The importance of Stretching

Happy Sunday everyone!  We spend time in the gym during the week putting our bodies through the stress of working out our muscles, but while we’re spending time focusing on improving our bodies we may be forgetting to incorporate one key exercise into our routine…stretching.

I know that I’m guilty of not stretching as often as I should, but I’ve been recently making it part of my weekly routine.  I’m naturally tight and I’ve been noticing that by stretching I’ve increased not only my flexibility, but my range of motion, which are giving me noticeable results.  I do a little stretching at the beginning and end of my workouts, but I like to use Sundays as a day that I set aside for doing some extended amount of time stretching.

As I mentioned, range of motion is just one benefit from stretching, but there are some others that will help you with seeing the results you’re seeking.  Although stretching isn’t the type of exercise that will release the growth hormone HGH, it will help prepare your body for the exercises that will.  The recovery benefits of stretching after a hard workout are also extremely helpful because stretching will help with realigning muscle fibers, which get entangled after a hard workout and can impede the recovery process.  There’s also a lactic acid build-up going on in your muscles after an intense workout, which stretching will help decrease that and help with soreness felt the next day.

So if you haven’t thought about incorporating stretching into your weekly workout routine, I highly recommend it, not only for the benefits I mentioned above, but because it can just help you feel better and relieve stress, which I’m sure all of us won’t object to that.  Have a great rest of your weekend and if you haven’t done it today already, get some stretching in!

 Photo: cooperinstitute.org

Lean Mass Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Happy Friday everyone!  This goes out to all my pizza and hot wing lovers.  I know, I’m giving a recipe for pizza and hot wings?!  Yes, I am.  I came across this recipe on Muscle & Fitness and tried it and it was fantastic!  Even though it’s pizza, with a few smart selections for ingredients, it’s a pizza that will help you stay lean while still enjoying the taste of pizza and hot wings.  It’s high in protein and fiber while being moderate in fat.  I apologize for the picture.  I only had the before picture because when it came out of the oven I was too excited to eat it that I forgot to take the picture when it was cooked!  Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!   

Ingredients: 

• 6 oz grilled chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 tbsp + 1 tbsp (or to taste) low sodium hot wing sauce, divided
• 1/3 10-oz whole wheat pizza crust (slice off 1/3 the thickness; you can eyeball the measurement)
• 1 large tomato (or 2 small Roma or plum tomatoes), cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
• 1 1/2 tbsp reduced-fat crumbled blue cheese

Equipment:

Baking sheet

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Toss chicken in ½ tbsp sauce.
3. Place pizza crust on a baking sheet and lay the tomato slices evenly over it to cover the crust.
4. Top evenly with chicken, then sprinkle cheese over everything. Drizzle remaining sauce over top.
5. Cook pizza until crust is lightly crisped and toppings are hot, about 8–10 minutes.

5 Reasons why you might not be seeing gains

Are you finding yourself getting frustrated that you’re not seeing gains, even though you think you’re putting a lot of sweat equity in at the gym?  Whether you’ve been working out for many years or you’re new to lifting weights, muscle gains can be a challenge.  Try not to get frustrated about being stuck because typically these gains you’re looking for can be caused by a number of reasons, but these reasons can be easily avoided if you take the time to assess what you’re doing and make some changes.  Like I said, there can be a number of reasons, but here are just 5 things you can look at when it comes to what you’re doing that might be preventing you from achieving those gains.  Take a look at these and see if any of these will help you out, and remember, STAY POSITIVE, you can achieve those results you look for!

1.     Keep a workout log

Are you tracking your workouts?  How many of you are guilty of not keeping a workout log?  You can’t see me, but I’m raising my hand.  I was guilty of this for the longest time.  I thought that I could keep things straight in my head, but sometimes it’s just hard to remember what you did for weight and reps the last time you did squats, bench press, or any other exercise.  Write down what you did for weight, reps, whether it was too light, too heavy…keep a log so that you can track your workouts and use it to challenge yourself the next time you do that same exercise.  Because if you’re doing the same weight each time you do that exercise, your muscles will have no reason to grow.

2.     Are you doing low reps?

Take a look at how many reps you’re doing.  Are you doing 1-6 reps?  If you are, then this is a good way to increase strength, but you might see little in muscle gain with this approach.  Try working in the 8-12 rep range.  This is a great range to work in for a few reasons.  It’s the best anabolic rep range, the best range for increasing muscle hypertrophy, and another reason is that when you use heavy weight and only able to muster out a few reps, your form can get bad.  Which leads me into number 3.

3.     Check your form

How many times have you been in the gym and see somebody putting way too much weight on the bar and only being able to do maybe half of a rep?  If you are guilty of this, do yourself a favor and drop some of the weight.  Don’t drop it too much where you find yourself exceeding the 12 reps that I mentioned above, but low enough to where you’re finding the last rep to be difficult.   I do want to add though, that there are times when you switch up your routine, you will have a few instances where you will be doing a low rep range, for maxing purposes, but I will cover that in another session.   When you lose form because the weight’s too heavy for you, you end up recruiting other muscles and sacrifice working the muscle you’re trying to target.

4.   Stress

Are you stressing out about things that aren’t important?  What I mean by this question is this.  You find yourself comparing your physique to somebody else’s more defined physique.  This can be a huge mistake on your part.  Sure, you may look at someone in the gym and say, “I want to look like that!” but something you really should be focusing on is yourself.  Don’t compare yourself to anyone else because your ability to gain muscle is largely based on your genes, which you don’t get to choose.  So just compare yourself to yourself and by lifting this unnecessary stress from yourself, you will allow your mind to focus on what you set out to do, to be a better you, not that guy or that girl.

5.    Recovery

Recovery is important to gaining muscle, because every time we workout out we’re damaging our muscles, and it’s during this recovery is when our muscles are being repaired, which is where your gains are coming from.  There are some simple things to help with recovery.  Drink a protein shake or a post-workout drink (creatine or BCAA’s) right after your workout.  Protein is a major macronutrient used to repair muscles, and by drinking a protein shake immediately after a workout, the protein can reach the muscle in about 30 minutes, whereas protein in the form of solid food takes more time to break down and be delivered to the muscle.  And sleep.  Sleep plays a big role in recovery because we get our biggest growth hormone spike during our deep sleep, which we release HGH (human growth hormone) which is an anabolic agent that promotes muscle recovery and growth.

Now there are more factors that could be holding you back from achieving the muscle gains you’re seeking, but let’s just start with looking at these 5 and addressing any of them.  I will continue to offer you more suggestions in the future.  Remember to stay positive everyone and don’t get discouraged, I’m confident you will see the results you want!


Photo: him.uk.msn.com

I know that we may find it hard at times to keep up with things, stay motivated, feel like we're overwhelmed...whatever we're finding difficult to deal with we know it's easier when you have someone there to support ...you. I have people that care about me and support me, and I know all of you do also. So let's all just keep that in mind when you're struggling with something and use that as fuel to keep us going! Now let's go have a great day!
 

Muscle of the Week - Shoulders

Hi everyone!  I want to start something on this page.  What I’m going to do is pick a muscle or muscle group of the week.  I’ll list some common exercises, reasons as to why we should workout these muscles or groups, and common functions with these groups.  I know what you may be thinking…there’s only so many muscle groups, so this will be over in a few months or so?  Ahhh, see I’m already a step ahead of you.  I’ll be cycling through muscles and muscle groups again, but each time I’ll offer a few different exercises to change things up for you.  So with that being said, I know you can’t hardly contain your excitement, the muscle group of the week are the shoulders, more specifically, the deltoids.

The deltoids have three main sections: anterior (front), medial (middle), and posterior (back).  Their main function is to help lift the arm up to the front, the side, and the back, and to press overhead.  Other muscles are also involved in these movements, which I will cover in another session.  The most important thing to keep in mind when working the deltoids is to work all parts evenly.  The reason I say this is that the anterior deltoid tends to get overworked a lot.  If you think about it, the majority of the things we do is in a forward motion: reaching for something on the shelf, working at a computer all day, driving your car...all utilizing the anterior deltoid.  Because of this overuse of the anterior deltoid we can develop bad posture.  Bad posture can be created by the overstretching of the posterior deltoid and tightening of the anterior deltoid.  The back is stretched and weak and the front is so tight.  Not to mention we tend to carry a lot of stress in our shoulders, which only adds to the problem. 

The deltoids are a pretty important muscle group, yes others are as well, but they play a big role in our daily activities that we do.  But one thing I would like for you to keep in mind is that the deltoids are reasonably small in comparison to other muscles, so I would like to stress that lighter weight should be used until you build up some mass to these groups, especially when using dumbbells in a lateral motion.  And if mass is not what you’re looking for and you’re just looking to tone, then you will be just fine using lighter weights with higher repetitions.

Now I will offer some exercises to hit each of the three areas, the anterior, medial, and posterior deltoids.  For these exercises I will focus on using dumbbells and I will also attach a link to each exercise (just click on the exercise)  in case you have any questions on how to properly do them and it will have a video demonstration of these exercises.  Ok, now let's work some shoulders and check back next week for the new muscle of the week!  Have a great day everyone!

Anterior Deltoid Exercise:  Standing dumbbell press (3 sets  8-12 reps)

Medial Deltoid Exercise:  Dumbbell lateral raise (3 sets  8-12 reps)

Posterior Deltoid Exercise:  Seated Bent–over rear delt raise (3 sets 8-12 reps)

 

Photo: muscle&fitness.com

Slow Cooker - Honey Garlic Chicken

 

Sometimes life gets a little hectic and you find it difficult to make a run to the grocery store.  I have a feeling we all could use a recipe that only takes a few minutes to throw together and usually can be accomplished with ingredients you already have in the house.  A friend of mine taught me the simplicity of using a crockpot to cook some fantastic and tasty meals.  This is one of those recipes that I use a lot because it can served with endless possibilities.  I serve it a lot with brown rice, but it can also be used on a sandwich, salad, wrapped in lettuce, added with stir-fried vegetables…like I said, it can be served in many ways.  I usually double this recipe because I like to use this recipe throughout the week with lunches and dinners.  Hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks

3 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 tsp. dried basil

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup ketchup

1/4 cup honey

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Instructions

1.   Whisk together the garlic, basil, soy sauce, ketchup, and honey.

2.   Add the chicken to the crockpot.

3.   Pour the sauce over chicken and mix everything together.

4.   Cook on low for 4 hours.

5.   For crispy outside, spread onto a baking sheet and broil for 3-5 minutes.

 

Photo and recipe: slenderkitchen

Power of a Smile

Hi everyone!

I had a good conversation with a friend today and she told me I need to smile more...and she's absolutely right! I need to do more of it. A simple smile can change everything about us and how we're perceived by others. It's... a simple thing to do, every one of us can do it, and it can simply just make you feel better.

So today's post is short and simple, just smile more today. You'll feel better! Have a great day everyone!

Positive Influences

Sticking to a workout program can be tough at times.  We have good days and we have bad days, and sometimes we just feel like giving up.  This is where we need to focus on changing that mentality. We all have self-efficacy when it comes to working out.  A best way to determine our self-efficacy in the exercising sense is to look at our past workout experiences.  Were they bad and turned you away?  You didn't achieve the goals that you set out for?

Some people give up because they are the only one's in it.  Granted, you are making a decision to change your life for yourself or for your loved one's by choosing to be a healthier you, but sometimes you don't always have to be the only one in it.  Having outside support is a great way to stay motivated and sticking to the choice you made to live a healthier life. This can be done by having a good friend, or a family member, provide you with that positivity we all need. 

So surround yourself with people that will support you and not bring you down...surround yourself with people that will see something worthwhile in you!

Green Drink

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of today I'm going to share a simple Green Drink. I usually have one of these with dinner every night. All you need is a banana, an orange, some strawberries, and spinach or kale. Throw all of this into a blender and fire it up! Just add water to get it to the consistency that you like. Also, for all the parents out there, this is a great way for your kids to get those greens and fruits into their diet because it tastes fantastic! 

 

I was given this simple drink by a good friend of mine. She has a bunch of great recipes on her site. Check them out if you're looking for something new to try in the kitchen.

 Have a great day everyone!

 

Stuffed Peppers

I have made this recipe before and it is definitely one that I will be making again.  I substituted the lean ground beef with extra lean ground turkey, but some people just prefer the taste of beef over turkey so you can certainly stick with the beef.  I know it may look like a lot of work, but trust me, you'll love how it tastes!  I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I did!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 1/2 medium onions, chopped
• 18 oz. 95% lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 24-oz. jars pasta sauce
• 1 1/2 cup canned low-sodium Great Northern beans (rinsed)
• 6 cups baby spinach
• 12 bell peppers (red, orange, or green)
• 12 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Equipment:

• Baking dish (9 x 13)
• Sauce pan

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic. Once garlic browns slightly, add zucchini and onions. Sauté until onions become translucent.
2. Add ground beef, stir, and cook until beef is browned. Mix in pasta sauce, beans, and baby spinach. Turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. While the sauce is simmering, slice the tops off the peppers and remove core, seeds, and white membrane from inside peppers. Place peppers in a 9 x 13 baking dish with 1/4 inch of water in the pan.
4. Fill each pepper with meat/vegetable sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Spoon 1 tbsp. of cheese onto each pepper, then bake for another 10 minutes.

Photo and Recipe: muscleandfitness

Workout Playlists

Have you ever been hunched over between sets in the gym, gasping for air and feel there’s no way you can squeak out another set, when all of a sudden a song comes on that gives you that last ounce of energy you need to push through?  I have a feeling that’s happened to all of us during some point of our workouts.  Music selection can be a big contributor to motivating us to get through the toughest of workouts.  I’m a huge James Taylor fan, but I’ll be honest, cranking his music isn’t really going to keep me motivated during my workouts. Something I can suggest is that if your gym offers Wi-Fi, using Pandora might be a good option for you.  This is what I do and I love it!  Selecting music that will keep your energy elevated during your routines, especially between sets, will definitely pay off.
   
Now the playlist that you select doesn’t just have to be for the gym.  It can also help with activities outside the gym as well, such as running or jogging.   Maybe you’re a runner and selecting songs that have a certain tempo might help you keep the pace that you’re looking for.  Whatever your case may be, finding that music that will keep your energy up just might be the ticket you need between suffering through a workout or powering through it!  Now crank those tunes and happy exercising!

Overcoming Workout Plateaus

There comes a time when we all get stuck or plateau in our workouts.  It just happens and happens to everyone, so you’re not alone.  It’s your body’s way of telling you that it already knows your routine, and has become accustomed to the movements your about to put it through.  Don’t get discouraged when this happens.  What you need to keep in mind when this happens is to switch things up.  Alter your rep ranges, or start heavy and strip the weights down each set, or do unilateral exercises...whatever it may be the main focus is to throw your body a curveball. 

I recently reached a sticking point in my own training so it was time for me to switch things up.  When this happens I look for something new to add to my routine.  A great resource I use is bodybuilding.com.  Their site has numerous free training programs from legends like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jay Cutler, and Jamie Eason.   I just started a new routine last week and am already noticing a difference in my muscles that I worked.  Yes, I would get sore before, but this now is a different sore, and that’s what I’m looking for.  Because now I know that I have confused and tricked my body and broke it out of that sticking point.   So when you get to that point where you’re putting the work in, but just not seeing the results that you’d like to be seeing, just remember, don’t get discouraged, keep up the good work,  just switch up your routine, results will follow.  Have a great day everyone!

Photo: fitday.com

Squats - The safe way

I want to talk about something that I see happening in the gym far too many times than I’d like to see.  Not only is it hindering the progress they could be making, but it could be leading to a much more serious matter.  What is this you may ask?  I’m talking about injuries caused by poor or improper technique.  There are some people that think the more weight they add, the more gains they will see.  But when more weight is added, there’s more of a tendency to get sloppy with their form, resulting in injuries. 

Squats are known as the king of all leg exercises and doing them with proper form, you will see just why they are called that.  I’ve attached a link that shows a short video on how to do squats the proper way so that you will stay injury free and start seeing those gains by doing them the proper way.

 

Proper form for squats

 

Photo: gymratz.co.uk

Amazing Protein Breakfast Recipes

Your breakfast will never be the same after adding these delicious and nutritious protein packed recipes from elites such as Jay Cutler, Kelly Knox and James Grage. With staples including oats, fruits, nuts, spices and protein powder, these recipes will fuel you the right way for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

My personal favorite is Kelly Knox's Sprouted Buckwheat Pumpkin Pancakes.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Pumpkin
• 1/3 cup sprouted Buckwheat Flour
• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1/2 scoop Vanilla Caramel Whey-HD protein powder
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2-1 tsp Baking Powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp Sugar (you can do coconut sugar, baking Stevia to go sugar free)
• 1/2 heaping tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 heaping tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Directions

1. Combine the first five ingredients. Then, add the egg whites and almond milk. You can also make these your own by adding favorites like blueberries, chocolate chips, crushed walnuts, canned pumpkin, and mashed bananas to the mixture.
2. Cook on a griddle greased with a bit of coconut oil.
3. Top with optional garnish such as almond butter, jelly, coconut butter, coconut oil, or pure maple syrup.

Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 1 Pancake (Recipe yields 4)

Amount per serving

Calories 89

Total Fat 1g

Total Carbs 17g

Protein 5g

Click the link below to visit bodybuilding.com for all seven recipes.

7 Amazing Protein Breakfast Recipes

Photos & Recipe: bodybuilding.com