Do you drink coffee? More importantly, do you use coffee to help with your training or performance? I know there are some people that can't touch the stuff before training or it results in a trip to the bathroom mid-workout. Personally, I love to sip on a cup of coffee for an early morning workout for a bit of a boost. But does it help? Specifically with respect to fat burning, does caffeine help? And does it make a difference what time of day you have a cup of coffee in relation to your training? A recent study looked to answer this question. They wanted to know if caffeine would boost fat burning. What they did was have the experiment subjects have a drink 30 minutes before an aerobic exercise workout. The subjects included 15 males averaging 32 years old. The subjects did 4 sessions 7 days apart. This allowed them to experience all 4 test conditions of coffee, placebo, 8 AM training or 5 PM training. The researchers controlled for fasting, exercise and other stimulants consumed. They wanted to make sure the subjects weren't doing workouts before coming to the lab or slamming back a Red Bull either. The researchers used indirect calorimetry to measure maximal fat oxidation (MFO). So what did they find? MFO and VO2max were greater in the PM than in the AM. When the groups consumed caffeine there was 10.7% greater MFO in the morning (i.e. 8 AM) compared to the group that consumed a placebo. And with the 5 PM group MFO was 29% greater when caffeine was consumed instead of a placebo. So the two big takeaways are that: Caffeine works and helps increase MFOResults were better with the afternoon versus the morning group A few things to keep in mind include: Would we...

Do you struggle to get started on a fitness plan? And maybe it's not for a lack of motivation but something else stands in your way.Maybe it could be an injury that needs to heal before you can push and challenge yourself? Or maybe it's overcoming inertia? In other words it's been so long since you've done something it feels overwhelming to consider starting. And for many people it could simply be a lack of time. We're all busy. And there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. Obviously all the fit people out there are putting in multiple-hour workouts daily so what's the point, right? I mean if you can't find a few hours a week what kind of results can you really expect to achieve? Well, quite a lot actually. A recent study (1) looked at doing 10 minutes of exercise. One group rode a stationary bike for 10 minutes and the control group just sat for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes both groups performed a mental task that involved eye tracking. This allowed the researchers to measure how accurately the subjects performed the test as well as how quickly they reacted to a visual stimulus. What they found is that riding the bike for 10 minutes at a moderate to vigourous pace resulted in a more accurate completion in the task and up to 50 ms faster reaction time. This might not seem like a big change in reaction time but it works out to a 14% improvement. But that's not the only interesting thing about this study. Previously studies of this type had found similar results after studies of 24 weeks in duration while cycling for 20 minutes. This study was a single bout, not almost half a year, and involved a 10 minute ride...

Newsflash! As a society we're becoming more over-weight and more obese. This shouldn't come as news to anyone. And with the current month we've entered a number of people will vow to change behaviours and embark on a fat loss program. They will swear off certain foods. They will commit to training six days per week. They will sign up at the gym where that really fit girl or guy trains. And they may stop in to the new supplement store to talk biochemistry with the kid that works afternoons peddling potions and elixirs of the gods.The unfortunate thing is this won't work.And we know it won't work because it hasn't in the past. And it will repeat again next year when we flip the calendar from December to January.Now it's time to put away the decorations. The fun times end. The company leaves. The parties are over. And we have to face reality and return to work or school. And if we're like the average North American we will have gained seven pounds over the Christmas holidays.And since we all 'know' that exercise burns off the extra holiday weight we embark on this post-holiday health correction.In terms of where we burn our calories, our metabolism, the food we eat and our activity accounts for the total. The table below (1) shows this.[caption id="attachment_5379" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Daily caloric expenditure as a function of metabolism, food and activity.The truth is that physical activity will only account for 10-30% of the calories we burn in a day.Think about that for a minute...physical activity could potentially account for as little as 10% of the calories you burn in a day. And exercise is only a part of this.In the table above the example uses a daily measure of 3500 calories per day. Physical activity could be...

Everyone at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc trains for exactly the same thing. This may strike some as strange because we work with a variety of clientele that want to look, feel and play better. So how is it all our clients can be training for the same thing?Well it's because ultimately everyone wants to be happy.The person with chronic joint pain can't wait for the day when they can be pain-free. They have learned to live with their pain for so long that they now expect it. And the longer they live with it the higher their tolerance gets. Pain relief medication doesn't help as much or at all. Sleep is poor quality and constantly interrupted by stabs of pain. Just envisioning a pain-free day brings a small smile to their face but almost seems improbable or even impossible.And even if it's not-physical pain there are more and more people suffering from anxiety, depression and a lack of confidence. They would like to enter new situations and environments and not feel anxious. They would like to feel comfortable among crowds of strangers. And they probably wish they wouldn't feel overwhelmed when having to perform  at school or work.Then there's the individual that wants to look better. This is the largest group of people that go to gyms. They want to drop a few pounds, tone up and alter their physique. They want to look better in their favourite pair of jeans. Ladies want to be excited at the prospect of shopping for a new bathing suit for that beach vacation. And guys want to have their shirts feel tight around the arms and their jeans loose around the waist.Lastly, there's the athlete that wants to play at their highest level. They want to compete without the risk of injury in the back...

So I have to ask...do you crave salt or sweet?For me it's salt. I like artichoke hearts, some cheese and peppers on stoned wheat thin crackers.Lame! You're probably thinking. What about the nachos, wings, pizza and burgers? Yeah I like those too but I don't really crave them.And once in a while I might have a diet coke with lunch or some chocolate when we go to a movie.Ok now I've got half of drooling thinking about all these snacks. So how do we deal with cravings? How do take foods that should be once in a while and make sure they don't become daily rituals? Well below are the Best Ways to Deal with Cravings.#1 - Get it off-siteIf something is bad for you don't want it anywhere near you. Think about the fuss people make about nuclear reactors, power lines or any other type of waste or contaminant. NIMBY is the common response.So how come we are so casual about the poisons we stock in our fridge and pantry? I'm talking about the high sugar, high fructose corn syrup and processed foods that we buy and stock at home.Make it a lot harder to resist the urge and indulge but refusing to have the stuff in the home. On the rare occassions you are going to indulge, go out for a treat.#2 - Put delays in placeUsually there is a time factor to our cravings. And these can be more psychological than physical. With a bit of a delay there is the chance the craving will pass.Smokers trying to quit are told to store their papers, tabacco, cigarettes and lighters in different locations. Chronic shoppers put their credit cards in a glass of water in the freezer.By creating a diversion or delay in satisfying the craving there is the possibility...

Over the next few days you're going to see an emphasis on nutrition with respect to the content you receive.Why nutrition?Well because it has such a HUGE impact on the results you achieve. I mean we can put emphasis in our workouts. We can do more resistance-based workouts.And we can also put more efforts on our recovery by doing more stretching, foam rolling, immediate post workout shakes and get adequate sleep at night.But if you want the absolute best bang for your buck and return on investment than nutrition is the best place to start.With that in mind here are The Top 5 Reasons Nutrition Should be Your Emphasis for 2011 Health, Fitness & Performance Goals.Reason #1 - We may eat up to 20 times more than we trainIt's not uncommon these days for people to have their three squares a day, a post workout shake and a snack or two. This works out to 6 meals a day times 7 days and you have 42 meals a week.The average gym goer visits their gym less than 3 days per week. This is the average of people who have gym memberships! Many others get a lot less exercise than this.So if someone were eating 40 plus meals a week and training two times a week it's easy to see where there is huge opportunity to make substantial gains and improvement by modifying their nutritional plan.Reason #2 - We always consumeEven if you're the most serious, dedicated athlete out there, there will still be times when you'll take a day of rest.But most of us aren't professional. Or that serious. Or that motivated.And there will be times when we are sick. Or injured. Or travelling. And therefore not able to train at all.So while the outputs may slow, or stop altogether for brief periods,...

Today was a great morning. Why? Because when I was at the gym for a couple of sessions the gym was hopping.And I don't mean the cardio side of the gym which is normally busy but the weight room side. This brings a smile to my face as it makes me feel the message is starting to get out there to the masses that intense resistance-based workouts is the way to go for weight loss, sports performance or general fitness. Period.While part of the crowd had to do with it being a Monday morning in January it was still encouraging to see a shift in training approaches taking place.So what about the rest of the people there? Why are there still so many cardio kings & queens? Well part of it is mis-information and believing that cardio will yield the best return on their investment. But part of it has to do with intimidation. Or not knowing what load to use.You see many people would rather go to the gym and feel productive by walking/running on the treadmill than to venture over to the weight room side and feel lost.So how can you feel confident and safe when selecting your weights for your training session? Here are 4 rules.Rule #1 On Selecting the Correct Weight - Consider the muscles doing the workIf the first thing you can answer is what part of the body you will be working or what movements you will be performing you will do a better job at choosing the correct weight. For examplen if you were performing a squatting exercise you will be able to handle a heavier load than an exercise for the triceps. Duh, right?You'd be surprised though to see the number of people that use the same dumbbell to squat with and then go straight into a...