Saturday, 04Feb12

Pre-Super Bowl Get Down

This is going to help you burn those chicken wings, pizza, 6 footers and whatever other junk you can cram into your cranial cavity. Make smart choices like vegetable platters or tofu chips (yea right).

This is a 60 second work /20 second recovery timed sets for 3 rounds with 1 minute rest between

• TRX reverse flyes
• Landmine Reverse Lunges
• KB Snatch pulls
• Band Sprints & Block
• MB Bounding w/ Mtn Climbers (5l/5r)
• 180 Slam Ball

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Athletes ROD

Starter:

4 rounds of: 20 sec of work 10 recovery… stay on each one for 4 rounds then move on

• Recline overhead pulls
• Goblet squats 
• DB push press
• Resisted Kettlebell swings with thin bands
• Plank jacks

Finisher:

20/10 x 10 rounds of this couplet (10 minute set) rest for 1 minute after 5 rounds then continue.

• Slam ball
• Burpees

Friday, 03Feb12

TGIF

First Round

• Burpee & a half x 60 seconds
• KB swings x 60 seconds
• Mtn. Climbers x 60 seconds
• Diamond Sit-ups x 60 seconds
• DB Thrusters x 60 seconds

In rounds 2-3-4 all above movements will be done at 45 sec, 30 sec, 15 sec… respectively. There will be rest in between rounds respective to the times of rounds. 1st round 60 sec rest… 2nd round 45 sec rest and so on

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 Raw Juice Therapy

By Grata Young

Raw juice therapy is a method of treatment of disease through an exclusive diet of juices of fruits and vegetables. It is also known as juice fasting. It is the most effective way to restore health and rejuvenate the body.

During raw juice therapy, the eliminative and cleansing capacity of the organs of elimination, namely lungs, liver, kidneys and the skin, is greatly increased and masses of accumulated metabolic waste and toxins are quickly eliminated. It affords a physiological rest to the digestive  and assimilative organs. After the juice fasting or raw juice therapy, the digestion of food and the utilisation of nutrients is vastly improved.

An exclusive diet of raw juices of fruits and vegetables results in much faster recovery from diseases and more effective cleansing and regeneration of the tissues than the fasting on pure water. Dr. Ragnar Berg, a world-renowned authority on nutriton and biochemistry observes:

“During fasting the body burns up and excretes huge amounts of accumulated wastes. We can help this cleansing process by drinking alkaline juices instead of water while fasting. I have supervised many fasts and made extensive examinations and tests of fasting patients, and I am convinced that drinking alkali-forming fruit and vegetable juices, instead of water, during fasting will increase the healing effect of fasting. Elimination of uric acid and other inorganic acids will be accelerated. And sugars in juices will strengthen the heart. Juice fasting is, therefore, the best form of fasting.”

As juices are extracted from plants and fruits, they process definite medicinal properties. Specific juices are beneficial in specific conditions. Besides specific medicinal virtues, raw fruit and vegetable juices have an extraordinary revitalising and rejuvenative effect on all the organs, glands and functions of the body.

Monday, 30Jan12

Manic Monday

5 rounds of 30 work/15 rest at each station. Complete all five rounds at each station before moving on to the next.  Take 1 minute rest between each station.

• Knees to Elbows (at pullup station)
• Slam Ball
• DB Thrusters
• KB Cleans (5 r/l)
• KB High Pulls
• DB Lunges (DB side to shoulder height at ea. lunge)

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It’s one month in to the year, how are you doing on those New Years goals? Whats your game plan, action items, challenges, rewards? Not sure? Come see what we are doing at Next Level Performance and see why we are changing the game when it comes getting fit Mentally and Physically!

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The Dark Side of Vitamin water

Now here’s something you wouldn’t expect. Coca-Cola is being sued by a non-profit public interest group, on the grounds that the company’s vitaminwater products make unwarranted health claims. No surprise there. But how do you think the company is defending itself?

In a staggering feat of twisted logic, lawyers for Coca-Cola are defending the lawsuit by asserting that “no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.”

Does this mean that you’d have to be an unreasonable person to think that a product named “vitaminwater,” a product that has been heavily and aggressively marketed as a healthy beverage, actually had health benefits?

Or does it mean that it’s okay for a corporation to lie about its products, as long as they can then turn around and claim that no one actually believes their lies?

In fact, the product is basically sugar-water, to which about a penny’s worth of synthetic vitamins have been added. And the amount of sugar is not trivial. A bottle of vitaminwater contains 33 grams of sugar, making it more akin to a soft drink than to a healthy beverage.

Is any harm being done by this marketing ploy? After all, some might say consumers are at least getting some vitamins, and there isn’t as much sugar in vitaminwater as there is in regular Coke.

True. But about 35 percent of Americans are now considered medically obese. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight. Health experts tend to disagree about almost everything, but they all concur that added sugars play a key role in the obesity epidemic, a problem that now leads to more medical costs than smoking.

How many people with weight problems have consumed products like vitaminwater in the mistaken belief that the product was nutritionally positive and carried no caloric consequences? How many have thought that consuming vitaminwater was a smart choice from a weight-loss perspective? The very name “vitaminwater” suggests that the product is simply water with added nutrients, disguising the fact that it’s actually full of added sugar.

The truth is that when it comes to weight loss, what you drink may be even more important than what you eat. Americans now get nearly 25 percent of their calories from liquids. In 2009, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, finding that the quickest and most reliable way to lose weight is to cut down on liquid calorie consumption. And the best way to do that is to reduce or eliminate beverages that contain added sugar.
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola has invested billions of dollars in its vitaminwater line, paying basketball stars, including Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, to appear in ads that emphatically state that these products are a healthy way for consumers to hydrate. When Lebron James held his much ballyhooed TV special to announce his decision to join the Miami Heat, many corporations paid millions in an attempt to capitalize on the event. But it was vitaminwater that had the most prominent role throughout the show.

The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, alleges that vitaminwater labels and advertising are filled with “deceptive and unsubstantiated claims.” In his recent 55-page ruling, Federal Judge John Gleeson (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York), wrote, “At oral arguments, defendants (Coca-Cola) suggested that no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitamin water was a healthy beverage.” Noting that the soft drink giant wasn’t claiming the lawsuit was wrong on factual grounds, the judge wrote that, “Accordingly, I must accept the factual allegations in the complaint as true.”

I still can’t get over the bizarre audacity of Coke’s legal case. Forced to defend themselves in court, they are acknowledging that vitaminwater isn’t a healthy product. But they are arguing that advertising it as such isn’t false advertising, because no could possibly believe such a ridiculous claim.

I guess that’s why they spend hundreds of millions of dollars advertising the product, saying it will keep you “healthy as a horse,” and will bring about a “healthy state of physical and mental well-being.”

Why do we allow companies like Coca-Cola to tell us that drinking a bottle of sugar water with a few added water-soluble vitamins is a legitimate way to meet our nutritional needs?

Here’s what I suggest: If you’re looking for a healthy and far less expensive way to hydrate, try drinking water. If you want to flavor the water you drink, try adding the juice of a lemon and a small amount of honey or maple syrup to a quart of water. Another alternative is to mix one part lemonade or fruit juice to three or four parts water. Or drink green tea, hot or chilled, adding lemon and a small amount of sweetener if you like. If you want to jazz it up, try one-half fruit juice, one-half carbonated water.

If your tap water tastes bad or you suspect it might contain lead or other contaminants, get a water filter that fits under the sink or attaches to the tap.

And it’s probably not the best idea to rely on a soft drink company for your vitamins and other essential nutrients. A plant-strong diet with lots of vegetables and fruits will provide you with what you need far more reliably, far more consistently — and far more honestly.

Friday, 27Jan12

Fantabulous Friday

15 seconds work / 15 seconds rest for 20 mins (10 rounds) with no rest between of the following.

• Reclines
• Half burpees
• Front Squats
• KB Deadlift jumps

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This is for you Jennifer !!

Losing Weight with Hypothyroidism

How an Underactive Thyroid Can Affect Weight Loss

Many hypothyroid patients struggle with an inability to lose weight. At first, if you’d gained weight before your thyroid problem is diagnosed, you were probably told you’d be able to lose it more easily — or perhaps you were even told you’d lose all the extra weight — once you started on your thyroid hormone replacement.

So you take your thyroid hormone, and the weight doesn’t come off.

Later, despite “normal” TSH levels, and lower-calorie, low-fat diets and exercise, you find yourself still gaining, or not losing weight. You may also have high cholesterol levels. The doctor then tells you that your weight problem doesn’t have anything to do with your thyroid.

Some of this site’s visitors have reported to me that they were on a 900-calorie a day diet, walking 3 miles a day, and not losing weight, and the doctor says, “well, you just must be eating too much.”

What thyroid patients need to know more about are three factors that are likely at work for many of us with a difficulty losing weight — a changed metabolic “set point,” changes in brain chemistry due to illness and stress, and insulin resistance.

Metabolic Set Point

According to Dr. Lou Aronne, author of the best-selling Weigh Less Live Longer, when you begin to take in too many calories, you have a small weight gain. Then, in order to maintain your set point weight, “your metabolism speeds up to process the excess calories, your appetite decreases, and some of the newly gained weight drops off.” He calls this metabolic resistance.

Dr. Aronne believes that every person’s body has what is called a weight “set point.” Just like your body works to maintain a temperature “set point” of 98.6, it also appears to work toward maintaining a particular weight “set point.”

His theory is that in people with a chronic weight problem, the body puts up only modest metabolic resistance to weight gain. If you continue to take in more calories than you burn, the metabolic resistance loses strength, and your body then establishes a new, higher weight set point.

What this means is, if several years ago, as a woman at 5’7? and 160 pounds you needed 2500 calories a day to maintain your weight, and now, after a diagnosis of hypothyroidism and a steady weight gain, at 210 pounds, you need 2800 calories to maintain your weight, if you dropped your calories back to 2500, would you lose the extra 50 pounds? No, as you reduce your calories and lose weight, your metabolic rate slows down, and according to Dr. Aronne, you’d probably only drop to around 197 pounds, although you’d be consuming the same number of calories as another woman of the same height who’s stayed steady at 160 pounds.

This is probably the mysterious factor at play when we see someone who apparently eats even more than we do, but maintains a lower weight level, or conversely, the person who swears they don’t eat that much, but gains weight, or stays heavier.

Dr. Aronne believes you can’t completely eliminate the metabolic resistance, but a slow steady approach to dieting helps to minimize it. Also, a key way to increase metabolism is through exercise.

Changes in Brain Chemistry

Hunger is intricately tied to your brain chemistry. According to Dr. Aronne, your hypothalamus senses you need energy, and issues the brain neurotransmitter neuropeptide Y (NPY) with the message “eat carbohydrates.” The surge of NPY is what you experience as “hunger,” Once the hypothalamus senses you’ve eaten enough carbohydrates, it releases serotonin to tell the body, “enough carbohydrates.”

But this system can be dramatically altered by several factors, all of which can be present in chronic thyroid disease:

• Your metabolism is too slow for the appetite level set by your brain. Thyroid disease slows down the metabolism. What your brain perceives as appropriate food intake levels can then exceed your body’s metabolism, creating weight gain.
• Your body is under stress, which interferes with the neurotransmitter functions, and is known to reduce the release of serotonin. In fact, part of the success of the recently recalled diet drugs fen-phen was the fact that they increase serotonin and create a “feeling of fullness.”

Dealing with brain chemistry, and helping to stimulate serotonin can be dealt with in several ways in addition to taking traditional anti-depressant drugs. Alternative medicine guru Andrew Weil, M.D., author of bestsellers Spontaneous Healing,, and Eight Weeks to Optimum Health believes that the natural alternatives to boosting serotonin include aerobic exercise. Dr. Weil recommends at least 30 minutes of some vigorous aerobic activity at least five times a week. Dr. Weil also recommends the herbal treatment called St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum). More information on Dr. Weil’s natural recommendations for dealing with serotonin are featured at his website.

Insulin Resistance

Insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas. When you eat foods that contain carbohydrates (which make up the majority of most of our diets), your body converts the carbohydrates into simple sugars.  These sugars enter the blood, becoming “blood sugar.” Your pancreas then releases insulin to stimulate the cells to take in the blood sugar and store it as an energy reserve, returning blood sugar levels to a normal level.

Carbohydrates can be “simple,” high-glycemic carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, sugar, white flour and cakes, or “complex” lower-glycemic carbohydrates, like vegetables and whole grains.

Current theory claims that sugars and starches are far easily broken down than in our more prehistoric past, and today, many of us simply do not need and cannot process the amounts of carbohydrates that are considered “normal” by current dietary standards. For an estimated 25% of the population, eating what appears to be a “normal amount” of carbohydrates in fact raises blood sugar to excessive levels.  The pancreas responds by increasing the secretion of insulin to the level where it will drive down blood sugar. For this group, consistently eating too many carbohydrates — but remember, what is too many for this group is not necessarily too many for the average person — creates a situation called “insulin resistance.”

Insulin resistance means that cells have become less responsive to the effects of insulin. So your body has to produce more and more insulin in order to maintain normal blood sugar levels. The insulin can also remain in your blood in higher concentrations. This is known as hyperinsulinemia.

In addition to those who seem to have a lowered need for carbohydrates, some people simply eat too many carbohydrates. Today’s low-fat diets emphasize more and more pasta, bagels, Snackwells, and sugary fat-free products, and most of these are high-glycemic carbohydrates. Basic over-consumption of  high-glycemic foods carbohydrates can also trigger insulin resistance and overweight.

If you are insulin resistant, eating carbohydrates can make you crave more carbohydrates. You’ll gain weight more easily, and have difficulty losing it. It is estimated that 25 percent of the general population — and 75 percent of overweight people — are insulin resistant.

High insulin levels can stimulate your appetite, making you feel even hungrier than normal for carbohydrate rich food, while lowering the amount of sugar your body burns as energy, and making your cells even better at storing fat, and even worse at removing fat.

When you’re creating this excess insulin, it also prevents your body from using its stored fat for energy.  Hence, your insulin response to excess carbos causes you to gain weight, or you cannot lose weight.

The weight problems are not the worst aspect of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance may set up a whole syndrome of other serious health problems. For example, insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, which tend to go together, are often precursors of diabetes. And insulin resistance is also associated with a substantially increased risk of coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Insulin Resistance and Thyroid Disease

It seems likely that hypothyroidism, with its penchant for slowing down everything else in our systems right down to our cells, slows down our body’s ability to process carbohydrates and our cell’s ability to absorb blood sugar. Hence, the carbohydrates we could eat pre-thyroid problems now are too much for our systems to handle. So excess carbohydrates equals excess insulin equals excess weight. Plus, the fun side effects of blood sugar swings (tiredness, dizziness, fatigue, exhaustion, hunger, etc.) that we may be mistaking as thyroid symptoms and our doctors say can’t possibly be.

Any illness — such as the chronic thyroid problems we all face — also creates physical stress. And stress raises cortisol levels. And increased cortisol increases insulin levels. (I know my cortisol was through the roof last time the doctor checked. She had no idea why.) More insulin means increased chance of insulin resistance.

There’s also a vicious circle aspect to this. The liver mediates between the activities of the insulin-releasing pancreas and the adrenal and thyroid glands, which are supposed to “tell” the liver to release glucose. If the adrenals and thyroid aren’t working properly on the “telling” end, or if the liver is sluggish, stressed out, or toxic, and not working on the “receiving” end, the system goes out of balance. Either way, the result is elevated excess insulin. And ultimately, if your adrenal glands are stronger than your pancreas, this can potentially lead to diabetes. If your pancreas is the stronger organ, which is more common, then you get fatigue, lowered body temperature, and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).

All these factors mean that insulin resistance is probably even more of a factor for overweight people with hypothyroidism than for the general population.

How to Lose Weight and Fight Insulin Resistance

Weight loss is the most important method of eliminating insulin resistance. So it’s one of those chicken and egg situations. The less you weigh, the less insulin resistant you will be. But insulin resistance makes it difficult to lose weight.

So, for people who are insulin resistant, one of the only effective methods is by eating a low fat, low carbohydrate, protein sufficient diet. This means that in addition to the usual restrictions of a low-fat diet, you also need to seriously limit intake of sugar and starches, cutting back on pasta, rice, potatoes, white flour breads, cereal, corn, peas, sweet potatoes, desserts, dairy products, meats, and fruit with a high sugar content.

You may feel frustrated that there’s nothing left to eat. But you need to rethink your eating habits, shifting to a diet of chicken, turkey, fish, non-starchy vegetables, legumes, and certain grains. And for those who are insulin resistant, once you start eating this way, you’ll find it easier, as your carbohydrate cravings will subside dramatically.

Exercise

Finally, according to Jean-Pierre Despres, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Physical Education and Director of the Lipid Research Center at Laval University Hospital in Quebec, “Exercise is probably the best medication on the market to treat insulin resistance syndrome.” “Our studies show that low intensity, prolonged exercise — such as a daily brisk walk of 45 minutes to an hour — will substantially reduce insulin levels,” says Dr. Despres.

This article was adapted from the book, The Thyroid Diet, by Mary Shomon

Mary Shomon, About.com’s Thyroid Guide since 1997, is a nationally-known patient advocate and best-selling author of 10 books on health, including “The Thyroid Hormone Breakthrough: Overcoming Sexual and Hormonal Problems at Every Age,” “The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss,” “Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You…That You Need to Know,” “Living Well With Graves’ Disease and Hyperthyroidism,” “Living Well With Autoimmune Disease,” and “Living Well With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia.”  Click here for more information on Mary Shomon.

http://www.lowthyroidhelp.com/hypothyroid_diet.html

Thursday, 26Jan12

X- treme ROD

This is a timed set of 30 seconds on and 20 seconds rest for 5 rounds ~ No Rest

• Deadlifts
• Weighted Step ups
• Wall Ball
• Dbl KB Swings
• Ball slams

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Ready for Anything Training!!!!!

This class is a 1 hour ass kicking circuit that will leave you in a puddle of sweat.

Your cardiorespiratory and muscle strength will benefit from our motivational, challenging and fun circuit training set to energetic music.

Let’s see what you’ve got!!!!

Wednesday, 25Jan12

Couplets

20 seconds work/20 seconds work/20 seconds rest x 8 rounds

Burpees will commence as each individual person performs 3 burpees while the others perform static crab. This will continue until the last person finishes the burpees… then we move on to…

• Jumping pullups/Kettlebell high pulls
• Battling ropes /Goblet squats
• Dumbbell thrusters/ Tire pushes

Complete 8 rounds of each couplet rest 1 minute and move on … until fork tender.

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A Guide to Eating for Sports

Eat Extra for Excellence

There’s a lot more to eating for sports than chowing down on carbs or chugging sports drinks. The good news is that eating to reach your peak performance level likely doesn’t require a special diet or supplements. It’s all about working the right foods into your fitness plan in the right amounts.

Teen athletes have unique nutrition needs. Because athletes work out more than their less-active peers, they generally need extra calories to fuel both their sports performance and their growth. Depending on how active they are, teen athletes may need anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 total calories per day to meet their energy needs.

So what happens if teen athletes don’t eat enough? Their bodies are less likely to achieve peak performance and may even break down rather than build up muscles. Athletes who don’t take in enough calories every day won’t be as fast and as strong as they could be and may not be able to maintain their weight. And extreme calorie restriction could lead to growth problems and other serious health risks for both girls and guys.

Athletes and Dieting

Since teen athletes need extra fuel, it’s usually a bad idea to diet. Athletes in sports where weight is emphasized — such as wrestling, swimming, dance, or gymnastics — might feel pressure to lose weight, but they need to weigh that choice with the possible negative side effects mentioned above.

If a coach, gym teacher, or teammate says that you need to go on a diet, talk to your doctor first or visit a dietitian who specializes in teen athletes. If a health professional you trust agrees that it’s safe to diet, he or she can work with you to develop a plan that allows you get the proper amount of nutrients, perform your best, and lose weight.

Eat a Variety of Foods

You may have heard about “carb loading” before a game. But when it comes to powering your game for the long haul, it’s a bad idea to focus on only one type of food.

Carbohydrates are an important source of fuel, but they’re only one of many foods an athlete needs. It also takes vitamins, minerals, protein, and fats to stay in peak playing shape.

Muscular Minerals and Vital Vitamins

Calcium helps build the strong bones that athletes depend on, and iron carries oxygen to muscles. Most teens don’t get enough of these minerals, and that’s especially true of teen athletes because their needs may be even higher than those of other teens.

To get the iron you need, eat lean (not much fat) meat, fish, and poultry; green, leafy vegetables; and iron-fortified cereals. Calcium — a must for protecting against stress fractures — is found in dairy foods, such as low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese.

In addition to calcium and iron, you need a whole bunch of other vitamins and minerals that do everything from help you access energy to keep you from getting sick. Eating a balanced diet, including lots of different fruits and veggies, should provide the vitamins and minerals needed for good health and sports performance.

Protein Power

Athletes may need more protein than less-active teens, but most teen athletes get plenty of protein through regular eating. It’s a myth that athletes need a huge daily intake of protein to build large, strong muscles. Muscle growth comes from regular training and hard work. And taking in too much protein can actually harm the body, causing dehydration, calcium loss, and even kidney problems.

Good sources of protein are fish, lean meats and poultry, eggs, dairy, nuts, soy, and peanut butter.

Carb Charge

Carbohydrates provide athletes with an excellent source of fuel. Cutting back on carbs or following low-carb diets isn’t a good idea for athletes because restricting carbohydrates can cause a person to feel tired and worn out, which ultimately affects performance.

Good sources of carbohydrates include fruits, vegetables, and grains. Choose whole grains (such as brown rice, oatmeal, whole-wheat bread) more often than their more processed counterparts like white rice and white bread. That’s because whole grains provide both the energy athletes need to perform and the fiber and other nutrients they need to be healthy.

Sugary carbs such as candy bars or sodas are less healthy for athletes because they don’t contain any of the other nutrients you need. In addition, eating candy bars or other sugary snacks just before practice or competition can give athletes a quick burst of energy and then leave them to “crash” or run out of energy before they’ve finished working out.

Fat Fuel

Everyone needs a certain amount of fat each day, and this is particularly true for athletes. That’s because active muscles quickly burn through carbs and need fats for long-lasting energy. Like carbs, not all fats are created equal. Experts advise athletes to concentrate on healthier fats, such as the unsaturated fat found in most vegetable oils.

Choosing when to eat fats is also important for athletes. Fatty foods can slow digestion, so it’s a good idea to avoid eating these foods for a few hours before and after exercising.

Shun Supplements

Protein and energy bars don’t do a whole lot of good, but they won’t really do you much harm either. But other types of supplements can really do some damage.

Anabolic steroids can seriously mess with a person’s hormones, causing side effects like testicular shrinkage and baldness in guys and facial hair growth in girls. Steroids can cause mental health problems, including depression and serious mood swings.

Some supplements contain hormones that are related to testosterone (such as dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA for short). These supplements can have similar side effects to anabolic steroids. Other sports supplements (like creatine, for example) have not been tested in people younger than 18. So the risks of taking them are not yet known.

Salt tablets are another supplement to watch out for. People take them to avoid dehydration, but salt tablets can actually lead to dehydration. In large amounts, salt can cause nausea, vomiting, cramps, and diarrhea and may damage the lining of the stomach. In general, you are better off drinking fluids in order to maintain hydration. Any salt you lose in sweat can usually be made up with sports drinks or food eaten after exercise.

Ditch Dehydration

Speaking of dehydration, water is just as important to unlocking your game power as food. When you sweat during exercise, it’s easy to become overheated, headachy, and worn out — especially in hot or humid weather. Even mild dehydration can affect an athlete’s physical and mental performance.

There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for how much water to drink. How much fluid each person needs depends on the individual’s age, size, level of physical activity, and environmental temperature.

Experts recommend that athletes drink before and after exercise as well as every 15 to 20 minutes during exercise. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty, because thirst is a sign that your body has needed liquids for a while. But don’t force yourself to drink more fluids than you may need either. It’s hard to run when there’s a lot of water sloshing around in your stomach!

If you like the taste of sports drinks better than regular water, then it’s OK to drink them. But it’s important to know that a sports drink is really no better for you than water unless you are exercising for more than 60 to 90 minutes or in really hot weather. The additional carbohydrates and electrolytes may improve performance in these conditions, but otherwise your body will do just as well with water.

Avoid drinking carbonated drinks or juice because they could give you a stomachache while you’re competing.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it causes a person to urinate (pee) more. It’s not clear whether this causes dehydration or not, but to be safe, it’s wise to stay away from too much caffeine, especially if you’ll be exercising in hot weather.

Although some studies have found that caffeine may help with endurance sports performance, it’s good to weigh any benefits against potential problems. Too much caffeine can leave an athlete feeling anxious or jittery. It can also cause trouble sleeping. All of these can drag down a person’s sports performance. Plus, taking certain medications — including supplements — can make caffeine’s side effects seem even worse.

Game-Day Eats

Your performance on game day will depend on the foods you’ve eaten over the past several days and weeks. But you can boost your performance even more by paying attention to the food you eat on game day. Strive for a game-day diet rich in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and low in fat.

Here are some guidelines on what to eat and when:

• Eat a meal 2 to 4 hours before the game or event: Choose a protein and carbohydrate meal (like a turkey or chicken sandwich, cereal and milk, chicken noodle soup and yogurt, or pasta with tomato sauce).
• Eat a snack less than 2 hours before the game: If you haven’t had time to have a pre-game meal, be sure to have a light snack such as low-fiber fruits or vegetables (like plums, melons, cherries, carrots), crackers, a bagel, or low-fat yogurt.

Consider not eating anything for the hour before you compete or have practice because digestion requires energy — energy that you want to use to win. Also, eating too soon before any kind of activity can leave food in the stomach, making you feel full, bloated, crampy, and sick.

Everyone is different, so get to know what works best for you. You may want to experiment with meal timing and how much to eat on practice days so that you’re better prepared for game day.

Want to get an eating plan personalized for you? The U.S. government has developed a website, ChooseMyPlate.gov, that tells a person how much to eat from different food groups based on age, gender, and activity level. [Please note: By clicking on this link, you will be leaving our site.]

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: November 2011
Originally reviewed by: Jessica Donze Black, RD, CDE, MPH

Tuesday, 24Jan12

Ready for Anything Training!!!!!

This class is a 1 hour ass kicking circuit that will leave you in a puddle of sweat.

Your cardiorespiratory and muscle strength will benefit from our motivational, challenging and fun circuit training set to energetic music.

Let’s see what you’ve got!!!!

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The Dozen by Dozen

Complete four rounds of the following for time:

• 12 Half Burpees
• 24 Dumbbell push press
• 36 Air squats
• 48 Kettlebell swings

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 Athlete ROD

40 sec work / 20 sec rest for rounds recommended at time of performance.

• Bosu push-up w /OH reach
• Reclines
• Med ball slams
• S/L Jump rope
• Burpees
• Band pull aparts

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More to Follow…

Monday, 23Jan12

Our athlete’s performed this ROD on Saturday…. now it’s your turn. 

Triple Threat

3  Stations, 7 minutes each station for Max Rounds

1:30 min rest in between stations

“Speed” (go quickly)
10 KB High pulls
10 Burpees

“Strength” (go heavy)
10 Kettlebell Swings
10 Dumbbell Push Press

“Stamina” (go w/o resting)
10 Push-ups
10 Mountain Climbers

**Post rounds to comments**

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149 Day’s till summer. Will you be ready for this?

What do you want to look like this summer?

   or    

                                    It’s all up to you.

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Cravings: Why They Strike, How to Curb Them

Almost everyone has hankered after potato chips, ice cream, chocolate, or another beckoning treat. But why? And what do you do when a craving calls your name? Is it OK to give in once in a while? What if your cravings start to run amok and demand satisfaction every day?

Food Cravings From the Inside Out

Cornell professor Brian Wansink, PhD, makes it his business to understand food cravings. He’s studied a woman who loved to cuddle up with her favorite snack: a bowl of popcorn mixed with M&Ms. He knows why hearty men crave steaks and pizza, while women usually go for candy or cookies.

Insight into cravings is important because our environment is loaded with sensory cues that can prompt us to overeat, Wansink says. He directs Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab, which studies consumers’ relationships with food. (The lab’s motto: “We uncover eating traps and change them.”) He also wrote the book, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.

Visual cues — such as seeing enticing foods — are the most frequent environmental triggers. Smells are potent, too. For instance, “You walk by a Cinnabon,” Wansink says, and the rich, sweet aroma can automatically trip a strong desire for the cinnamon rolls.

Don’t Blame Nutrition

One popular myth holds that people crave certain foods to fill a nutritional deficiency.

“The naive view has always been that cravings represent wisdom of the body,” says Marcia Pelchat, PhD, a food researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

But it’s not so. Some of her work has shown that people have cravings even when they’re fed a diet that’s completely adequate in calories and nutrients.

“People will often say things, like, ‘Gee, I’m craving potato chips. I’d better eat some because I must need the salt,’” Pelchat says. “But really, how many of us — aside from runners in hot weather — are deficient in salt? And then how do you explain cravings for sweets in terms of deficiency?”

We feel virtuous blaming cravings on nutritional needs, Pelchat says. But “we don’t have such great wisdom of the body,” she says. “Unfortunately, humans rely less on instincts and more on culture to determine what they eat — or on individual experience.” (In her city, for example, a lot of men crave Philly cheese steaks.)

Culture, Sex, and Cravings

Wansink agrees that culture and gender play a big role in cravings. In his research, men were more likely to crave pizza, pasta, and soup over cakes and cookies. Why? Besides being tasty and filling, such hot, savory foods reminded them of attention from their mothers or wives.

In contrast, women liked these foods well enough, but associated them with work, including preparation and cleanup. So instead, women tended to crave hassle-free snack foods, such as candy, cookies, ice cream, and chocolate.

What about that woman who liked popcorn mixed with M&M’s? Not only was the snack easy to prepare, but it made her feel “cozy and safe,” Wansink says. She and her husband had made it as a “secret snack” when they were dating in college; hence, the positive association turned it into her favorite craving.

Almost everyone has hankered after potato chips, ice cream, chocolate, or another beckoning treat. But why? And what do you do when a craving calls your name?

Is it OK to give in once in a while? What if your cravings start to run amok and demand satisfaction every day?

Good Mood, Bad Mood

Certain emotions, including stress, sadness, and boredom, can promote cravings, Pelchat says. “That’s another very strong correlate of cravings. A bad mood can become a conditioned cue for eating. Just like walking by the donut shop, being in a bad mood becomes a cue that elicits going over to the refrigerator.”

Those negative moods get all the press, but Wansink suggests that happy moods might be even more likely to cause cravings. In his survey of about 1,000 Americans, 86% reported that they craved comfort foods when they were happy, and 74% had cravings when they wanted to celebrate or reward themselves. In contrast, 52% had cravings when they were bored and 39% when they were sad or lonely.

The happy eaters craved food to maintain their upbeat mood, he explains: “I want to do something to extend my happy feeling or my happy experience.” Furthermore, they tended to prefer “more meal-like, healthier foods,” he says. In contrast, people in sad moods were much more likely to seek out ice cream, cookies, or potato chips.

You also learn to crave certain foods in certain situations. “If you have a cookie every day after school, just walking into the house cues you to have a cookie,” Pelchat says. “If you don’t get that cookie right away, your mind obsesses about it and turns it into a craving.”

Taming Your Cravings

So you want to put your cravings back in their place. What should you do?

Don’t waste your time on bizarre methods. They don’t work for most people. For example, some models deal with cravings for sweets by taking one bite from a candy bar and spitting it out, or carrying a candy wrapper to sniff, Wansink writes in his book.

Here are some expert tips to try instead:

Eat the Food You Crave Less Often

You may have heard that having a little bit of the food you crave is a good way to break the craving. Maybe not.

“We used to think that eating a small amount of those foods would extinguish a craving. For a long time, we thought that that was the way to deal with cravings, and it just doesn’t seem to work for most people,” Wansink says.

Rather than quitting the craving, continually eating the food may just strengthen the habit. “The more you eat sweets, the more you reinforce the cravings for sweets,” Pelchat says.

So should you go cold turkey? No, Wansink says. Feeling deprived of a favorite food often backfires and you end up eating too much. “You can indulge in it, but just do it less frequently,” he says.

Use Portion Control

“Allow yourself to have a food, but do it in a portion-controlled way,” Pelchat says. For example, don’t keep tempting foods at home, because it’s too easy to wolf down excessive amounts. Instead, go out for one scoop of ice cream or one slice of pizza.

Also, know yourself. Portion control doesn’t work for everyone, especially if tempting foods are on hand. Some people can count out and eat only 15 smoked almonds; others routinely barrel their way to the bottom of the can.

“If you can’t manage portion control, then you want to weaken the link between cues in the environment and eating that food,” Pelchat says. Hide the food in the back of a cupboard; don’t keep it on a kitchen counter or in plain sight. “If you resist, you weaken the link between cues and mindless eating,” she says.

Substitute a Healthier Food

“There’s a very fine line between eating an unhealthy food and a healthy food in terms of how it satisfies cravings,” Wansink says. “You may be dying for that chocolate sundae or whatever, but eating something that’s healthier will eliminate that craving almost as effectively.”

For instance, eating apple slices with peanut butter might satisfy your craving as much as if you really did splurge on ice cream, he says. The sense of satisfaction might not happen immediately or even five minutes later, but it will kick in 15 to 20 minutes later, he says.

Just make sure to eat an amount equal to the volume of the craved food. Otherwise, “you’re still going to be hungry,” Wansink says — and your craving will still be there, waiting for you to give in.

Distract Yourself With an Activity Unrelated to Food

“Substitute something else until the craving goes away. It could be in the form of taking a walk or doing pushups or calling a friend,” Wansink says. Cravings are fleeting, he says. They’ll diminish or go away within an hour, if not sooner.

Don’t wait out a craving passively. An activity that’s “somewhat absorbing” will help you to resist, Pelchat says. “Even counting to 10 does help,” she adds. “People are less likely to eat the craved food. It gives them more control over it.

Have a Plan to Combat Chronic Cravings

“The most dangerous cravings are the ones that are chronic. Those are going to be the most difficult ones to deal with,” Wansink says.

Let’s say that on most days, around 3 p.m., you crave a sweet or salty food — jelly donuts or a big bag of cheese puffs. “In those cases, it can’t be a piecemeal, day-by-day strategy,” he says. That’s a set-up for failure.

It’s better to have a steadfast plan. Make sure to have sugarless gum on hand, ready to pop into your mouth when the craving strikes. Or make it routine to take a walk at that time. “Habitually, you replace that craving,” Wansink says.

Saturday, 21Jan12

WE ARE OPEN TODAY

For safety reasons, please bring an extra pair of sneakers to workout in.

Kettlebell Strength Ladder

Down by two’s (10,8,6,4,2) for time:

• Dbl KB floor presses (r+l=1 rep)
• Dbl KB front squat
• Dbl KB bent over rows (make sure you back is straight when performing this movement)
• Dbl KB swings (outside the legs)
• Sit-outs (r+l=1 rep)

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Athletes ROD

Triple Threat

3  Stations, 7 minutes each station for Max Rounds

1:30 min rest in between stations

“Speed” (go quickly)
10 KB High pulls
10 Burpees

“Strength” (go heavy)
10 Kettlebell Swings
10 Dumbbell Push Press

“Stamina” (go w/o resting)
10 Push-ups
10 Mountain Climbers

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Unleash The Power Of Heavy Kettlebell Training  by Mike Mahler

Many people believe light to moderate kettlebell training is ideal, 53lb kettlebells for men and 26lb kettlebells for women. This line of thinking is a great way to miss out on the benefits of heavy kettlebell training.

For example, 53lb kettlebells are not challenging to me at all and if I based my training on 53lb kettlebells, I would not have the strength, size, endurance, and explosive power that I currently have. Moreover, my clients would not make the improvements that they have made if they stuck to light bells.

Even if your goals are cardio and muscular endurance, why not work up to heavier kettlebells for reps? Do you really think that knocking off ten double swings with two 88lb kettlebells will not be beneficial? Do you think that ten clean and presses with the 70s will not benefit you as an athlete? Of course both will. An athlete would clearly do better with do twelve clean and presses with two 70s than thirty clean and presses with two 53s.

If you can do thirty reps with a weight, it is too easy to have any dramatic benefit for athletic activities and strength (unless your sport is GS, a kettlebell sport), especially, for combat athletes. The heavier the kettlebells you can handle for muscular endurance, the more benefit you will have for your sport. Using Olympic lifting as a back drop, an athlete who can Power Clean 315lbs five times is going to have much more explosive power than an athlete who can Power Clean 135lbs fifteen times. Moreover, the athlete who can Power Clean 315lbs will be able to do far more than fifteen reps with 135lbs.

Heavy training improves light training, but not the other way around. So why even bother with light training? With the exception of working on form and back-off weeks, I would say do not bother. Personally, 70lb bells are the lightest ones I own and I only use them for GTG (Pavel’s Greasing the Groove in which you practice an exercise daily for neurological facilitation) for presses and sometimes high-rep Front Squats.

Recently someone asked me how many reps I can do for the ten-minute Snatch test with a 53lb kettlebell. I have no idea as I have never done the test. With all due respect to the test and the great people who have participated in the test (lots of impressive numbers by people who have taken the test), I’d rather have an athlete knock off twenty Snatches left and right with an 88lb kettlebell and eventually the 105lb bell. Sounds like too much? I can do 17 Snatches left and right with a 105lb kettlebell and I am far from a gifted athlete.

A few months ago I knocked off 50 reps per arm on One-arm Snatches with a 53lb bell. I am not breaking any records, and there are a few things you should know. I never train with light kettlebells; I rarely work on high reps (over ten reps per set), and the 50 reps left and right was easy for me. The power and endurance that I built with heavy kettlebells carried over very well to light weights for high reps. However, take a man or woman who can do 50 snatches with a 53lb kettlebell who has never trained with a heavier kettlebell and I promise you that he or she will not be able to do more than a few reps with a 105lb kettlebell. More than likely, he or she will not even be able to do one rep. If you are an athlete, light training it is not ideal for the majority of your workouts.

Once you have the technique down, ramp up the intensity. Heavy kettlebell training will do far more for explosive power and when done in high reps will develop muscular endurance that will transfer to your sport.

Now I am not blowing my own horn here or trying to convey what a great athlete I am. Again I am not a great athlete and certainly not a genetic freak. My anabolic hormone levels are good, but certainly not exceptional. Thus, I do not have tremendous recovery abilities either. I did not even start lifting weights until I was 18 and got pinned with 100lbs on the bench press when I first got started. I never played sports in high school or college. Thus, if I can work up to the numbers above, it should be no problem for gifted athletes. I am just an average guy who learned how to train smart, recruit the CNS, and use my own leverage points to handle heavier bells – more about leverage points later.

My point to drive home is that heavy kettlebell training is not just beneficial for size and strength, but for muscular endurance as well. The muscular endurance you build with heavy kettlebells is much more beneficial than light kettlebells for athletes. In addition, heavy kettlebell training engages the CNS more efficiently, teaches you how to master your own leverage points, and if used correctly, probably has a great benefit to optimizing anabolic hormones. Of course this is far more complicated than just training.

Let me make it clear by stating that I do not think heavy weight low-rep training takes the place of muscular endurance. That is not what this article is about. Of course you need to work with high reps and lots of volume or frequency to ramp up endurance, but you should not be afraid of heavy kettlebell training. If muscular endurance is your thing, have a goal of working up to some high reps with some heavy kettlebells on the Double Clean and Press, Double Swing, Double Front Squat (or Double Clean and Front Squat), Double Clean and Jerk (or Clean and Push Press), Double Snatches, One-arm Swings, and One-arm Snatches.

Heavy kettlebells are bells you can only do a few reps with, say 2-4. Start with low reps to get used to the heavier kettlebells. For example, if you can Clean and Press two 53lb bells ten times, do a few sets of two reps when you start working with the 70lb bells. Make each rep perfect. Once that gets easy, start building the reps. When you can do ten Clean and Presses with the 70s, get a pair of 88s and do the same thing.

One important thing to keep in mind is that training form needs to be modified as the bells get heavier. Let’s use the Clean and Press as an example. With light kettlebells, you can keep the body fairly loose and still maintain proper technique. You can easily keep your body upright as leverage is not a necessity. However, once you start doing Clean and Presses with heavy kettlebells, you are playing in a whole new ball game. You have to tighten up and apply more tension to have a solid foundation. You will have to let your back “sit back” and push your hips as far forward as possible for optimal leverage. Your breathing will change. Now you have to hold your breath or apply “power breathing” to keep the tension high to get the bells moving.

An another example is the One-arm Snatch: When I do Snatches with a 105lb bell my form is much different than my form with a 70lb kettlebell. I drive through with much more power and pop the pelvis through and let my back sit back for more explosive power and leverage similar to what Olympic lifters do. As the bell goes overhead, I bend my knees slightly to get under the weight and catch it. When I return the bell to the starting position, I keep it close to my body for maximum control. I also do not swing the bell back as far between my feet as that also throws off the leverage. It is almost a completely different exercise all together than a One-arm Snatch with a lighter bell.

One final example is the One-arm Military Press with a 105lb kettlebell. At my bodyweight of 193, I can One-arm Military Press a 70lb kettlebell easily without having to shift my weight at all for optimal leverage. When I press an 88lb bell, I shift my weight a little bit. However, when I press a 105lb kettlebell, I need every leverage point that I can take advantage of. I kick my hip out under the bell; I take the bell behind my back so I can engage the lat more and acquire more leverage and stability. Then I shift my weight in the opposite direction similar to a side press to keep the bell moving, and once I have the bell moving, I shift my weight under the bell to finish the move.

I saw Steve Cotter, founder of Full Kontact Kettlebells, One-arm Military Press a 105lb kettlebell recently and it almost looked like a Kettlebell Windmill. Steve started the press from under the chin and quickly got the bell behind his back to reach the optimal leverage point. Some of you may feel that this is cheating. To retort I say you either weigh a lot more than Steve and do not need leverage to press a 105lb kettlebell, or you are not even close to pressing a 105lb. Do you really feel that mastering leverage with a heavy kettlebell is not beneficial to athletes? Isn’t that what athletes do all of the time? Judo and wrestling have a lot of techniques in which the ideal leverage is used to take the opponent down efficiently. In football you do not just ram into your opponent haphazardly, you go for a particular spot to do the most damage.

One of the strong benefits of heavy kettlebell training is that you ultimately have to master all of your leverage points to get the job done. Right now, I am working on the Double Clean and Press with two 105lb kettlebells. The only way that it is going to happen is if I apply my ideal leverage points. These are points I have not found yet as I have not needed to apply them with 88lb kettlebells and below. Regardless, I will find these points and I will press the 105lb kettlebells. It is only a matter of time and the learning process in and of itself is a lot of fun. I really enjoy the challenge. When I work up to a Clean and Press with the 105lb kettlebells for reps, you better believe that it will improve my numbers with the 88s and 70s. No doubt about it.

I will leave you with this. Even if you do not want to train with heavy kettlebells, if you want to improve your numbers with the bells you are currently using, get some heavier kettlebells. The 88lb kettlebells always felt heavy to me until I started training with 105lb kettlebells. Now they feel light and the 70s feel so light that when I went to do a Double Clean and Press yesterday, I almost ended up doing a Double Snatch by accident!

Friday, 20Jan12

Kick ass in the early morning with this fat burning class.

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F***king Friday

The clock will be set to go for 40 second work with a 20 second rest with a 1 min rest between the 3 rounds.

• Recline face pulls
• DB Squat Hang Cleans
• Bounders
• KB Deadlifts
• Bear Crawls
• DB Thrusters

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