What Your Coach Eats

Many of you probably wonder what I eat every day to be physically fit to lift heavy and have energy to train each and everyone of you every day.( That was a joke..haha)

You probably think I have found some sort of magic diet and combined with magic bean pills from the Dr.Oz show taken 6x a day.....

No... No magic beans....or fancy diet... Just clean eating....

I thought I'd share what I eat every day, how I cook, and how I reward myself on the weekends without destroying my week's progress.

Below is a snack I eat on day in and day out. I know many of you don't like eating the same thing everyday, but it doesn't matter to me, and it's easier this way for myself and my schedule.

So, below I have:

• 2 scrambled eggs (with the yolks)
• handful of almonds
• sauteed and chopped green beans with green onions
• sauteed sauerkraut ( I'm Polish )
• bowl full of kale chips

Easy, quick, and not complicated.

The important part is to notice I have, lean protein, green vegetables, and healthy fat. Those 3 things make a full meal. Take note and start implementing this strategy for your next meal coming up!

Here is my lunch. Below we have:

• homemade hummus
• raw broccoli
• shredded chicken ( might recognize the chicken from my Instagram post haha)
• re-fried beans
• mashed cauliflower with sriracha hot sauce (I like it spicy)    

Again, nothing fancy, just wholesome food. Look at what I have again, vegetables with lean protein, every meal, no matter what.

That's the secret! And its difficult to implement because it takes effort and time. Just like anything in life, you have to put some sort of effort to see a reward.

When you follow this pattern and guideline every day of the week I believe you should reward yourself on the weekend for all your hard work. But remember, its not an all out binge.... Keep it realistic, don't go looting the ice cream section of your grocery store...

Usually, during the week I'll write down what I want as a "cheat meal" for the weekend and I'll have something to look forward to.

What did I have last weekend as my cheat meal? 

Sushi, deep friend calamari, 1 beer and a nutela and coconut crepe ( Random, but I was downtown, and I never had a crepe from Granville street)

Does it sound like I destroyed myself? No, I kept it within reason and I felt human, and not a robotic disposal of healthy food.

So follow the guidelines I have left you with, and I guarantee you will see results and success!

What do you eat during week? 

The 1 thing that's crucial to your fitness goals.

If you read my "Monday Fit Tip" on Facebook you might already know what I'll be blogging about...

It's called your "Circadian Rhythm." And its crucial for your fitness/fatloss goals.

 

Your circadian rhythm is your biological clock that your body runs on 24 hours and has certain times in the day and night for your body to function properly. For example, ever wonder why you need 6-8 hours a sleep a night? Why you should be eating every 3 hours? Why you should be working out or being active at least an hour a day? Why you should wait one hour before you exercise?

All of these things fall under your circadian rhythm, and also includes and not limited to your:

• brain
• hormones
• recovery
• energy
• mood
• etc

All of this is related to your body's internal clock, and many factors can affect your body's ability to find homeostasis or being stable. 

So what should you do to fine tune your internal clock? Well....

Your body thrives off routine. If you already have something inside you that triggers hunger, sleep, activity and more daily, it'd make sense to compliment it with everything you do with your life, right?

A daily routine not only plays an importance on your physical well being, but also emotionally and mentally.

For example, if your sleeping patterns are off this will disrupt your internal clock and you can experience melatonin production during the middle of the day, which then you become drowsy at work and turn into an angry monster mid day, like Andy from The Office.....

Along with being angry and sleepy at work, your emotional and mental sides are affected as well. Giving yourself a routine promotes security and safety which allows you to reduce stress during the day. Stress as we know it is a huge energy waster....... Agreed?

You now might be asking "what should I be doing every day to prevent my circadian rhythm from getting out of whack..?"Well here are some key things to focus on.

1. Wake up at the same time every day, unless you have a chance to sleep in.
2. Go to bed at the same time and shut down that phone and iPad
3. Eat breakfast every morning followed by meals every 3 hours
4. Workout 1 hour every day to improve your body's energy expenditure 
5. Make a to do list each day to finish your work, home and kids' activities/chores.

What do you think?

Science, Music and Your Workout

It could be pop, rap, classic rock, or just good old fashion 90's hits to get you in the mood..... The gym mood!

Many of us have different tastes in music, and its a beautiful thing....Unless you're a fan of Justin Bieber.......

You might as well just stop reading now. As I will be dropping many inappropriate jokes, and maybe enough refer to some from his roast last week if you're lucky.

All jokes aside (not until later) there has been many research studies proving that with the right music your workout and performance will improve. Don't believe me? Try working out with no music at all.................Sounds horrible right? Well it is....Worse than this scene from Breaking Bad.....

Case 1: Music improves your mood. Ever listen to music when your, angry, sad or happy? Then for some reason you feel better? Music is a way to escape from the present and think about yourself and focusing on the moment.

Case 2: The right pace goes a long way. A study done on a group of cyclists showed that one of the two groups worked harder with music at a certain BPM (beats per minute) compared to the other group with a slower pace.

Music with 120bpm to 140bpm proved to be the most effective. Any slower or faster did not show any benefit.

So, go find the right grove at the right pace!

Case 3: Music distracts pain: People refer to being "in the zone" while working out and their mind goes some where else. Music will actually make you less aware of your exertion and help you complete those last two reps, sets, or even that God awful finisher I give to my clients each and every day!

I can go on and on about the benefits of music, but I think you should go and update your playlists with all of your guilty pleasures.

Now I gotta go and get my workout in. First song on my playlist, a little Backstreet Boys to get me going!

One exercise you should be doing, but you're not

Hello All,

Many of you gym goers are probably familiar with most exercises you've seen on TV and at the gym. You are comfortable doing the same exercises on your own because you're too imitated by the fairly large behemoths trolling in your local gym ready to judge everyone, while they are flexing in front of the mirror.

 

Well, do not fear! Below I will describe one exercise that you can take to the gym with you and feel confident as I explain how to do so in this blog.

The barbell hip thrust.

What is this lift that involves the hips you might ask?

Well if you want to:

- Improve the size (how your booty looks) and strengthen your glutes
- Become faster
- Increase lock out power on your squat and deadlift
- Become more functional, as the glutes play a huge role in influencing the foot, ankle, knee, and pelvis
- Overall baddassery in the gym

Sound like something you'd want to put into your program? Of course it is! Here is Sasha demonstrating the hip thrust below.

As you can see here this version is done with a barbell, which you can load up heavy as you progress. It's a safe alternative compared to the deadlift as back strength is not involved with the movement which then causes full gluteal loading.

My suggestion is to start with body weight and work your way up to a barbell. Below are a few videos I put in as a progression.

Progression One: Body Weight Hip Thrusts

Progression Two: Single Leg Body Weight Hip Thrusts

Progression Three: Single Leg Dumbbell Hip Thrusts

Progression Four: Barbell Hip Thrusts

Again here is Sasha working her "tush"

Progression Five: Single Leg Barbell Hip Thrusts

Didn't have a video of mine for this one, so its some random doing a good job for the single leg version with the barbell.

This is the order I'd progress a client through to achieve optimal movement efficiency and strength.

If you have more questions how to program this into your routine, feel free to contact me!

And remember don't be this guy at your public gym, don't make eye contact while performing any of the variations above....