This is always a fun blog post for me.  I like to try and look at what I noticed over the past year, what I saw working and where I think things are going for the coming year.Some of my guesses may be a little bit optimistic.  As in maybe these are things I'd like to see happen in the fitness industry.  And others will happen, it's just a matter of how soon and when others recognize them as well.So let's get to it.  Here are my Top 10 Fitness Predictions for 2011.1. More suspension training.  People seem to like hanging out.  I think it's a combination of the versatility and the challenge that comes with performing some type of suspension training.  Add to that the fact that each exercise can be quickly modified to a regression or progression and it allows this tool to work well in any group fitness setting.  Look for more gyms to offer suspension training classes.2. Less is more.  In life we all want maximal return on investment.  No one wants to spend their time, money or efforts on something that yields marginal results.  With sleep being the one exception we are going to see what is the minimal amount of training and caloric intake required to ellicit the best possible outcome.  In calculus I remember these questions as being 'max-min' problems.  What is the maximum return with the minimum cost?  More will look at their investment in health in this way.3. Simpler workouts.  You'll see more people perform workouts with less equipment.  It might be one set of powerblock dumbbells.  Or one kettlebell. Or one suspension trainer.  Or maybe even just their bodyweight.  Gone are the days of needing a variety of machines and accessories in order to complete a decent workout.  Gyms recognizing this...

As promised here is Part II of my 2011 Fitness Predictions. The deal was we needed 10 comments in order to receive the second half and now we're there. So here you go.Prediction #6 - Long Duration is OutI can remember when I started going to the gym as young guy and people who sit around and talk about how often they went to the gym and for how long. It was almost like a badge of pride the way some discussed what their schedule looked like. You would hear comments such as:'I go 2 hours a day 6 days a week' or'I do 2.5 hour each day during the week' ...etc.Wow! Can you imagine spending spending that much time in the gym? I can't! And I do this for a living.2011 will be the year more people understand the concept of workout density or getting more resistance-based work done in less time. Don't you think it would be much more impressive to have an incredible physique and have people wondering how you can achieve your look with only 4 hours per week in the gym?Prediction #7 - Increased Demand for Quality Nutrition More and more people are recognizing the importance of a quality nutritional plan. They are hearing the expressions such as 'you can't train yourself out of a bad nutritional plan' and making appropriate changes.No  longer can we use the excuse of ignorance. 'High fructose corn syrup is bad for me?'No longer can we see it is hard to find. Costco now sells almond milk, steel cut oatmeal, greek yogurt and buffalo burgers.No longer is it way too expensive. The costs have come down substantially for better quality nutrition and is actually less expensive in the long run than eating low, empty nutrition food.Prediction #8 - The Hips are the New...

Apps sure have become a big part of our lives. And with what we do at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc it's inevitable that we see more people using apps to track their health, log their nutrition and structure their workouts. With more and more people owning smart phones it's reasonable to expect the number of fitness apps and users to climb. Currently it is estimated that 20% of smart phone owners have a least one fitness app. So I took some time to check out some of the more popular fitness apps out there. Here's what I found. 1. My Fitness Pal - free http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ Because it's a free app you will see ads bordering the pages of the app. And I'd say that's a small price to pay for a resource that helps you track your nutrition. And with 40 million users apparently others don't mind a little monetization from some ads either. This app also includes a section for exercise but I would pass on it using it for exercise help for a couple of reasons. One is it estimates caloric expenditure based on the exercise type. Looking under 'S' I couldn't find squat. Not good. I eventually did find an entry for squat but when it asked me for minutes of squatting rather than load and reps I knew we can do better. 2. Fitness Buddy - $0.99 http://fitnessbuddyapp.com/ While the previous app was geared around your nutrition this one is all about your workouts. The workouts seem to be a bodybuilding style of training where you select body parts to put a particular emphasis for a workout. So you might choose Butt and Thigh Toning or a Big Chest Program. From the looks of the app it includes pictures rather than videos of how to perform the...

Do you like upgrades? Stupid question, right? I mean who doesn't like going from the a regular room to a suite. Or from a full size to a BMW. Or from coach to first class. Yeah, upgrades rock. Well the other day I was talking about nutrition with the some of the hockey players we work with and I was asking how much cold water fish they eat? I ask this because it's usually a good indicator of how much omega-3 they get in their diet. If they answer rarely or maybe once a week then I'll ask if they take an omega-3 supplement to ensure they are getting enough of this fatty acid found in grass-fed beef, fish, seeds (flax, hemp, chia) and nuts (walnuts) among other foods. One of the reasons omega-3 is so important is that it is an essential fatty acid which our body can't produce. And so we can only get it from the foods we eat. And while omega-3s are important for a number of reasons related to inflammation, anti-oxidation and indirectly to weight loss they are in short supply for most North Americans based on our nutritional habits. On the other hand there are omega-6s which are also essential but which get more than enough in our diets. What kinds of foods contain omega-6? These are contained in oils such as corn, safflower and sunflower and exert the opposable effect to omega-3s. So think inflammatory as opposed to anti-inflammatory. So while taking regular omega-3 supplementation is a great idea there is a better option. And while this better option, or upgrade, isn't anything new it only took a discussion with one of the hockey players to realize this would have benefit for many of our other clients as well. The issue this hockey player...

Do you take supplements? In particular do you take a protein supplement? If so, you may be interested to know that there is another version of your protein you can take that requires you to eat or drink less than you may be used to and still get all the benefits. And this other version is essential amino acids or even more specifically branched chain amino acids. Let's just take a moment here and define what we're talking about. Without getting into too much detail an amino acid is a chain of carbon atoms with an amino group, -NH2, at one end, and a carboxyl group, -COOH, at the other end. Some of the amino acids our bodies can't make so they are called essential amino acids. And within this group of essential amino acids there is a sub-group of amino acids called branched chain amino acids or BCAAs with functional group bonded to one of the carbons. Clear as mud? Don't sweat it too much. The take home message is that when we supplement with protein there are a few options that will all achieve the same end goal. 1. You could take 20 grams of whey protein2. You could take 6 grams of BCAAs3. You could take 2 grams of leucine Leucine is an example of a BCAA. So all three options above have similar effects which one would you choose? Think in terms of minimal essential dose. Obviously we would go with the third option, right? Why take ten times the amount of something i.e. 20 grams of whey protein to get the same effect as a much smaller dose i.e. 2 grams of leucine? Alright so if we're in agreement that less is more when it comes to supplementation the next step is to determine what to...

Have you noticed more and more people getting sick the last little while? Or maybe you've been sick yourself. Either way I've got you covered. Below is a protocol from my friend Esther at Prescription Health Studio. You'll find here contact info at the bottom of this post. The reason this all came about was that Esther and I were supposed to have a meeting a couple of weeks ago and I had to cancel as I felt I was coming down with something. You know what I mean? You are more fatigued than usual. Your workouts feel harder than they normally do. And you feel the tickle in the back of your throat when you wake up in morning. A nasty chest infection is just around the corner. So anyways when I let Esther know how I was feeling she replied with the protocol to keep me healthy and ward off any pending illness. I wanted to share this with you. Here are her instructions for for staying healthy during the cold and flu season as well as when you feel you are coming down with something. I wanted to answer your request for more information about what I like to recommend to my patients and also the protocol I use to keep myself from getting sick during the season.To keep my immune system strong during the cold and flu season I like to take:1. Thymus Spray by Douglas Laboratories. 1 to 2 sprays twice daily This thymus liquid extract consists of several proteins and peptides known as thymic factors that are derived from thymus tissues. The thymus is necessary for the maturation and maintenance of the immune system and works by releasing thymic factors that regulate functions of other cells in the body. These peptides are important for the healthy maturation and activation...

Do you have a fitness person on your Christmas list? Below are a number of ideas that they will like to see under the tree on Christmas Day and be sure to put to use right away. The lists are grouped based on gear, nutrition, education and technology. Fitness Gift Idea #1 - GearThe most obvious place to start would be a gift certificate to whichever place carries the favourite brand of apparel or shoes. And don't get me wrong I'd never say no to a g/c for some new kicks or a training shirt but it kinds of lacks originality. Instead what about putting together a fitness travel pack for someone? This could be either for the travel itself or for training on the other end. For a travel pack think of things such as a shaker cup, a greens supplement, a neck pillow, a small collection of travel toiletries, some gum and a magazine or book on active things to do where the traveller will end up. As for ideas of what to get for fitness on the road think of things that are light-weight and pack easily. Bands, tubing, a jump rope, a Travel Roller, a lacrosse ball or a suspension trainer will all work. When you travel and need a gym you will seek one out and have access to everything else in terms of weights, dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells. However when no gym is available this is when the gear listed above can quickly provide an effective training session. Fitness Gift Idea #2 - NutritionWe all know how important nutrition is to achieving great results in the gym. And so a gift of nutrition would be an awesome way of telling someone how important they are to you at Christmas. With the previous gift we suggested a greens supplement to...

How do you track your training sessions? At worst I'm hoping you have a notebook to record your loads, weights, reps, sets, rest breaks etc and be able to refer to this information from one workout to the next.[caption id="attachment_4190" align="alignleft" width="225"] A training journal is a necessity for those seeking the best results.With something as simple as bringing a notebook to the gym you'd think everyone would do at least this much. it doesn't cost anything and takes no extra time or effort. You can make all your entries during a rest break or immediately after training.But besides going old school and low-budget with a journal there a number of fitness trackers which will monitor and record everything from heart rate intensity and averages, caloric output and even sleep cycles at night.Recently, a study at the Iowa State looked at the accuracy of 7 different fitness trackers. Researchers looked at BodyMedia FIT, DirectLife, Fitbit One, Fitbit Zip, Jawbone UP band, Nike+ Fuel Band and the Basis B1 Band. BodyMedit Fit and the Fitbit Zip were found to be most accurate. And in a related story Nike may be killing off its fuel band in the near future.But back to the point of gadgets to track your caloric output I have never really been sold on them. I'll admit there are benefits to knowing what your heart rate data is and to monitoring the length of your workouts. However when you think about it these type of products are usually favoured by those with a few pounds to spare.And my concern is that individuals tracking how many calories they burned at Zumba or spin class will then see this as a credit to indulge later. For example, if a fitness tracker shows that I burned 473 calories sweating to the oldies can I...

This past weekend we had a birthday party for our daughter Olivia. And as with many parties like this there was food, cake and drinks. [caption id="attachment_4341" align="aligncenter" width="300"] What healthy people drink, right? Because we're all trying to do the best we can with our health we have diet pop as an offering. And I'm sure many of you are the same. If you drink pop you probably opt for the diet version, right? Not many health conscious people are buying regular Coke or Pepsi when they do the grocery shopping. So why do we choose diet pop? Well I guess it has to do with the fact that we don't want empty calories. I mean if I'm going to eat or drink something I better be getting some kind of nutritional benefit from it such as protein, healthy fat, vitamins, minerals, hydration etc. Regular pop offers virtually none of these but does have a dose of sugar, carbonation and is acidic. But besides avoiding the extra calories by drinking diet pop the other reason to avoid it was for the fact it wouldn't alter our blood sugar levels. In other words we didn't have to be concerned with the connection to type II diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Until now. A new study in the journal Nature found that consuming an artificial sweetener may impair glucose metabolism similar to that seen in type II diabetics. In the study researchers fed mice and humans one of three treatments, glucose, saccharin (the artificial sweetener) or glucose. You may be familiar with saccharin as the sweetener in Sweet N Low. Anyways, only the group fed saccharin showed altered glucose metabolism. So what is taking place that is accounting for this altered glucose metabolism? Well it appears that the mice and people fed saccharin...

Sport supplementation is as popular as it's ever been. More people are 'taking this' or 'swear by that'. But where do they get their info on a particular supplement?Is it based on which has the best ads in a fitness training magazine? Or is the product recommended or endorsed by the reigning Mr. Olympia? Or maybe even an Olympic champion?Maybe the person at the local health food store is friendly, healthy looking and seems knowledgeable? They're there to help, right?Where does the research factor into the search for safe and effective sports supplements? And if we are going to look at the research than which studies count? Do they have to run a minimum length of time to show a physiological adaptation? Should they include a minimum number of test subjects? Should these subjects be young? Old? Male? Female? Athletes? Sedentary? Healthy? Diseased?Is the research even on human subjects? Or what if it is using rats?And does it matter who funded the research?There are enough questions there regarding research in the primary literature to make your head spin.And that's assuming the reader has a background in science and statistics as well as the time to break down all the studies out there.That eliminates 99% of us, doesn't it?And it makes most of us a little more vulnerable to all the ads, marketing and pitches to get us to buy this and take that.If only there was a better solution. A place where someone in the know could break down the science into small manageable and easily understood recommendations for all the various supplements that exist.Guess what? There is such a place. And it's called examine.com. This is my go-to resource for anything related to sports supplementation. But don't my word for it. Go check it out.And if you like what they're...

Do you use a heart rate monitor when you train? I guess at most big box gyms the majority of people don't. I mean when you consider that most people don't have a training journal to record their workouts they probably aren't going to go to the trouble and expense of investing in a heart rate monitor. But for those that do have and use a heart rate monitor I'm curious as to what they monitor? Again if I had to guess what number most people check first when they complete a training session I would say it's the calories consumed. And this is kind of amusing because: A. This is simply a rough estimation of correlating calories burned with elevated heart rate. If this is all it took to get lean we could probably just watch marathon horror movies every day to spike our heart rates repeatedly, burn tons of calories, and get lean. B. The estimation is just that. It uses an average and includes the calories burned while at rest. In other words if my body uses 50 calories at rest and 110 calories to go for a hike than the hike only burned 60 calories. But the display on my heart rate monitor would show 110 calories and perhaps give me a false impression of how effective a particular training session was. But other than tracking the calories consumed a heart rate monitor can tell us the duration of our exercise, our average heart rate and our maximal heart rate. Now you can always pick up models with other functions that include lap functions, GPS, elevation and other things but at minimum you'll get heart rate data. So why would I want a heart rate monitor anyway? Can't I simply stop and check my pulse every now-and-again? To answer...

Many people take supplements of some type. This may be a multi-vitamin, an omega-3 or maybe a protein powder.But how is it they come to the decision to supplement?And how do they choose what to take?And what brands do they decide to go with?At Okanagan Peak Performance Inc our philosophy on supplements is to keep the definition of the word in mind. In other words we should be seeking things that 'add to' something else rather than something that becomes 'in place of'.So for someone considering a supplement we may ask why they are considering it? It could be that an individual does not like the taste of fish or seafood and therefore barely eats the minimum dose of omega-3s. Or a young growing athlete struggling to put on mass may benefit from adding a smoothie to his or her post workout shake.In any case here are 3 steps to help you choose the right supplement.Step 1 - Know Your GapsAs we mentioned above a supplement should be something taken 'in addition to' something not 'in place of' something else. Once we are clear on this then the goal should be consume adequate amounts of the various nutrients to satisfy all of our bodies needs whether they be for weight loss, rehabilitative or performance goals.What we need to know is which nutrients are we not getting enough of that our bodies cannot make on their own? Protein supplements might be very popular but maybe I eat enough meat, fish, pork and seafood already and wouldn't really benefit from a protein supplement.Or maybe someone recommends I try creatine as is relatively safe and has been proven in the research to be highly effective. But if I'm not a power athlete and my goals aren't competitive should I still try it?When you consider a supplement...

Do you take supplements? If so, which ones do you take? And why? A popular one these days is vitamin D. We've seen a rise in the number of people taking vitamin D during the winter months when there is either less sunshine or it's too cold to get out there and get some rays. According to the Botox And Filler Onilne Course you can get at www.cosmeticcourses.co.uk, which focuses of the use of Botox and Fillers but also provides a basic guide about skincare, Vitamin D helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. These nutrients are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy. A lack of vitamin D can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, and bone pain caused by a condition called osteomalacia in adults. So why the need to supplement with vitamin D? Well this vitamin is required for calcium absorption which plays a role in our bone health. This relationship is seen whenever you drink milk. On almost every milk container you'll see a mention of vitamin D. According to the Institute of Medicine we should get 600-800 IU (international units) of vitamin D per day. Higher levels of 1-2000 IU per day are still deemed safe. As our bodies cannot produced this vitamin it is important that we supplement. Compounding the challenge of our bodies not being able to make it is the fact that we spend more of our days indoor. And with technology and global markets we don't operate precisely on a circadian rhythm. Graveyard workers might be asleep during the part of the day when there is an option to get sun. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with higher levels of a number of diseases and health concerns including cancer, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, stroke, depression,...