WOD for 11/29/2011

Let's slow things down a bit and work on some strength today.

WOD
Barbell Deadlift 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3

Go heavy, but remember to keep your form (straight back, chest up, head up, drive through your heels)!

Have fun!


Yours In Health,
                         Steven


Examples:


DEADLIFT



















NEVER DO THIS!

Pass the salt please?

I came across an article that I thought was pretty interesting and figured I'd share. What are your thoughts?

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Pass the salt please?
Posted on July 20, 2011 by Dr. Barry Sears

One of the great “truths” in cardiovascular medicine is that to prevent stroke and cardiovascular death you reduce your salt intake. But is it true? A new analysis of the existing literature from the Cochrane Library indicates this may not be the case (1). Analyzing a great number of published studies, researchers came to the conclusion that there is no strong evidence to support the idea that salt restriction reduces cardiovascular disease or all-cause mortality in people with either normal or increased blood pressure. Furthermore, they found that while reducing salt intake did decrease blood pressure, it also increased the risk of all-cause death in people with existing congestive heart failure.
If that wasn’t enough, an article in the May 4 issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association found that low salt increased the risk of death from heart attacks and stokes, while not reducing blood pressure (2). This study was done with middle-aged Europeans and followed them for nearly eight years. During this time, the less salt they consumed, the greater the number who died of heart disease. Needless to say, the American Heart Association (the same people who recommend eating lots of omega-6 fats) was enraged, similar to the Wizard of Oz telling Dorothy to ignore the man behind the curtain.
So why might restriction of salt consumption cause increased heart attacks? The reason may be due to increased insulin resistance induced by salt restriction (3). Insulin resistance increases insulin levels, and if that is combined with increased consumption of omega-6 fatty acids (remember the American Heart Association), you now have a sure-fire prescription to produce more arachidonic acid. It’s the inflammatory eicosanoids derived from arachidionic acid that would cause inflammation in the arterial wall leading to a heart attack.
This is not to say that some people are not salt-sensitive (African-Americans are particularly so), but I believe the problem is more a matter of balance. You need some sodium, but you also need potassium to balance it. This is confirmed by a recent study from Harvard Medical School that demonstrates that the higher the sodium-to-potassium ratio in the blood, the greater the likelihood of cardiovascular mortality (4). The relationship for increased death was significantly greater for a high sodium-to-potassium level than simply the sodium level itself.
Getting sodium in your diet is easy (sprinkle salt on your food), but getting adequate levels of potassium means eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. So rather than restricting salt intake or taking drugs (i.e. diuretics) to reduce the levels of sodium in the body, think about eating more fruits and vegetables if your goal is to reduce the likelihood of a heart attack. Oh, yes, also ignore the advice of American Heart Association and take more omega-3 and less omega-6 fatty acids.


References

1. Taylor, RS, Ashton KE, Moxham T, Hooper L and Ebrahim S. “Reduced dietary salt for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009217 (2011)
2. Stolarz-Skrzypek K, Kuznetsova T, Thijs L, Tikhonoff V, Seidlerova J, Richart T, Jin Y, Olszanecka A, Malyutina S, Casiglia E, Filipovsky J, Kawecka-Jaszcz K, Nikitin Y, and Staessen JA. “Fatal and nonfatal outcomes, incidence of hypertension, and blood pressure changes in relation to urinary sodium excretion.” JAMA 305: 1777-1785 (2011)
3. Alderman MH. “Evidence relating dietary sodium to cardiovascular disease.” J Am Coll Nutr 25: 256S-261S (2006)
4. Yang Q, Liu T, Kuklina EV, Flanders WD, Hong Y, Gillespie C, Chang M-H, Gwinn M, Dowling N, Khoury MJ, and Hu FB. “Sodium and potassium intake and morality among US adults.” Arch Intern Med 171: 1183-1191 (2011)

Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be instructional for medial diagnosis or treatment. If you have a medical concern or issue, please consult your personal physician immediately.

WOD for 11/28/2011

Whew! Well Thanksgiving is over. Now it's time to work off some of the damage with a new WOD. Here we go!

WOD
21, 15, 9, 5 reps of
Barbell Clean (115lbs men, 95lbs women)
Bodyweight Dips
Handstand push-ups

Remember that form is the most important thing here, so adjust the weight as necessary for the barbell clean. If you can't do handstand push-ups feel free to substitute with pike press (same movement as handstand push-up, but feet are on the floor), put your feet on a bench, or do dumbbell press instead.

Have fun!


Examples:


BARBELL CLEAN

Back flat, abs tight!

WOD for 11/23/2011

Here's a new workout of the day before you stuff yourself at Thanksgiving.

5 Rounds for time of
5 Handstand push-ups
10 Barbell curls
10 Bodyweight dips
20 Sit-ups without feet anchored

Finish up with a 30 minute run/walk. No certain distance, just run or walk for 30 minutes.

Lastly, if you're traveling for the holiday, be safe, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Recipe - Spinach Shake

I got the following recipe from Drew Manning, a personal trainer who took on the unbelievable challenge of actually becoming obese just to become fit once again. To learn more about Drew and his amazing feat click here.

Spinach Shake
Serves: 2          Total Time: approximately 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Handful of spinach
• 1/2 Banana
• 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1 scoop vanilla protein (whey or soy)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3 handfuls of ice

INSTRUCTIONS:
Pretty simple, combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

NUTRIENTS PER SERVING:
The nutrients were figured for how I made it. I substituted 3/4 cup of skim milk for the almond milk and I used soy protein.
Calories: 242, Fat: 9g, Total Carbohydrates: 24g, Fiber: 3g, Protein: 18g



My Attempt:

Comments: The picture quality isn't very good, I apologize, but the shake was a greenish color. Don't be fooled by the color though, this shake was delicious! I personally thought it was a little too sweet so I may try it again with a little less peanut butter, but all in all it was a winner. My three year old even loved it, so if you're searching for a way to sneak more veggies into your toddler give it a try! I would love to hear your thoughts on it as well. Post them in the comments below.

WOD for 11/17/2011

Alright people, by a show of.... umm...... who's ready for a new workout!? Yay! There's some good stuff on here for all of your runners, or soon to be runners, as well. Here we go!

WOD
4 Rounds for time of:
1/4 mile Run
30 High Knees
20 Push-ups
10 Burpees
20 Body weight squats
30 Flutter kicks

Have fun!

Yours In Health,
                       Steven


Examples:

HIGH KNEES

1. Stand with both feet together. Start running in place getting your knees as high as possible.
   
2. Performing this exercise on your toes will demand extra endurance and is worth it.
   
3. Increase your speed and get as high as possible.

FLUTTER KICKS

WOD for 11/15/2011

Since we did some more fast paced stuff yesteday, today we'll focus on strength.

WOD:
Barbell Thruster - 7 sets of 1 rep. Go as heavy as you can, but make sure your form stays good!


Here's a video to help show you  what you're looking for while performing your thrusters.

Have fun and be safe!

Yours In Health,

                       Steven

WOD (Workout Of the Day) for 11/14/2011

I would like to begin by saying that not all of these workouts are thought up and created by myself. Sometimes I make one up, but if I find a good one online somewhere maybe I'll use it. I'm a fan of Crossfit so if you ever go to their site you may recognize some of the workouts on there may be one that I posted on here. Basically what I'm doing is going through reputable websites that I know post good workouts and posting the one that I think is best for that day. If I'm feeling creative and have the time I'll put something together for you myself. Either way you're benefiting because you're getting a great workout and you only have to come here to get it! No searching website after website cause I've already done the leg work for you. You're welcome! I just didn't want people posting and saying that I was ripping off other people's workouts and claiming them as my own, cause that's not what I'm doing. With that being said, here is today's WOD (again, that stands for Workout Of the Day). I created this one myself so I hope you enjoy :)!


WOD:
For time
50 Back Extensions
50 Kettlebell Swings w/ 30lb kettlebell/dumbbell
50 Decline Sit-ups (use full ROM - all the way up, all the way down)
50 Push-ups (use full ROM - chest to floor, lock arms at top)

Follow this up with a 30 minute run.

Have fun and be safe!


Yours In Health,
                        Steven



EXAMPLES:

Back Extensions

Back Extension

Kettlebell Swings

Kettlebell Swings

Recipe - Healthy French Toast

Healthy  French  Toast

Serves: 1       Total time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 large whole eggs
• 1 tbsp skim milk
• Dash cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 slices whole wheat or multi grain bread
• 1/2 cup mixed berries

INSTRUCTIONS:

ONE: Whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat.

TWO: Soak bread slices in mixture and cook in skillet for two to four minutes on each side until golden brown. Top with berries

NUTRIENTS PER SERVING:

Calories: 360, Total Fats: 16g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0g,

Cholesterol: 560mg, Sodium: 410mg, Total Carbohydrates: 30g,

Dietary Fiber: 5g, Sugars: 9g, Protein: 25g, Iron: 4mg

My attempt:

Comments: I've always been a fan of French Toast so when I came across this recipe I couldn't wait to try it. My usual way of preparing this was just with the eggs and bread, but I thought the addition of the milk and vanilla extract adding some great flavor turning a good dish into a great dish without adding many more calories. I didn't have any berries on hand so I topped mine with just a bit of lite syrup. I hope you try it, and if you do, please post your own thoughts about it below in the comments section.

Yours In Health,

                       Steven

Changes are Coming

This blog will go hand-in-hand with my business page on Facebook, The Fitness Guy Personal Training, but under a different name since I'm in the middle of a name change for my business. I will be posting more material here than on the Facebook page so to stay up-to-date with all of the happenings bookmark this page, follow this blog, and stay tuned. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons, but the main one being this will make it easier for me to reach people outside of Facebook as well. Here I'll be posting my workouts of the day, healthy recipies as I come across them, helpful articles as I come across them, my experiences of different events that I'll participate in, and basically anything else fitness and health related. So if you've enjoyed my Fitness Guy Facebook page, and/or if you enjoy fitness and health related material, follow along with me as we learn more about how to get the best out of our bodies and our foods.

Yours In Health,
                      Steven