Hi there: Have you ever noticed that when you are ready to do something to improve your health through fitness and nutrition the list of things to do can seem overwhelming? I'm referring to things such as trying to eat 5 small meals a day, to drinking a glass of water for every 15 pounds of body weight or to ensuring that the workouts are intense and resistance based. We can sometimes do everything on the list for the first few days then the weekend comes. Maybe we get busy and don't have time to plan out proper meals. Perhaps work causes us to be out of town unexpectedly and we can't access quality food and hydration as easily as at home. Whatever the reasons that come between us and optimal nutrition and activity the fact remains that change is never easy and we'll have the greatest chance of success when we tackle one task at a time.I am currently working on a project to facilitate incorporating all of the things that are necessary for optimal health and performance. You will have a plan to jump start the holidays and make 2009 your best ever. Included in this plan are simple things you can do to optimize your training and eating to be as efficient with your workouts and as thorough with your meal planning. Watch your email in the near future for details on this project and how you can take advantage of numberous health tips that are common sense and science based.On another note would you or someone you know be interested in 1 month of training 3 days per week for $1? I want to ensure that the best ways to stay lean, have pain-free joints and energy to do what we enjoy is available for all so...

Hi there: Two quick topics today; one is nutritional the other at the bottom has all the details for $1 for 1 Month of Fitness Coaching.Having just returned from the NSCA International Conference on Strength Training in Colorado Springs I learned lot about how the body gets stronger. While the presentations were amazing the networking was as good if not better. The meal breaks during the conference were included with your registration so you could sit down to eat lunch next some pretty intelligent and passionate people. Over lunch I was able to pick the brains of a dietician, Shawn Wells, and a medical doctor, Dr. Dana House, for some valuable nutritional and medical advice.One of the current themes that came up repeatedly was the importance of dose, timing, content and frequency when it comes to proper eating. I'll use the next few emails to expound on each of these starting with dose.Dose refers to the amount of something. This can refer to food choices both good and bad. For example we can determine the dose of our B vitamins, the amount of fiber we eat or how many glasses of water we drink. At the same time we can also monitor how many refined carbohydrates, trans fats and alcohol we consume. The importance is to know the amount of our choices so we can more easily determine the benefit or detriment they will have on our health and performance. For those who are familiar with the glycemic index we can see how dose is important.The Glycemic Index is a measure of carbohydrates that indicates how quickly they will be absorbed into the cells. Low glycemic index carbs are absorbed more slowly into the cells whereas high glycemic index carbs are absorbed more quickly. A quick google search will provide a...

Hi there: I was visiting with a family member recently who asked me if there is the possibility of wrong information appearing in a fitness magazine. While subscriptions do their best to review and edit for spelling and grammatical errors there is the potential for the information itself to be inaccurate.The magazine in question is a major women's health magazine that covers topics in fitness, nutrition and healthy living. I do not want name the publication but it is very mainstream and familiar to any woman, and some men, who read fitness magazines.In this issue there is a question as to whether it is necessary to eat after working out if you don't feel hungry. The answer provided is that no, you do not need to eat after working out if you're not hungry. Simply wait until you are hungry and eat then. Unfortunately the primary literature i.e. research journals does not come to the same conclusion.When we exercise we expend cellular energy that is derived from glucose. To initiate the recovery and repair process we need to replace the energy that was utilized in our workouts. Failing to replace this energy causes our bodies to conserve energy, because none is being supplied, and thus slow our metabolism. A slower metabolism means fewer calories burned throughout the day and thus higher levels of body fat. Additionally, right after working out our bodies secrete catecholamines that allow us to us use higher glycemic carbohydrates more favourably than we might use them at other times in the day. Lastly, many of the enzymes necessary to build muscle mass and burn fat are at peak levels right after working and thus is a perfect time to take advantage of a meal.If the Olympics are too far removed from your memories google Micheal Phelps and...

Hi there: Many of you had feedback and questions about the previous article on post-workout nutrition. So here are the main points again along with some sample post-workout meals. Thanks to KB for submitting the following question:"Can you recommend an excellent post work meal?? should i be eating cards or protein?"Our goal with post-workout nutrition is threefold:1. to increase glycogen stores2. to increase protein synthesis3. to decrease protein breakdownWe can accomplish this by applying a few strategies after our last rep. A few keys to always apply with your post workout nutrition include:* eating as soon after working out as possible* choosing a liquid over a solid meal* make sure to eat carbs with protein* consuming four times the amount of carbohydrate than protein i.e. a 4:1 carb:protein ratio* eat 1 g of protein for every pound of bodyweight e.g. a 150 lbs person will consume 15 g of protein post workout and 60 g of carbohydrate* if possible avoid fructose as the main carbohydrate source as this will slow gastric emptying and may cause stomach crampsSample post-workout meals2 cups nonfat chocolate milk316 calories, 52 g carbs,16 g protein, 0 g fat1 orange1 apple1 oz almonds1 cup vanilla yogurt414 calories, 60 g carbs,18 g protein, 15 g fat2.5 oz of lean turkey breast 17 g protein1 cup cooked yams 46 g carbs3/4 cup blueberries 15 g carbs1 large banana 31 g carbs3/4 cup blueberries 15 g carbs1 cup low-fat plain yogurt 15 g carbs, 15 g proteinI hope this helps. Remember the early registration for our 1 Month of Training 3d/wk for $1 ends tomorrow. Make sure your registration is post-marked with tomorrow's date to grab all of the bonuses and the training at the lowest price. After tomorrow the price goes up and some of the bonuses disappear.All the best.Chris250.212.2972www.okanaganpeakperformance.comfacebook group...

Hi there: I've got a few things to cover in today's newsletter. The first is another quick piece on post-workout nutrition. That one really seemed to pique a lot of interest. Secondly, I'm going to let you in on the title for the upcoming seminar and give you a taste of what's in store for you. Next, in future articles I want to start profiling the various athletes we work with and introduce you to them. I think you will find their stories inspiring and will hopefully motivate you as well. Lastly, I'm going to share a conversation I had with one female client that perhaps many of you will be able to relate. Now on to the newsletter.With regard to the post-workout nutrition I tried to give you some examples of real food, that can be easily prepared and consumed and meet the objectives laid out in the previous emails. What I didn't address was actual recipes for meals or post-workout shakes. The reason for this is that I want you to begin eating as soon as possible after the workout. If I give you a recipe for grilled chicken and vegetables some people may think they should head home after training, begin preparing this meal and then eat. With this approach we would lose almost all the benefit of the post-workout meal and sacrifice the potential gains from our training. Remember timing is crucial and the sooner the better.In regards to using a shake after your workout I think this is a great idea. The only thing to keep in mind with any supplement is the definition of the word which is "in addition to" not "in place of". Read the product label and choose products with a quality protein such as a whey isolate. Use the same guidelines...

Hi there: Hope you had a great weekeend. Three points to cover in this email. The first is a question on post-workout nutrition. The second is a reminder of the 1 Month of Training 3 d/wk for $1 deadline this Wednesday. Lastly, I will talk about some goofy things we see in the gym and why they just don't make sense.1. Post-workout nutrittion - Thanks to SK for submitting the following:"So a good many of us know that it's important to eat after a workout. My question is, how soon before it's too late to replenish and receive benefit from our training session? Also, does this differ from men to women, say a 105 lbs person compared to someone 200 lbs? And does fitness level play into this at all, an elite athlete vs someone who trains occasionally?"You are right to eat as soon after your workout as possible. It's hard to say at what point there are no benefits to eating after working out. This can tie in to something called EPOC where the benefits can last for a while. As a rule make sure to eat within an hour. In terms of differences between men and women the difference is one of mass. We were advising one gram of protein for every 10 bs of body weight. So a 150 lbs person would consume 15 grams of protein post-workout and the corresponding carbohydrate intake would be four times as much, or 60 grams of carbs. Whey protein would be an optimal protein choice for both sexes but I wouldn't advise men to use a soy based protein supplement. Lastly, yes it does make a difference if you are someone training for esthetics or performance. We would manipulate the carbs and protein depending on what the goal is and the...

Hi there: A college professor once said to use words as though you had to pay for them. So I'll get right to it.1. Tryptophan Is Not The CulpritI hope all my American friends reading this had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday. Usually after sitting down to a big Thanksgiving meal we feel lazy and want to do nothing more than pop the buckle and watch football. Most people incorrectly attribute this feeling of sluggishness to the amino acid tryptophan found in turkey. This belief has more to do with how ingrained Seinfeld became in pop culture than with this amino acid. In order to avoid this feeling as you hit the kitchen for left-overs , make sure to reduce your portion size especially the high fat foods and go for a walk after eating. Your waist line and energy levels will thank you for it.2. Glow Magazine www.glow.caIn the September issue of Glow Magazine I was a contributor for an article on stretching in the workplace. The editors must have been pleased enough as I was contracted for another segment on workouts on the road. The article talks about how to ensure your training doesn't get derailed when you don't have access to your home gym or fitness centre and your schedule is disrupted. You can find the complete article in the current issue or contact me if you would like a reprint.3. The Tortoise And The HareRemember Paul Harvey and this radio show "The Rest of the Story"? Well if Paul ever covered this one it would tell you how the hare took off like a lightning bolt and got his resistance based, high intensity interval workout completed early in the morning. The hare then had kickstarted his metabolism for the entire day, burning calories at an inflated rate...

Can balance training impair our balance?Hi there: Recently I wrote about how we do not use balance training to the same extent as we once did. We know recognize some of the limitations of balance training and will incorporate it in specific situations whether it be for a rehab purpose or to challenge the extremities of the upper body. For a healthy, competitive athlete, stable ground contact is preferred.When we are performing an upper body exercise from a standing position we want to ensure stability throughout the trunk with the upper extremities in motion. The more load we can handle without motion at the trunk is a measure of our core stability. The first picture below demonstrates good core stability while performing an alternating row exercise while the second one is of a chest press.In the first picture the pull is in front an therefore the extensors of the low back and the scapular (shoulder blade) muscles must be activated to prevent the trunk from being pulled forward.In the second picture the pull is from behind the body and therefore we need to engage the front side muscles so the trunk does not get pulled back on the recovery phase.With both of these exercises you should ask yourself three things:1. Am I able to maintain a neutral spine throughout?2. Are my arms the only source of motion?3. If the cables snapped unexpectedly would I lose balance?The last question underscores the reason to ditch the balance toy when performing these exercises. 99% of the time when we see someone performing a pull or a push exercise while standing on a balance toy they are balancing on the cables rather than being balanced on their feet. If the cables were to snap on them they would lose balance and fall or step off. Most of our daily activities and...

There are certain conditions that effect most of us such as low back pain and upper trap and neck tightness. With respect to the upper back and neck tightness there are a few things we can do to ease some of this strain.The lower traps and rhomboids help to keep the shoulder blades down and back. As a result of our occupational demands i.e. sitting at a desk, our training programs as well as previous injuries we tend to have shoulders that are in an elevated and forward position. The following drill helps to activate the muscles of the mid and lower traps to help re-align the shoulder to a more optimal position and thus relieve some of the upper back and neck tension. Here's what you do.1. Place the heels, hips and head against the wall. The arms are set like goal posts with the elbows just above shoulder height and the entire arm against the wall.2. From this position pull the elbows down through a comfortable range of motion holding the bottom position for 2 seconds.3. Do not allow the backs of the wrists to hyper extend and come away from the wall.4. Do not allow the shoulders to shrug.5. Do not allow the head to jut forward.6. Perform 10 repetitions.This simple drill performed a couple times a day will lead to improved shoulder position and function not to mention less stress and tension through the upper traps and neck.Have a stress free day.

What is a good night's sleep worth to you? To many it's invaluable. Our best days tend to follow nights where we had a good 8 or 9 hours of quality sleep. On the other hand how many times have you had to hit the snooze button a few too many times and ended up scrambling when we realize we are going to be late. Below are a few tips to encourage optimal quality sleep.The first thing we can do to facilitate a good night's sleep is to set the environment. This means a cool, dark, quiet room. While we can control the temperature and light, external noise may be harder to eliminate. In this case white noise such as a fan can help to mask the traffic outside or loud neighbours.Our bodies respond to light and release different hormones based on the presence or absence of light. Jut before bed try and minimize exposure to bright lights which includes tv and computers. If you read before bed use a lamp rather than the main, larger light in the room.While  many other factors such as exercise, napping, food intake, alcohol consumption, smoking, bed comfort, medications and mental activities,  can also play a role in sleep quality I won't cover these in as much detail. The last item to consider is the time we go to sleep and the time to awaken.For the best quality sleep it is important to go to bed and rise at the same time, everyday. That last word is the deal breaker for almost everyone. During the week we have a paycheque to summon us to work and ensure we get up at the same time. But on the weekends? It's my time to relax and sleep in! When this happens we disrupt the internal clock our...

I’m going to assume everyone knows what a BOSU is? You know the half ball you see people using in the gym?  They will do as much of their workout based on this device at the exclusion of regular ground based training.  By ground based I mean one or both of the feet are in contact with stable ground.  Well unless you are rehabilitating a sprained ankle it appears lower body unstable surface training (UST) may be impractical for your workouts.  Here’s why.In our training we usually start with setting a proper postural foundation from which to initiate movement.  At the feet, we strive to find and maintain that neutral position between pronation and supination or rolled in and rolled out.  This is a challenge for most people to set this position when standing on two feet and is very difficult on one foot.  As the foot deviates from neutral we notice changes at the knee, hip, back, shoulders and throughout the rest of the body.  If a neutral foot is that hard to maintain on stable ground we don’t necessarily want to jump on an unstable surface to start for a number of reasons.First on all the body is designed for stability at the ground.  Our bodies function best with stable footing.  When we use UST we cause the feet to over-pronate, we see a loss of force production and an impaired plyometric effect.  Athlete or not, nobody wants this.  Athletes constantly crave more power and many of the falls experienced by the elderly are related to a deficit in power production.Secondly, if our goal is increased lean mass we want to handle as much load as possible.  We won’t develop the same type of physique or calorie burning furnace from pressing 5 pound dumbbells overhead while standing on a...

Did you know there's a quick and simple way to determine your risk for injury from sport? I'm not talking about contact injuries such as football or hockey where if you get run over enough times by a 300 pound lineman you'll eventually break. I'm talking about non-contact injuries that we tend to develop at the weak links in our bodies. Well there is a way to self diagnose, to a certain extent, to determine our vulnerability for injury.When we have a deficit on one side of the body relative to the other, and this deficit is greater than 15%, there is an increased chance of injury. Simple as that. It doesn't matter if we are measuring strength or flexibility we want to see balance between the two sides of the body.So if we want to pre-hab our bodies to minimize the potential for injury we should ensure that the left and right are balanced. Once we are equal, or as close to equal, on both sides, then we should look to eliminating weaknesses that may exist in the kinetic chain.Next time you are working out test yourself to determine how much stronger you are on your dominant side. Choose an exercise you can do with one limb (your non-dominant limb) and see how much load or how many reps you can perform. Repeat with your dominant side. As well, when you are stretching have someone help you to assess if you have equal range of motion on both sides.Using these quick tips will help you identify imbalances, prioritize these weaknesses and lessen your chance for injury.Wishing you an injury-free holiday season.

Some of you may have heard these tips yesterday on AM 1150 with Jessica Samuels. Even if you did catch the program here they are again for your future reference. These last few days we have had some new records for low temperatures. Many people enjoy getting their exercise outdoors and would like to continue doing so. With that in mind here are 10 Tips For Workouts In Cold Weather.1. Dress in layers using performance gear. By performance gear I mean the materials that wick moisture away from the body. If we get cold it's one thing but if you get wet you have to have to call it a day and get indoors.2. Consider your footing. You may need to wear different shoes for your winter runs or activities and run on the shoulders of roads rather than the areas that are compacted but potentially ice covered.3. Head out going into the wind. If you do a traditional out-and-back workout it's always better to have the wind at your back for the home stretch. This is especially true for your first workouts outdoors and for when the weather turns worse during your workout.4. Consider mid-day workouts. There is less light early in the morning and in the early evening. To ensure you are easily spotted by other traffic consider training at the time of day when light is not an issue.5. Warm up indoors. Perform a dynamic warm, jump on a stationary bike, jump rope or do something indoors to warm up before heading straight out into the cold.6. Wear sunscreen. We usually don't think if this one because it's not summer but the fact remains you are still being exposed to UV radiation compounded by the reflection off the snow.7. Stay hydrated. This one is huge. Warm air holds...

Life is all about choices and a lot time these choices come down to choosing the lesser of the evil. Take for example the idea of missing a workout or missing a meal.When we do have to choose between two negatives we want to think in terms of which one will have less negative impact. Financial advisers are great at showing  how you can make changes in your portfolio while minimizing the impact of the taxes you will pay later. We want to think in the same way here. Which choice leaves the least negative impact?If we are already eating and working out optimally then I would rather miss a workout over a meal. The reason for this is many of us are either over-reaching, over-training, burned out, sleep deprived and or stressed out individuals who would benefit more from a day of rest from a workout than from another session in the gym. The best workout in the world is only one small piece of the puzzle whereas training when you need rest will set you back more than the expected gains from doing this workout.On the other side if I skip a meal I slow down my metabolism. Personally if I know I am going to miss a workout I try and eat more frequently to off set my missed workout. Yes, you read that correctly. I will focus more on my nutrition when I know I am not working out. Missing a meal means my body is burning fat and building lean tissue more slowly. Your body has no ‘meal memory’ and so when you skip a meal it thinks it may never eat again. As a result it is going to hold on to its energy reserves for the starvation it is experiencing rather than burn them...

The number one goal of gym members is fat loss and the greatest indicator of success in this regard is a flat stomach. It doesn't matter if you're male or female, young or old, a toned mid section is what we're after.  If losing extra bodyweight is the goal, then the ultimate result is a flat stomach. Achieving this result comes down to three main areas.The first area to attack is to increase the number of calories we burn during the day. In future emails I will go into more detail as to why we would choose certain workouts and intensities over others for this purpose. For now we want to aim for a minimum of three, one hour workouts per week. These workouts should be resistance based and fairly intense. By intensity I mean you shouldn't be able to do 20 reps of a given exercise. If so, you should look to increase the load. If you're already at a reasonable fitness level then walking on the treadmill for an hour isn't going to cut it.The second area to address for achieving a flat midsection is to reduce our caloric intake. The two big mistakes most make in this regard are failing to adjust their caloric intake after losing some weight and not spreading their calories out over a 24 day. Here's what I mean about each.Imagine if a 200 pound individual needs to consume 2400 calories per day to lose weight. After three months this individual has lost 25 pounds. Our daily caloric requirement is based on a number of factors including our goal and our current mass. As our mass changes we need to update our caloric intake as well. Continuing to consume the calories of our former, larger bodies will not facilitate continued weight loss.The second mistake...

I just got back from Nashville where I attended the NSCA Sport-Specific Conference and will write on some of the highlights of the conference during the week. For today I want to talk about the Racist Diet.Being a racist can simply be defined as an intolerance based on race or colour. No one wants to labelled as such socially, nor with respect to our nutritional habits. What this means is the most effective and nutritionally beneficial diets are the ones that have greatest variety.  They include a complete spectrum of vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients. We want to choose fish, seafood, poultry and lean cuts of meat for our protein sources and our fruit and vegetable selections should look like a rainbow.Imagine a piece of pink salmon partnered with a spinach salad, an avocado, some nuts, a tomato, a yellow pepper, dried cranberries and yam fries on the side. Picture all of the colour in this meal. Compare this to having some pasta, with an alfredo sauce, parmesan cheese and some garlic toast. It's pretty clear which meal option provides the more complete supply of everything our bodies need while limiting that which they don't.So the next time you are preparing a meal choose a lean protein and partner it with as much colour, in terms of fruits and vegetables, as possible. And whatever you do, don't be a food racist.I've got to go. Someone from the FBI wants to talk to me about posting racist content on the internet.

It is at this time of year that many of us will identify our goals for the year. When these are health related, often times we include things like: losing 10 lbs increasing our strength or dropping a few inches off our midsection.There is a big difference between wanting to change and being ready for change. Here are 5 tips to assist you in realizing your goals, rather than simply wishing for them.1. Be concrete - Don't just say I want to lose some weight. Be specific! How much? What is your current weight? How long will this take? Is this reasonable for you? What would be an appropriate short term goal?2. Write it down - When you put your goal in writing, you are more likely to succeed! Better yet, write a contract with a friend and then you both sign off agreeing to the terms related to your goal. You are now accountable to both yourself, and someone else. Plus, by having your goal in writing, you can monitor your progress as you go and make adjustments along the way.3. Choose a different path for a different destination - You wouldn't keep driving the same roads expecting to arrive at a new destination, so don't expect the same efforts used in the past will yield different results. Try something new! Whether it's physically, with a new type of workout, or by adding more water during the day. Also, look to improve upon what you tried in the past.4. Be reasonable - If we are carrying a few extra pounds we must realize this weight gain didn't just come over the last few weeks of holidays. More likely than not, it started soon after college (or as we entered the workforce, or started families) and has been gradually creeping up since then. Let's...

On lifting technique Stalin was wrongAs many of us get started on a new lifting program for 2009 we want to ensure that we are using optimal technique. Not only does this ensure we are in control of the resistance and performing lifts in a safe way, there are also other benefits to consider. These includedeveloping eccentric strength, which helps prevent injury, and increasing our lean body mass, which burns calories.Those of you that have trained with us are familiar with a core stabilization drill we perform with a partner. This drill involves following the leader's hand with your own, with only very soft pressure  and without moving the feet. While it may be difficult to visualize this challenging drill I'll give you another analogy to help you improve your lifting technique.Imagine an egg attached to the lowest part of the weight or body that touches at the bottom end of a rep. For example on a push up imagine an egg glued to the chest. Or an a squat imagine an egg attached to the tail bone. Or if performing a biceps curl an egg attached to the bar where it meets the top of the thighs at the bottom of the lift.If we concentrate on controlling the weight at these key points in the lift we will be on the path for optimal technique. The goal is to gently touch the egg at the transition of these movements without breaking the egg. Our chest should gently graze the floor on the bottom of the push up. The glutes should gently touch a bench beneath us and the bar should lightly rest on the top of the thighs on a biceps curl. Use just enough pressure to imagine touching but not breaking an egg at these transition points to be...

No time to workout?Have you ever found yourself struggling to fit everything in to a day? Do you feel that you have no time and cannot add something to your day such as a fitness program? How do some people manage to have it all and can even make it look effortless at times? The answer is one of priorities.There really is no such thing as not having time. Sure on occasion we may get bogged down during a busy season at work, or when there are extra family commitments that come up or when we catch the occasional flu bug that is going around. For the most part however there is no such thing as not having enough time. Don't believe me? Consider the following.* What is your favourite tv show?* What is your favourite website?* How often do you check your facebook page?* What do you like to read?* What are your hobbies?If you have an answer for any of these then you have some extra time.When it comes down to it we spend our free time in different ways. Now, some of you are thinking that my situation is different and I really don't have 30 extra minutes a day to give to an exercise program. I call bolshevik! If you were at work and someone told you your house was on fire what would you do? Say how you're in a meeting and you'll check on it later? No, you'd head screaming out the door to check on your home.If the priority is not high enough we will never take action nor find the time. Simple as that.See if you can find 30 minutes a day and I'll do my best to get you in the best shape of your life.All the best.Chris250.212.2972

Mobile hips for a healthy backIf there is something almost all of the adult population will have in common at some point in their lives it's low back pain. This can be as minor as a tightness and restriction in full range of motion to extreme pain necessitating specialized care and treatment. Since it is such a common problem for so many here are a few things to keep in mind for a strong, healthy and pain-free back.1. Keep your hips mobile - Whether it be at a desk, at school or work, in the car or relaxing in front of the tv we tend to sit too much. Add to that many of the machines in our gyms put us in a seated position and we can see the imbalance this creates with our bodies. Look to incorporate more standing positions throughout the day to relax the hips and strengthen the glutes.2. Extend as well as flex the trunk. We tend to bend forward at the waist (flex) whenever we reach for something off the floor, perform a sit-up or anything else then flexes the hip. Part of the function of our core is to resist forward bending or flexion so look to add some extension and core stability exercises to keep everything in balance.3. Avoid sustained postures for extended periods of time. The healthiest backs are the ones that have mobile bodies. Try to keep moving and change positions frequently.4. Stay hydrated. We don't tend to think of drinking water as being related to low back pain but a large cause of joint injury is dehydration. Drinking a little bit more water allows the connective tissues to have optimal cushioning capacity and allows joints to glide more freely with less friction.5. Move in all 3 planes. This one applies...

Gravity can be your friend Normally we think about gravity as a negative but it can actually help to protect us.When we perform movements in the sagittal plane (think forward and back) gravity will slow us as we work against its pull. See the first set of pictures of a back extension and we can see how gravity is opposite the direction of the movement.In the second set of pictures gravity works against us us in the frontal plane (think side to side) as we perform a side bridge. Gravity slows us down as we move us into the up position.However in the last of pictures we are performing an exercise in the transverse plane (think rotational) as we perform a cable chop. On rotational movements gravity acts perpendicular to the access of motion and therefore does not help to decelerate the motion.So since on rotational movements we do not have the benefit of gravity helping to slow down the motion at the end range we want to ensure we have stability in the sagittal and frontal planes first. Next start with slow tempo, short ranges of motion, short levers and minimal external load before challenging yourself more in the transverse plane.Follow these tips in your training for optimal back health and increased performance in sports involving rotation.All the best.Chriswww.okanaganpeakperformance.com250.212.2972

Why simple is the best‏Hi there: Just a quick note about how sometimes the simplest things in life are the most efficient and effective. Let's look at 5 examples.1. nutrition - Have you ever noticed that the best foods for you are the ones with the fewest ingredients? Water, fish, fruits, vegetables all are pretty simple. At the same time look at the foods we all know that we probably shouldn't be eating such as candy, chips, soft drinks, puddings etc and notice how long this list is. Try and eat foods in the most natural state you can find them and you're digestive system will thank you for it.2. water - We should try and get as much of our nutrition and calories from food as we can. As our obesity rates continue to rise we are noticing that this is paralleled by an increased number of our calories coming from liquids. There are exceptions to the rule with respect to sports drinks and protein shakes however the quickest way to shed 5 pounds is to try and drink a glass of water for every 15 pounds of body weight. You won't be able to indulge in the fancy coffee drinks you once enjoyed and will providing a flush to your system at the same time.3. fitness machines - The human body is one of the most incredible machines ever created yet many of the machines in the gym will become lined up before we squat, lunge, hinge, press and pull our own bodyweight. Not only does moving your own bodyweight require stabilizing the core and overcoming gravity but we don't have to wait to do a bodyweight squat, there is freedom to move in all planes, there are less space requirements not to mention zero cost involved.4. footwear - More and more...

5 Ways to Upgrade Your Nutritional Plan‏Hi there: We all know the importance nutrition plays in achieving our health and fitness goals.  Below are 5 ways to upgrade your nutritional plan.1. Eat your calories and drink water.  Part of the reason we are seeing increases in obesity rates is that we are drinking more of our calories.  We have more coffee drinks with a shot of flavour, cream and sugar.  We chug sports drinks when we haven’t broken a sweat.  We have replaced eating fruits and vegetables with drinking cocktails.  And lastly, we have upsized our combo at the drive-thru to have enough drink to last the entire weekend.2. The less legs the better.  When choosing a protein source we want to select fish and seafood, before chicken and turkey, followed by beef and pork.  Following this order results in less saturated fat and more essential fatty acids.3. Choose walnuts or almonds over peanuts.  More of the fats we want.  Less of the ones we don’t.  And no, chocolate covered almonds don’t count.  The same applies for the spreads (i.e. butters) as well.4. Use salsa instead of mayonnaise or ketchup.  Pass on the extra calories, fat and sugar of the latter two condiments and opt for the lycopene from the tomatoes and anti-inflammatory benefits of the peppers.5. Use a saucer and a small cup instead of a plate and a large glass.  Most of us don’t weigh our food and count our calories.  At the same time many of us eat based on portion size.  With this is mind consider using smaller dishes to control our calories and set us up for weight loss.All the best,Chris.www.okanaganpeakperformance.com250.212.2972

One Size Does Not Fit All‏Hi there: We usually get the best results in life from efforts that are focussed and efficient. Besides ball caps there really is not a lot of benefit to making efforts where the program is designed for a one-size-fits-all approach. Let's consider some examples.Education - If you wanted to read up on a particular topic would you simply grab any book of the shelf? Most likely not. You would ask those in the know who they like and respect in a particular field or topic area. You would google the topic, check amazon and maybe browse a few options at a bookstore before deciding on the book that you think can enlighten you. The more research performed prior to choosing results in a better resource in the end.Nutrition - Would you gather 19 of your closest friends and each put in $10 to get a customized nutritional plan from a dietician? This probably wouldn't work very well for you when you consider the differences in allergies, tastes, cooking abilities, schedules, travel and goals. Some of your friends would be ok with no chocolate while others would do anything to keep this in the plan.Medicine - If a few friends were all suffering from the various colds that go around this time of year would you go together and buy some medicine in bulk? There's no way anyone would ever consider doing this. Prescriptions are very specific to the individual, their health, age, size and dose and are suitable for one person only.As with the above examples we want to ensure your training is specific to your abilities and goals. We take the time to determine where you have previous injuries and compensations and prescribe the appropriate drills and exercises to re-align and stabilize the body. As you progress through the training we...

Hi there: I know a number of you are taking some time to get away and will not have access to your kitchen, favourite grocery or the containers needed to manage your daily eating.  Since eating out will be the norm rather than the exception here are 8 tips to use when eating out.1. Eat your calories and drink water.  The first question you are always asked upon being seated in a restaurant is what you would like to drink.  Choose water and pass on the high-fructose-corn-syrup, sugar, preservatives, caffeine and extra calories found in most beverages.2. Take half home.  We are annoyed when restaurants don’t over serve us and restaurants have responded accordingly by over supplying huge portions.  Italian restaurants are the worst culprits.  Order a regular meal but eat half and get half to go.  To resist the temptation to finish everything have the server package the remaining half at the same time the rest of the meal is brought out.3. Pretend you are the Mercedes Benz of human machines.  Top end vehicles require the best fuel and so should you.  Pass on the value items and what appears to be a deal.  Ever notice that salads and fruit platters are never the daily specials?4. Look for key terms that describe how the meal was prepared.  Good options include grilled, steamed, poached, broiled or roasted but pass on those that that are battered, deep fried and accompanied by sauces and dips.5. Pass on the grains.  You can get all the carbohydrates you need from fruits and vegetables.  Just because bread is brought to the table doesn’t mean you have to eat it.6. Pass on the buffets.  We are usually full upto 20 minutes before we recognize the feeling of fullness.  Having unlimited amounts of food available to you makes...

Hi there: I'm away in Las Vegas for the weekend. Yeah I know, Las Vegas. But this is for work. I'm actually meeting up with some of the top fitness minds anywhere for our regular two day meetings. We've got an incredible group of people getting together to share the latest and the greatest in the world of fitness, performance and health. And yours truly will be there to learn as much as possible and pass it on to you upon my return.So since I'll be away at these meetings that means I'll miss our weekly stairs workout. But don't worry I've put together a workout for you follow in my absence. The workout combined with a few regulars such as GK, JM, JK, MG, AC, SM and a few others will make it easier to follow. This group will be meeting at the Quigley elementary playing fields at 830 am on Saturday. If you don't know where this is go to the corner of Perry and Hollywood in Rutland and you're there. Make sure to drink a couple of glasses of water, bring a water bottle and dress in layers as it doesn't take you long to warm-up. Here's what I want you to do.1. General warm-up - Jog a lap around the soccer fields at a very easy and comfortable pace. Pace attention to how your body is feeling. How do your calves, hamstrings, quads and hips feel? What about the rest of your body? Is it feeling loose and limber? Put emphasis on the areas that need it in the next part.2. Dynamic warm-up - Do each of the following for 15 yards or so.a. world's greatestb. inch-ups (SM asked I put these in because there are no burpees)c. knee hugsd. tin soldierse. lateral lungef. reverse side bend...

Recently I wrote about whether following a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle was a healthier option. And I didn't play the middle of the road on this one. It was pretty clear that I advocate eating real food, in proper proportions, to obtain the essential nutrients needed for life. I signed off on the article asking you what you thought. Was I missing something? Is there a healthier way? Here is what you told me.This from Dr. J McMillan, MD Calgary, ABI think it is very important to focus on what the goal of any diet is. The current evidence-based medicine is that for veg diets, the hard, clinical outcomes are: reduced incidence of cancer, high BP (stroke, peripheral vascular disease, ischemic heart disease), type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease (heart attack), and lower overall BMI. These are significant clinical outcomes that cannot easily be ignored simply because a veg diet may (or may not) require extra planning. On the otherhand, iron-deficiency anemia and fracture risk (which are not elevated in lacto-ovo vegetarians, and may or may not be in vegans) are less significant clinical outcomes. They are morbidities, but do not directly lead to increased or hastened mortality. Current evidence supports decreasing overall cholesterol and saturated fat. There may be speculation that this is not the entire picture as you seem to be implying, however, the evidence currently is not there.I am not familiar enough with soy, and the ratio of omega 3:6 issues, so I can't comment on those two points. However, if soy is not a preferred choice, 2 meals a week of salmon would suffice.It is true that heme iron is better absorbed, however studies have shown that the blood biochemistry of vegetarians is no more iron deficient than meat-eaters, the body compensates by increasing absorption and decreasing losses. It...

Hi there: I'm down here in Las Vegas at a fitness conference and have picked up a number of nuggets to be able to pass your way when I get back. One of them is a tip which will improve your workouts for almost everyone, immediately.Last night after dinner I had a little free time so I went to look for some shoes. Yeah, I'm a shoe guy. Girls may love their purses. But I like shoes. No big deal.Anyways as I was walking around the mall I noticed the number of people walking in front of me. And they all had something in common going on. In particular when walking in front of me I could see the palms of the their hands.If he ever gets off the couch you'd see his palms as he walks away.Why is this important? Or more importantly why does it matter with regarding your workouts?Well you see proper posture is one of the most important factors related to a proper functioning core. Anything less than ideal posture and your core doesn't work as well as it should.Now I've mentioned in the past how important core function is to performance and joint stability. But what about fat loss? Does the function of your core play a role in this? I believe it does and here's why.***quick aside...think of someone who is really fit...what is their posture like?***When our core is not operating optimally we will develop compensatory mechanisms to complete the movements we are trying to do. For example if I can't maintain core stability through the low back during a deadlift I will break down in my form in order to complete the rep. Now while I may not injure myself performing the lift I am putting additional stress on joints rather than allowing...

Hi there!So, ever since I did an interview with Dan John (incredible strength and conditioning coach, based out of Missouri. Check him out here), I've been looking for ways to get more results from the same investment. Or if maintenance is the goal, then to be able to get the same results with less effort. But I don't mean for this to be a strategy to cut corners or be lazy. Instead I want you to think about it as training smarter.Because let's face it. We're all busy. We have a variety of obligations and commitments with our names on them that have to take a priority in our lives. We can't not go into work. We can't ignore our families. And we need to spend time with our friends if those relationships have real meaning for us.So if this is the reality we live with, we need to discover better ways of doing the same things or new things to get better results. And, if we're going to try something new, it has to be an improvement on the current methods. I mean there's no sense changing up your training program from 45 minutes to 120 minutes if you're already pressed for time.The changes therefore need to be more efficient and extract better results or the same results with fewer downsides.This is incredibly true in training, but just as important in our nutrition!And what better way to start off a morning than this: SMOOTHIE!With this in mind I've come up with 7 strategies for you supercharge your smoothies. Many of you are already in the habit of having a pre- or post- workout shake of some type so it makes sense to tweak this habit slightly to elicit better gains from your efforts.So here are 7 ways to supercharge your smoothies.1....

Hi there: If you've been following this blog for any period of time you're aware that I'm all about providing you with the best return on investment. I want you to realize the best results with minimal investment in time, finances, sweat or any other sacrifice you may have to make. But this isn't about seeking out the 'magic bullet' so no hard work has to be done ever again. Instead it's about finding ways to get in sync with your body and its environment so every effort results in forward momentum.And along the lines of forward effort and forward momentum there are times when we may slip back slightly. Think of the progress you make as the peaks you climb and the setbacks as being the valleys you fall into.Now here's the trick.You don't want your peaks to be too steep or your valleys too low. Notice I referred to the peaks in terms of steepness rather than height. I'll explain more about why height may be more crucial than steepness in a moment. But first consider the following.If you think of the expressions we have for when things are working well for us we refer to 'smooth sailing' or 'everything is on track'. On the other hand when we are having troubles we consider this a 'shipwreck' or 'off the tracks'.Let's look at how your rest, nutrition and training apply to the concept of peaks and valleys.Rest - We know that the body needs around 8 hours of sleep a night. And if we deviate up or down from this number significantly we run into problems. For example we can't stay in bed for days on end to make up a sleep debt. And we can't get by with 5 hours a night thinking we're fine. We need to...

In order to have to success at anything in life you need to be able to know where you're currrently at and where you want to get. Otherwise how do you know if your efforts are working for you? Consider your finances.If you have a mortgage you know exactly when it will be paid off. You'll also know what you've paid in interest and if you make extra installments how this changes your repayment schedule. Or if you renogiate the loan at a different rate you'll be aware of how this changes everything as well.Because it would be pretty confusing if we had no idea how much our payments should be. Or when they should be made. Or if making changes in the terms would work to our advantage or not.Your workouts are similar in this fashion.It would be very difficult to stay on track and realize our goals if we didn't know our starting point. Or where we are trying to get . Or how intense and frequent our workouts should be to achieve our goals.And this isn't something that relates to weight loss only.It is also equally important for the underweight athlete that needs to put on some lean body mass. Or it could be important for a figure athlete such as a gymnast, figure skater or diver that needs to maintain a particular aesthetic look for success in their sport.But there is a problem made by many when it comes to tracking the energetic outputs of our training. The problem is that we over estimate how many calories we burn during a workout. How does this happen? In a few ways at least.1. Inaccurate technology. The truth is that a piece of cardiovascular equipment doesn't know our age, sex, weight, height, BMI. bodyfat or anything else about us....

Hi there: Have you ever suffered low back pain? If you have you'll know that this isn't much fun at all. I mean when you sprain an ankle you can still get around. Maybe a little more slowly but you can still move. Or if you hurt your elbow you can still use the other arm and probably both hands.But when your back is out all bets are off. Normally our posture dictates how well our core fires, how well we move, our technique while lifting as well as our athleticism. Throw in an episode of low back pain and everything changes. This over-rides our normally optimal posture and causes us to move in altered ways. These compensatory movements are to protect us so we don't put additional strain on the area.Recently a colleague showed me a video that illustrates the differences in loading on the low back depending on the position the body is in.For example the load on the low back is lowest when we are flat on our backs with straight legs. And the load is highest when when we are seated and attempting to lift something. The video by Dr. Ebraheim MD  is a little more than 3 minutes but is very informative and uses some great illustrations. Go and have a look.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T-eQJnZRRkA few of the 'take home' points from this video would be:* lack of fitness would put you at an increased risk for low back pain* prolonged sitting, whether it be at school, work or driving, never helps* smoking puts you at an increased risk* the worst possible set up is heavy lifting from a seated positionFor me this last point really hammered home the purposed of doing ground-based resistance lifting. For example we perform the majority of our weight training workouts on our feet. This includes...

Hi there: Recently I had the chance to visit with some friends. One of the conversations that came up had to with a new supplement they had tried and were raving about. The supplement was agave nectar.Maybe you've heard of this before and perhaps even tried it. For a while there everyone was getting pretty caught up in trying to reduce their consumption of refined sugar and were making the switch to 'natural sweeteners'. So along comes agave nectar with its claims to be a better choice for diabetics, have anti-inflammatory properties and may even be good for your immune system.But here's the ugly truth. This stuff may use the name of 'nectar' and make you think of it as a juice but is more similar to a syrup. And the sugar contained within it has the same impact on your cells, metabolism and fat burning as regular table sugar does. Actually I take that back. Regular table sugar has about 50% fructose in it whereas agave nectar is about 90% fructose. So what's the big deal with fructose?Well when you feed animals a lot of fructose they develop fatty livers. And as we see our consumption of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) continue to climb there appears to be a link to this and more cases of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).But fructose is the sugar in fruit, so are you saying to limit or even stop eating fruit?No, not at all. And here's why.First of all the fructose in HFCS and agave nectar has a slightly different chemical make up than the fructose found in fruit.  One is the D isomer and the other L. Huh? Don't worry about it. Just know that structurally they differ.Secondly, real fruit also has other benefits such as the vitamin, mineral, fibre and hydration that comes...

LL said 'no tequila stories for you'Well I escaped from the last post with my dignity and reputation intact. We came close to the required number of posts for me to disclose an embarrassing story from my past. Thankfully some of you spared me the shame of having to broadcast this to the entire world. And I can tell you that I did in fact produce this less than flattering recollection of college days gone bad. Considering how the occasional rant or contraversial article gets a few more people riled up each time maybe it's best to leave that story buried in my memory where it shall stay.So that previous post had a couple of objectives. First of all it was to provide you with information and content regarding agave nectar.  Some of you mentioned seeing this product on the store shelf and a few others were brave enough to admit that you had in fact tried it. That's alright. The whole point of this blog is to provide you with content, information and resources to make tomorrow better than today. That might be related to fitness, performance or the rehab of an injury. And it could be related to your training, nutrition or recovery. I'm doing my best to seek out the simplest, safest, most effective ways to provide you with the best results for you efforts. Hence our motto 'always moving forward'.I've just got a couple more things to cover here before I sign off for the weekend. The first is a favour I'd like to ask of you. You see many of you email me and tell me how much what we're doing here has helped you. Or you might pass along your feedback in the comments section. Or at the hockey game, a movie or Costco. And I...

Wondering what to get that hard to buy for person on your Christmas list?  Well we've got you covered. Below are 18 Fitness Gifts That Don't Suck (except maybe one).  And this one would only suck if that were the only fitness gift you got for someone.  Read on to get some great gift ideas for the active person in your life.1. rubber tubing & bands ($5-30) You have to love the versatility in terms of the number of exercises you can do, the portability of where you can  train with them and the relatively low cost.  Add to that they are appropriate for all levels from beginner up through top level powerlifters and you've a great addition to any gym bag.  2. fat gripz ($39) Grip strength is the weak link for many people.  And a wider bar or handle requires more of the muscles necessary for holding on.  Increase your grip strength and watch your other lifts follow suit.3. bodybugg ($250) I'm a numbers guy and the bodybugg puts true numbers to all my workouts.  This device tells you exactly how many calories you burn throughout the day so you know how much to eat in order to lose, maintain or gain weight.  Be aware that there is subscription service (additional charge) required after the first six months of use.4. sleeptracker ($200) Who doesn't love sleep?  And who doesn't love waking up at the appropriate time every day feeling totally refreshed.  I swear by mine.5. shaker cup ($10) If you're serious about your fitness goals then you are serious about your nutrition.  And this involves making sure you always have a pre/post workout shake at the ready.  Shaker cups ensure you have to something to dump your blender drink into before hitting the gym.6. training journal ($5) This doesn't have to be anything special. ...

The next few posts are based on what I learned at a weekend seminar with Mike Roberton. Mike is the president of IFAST and one the top performance coaches anywhere.If there's one thing I really enjoy about what I do it's that the job is so dynamic. And I don't necessarily mean this in the sense of running, jumping and bounding etc but more in the sense that the information is contantly being refined and new discoveries are being made.  For example in last week's posts I wrote about things you should avoid doing in the gym. These weren't hard and fast rules that every knows as soon as they step foot in a gym. Instead these were things that had to be learned through education, through trial and error and sometimes unfortunately by injury.  And there were a few things in those posts that I'm sure you were guilty of doing and now hopefully were aware to not do them anymore and the reasons why. As I admitted in the last post I was guilty of making all of the mistakes at some point in my training and later in my coaching career.But now and I know better. And so do you. But there is a small but key difference here that is vital to your health and performance. And that difference is body awareness.What I mean by body awareness is understanding what your body is doing, why it is doing it and how to correct it. Whew! That's kind of a tall order, Chris! How can you expect that of us?Well, you're right. Because if I said to you that are contantly weight bearing on your right leg and shifting away from your left would you know this? Maybe if you stopped to think about it you would. But...

If you're serious about your health and performance than you want to know that you're doing the best you can with your efforts. And if you're not where you'd like to be weight-wise, performance-wise or in terms of your rehab than there are probably some things you could be doing a better job of. And if you are having some success in these areas than you are probably motivated to see what else you could do to ramp up your results even more.I'll be honest...I know I could do more personally. A while back I stated some of my goals. A few of them included hitting targeted strength measures, improved fitness levels and a specific scale weight.And while I'm on track to hit my goals I know I could be further along. I know I maybe under-estimated myself by selecting goals I knew I had a pretty good chance of attaining.There's not a problem in doing that. But we want to make sure we are giving our best effort and setting new goals if necessary.So while I'll probably wait until I realize the current goals I've set  until I pick new ones there are a few things I know I can improve on until then. With that in mind here are 5 Things I Can Do Better to Improve My Health & Performance.1. Improved sleep - I need 8 hours of sleep a night. Not 8 hours of bedtime on my computer, reading or doing sudoku puzzles but 8 actual hours of sleep. I need to make sure that I get as many of these 8 before midnight as possible. And I need to make sure to be as consistent with my time to bed and time to rise as  possible.2. More soft tissue work - Every workout should begin with some foam...

As we wrap up the last few days of 2010 I have to ask you, 'Is your health, fitness and performance where you'd like it be?' What were your goals for 2010? Did you hit them? Before you answer these questions I'll go first  and tell you about mine.Want to know my goals? Here they are.Back in June I wrote these down.Bodyweight 195 lbs (currently 190 lbs and climbing)Bench 315 lbs (achieved) Deadlift 500 lbs (will test next week)Swim 1000 m under 15:00 min (switched to rowing 5 k under 20:00, currently 21:07)Sand dunes under 4:00 (will test next week)Bodyfat under 10% (test soon)Some of my targets I may not hit. The deadlift is definitely going to be a good challenge. And we'll see about the sand dune. I'm finding it tough to increase strength, fitness and lean body mass all at same time.But these are all outcome goals. They are stating a final position for each area of health I was working towards.More important than outcome goals might be process goals. In other words 'how will I get there?'.What did I need to do with my nutrition in order to go from the low-mid 170's at the end of the summer to the mid 190's by Christmas time?What did my training program have to look like in order to get from where I was strength-wise in June to where I'll end up at the end of 2010?What othere considerations did I have to make to my recovery, regeneration and day-in day-out preparation in order to have success?Can you see why process goals might be considered more important than outcome goals? It's because they contains all of the nitty gritty details to ensure success.And what about if you fall short and don't succeed at realizing your goal(s)?Well you need to ask yourself if the...

Do you suffer from low back pain?Do you have tight hips and hamstrings?Could your posture be a little bit better?If you're like most people, 80% of adults, than you answered 'yes' to one if not all three of these questions.What  about the answers to the following 3 questions?Do you sit at at a desk either at work or at school for the majority of the day?Do you spend the majority of your day driving?Do you spend a number of hours each day at your computer?If you answered 'yes' to the first set of questions I'm guessing you also found a 'yes' in the last set of 3 as well.So what does that mean?Well it tells us that that hamstring length, posture and hip mobility are all related to the health of our backs specifically the lumbar spine. And it tells us there are probably activities you do during the day which exacerbate the problem.'But I drive or work at a desk for a living and can't just quit doing these things'.That's totally understandable. And also not what I'm asking you to do.Because here's the thing.I spend I large part of my day at the computer as well. I write programs. I produce blog posts for two different sites of my own and contribute to many others. And I produce online products.So what is it that I do differently that prevents me from experiencing the back pain that afflicts so many?The key is that I change my position. Constantly.If I start seated at the table I will set a timer to change positions every 20 minutes. As I work in the room off from our kitchen it is very easy to set the timer on the microwave to remind me to change positions.After being seated for 20 minutes I will change to:tall...

Today I'm in a good mood.Why? You may ask. Well it's because today I get to play Santa to someone. That's right today I get award someone with the Year Long Training Program 2.0. If you're new to this blog then here's what this means.This program includes everything you need to get in the best shape of your life in one plan. In other words this winner gets:  1. Complete Workouts for 2 Years. They not only get all the new workouts I've designed and put together they also get the original workouts from the first year. This includes all the warm-ups, cool downs, lifts, core exercises, corrective exercises, stretches and auxiliary workouts you need to have a lean and appealing physique.2. Complete Meal Plans - You not only get 2 weeks worth of meal plans you also get unique strategies to either lose or gain weight. Obviously these are vastly different goals and therefore there needs to be a unique approach to each.3. Regeneration and Recovery Strategies - Tired of those aches and pains? Wish you could get over your plateaus and make some serious gains? Often times we are short changing ourselves when it comes to what we do in between our workouts. You get the inside track on allowing your body to repair and recover as quickly as possible.4. Bonus Reports - In addition to the reports on Sleep and Fat Loss, Omega-3, Foods to Avoid and others the winner will also receive reports on Inflammation and Fat Loss, pH and Muscle Loss, Why it Matters When You Eat, How to Get the Kids on Board with Healthy Eating and more.5. More Simple Workouts - I've put together a number of bodyweight workouts and challenges. And there are a number more workouts that require only one piece of equipment....

Chris Collins: This is the first segment in a series of blog posts by Dov Schafer. As you may recall Dov was the winner of the YLTP 2.0 contest and someone who has accomplished some great things with respect to weight loss, improved health and performance. At the end of the post Dov has a task for you to do. If you have a question for Dov make sure to post it in the comments section below. Take it away Dov!Everyone has goals, mine were amorphous at first. I knew I didn’t want to be fat and lonely; too ashamed of my own body to even take off my shirt, and unwilling to even ask a girl on a date for fear of complete rejection based on how I felt about myself.  I wanted to look like a UFC fighter, I wanted a girlfriend, and I wanted a life.Everyone has goals.My name is Dov Schafer. I am a 27 year old who just started really living when I got a new body about 3 years ago; at my heaviest I was 315 lbs, now I am 187lbs and training for athleticism and strength having met my long term weight loss target. All of this was only possible because of the information I got from Chris Collins, Beach body’s Tony Horton, and lots of reading about nutrition. What is your goal? Have you put it down on paper and said it out loud to yourself? Imagine it being completed, how do you feel? Imagine what your new goals might be at that time!It isn’t hard to lose weight. When you are incredibly obese your body wants to shed fat… badly. All I did to start losing weight was to eat exactly the same things I was eating before but more often! As...

A colleague has a product with a similar title to this one. And on my way home from Las Vegas I watched another passenger that made me think about this post and to rip off the title in the process.So what was the situtation I was talking about? And I'm not referring to the Jersey Shore character although he apparently frequents Vegas just as much from what I hear.Instead this story had to do with a lady sitting across the aisle from me. And it seemed liked she was intent on having a bad day.And she was succeeding at it.Here's what I mean.I was already on the plane when this lady came up the aisle towards her row. She dropped her bag at her feet and then looked around disapprovingly for a flight attendant.But by stopping and doing so she held up everyone else attempting to board the plane.So I asked her if she needed help putting her bag in the overhead compartment?She said yes but that wanted the flight attendants to help her and not me.That's fine I thought. Just trying to help.Well because this lady had dropped her bag at her feet and was standing put no one could get around her. Including the flight attendants that she was insisting come immediately to assist her.So you can imagine this isn't doing anything to ingratiate her to her fellow travellers. Specifically the ones she was blocking from getting to their seats or the ones she was hovering over as she stood in the aisle.All the while this is going on this lady is huffing & puffing. And rolling her eyes. And making comments out loud about the 'lack of service' she was experiencing.But it gets better.Later as the passenger behind this lady is putting her stuff away a bag, a coffee...

Here's another post from Dov. In his last post Dov introduced himself and shared his story about how he lost 130 lbs and has managed to keep it off.Below Dov talks about a behaviour that sabotages your results. He's talking about smoking while you are trying to improve your health.But he isn't someone who stands on the sidelines and hurls insults and comments without foundation or understanding. I say that because when I trained Dov he was a smoker. But he made the decision to quit and hasn't looked back.Whether you are a smoker or not, there may be something in your life that is holding you back from attaining the best results possible. Simply substitute whatever that is for you to get the take home message.Dov, the floor is yours....On my last post I mentioned I wanted to discuss some hurdles I had to overcome to achieve significant fat loss; thought it may be true that "losing weight isn't hard", you might be doing some things that make it significantly harder on yourself.SMOKING.If you smoke, and you are working out, just stop working out.If you are sure you cannot quit smoking, do yourself a huge favor, and resign yourself to being a flabby, out of breath, unhealthy person for the rest of your life. There is absolutely no point in attempting to do "cardio" or lift weights, if you smoke.You won't have the oxygen you need to push yourself to any meaningful level.When you work out, the point is that you are putting strain on your muscles so they recover stronger than before. If you cannot generate enough power or sustain enough endurance to perform, you are wasting your time in a serious way. Walking on a treadmill because your lungs cannot supply your poor dying body with enough fuel to...

Are you someone that gets a vaccination?When flu season comes around do you get one or not?If you don't what is your reasoning? Is it because there is a cost associated with it? Is it because you believe it is only really necessary for health care workers, young children, the elderly or those with compromised immune systems? Or is there some other reason?Because for the past few years there has been a growing movement against getting vaccinated. And some of this influence came as a result of the 'work' of Andrew Wakefield from the UK.You should notice that I haven't referred to him as a doctor and I wouldn't consider his findings as research. This is because Dr. Wakefield was stripped of his medical license in May 2010 and the British Medical Journal called his research 'elaborate fraud' with financial self interest and falsified data.Does this ring a bell?A few years ago there was an email circulating warning us of the dangers of immunizations and vaccines. It was worded in official scientific language and style and referenced medical and health authority. The gist of the email was that the various vaccines going around were causing a number of diseases and conditions such as autism.So began the great debate. Should you get vaccinated or not?And then there were the associated conspiracy theories. I never knew that that getting vaccinated when I was a boy for measles had nothing to do with preventing this disease but everything to do with:* Installing a tracking device inside me so the government can monitor my daily activities via satellite.* Using me to test out chemical war-fare agents.* Instigating a disease within me that leads to the purchase of over-priced prescription medication.Other than the first one I naively believe that vaccines are actually to prevent disease. The first one is true because I...

How do you determine if you've had a good workout or not?Is it something objective such as lifting a certain amount of weight, covering a distance in a certain amount of time or something else?Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. It might be that some people simply see getting exercise or doing a workout as something to cross off a list.And there's nothing wrong with that. Unless you have specific goals and want to have the best health possible.Then it's important to be tracking your workouts. And making both subjective and objective notations in your journal.And this is as well as how you feel the days after your workout should determine whether or not you had an effective workout.Because I'm seeing something developing that is a little bit discouraging. And it involves people getting excited about painful, overly intense workouts.Now don't get me wrong. I'm all for intense training. Athletes will bond when they go through a tough physical challenge together. I want everyone I work with to lift as intensely as is possible for them. And I want them to feel like they could repeat the same workout the next day.But that's not what seems to be happening in fitness circles these days.People are posting on their fb walls about how 'yesterday's workout killed them!' and 'how they are still sore from the last workout!'.There is even a 'fitness' style that gives you a t-shirt with their clown caricature on it for throwing up during a workout. Some of you may know which style this is. Anybody else see anything wrong with this picture?This is not the goal. This is not what you should be shooting for. The goal should be to stimulate and not annihilate the neuromuscular system.On occasion it does happen that you will have some lingering muscle soreness....

So we've picked up a new toy for the clients of Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. Obviously it's not a toy but a tool. And we can use it for almost everything we need to do with a client. We can train for strength and power with it. We can move it all planes and angles. And we can track loads and watts to be able measure improvements. What is this new tool? It's a Keiser Functional Trainer. Here's a quick video to give you an idea of what it is. http://youtu.be/P3FAFx4E_x0So what makes this trainer so great? I mean, you've probably see cable columns at most commercial gyms before, right? Well the difference is the versatility of the device as well as the ability to train for power. You can use each cable column independently or in tandem. You can use it for lower body and upper body. You can move through any angle and plane and extend the cable out 12 feet. So you can throw on a belt and do resisted cone drils. But the maybe the best feature about the Keiser Functional Trainer is that you can train at a variety of speeds and loads. And you can quantify all of them. Why does this matter? Well imagine using a traditional cable column and performing an explosive movement such as an explosive row. The pin is positioned in the weight stack at a particular load to provide resistance. When a explosive movement is performed on a column of this type the stack crashes into the top of the column. Plus you have no way of knowing how much power you generated. Now not only you not have the problem of the weight stack not crashing into the column at the top but you'll also be able to quantify your power...

Once you've been training for a while you experience what every lifter realizes at some point.The dreaded plateau.When you first start training you will make gains from week to week. If your deadlift starts at 135 lbs you will find that you will jump to 155 then 185 and 255 in no time.Obviously this doesn't carry on forever or we'd all be setting world records after only a year of training.So is there anything we can do to prolong our gains? Is there a way to off-set wear and tear injuries associated with training? And is there a way to feel 'up for training'?Yes, there is. And it involves unloading your training.What exactly is unloading? Well you can think of it as pre-planned reductions in training volume or intensity or load or all three. We've all heard the expression 'you grow when you rest'. Unloading gives you a brief respite, or rest, from training that allows you to come back stronger.So when should you unload? Does everyone need to unoad?Let's start with the second question first. Not everyone needs to unload. For example, if I go for one hour walks at a caual pace and if have been doing so for the past year I should be able to handle this physical demand fairly easily. The same goes for any other training or physical activity I've been at for a while and is not physically taxing.On the other hand once I've been training for at least six months with some level of intensity I'm probably due for a break. But if I'm just a newbie the intensity and tempo of my lifts isn't at a high enough level to justify easing up momentarily.But let's assume you are someone who has been training for a few years with regular frequency (3-4 days...

We live in a world where we can access professional advice for all areas of our life.We can consult with an investment advisor on the best ways to save for retirement. We can meet with an accountant about tax strategies that would benefit our business. And we can work with a strength & conditioning coach as to the best ways to achieve the results in the least amount of time.But what would you think if your advisor didn't follow the same advice they gave you? What if there was a case of 'do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do'?Recently there was an example of such an instance. At our facility. With one of our own coaches!After berating this poor coach for the better part of the day I said they would use this as an opportunity to explain why what they were doing was not good and what a better option would be.And this has lead to the birth of a new blog series called 'A Hint of Hypocrisy'. Every now and again your coaches and trainers will share with you some of the decisions they make which are contrary to the advice they try and drill into you on a daily basis.So sit back, relax and enjoy this inaugural installment of a Hint of Hypocrisy by Matt Baumeister.Hi everybody,Do you have a secret indulgence? I sure do, and I’m here to tell you all about it. But first, let me tell you about how it came about and why I love my treat so much. Can I get a drum roll please….everybody: my secret indulgence is Arizona Ice Tea. Why you ask? I love it simply because it reminds me of sitting on a beach with my good friends while basking in the hot Okanagan sun.While it’s true that we all have our little vices, I...

So we're into the final phase of our powerlifting program here at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. In other words we've got 3 more weeks, not counting the one week unload at the end, to make the biggest gains possible before we test our lifts again.On December 15th we're going to have an intra-club powerlifting meet. Anyone can come out on this day if they want to test their deadlift, bench, squat and chin up. You don't have to participate in all of the lifts. And if you just want to come out, see what it's all about and cheer us on you're welcome to do this as well.But that's not the main purpose of this post. What I want to share with you is a great way to warm-up the shoulders before any upperbody training session, specifically for pressing motions.What is this great tip I'm talking about?Well I was probably first exposed to it by Tom House at an NSCA coaches conference. Baseball players, specifically pitchers, will know this name.Later on at a course in California I was able to experience the benefits of this on a commercial type version of this device.Later, I came across a tool that I picked up at another conference and almost had it confiscated going through security at Calgary International Airport. Can you believe security thought it was a crossbow?And more recently I collaborated with Eric Cressey on a program and some coaching for a local pitcher. Anyone who reads t-nation or baseball specific training will know this name. Speaking of powerlifting, Eric has deadlifted over 660 lbs while weighing in the 160s!What I'm talking about is using vibration training or some rhythmic stabilization drills into your program before you lift.Before I get into what kinds of drills you could do it's important to realize...

The other day I was talking to a client telling them they could accelerate their fat loss efforts by eliminating certain foods from their nutritional plan.And so I mentioned things like starchy carbohydrates (breads, potatoes, pasta, rice, cereals, grains), most drinks as well as food with corn.But as soon as I mentioned the word 'corn' this client stopped me. 'Really?' they said. 'I can't eat corn? Why not?' It's a vegetable and it comes from the earth.And herein lies the problem with some of the nutritional rules I have passed on to clients. Some are borrowed from others. Some are our own creations at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. Now without going into the entire list here are couple of the rules:* eat as many vegetables as you like* foods from the ground, the ocean or a tree are good food for youJust considering these two rules we would all probably agree that these two rules would lead you in the right direction regarding a nutritional choice. Because corn is a vegetable that comes from the ground.So what's the big deal with corn? Why is it on the list of foods to avoid?I can see how this gets confusing. And the quick answer is to say there are exceptions to the rules. But that is kind of like a parent saying to a five year old 'just because' as part of suitable explanation.Well you aren't five years old and 'just because' won't cut it. We need better reasons than that to cut corn from the program. So with that in mind here are 4 Reasons to Cut Corn From Your Nutritional Plan.Reason #1 - Is It a Vegetable?The first thing to consider when it comes to corn is that depending on who you ask or what resources you use it may be considered a...