your Abs

Everyone wants a lean, muscular physique and six-pack abs.  And, although there are lots of people and products making lots of promises, you can do all the abs exercises you want but, until you lose that layer of fat covering your midsection, the only thing you’ll accomplish is strengthening the muscles hidden beneath the fat.

Here are 6 tips to help reveal your abs:

1. Burn fat.  Doing lots of abs exercises won’t help you lose fat (I once read that it takes 250.000 crunches to burn one pound of fat!).  To lose fat, you’ll need total-body strength training, a certain type of cardio called interval training, and a diet that is consistent with your goals.
2. Lift weights.  Every time you exercise, you should aim to work every major muscle group.  Research shows that the metabolic impact of strength training persists for up to 48 hours, post-workout.  The more lean muscle you build, the greater the number of calories you burn, at rest.
3. Keep moving.  Turn your strength training workout into a metabolic circuit by minimizing rest intervals between sets.  Alternate between upper- and lower-body exercises, or push-pull exercises.  Increase the intensity even more by mixing in cardio exercises like step-ups, jumping jacks, running in place, or jumping rope.
4. Work your entire core.  Don’t limit your focus to your abs.  Find exercises that work your entire core, from shoulders to hips.  We really like to incorporate planks – 4-point, 3-point, side, and several other variations – into our core work.  Rotational exercises, using kettlebells and medicine balls, tend to be higher-intensity and are also effective core exercises.
5. Add intervals.  As discussed in a previous article, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is one of the best ways to burn fat.  HIIT involves alternating intervals of high- and low-intensity activity.  HIIT works equally well, whether the type of exercise is resistance/strength training or cardio.  The key is to go hard during the high-intensity portion of the interval, and keep moving, even during the low-intensity portion of the interval.
6. Eat smart.  If you really want to get a ripped six-pack, doing the right abs exercises is only part of the equation.  Avoid (or, at least minimize) foods like white grains, pasta, fruit juices, and other processed, high-sugar foods. Ultimately, excess blood sugar gets stored as fat.  Make sure your carbs are whole grain and high-fiber.  Increase your protein consumption by eating more lean meats (chicken, turkey, fish), eggs, and dairy (milk, Greek yogurt), and add a daily protein shake to your diet..

Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!

Your thoughts?