Wow it feels like forever!

It truly feels like it has been forever since I have been able to post anything!  I just finished up my 1st quarter of chiropractic school last week and trying hard to enjoy my 3 week break before heading back.  Still having to work full time, but hey, one less thing for a bit is a nice thing!  I was able to get a six week pass at the gym I went to for several years here at home so that's exciting!!!!  Anyway, I hope to put together a couple of informational posts in the next few weeks to share and for anyone out there actually reading this, hope you're well!!!!

Remember, stay focused and happy training y'all!

Boost Your Workout with Music

Two of my favorite things in life are working out and music.  So why not combine them and get the best of both worlds!  In all seriousness, listening to music while working out can increase your ability to train and in that way, help to boost results.  If you take a second to think about it, it isn’t really hard to see how music can help you increase the intensity of your workouts.  Throughout history, music has been used to illustrate and illicit emotions and to create moods.  Choosing music that creates the mood for the type of training that you’ll be engaging in is important.  For heavy weight lifting or sprinting workouts, it makes sense to choose a powerful, face-paced type of music.  For yoga or meditation, go with light and expressive instrumental type music.  They even make waterproof MP3 players these days, so you can listen to music while swimming!  http://www.amazon.com/Underwater-Audio-Waterproof-Swimbuds-Bundle/dp/B00CELMZG0  Pretty cool indeed!

Music can help us to block out the distractions that often times cause us to lose focus during our training sessions.  Whether it’s the pain associated with exercise, or it’s the chatter from others in the gym, distractions are ever-present in our environment.  Music can help us to eliminate these and help us to be able to really focus in on the workout.

The only consideration that I suggest you keep in mind is to never listen to music while exercising near traffic or in an environment that you need to be aware of and hear your surroundings (such as road biking).  Most races do not allow competitors to use headphones during events for this very reason.

So go out and buy some upbeat tunes to crank through the ear buds during your next workout.  Use this as a motivator to get in your workouts.  If you make it through a couple weeks of training, reward yourself by purchasing a new playlist’s worth of music to listen to for the next couple of weeks J Have fun coming up with different playlists for different types of workouts.  I have a different playlist for my runs and my weight training workouts and the music really helps me on days that I am dragging and lacking the motivation to step foot in the gym.  Like the Doobie Brother’s sang “music is the doctor, makes you feel like you want to.”

Stay Focused and Happy Training Y’all!!!!!

Simple Clean Eating Plan

I am often asked for nutritional advice by people looking to lose weight and the single best piece of advice that I can give a person that wants to lose weight is to lose the processed foods.  Processed foods are full of weight loss sabotaging ingredients and offer very little nutritional value.  Instead of starting out by counting calories or grams of this and that, begin replacing the processed foods with whole and nutritious food options. 

I am an advocate for eating 6 small meals per day verses 3 large meals.  I subscribe to the belief that eating consistently throughout the day keeps the metabolism firing, as well as supplying you with a steady stream of energy…all day long.  When you consume large, heavy meals your body requires a lot of energy in order to break those meals down digestively.  This leaves you feel tired, lethargic and sleepy, all of which are the opposite of what we need to make it through our day.  Aim to have a meal every 2 to 3 hours during the waking hours.  I eat a protein rich diet as it helps with building and repairing muscle, and you’ll find that having a decent amount of protein with each meal will leave you feeling fuller for longer.  Protein takes a while to break down and digest so this is where the prolonged satiety comes from. 

Here are some simple meal ideas to get you started:

Breakfast:  3 whole eggs (you can cook 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites if you have high cholesterol) and ½ to 1 cup of plain oatmeal.  Sweeten the oatmeal with several packets of stevia.

Meal #2:  2 cups of skim or almond milk and one scoop of whey protein powder.  If you are targeting weight loss, find a protein powder without added sugars.

Lunch:   8 oz. of baked flounder fillets, 1 medium sweet potato (baked, not microwaved), 1 ½ cups of steamed broccoli.  I flavor the meal with Old Bay Seasoning or simple salt and pepper.  Adding pepper (cayenne is best) can increase the body’s core temperature slightly which translates into increased metabolism.

Meal #4:   2 cans of chunk light tuna in water drained, 1 small baked potato, 1 ½ cups of steamed green peas.  Peas are a great source of protein and season this meal the same as the prior meal.

Dinner:  Veggie Stir fry using all of my favorite vegetables and those that I was able to get on sale this week.  Always go with carrots, celery, greens of some variety (turnip, mustard, chard or kale), mushrooms, green bell peppers, onions and any others that you want to add.  I brown a packet of tofu in another frying pan and serve on top of my stir fry.  Make certain to get organic non-GMO tofu!!!!  I season the stir fry with fresh pressed garlic (up to 3 cloves depending on preference) and use Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acid which is a great substitute for traditional soy sauce.

Meal #5:  1 cup of Greek Yogurt (Plain) and one scoop of whey protein powder

You can easily replace the fish with lean chicken breast or lean seafood of your choice, but I suggest avoiding pork and red meat if targeting weight loss.  Interchange the vegetables with other “green veggie” options such as greens, cabbage, green beans, asparagus, etc.  I always choose sweet potatoes over white potatoes because of the increased nutritional content of the sweet potatoes but you’re fine to switch it up from time to time, just make certain you aren’t using either variety of potatoes that are any larger than a baseball. 

The above meal plan is also great for muscle building!  The only tweak that I would make is going with 6 whole eggs in the morning for breakfast and the full 1 cup of oatmeal (that’s 1 cup uncooked which yields several cups after it’s cooked).  As a general rule of thumb in order to build muscle, we need to aim for 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.

Hope this helps!  Stay Focused and Happy Training Y’all!!!!!!

Simple High Protein/ Low Carb Cookies

I'm all about getting plenty of protein in each day and always looking for creative ways to stay satisfied in the process.  Here's a great high protein peanut butter cookie recipe that is as easy as it is yummy!

What you'll need:

1 egg
1 cup of natural peanut butter
15 packets of Stevia
1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (or your choice of flavor)
1 tablespoon of cinnamon or nutmeg
1/4 cup skim milk


What you'll do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix them together until you get a nice blending of all ingredients.  Take out a baking sheet and cover it with a single layer of wax paper.  Then simple roll the cookie mixture into small balls about the size of a golf ball and place them on the wax paper, while flattening them out a bit with your fingers.  Then pop them into the oven and cook for 10 minutes.


That's it folks and you'll have a pretty much guilt-free high protein snack that will satisfy your craving and help you stay true to your clean nutrition goals :)


Stay Focused and Happy Training Y'all!!!!

Adding a Little Variety to Your Weight Training Routine

If you've read any of my previous posts on weight training or ever trained with me, you might know that my approach to weight training is to increase build muscle mass and increase strength....period.  Over the years I've tried a lot of different approaches to training, yet what I have found to be the best bang for your buck training modality is low reps and high weight.  To go a step further, I combine 2 compound exercises with 2 auxiliary/isolating exercises for a total of 4 exercise per body part.  Each week I strive to bump the weight up a bit, at least on my last set of 4 reps.  I've religiously trained this way for the last several years and I am consistently putting on muscle and keeping my body fat percentage relatively low.  That isn't to say that I don't see a need in changing things up from time-to-time to stem new growth and to allow the mind a respite period from the week in and week out, heavy-as-you-can-go, style of training that I do and suggest.  So...... how can you go about spicing things up you say?  I say get creative.  You can do super-sets (such as curls followed immediately with triceps extensions or leg extensions immediately followed by hamstring curls, etc.), giant sets where you do 3 to 4 exercises back-to-back-to-back, or as I prefer doing, a week of high repetitions for each exercise, for each muscle group.  I throw these weeks of high reps in about once every 8-10 weeks or when my mind and body need a little something different.  After that week though, I am right back to heavy weight, low reps.  You could also switch up exercises (keep the 2 compound, 2 isolating movement approach though), work muscle groups together more than 1 time a week such as combining back and biceps on one day, the chest and triceps another, legs and shoulders on a third day and doing this for 6 workouts during a week period or something. 

Again, experiment around here and see what works best for you, but only change things up no more than every 8th week of training, and for no longer than a week at a time.  Sometimes we all need a break and even though most of us exercise fanatics are creatures of habit, you'll reap some serious benefits from changing up your game a little from time to time!


Stay Focused and Happy Training Y'all!!!!!

Health Benefits of Watermelon

One of my all-time favorite foods is watermelon, so it’s almost funny given the amount of foods that I have written about I have waited until now to discuss the health benefits of this yummy, juicy treat full of nutrients.  Watermelon is approximately 96% water, so during the summer it is a great way to increase fluid intake and to rehydrate after exercise.  It is also high in Lycopene, which is a phytonutrient that is great for heart and bone health. 

Watermelon is high in both flavonoids and carotenoids (powerful antioxidants) that are responsible for its anti-inflammatory properties.  The lycopene is also a powerful anti-inflammatory, and all the antioxidants help to reduce and repair the damage of free radicals.

Watermelon is high in beta-carotene and is a decent source of Vitamin C.  1 cup of watermelon provides 20% of the RDA of vitamin C.

Watermelon is high in the amino acid citrulline, which the body converts to arganine.  Arganine has been linked to decreased blood pressure.

Watermelon is a good source of B vitamins, which are important for metabolism and energy production. 

Watermelon is high in vitamin A and along with the lycopene, this helps to reduce the risk of vision loss and eye-related disease.

Soon, I will post a video of how to quickly cut up and serve a watermelon, without creating the huge mess that is often associated with cutting one up! 

Stay Focused and Happy Training Y’all!!!!!!

Off Season "Bulking" to Gain Muscle

With the end of summer rapidly approaching, many of us are finishing up our seasons of athletic endeavors.  While in some ways this is a little sad, trust me I hate the cold weather that I know isn't too far away, it is an exciting time in terms of training approach.  I always go into the fall and winter months with a goal of increasing strength and muscle mass and I set up my training programs in order to facilitate this.  Being a triathlete, I pretty much burn myself out by this time of year with swimming, biking and running, so changing things up and focusing in on weight and cross training is a breath of fresh air....albeit cold air BURRRRR! 

To be completely honest here, my approach to weight training doesn't change during the off season all that much.  I still use the heaviest weights that I can safely move and I use 4 exercises per body part for sets of 10, 8, 6, and 4, yet the exercises I choose do change up a bit.  I am a huge advocate for using machines vs. free weights during the in-season phase of my training year to reduce the risk of injury, but the off season is go time for heavy compound free weight movements.  What exactly do I mean???? Squats, dead lifts, dumbbell benches and overhead presses!  Those old-skool movements that have been the foundational lifts of every sporting champion in the last century and a half!  It is important that you learn correct form and utilize it in order to prevent injury with these exercises, yet once you master the movements and start piling the weight on, you'll see huge gains in terms of strength and mass in a realitively short period of time.

The way that I set up my workouts is that I do one body part per workout.  I then perform 2 compound exercise and 2 auxillary type movements for each body part.  Compound movements are those lifts that incorporate more than one body part into the exercise (think of how squats work multiple areas of the leg and entire lower body).  Auxilalry movements are the more isolated exercises that target only one muscle group such as leg extensions for the quadriceps.  This way by doing the compound movements, you target growth and mass building, then with the auxillary movements you're working towards shape and toning.  Those heavy compound movements trigger the body to release growth hormones.  Shape and toning is still important areas to target even in the off season.   It's also an important focus even if you are "bulking" as bodybuilders and athletes often do to increase size and strength.....which takes us into the next topic.

So what's my stance on bulking (purposely gaining weight in order to increase muscle mass and overall size)?  Honestly, I feel like it is a great way to give yourself a break from the strict in-season approach to diet and training that most athletes follow.  You have to mentally prepare yourself to put on weight, as some of the weight is naturally going to be body fat, yet by taking a methodical and modest approach to bulking, you can decrease the amount of fat gain while still putting on a nice amount of muscle.  The trick is to maintain a clean diet and allow your increase in calories to come primarily from proteins, then carbs, and finally healthy fats.  Also, don't go over board and eat whatever you want when you want because I can say from experience that the only thing you'll noticably gain is body fat!  And the more fat you put on, the harder you'll have to diet come preseason.  Don't consider the weight gainer powders, which aren't any fun and I always opt for real, whole and healthy foods over powders and supplements when it comes to nutrition.  Target upping your daily caloric intake by 200-250 calories per day and monitor your progress.  If it appears that the weight gain is primarily muscle and not body fat, then you can up the calories a little more each week (roughly 50 calories per day) and see what the result are.  On the other hand, if 250 extra calories per day makes you appear to gain primarily body fat, back down in 50 calories increments as you experiment.  It's about finding the ratio that works for you! 

So what about cardio?  Should you do it year round?  My answer is absolutely yes!!!!!  Cardio training in my opinion is the fountain of youth.  For every hour of cardio you do, you extend your life span by 2 hours!You can drop the cardio verses your in season training frequency, but still do a minimum of 4 sessions per week at a minimum of 20 minutes per session.  Make certain these sessions are at a moderate intensity.

So that's it y'all!  Once your season wraps up, consider hitting the weights and put on some muscle mass so that next season is even more of a success!  This goes for you ladies as well!  I know using the term bulk probably scares most women, but by taking my moderate approach and continually monitoring your progress, the bulking due to fat gain will be minimal and the lean muscle mass gains will be substantial! Always remember, muscle equals faster metabolism, which will really make a big difference come next spring when we work towards our "beach bodies!"

Stay Focused and Happy Training Y'all!!!!!!