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...

Hey there: It's Hallowe'en weekend and in the past I've given you some strategies as the 'best' treats to eat this weekend. Or I've given you extra workouts to do before heading out for a night of partying but today I have something different in store for you. But before I get to today's tip I want to let you in a little experiment I'm running.The experiment is the Collins Health Project. What this involves is a behind the scenes look at the healhy and not so healthy things I do. Yeah I admit it. Every now and again I like to enjoy a beer, some pizza and maybe even some ice cream. But I have a standard to maintain, as do the rest of you. And of the best ways to make ourselves accountable is to let others what we are doing. They will support us and give us a pat on the back. And at the same time they will let us know when something is out of character given what out stated goals are.So with that in mind I'm going to video portions of my workout? I'm going show what I'm eating, how much and how often. You'll get to see what I do to relax during my down time. This will serve two purposes which are to help me get in the best shape of my life and secondly to help you steal some ideas that may help you as well.Stay tuned because some of the first footage you'll see from this Hallowe'en weekend will be unique but hopefully serve as a great launching pad for the rest of the project. Now on to the tip.Did you ever watch the Price is Right? I remember watching this a kid when we would visit our grandparents in Edmonton....