As many of you know I'm in a business group with Craig Ballantyne of Men's Health and Turbulence Training fame. Craig's a great guy not only because he produces incredible real-world training programs that help so many but because he is a great resource to others in the group, including myself.So when Craig let's me in on what he's been up to, who he's been interviewing and where he's been, I take notes. Because the guy is cutting edge, passionate and intelligent. And when he spots a winner he backs it. 100%.Recently Craig turned me on to a nutritional program designed by Isabel De Los Rios.Who's Isabel you may be wondering?She's the nutritionist Bill Phillips invited down to his home in Beverly Hills recently to pick her brain before the launch of his upcoming book Transformation. And Bill knows a thing or two about nutrition and exercise. His book Body for Life helped over 2 million people change their lives.And he asks Isabel for advice.Or what about Tim Ferris.You'll recognize the name from the 4 Hour Work Week as well as the 4 Hour Body. Tim is accomplished researcher, NY Times best selling author and owner of a supplement company. He can get pretty much any nutritional expert on the phone he wants.But he chooses to have breakfast with Isabel to stay on top of the latest nutritonal findings.There are many more examples such as this. Isabel is the 'go-to-girl' for the top people in the health and fitness industry.And she's put together a short video about the foods you should never eat.I am almost certain there will at least one food on this list which you eat on a regular basis.www.goo.gl/y0uzY <--- 4 foods to avoidNow go have a watch and learn the 4 Foods to Avoid.Chris                                                                                                                                                                               okanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'

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...

 Recently I was down to Las Vegas for some meetings, lectures and networking. In between our meetings I had the chance to track down Dr. Peter Osbourne for a quick interview on gluten and celiac disease.In the interview I ask Dr. Osbourne a number of questions including:1. What is gluten?Dr. Osbourne defines gluten as a poison for certain individuals that when they eat it this causes an immune system reaction. This reaction causes a host of problems of up to 140 auto-immune diseases.2. What foods trigger a response or reaction to gluten?Gluten is found primarily in grains such as bread, pasta and cereal.3. Is it possible that some people have celiac disease and may not even know it?Lots of people have gluten sensitivity but have been misdiagnosed and don't know why they are sick. In terms of celiac disease there are an estimated 2 million people that are 'silent celiac' meaning they are asymptomatic and have the disease but won't find out until their fourth decade when the symptoms really start to set in.I ask him a couple more questions but you'll have to watch the video to see what they are.At the end of the interview Dr. Osbourne shares with us his website and facebook fan page. Make sure to watch for this information and contact him for more resources or to inquire about being tested for gluten sensitivity.Are you gluten sensitive?Do you have celiac disease?Do you have reactions to certain foods where the cause hasn't been diagnosed yet?Post your answers in the comments section below.Chrisokanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'

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...

I remember reading a journal article on this topic a number of years ago. But guess what? The idea is still a good one and the science is still valid so I thought I'd share it with you. So how does this tip work exactly? Well it's a way for you to be able to quickly and effectively control the calorie content of your meals. Because most people don't count calories. And some people even tell you not to read food labels. haha We eat based on portion size, don't we? And the bigger the portion the more we eat. Sure there's one in every crowd who weighs out their food and has a pretty good idea of how much they're eating. But for most of us we don't the equipment, knowledge or time for this. So this makes it pretty hard to know whether a particular meal has more or less calories than what you need. And here's the really cool thing about this tip. It works for everyone! Yeah, that's right. It doesn't matter if your goal is lose a few or a lot of pounds. Or if you're trying to gain a few or a lot of pounds. The concepts in this tip will work for everyone. And it's very easy to follow. So let's get to it already (you're probably thinking, right?) Ok so here are 3 Ways To Automatically Control the Caloric Content of Your Meals. Rule #1 - Add more water Ok here's a nutritional trivia question that 100% of you better get right. How many calories are there in water? If you said 'zero' give yourself a gold star and let's move on. (if you answered anything other than zero I can't help you...sorry) So if we agree that water has no calories then...

I might be contradicting myself here but it's got to be done.'How so?' you might be saying to yourself.Well for a while I was encouraging you to do something nutritionally that I believed was in your best interests. That would give you better results related to weight loss and performance.But maybe I was wrong. (said in a whisper so no one can hear me)What it is that I had you doing was reading food labels. So how can this be a bad thing? Why would I suggest you stop doing so? Well for three reasons.Reason #1 to Stop Reading Food Labels - You are being misledI wouldn't go so far as to saw you are being lied to but consider the following titles on food packages:'made with real sugar''all natural''organic''95% fat free'So how are these titles on packaging misleading? Well there really is no benefit to eating real sugar. It still causes an insulin spike and puts the break on your fat burning.What about 'all-natural' and 'organic'? Well just because something occurs naturally doesn't mean it's healthy and a good idea to put it in your mouth. Heck, in the case of arsenic, it can kill you.And organic, well often times this is marketing-hype imo. If you eat organic for environmental reasons, do organic bananas leave a smaller organic footprint to ship to Canada than regular bananas?Reason #2 To Stop Reading Food Labels - It's less about the caloriesAsk most people what they check when they read a food label and what is the most common answer? Calories. We still believe, incorrectly, that a calorie is a calorie and we simply need to create a deficit or surplus in order to have the best results.The truth is that it's probably more important to consider the quality and timing of your food selections rather than the calorie count....

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...

Movement is an interesting thing. In some ways it comes naturally to us. Think of a baby on its back wiggling the arms and legs. Eventually with enough effort and momentum the baby will be able get a leg across the body, rotate the hips and flip onto their stomach.But what starts out as an inquisitive exploration of our surroundings can lead to many great abilities in sports and performance. As young kids we are fearless and will do and try just about anything to seek a thrill and have fun.As we get older life gets a little busier and we get a little wiser about the downside of being hell-bent for speed and thrills. Basically all we have to do is experience one injury to curb our thirst for extreme movement and velocity.But that doesn't have to mean sport and movement stops all together. In fact it can't and is essential for our vitality.So we must find that balance between fearlessly attacking a sport or activity with reckless abandom and taking ourselves 'out of the game' completely.And this balance comes with being able to load and unload the forces we experience with movement. And we do this most effectively when we have neuromuscular efficiency (NE). This basically means we get the right muscles to fire, at the right time and in the right plane.Unfortunately success in sport is not as simple as simply having NE because we still need to develop the fitness, strength and power of the relevant muscles. Add to that the demands for reading and reacting to an opponent as well as changing environmental conditions and you can quickly appreciate how skilled high level athletes really are.In order to develop some of the athletic abilities of the pros look to be able to efficiently load and unload the body....

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...

Often times the seasons dictate what we do for exercise. When it is nice outside people tend to move their workouts outdoors and take advantage of the warmer weather. Around here you see more people boating, golfing, biking and doing triathlons.But when the weather gets cold we move indoors and get in more of our gym-based workouts. I'm not saying that's the way it should be, only that's what many around here tend to do.Even though we may move indoors for a lifting workout there are still somethings we can do outdoors and can actually only be done outdoors in the winter. Consider the outdoor skating rink downtown. Or going up to the ski hill. Going snowshoeing, tabogoning or even just going for a run and you can see that cold weather doesn't have to mean all activity stops.If you're going to do some exercise this winter make sure to check out the following video where I give you a number of tips for going outdoors this winter for some activity. Now there was one more tip I didn't cover in the video that I want to share with you. And this has to do with supplementation. If you're in the habit of taking omega-3 (which I think is a great thing by the way) you don't want to jump up your dosage too much during the winter months. Especially if you plan on going up to the hill. Here's why.You see omega-3 has blood thinning properties which is part of the reason it is effective in lowering blood pressure in some. In the winter however the relative humidity is much lower than in the summer.Basically warm air holds more water than cold air. So in the winter our tissues lose water to the environment as we have a higher humidity than the...

This is the follow up to the post  Is Sitting Killing Your Back? A Few Quick Fixes.You provided some excellent questions and comments from that post so now as a reward I've got The Top 6 Tips to Save Your Back When Travelling. Some of these tips relate specifically to driving your vehicle and others have to do with air travel. Tip #1 - Set the Alignment Before You StartDo you think you feel better after travelling when you feel good before you start. And similarly don't you think you'd feel worse after travelling if you felt tight to begin with? Probably so.Before I get on a plane I make sure to do some foam rolling. I want to release any tension I'm carrying in my body and not put additional stress on joints. 15 minutes of foam rolling while watching tv is a small price to pay for the benefits is extends after a 5 hour flight to Hawaii.As soon as I arrive I want to make sure to target the areas that tightened up during travel and resume light activity as soon as I can.Tip #2 - Set Your Mirror Up HighOne of the most common ways we wreak havoc on our backs when sitting is by slouching. We slide forward in the chair. Our hips tuck under. Our pelvis tilts posteriorly and we round our low back. None of which is good.By setting your rear view mirror as high as possible, but still where you  can see traffic, you'll be forced to sit taller and minimize the potential for slouching.And when you can't see in the mirror anymore? Don't adjust the mirror down. Instead sit up or pull over and take a break.Tip #3 - Empty Your PocketsDo you remember what George Costanza's wallet looked like on Seinfeld?It was so jam-packed...

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

Last month I attend a seminar in Vancouver with Mike Robertson presenting. Mike is a great strength and conditioning coach from Indiana who put on a 2 day seminar related to the knees and low back. One of the points Mike covered during the weeknend involved the use of a balloon to illustrate core theory.I really liked his analogy and the use of the balloon to make the point. But I thought the point could be taken further. And expanded to other areas of core theory. So I made a note in my conference notes to develop the point further once I got home. And this has since been developed into the 7 Keys of Balloon Core Theory.To read the article go check out Mike's blog, robertsontrainingsystems.com, or click on the following link to go directly to the article:http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/7-keys-of-balloon-core-theory/After you have a read, make sure to leave a comment. Make sure to say:* What you liked about the article?* What other analogies there may be between a balloon and the core?* Anything new you learned from the article?All the best,Chris                                                                                                                                                                                                                     okanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'

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....

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...

Often times when we step foot in the gym it's with the intent at getting better at something.  Maybe we want to accelerate our fat loss goals (a big one at this time of year). Or maybe we want to improve our joint function and move a little bit better. And then sometimes the goal is to perform better. Specifically with respect to sports.And this is my passion. Don't get me wrong it's very satisfying to hear of someone who's had shoulder pain for years tell you how they now sleep through the night because digging their elbow into the mattress to turn over doesn't wake them up anymore. (hello AV!)Or someone else who tells you how their hip pain has improved enough they can finally make a trip to their home country where there was not an unbandance of modern plumbing and thus had to be able to maintain a static deep squat. (BG will vouch for me on this one!)And then there has been countless stories of  the many who have lost pounds and inches off their bodies.  How their confidence and energy are at all time highs and life hasn't been better for them.  These are all the things that make getting up when it's still cold and dark out that much easier.But when it comes to training for performance there's no comparison. That's when it gets fun for me.And here's the interesting thing.Sports performance and sports training are completely different.What?How can that be?Wasn't sports training supposed to be as 'sports-specific' as possible? (I put that term in quotes because it can so many different things to do different people)Actually no.Sports training is quite distinct from sports performance. And here's how.1. Sports performance is on the balls of the feet whereas sports training is on the heels.  Ever...

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

The other night I was enjoying a little down time with the family. And so we decided to see what movies were stored on the pvr. After scanning the list we decided upon 'Invictus'. Have you seen this show? If you haven't you should check it out. It's set in the early 90's after Mandela is freed from jail and then becomes president of South Africa. Facing a number of domestic issues to resolve, Mandela turns to the captain of the national rugby team to inspire South Africa at the 95 World Cup of Rugby.At one point Mandela sits down with Pienaar, the captain of the National Rugby team, to discuss leadership. He asks the rugby player about how he gets the most out of his team. He says:'But how do we get them to be better then they think they CAN be? That is very difficult, I find. Inspiration, perhaps. How do we inspire ourselves to greatness when nothing less will do? How do we inspire everyone around us? I sometimes think it is by using the work of others. 'This is a powerful way of thinking.How do we get others, or even ourselves, to exceed our expectations?What makes us strive for more in spite of obstacles or setbacks?What causes us to continue on when others not only don't support you but may ridicule you for even trying?I believe it has to do with setting up the right environment.This includes your family, your friends and your coworkers and anyone else you interact with. Because we can be inspired by their actions.And these actions can fuel and motivate us to greatness.Consider the story of Zach Krych.Zach who?Exactly. Not really a household name is he?But that's what's great about this story.You see Zach is a 27 year old Olympic weighlifter from Minnesota...

You might be surprised to realize how little exercise is required in order to detect physiological changes in the body.And this is important because often times a common complaint to performing exercise is not having enough time. I know there are days when I don't get in a workout because I feel swamped with many other 'priorities' and therefore convince myself it simply doesn't work with my schedule on that day to find time to exercise.I may think differently in the future knowing the following bit of research.10 minutes of exercise is all it takes for there to be metabolic changes in the body. With just this small amount of time it can take upto to an hour for your body to return to a pre-exercise condition.This means enhanced circulation, ventilation and caloric burn that extends well past the moment we stop exercising.So this in itself should be reason enough to step away from the computer every couple of hours and do 10 minutes of jump rope, running stairs, jumping jacks or swinging a kettlebell. There are endless options. The point being that if all it takes is 10 minutes than we really can't use a lack of time as an excuse.But here's where things get interesting.Do you think this investment in exercise is the same for everyone? I mean does 10 minutes in exercise have the same results for two people of the same size, age and sex?We might assume that it does but we'd be wrong.Leaner people have increased levels of a metabolite called niacinamide, a nutrient involved in blood-sugar control. It comes from the group of B vitamins and has a number of health benefits.When researchers measured this compound at the end of the Boston Marathon, the more fit people had levels ten times higher than their less fit counter parts.There are over...

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...

Last year I took a look at the trends I was noticing in fitness, saw what my colleagues were doing in other parts of the world and sampled some of the new innovations coming down the line as health products. As while some of these developments are simply fads I believe some of them to be true changes in the industry and here to stay.Below are my 2010 Fitness Predictions that I can now look back and grade myself. How did I do?1. Barefoot Running - Have you tried ditching the shoes? Maybe you own a pair of Five Fingers or some Nike Frees. Have you read the book Born to Run? There are definitely more products, gear and information related to barefoot running. I think we'll see this trend continue in 2011.2. Recovery & Regeneration - There is some evidence that we're more aware of the necessity to recover between workouts. More gyms have foam rollers and more people are using them. There are still a lot gains and results being left on the training room floor when you consider the number of people walking out of the gym without a post-workout shake.3. New Cardio Programs, Equipment and Classes - There maybe wasn't so much an explosion in new program and equipment so much as we saw more people doing intervals of some type as opposed to the regular slow, steady-state cardio they were used to. Consider as the well the number of people performing some type of metabolic resistance training where they alternate between resisted sets to achieve an elevated heart rate and you see people continuing to try something new when it comes to good old cardio.4. Saving Time & $$$ - Part of this one has to do with the economic situation and part of it is due to wanting...

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...

This is the third part of a series on learning proper body position and alignment. Please see below for Parts I and II.At the end of Part II I mentioned the importance of body awareness and how we know when we are in or out of alignment. Because sometimes the clues as to being in or out of alignment are a little more subtle. We don't necessarily have to be in excrutiating pain in order to recognize something is wrong.And so I gave you three ways to work towards proper alignment.1. We need to understand what the muscle we are trying to contract is doing.2. We need to know what the opposite muscle is doing.3. We need to recognize when both of these change and step back at that point, recuperate and try again fresh.Consider something as simple as being in a half kneeling position.What does the ideal position for half kneeling look like? Well it should resemble the following:Straight lines and 90 degree angles.From the front the foot, knee, hip and shoulder should all face straight forward.From the side the there should a 90 degree angle at the knee and hip of the forward leg. And the trail leg should have the knee under the hip which is under the shoulder. The chest should be up, shoulders down and back, with a neutral head position.Take a look at the following picture.From the side the front leg has a 90 degree at the knee and the hip. And the left knee is under the hip and the shoulders stack up nicely over both of these.If you notice my arms hang a little bit in front of the body and you can see more of my pinkie than my thumb. This gives a clue that I am slightly internally rotated on the...

In the last post I introduced a discussion about body awareness. And what I meant by this was understanding which muscles were firing, when they are firing and how they are firing. The reason this is so important is that many of us having compensations or deficiencies of some type. Think about it. The aches and pains that we get from time to time are partly due to the strain we put our body under when it is out of alignment. And when we live with these aches and pains for long enough we can sometimes become a little bit desensitized to the feedback our body is trying to give us. For example if you've had a chronic low back problem you may not think about it all the time. But if someone asks you how it is and you stop and think about it for a second you'll realize it simply hasn't corrected itself but instead you learned to block it out somewhat in order to get through the day. And you aren't consciously thinking about it until someone asks you about it or it gets worse. So let's jump ahead and assume that someone was able to point out where it is that you're out of alignment and how to correct this alignment issue. Perhaps it's a lack of frontal plane (think side to side) glute activity and by firing this muscle helps to restore your alignment and take stress off your joints that were 'picking up the slack'. As well, you were also made aware of how you will alter your body position to cheat when your glutes get tired and you don't want them to work anymore.This would all be very useful info to you. So how do you make sure to ingrain this process and ensure...

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...

  And now here's the final installment in the 3 part series 10 Things to Avoid Doing During Your Workout.  8. Elevating your heels during  squats. Have you seen this done in the gym? Maybe you've done it before as well. You perform a squat and realize that your heels lift off the ground as you reach full depth. So you've got two options. One is to limit you range of motion to only go as low as your heels stay in contact with the ground. The other option is to put a shim under your heels so that they are always in contact with something as you lower yourself. And since you're not a wuss you opt for option #2. Because in order to get the best leg development you need to go full depth you need something under your heels to do so. But here's the problem. As you lower yourself into a squat your body is going into pronation and flexion. You are reducing the force of the lift through your joints and muscles. This energy is being loaded up to be released during the upwards phase of the motion. As you lower yourself the hips flex, the knees flex and the ankles flex. And as you stand up the hips and knees extend. During the upward motion the ankles plantar flex. And during the descent it dorsiflexes. When you put a plate or a shim under your heels you put the ankle into plantar flexion. As you start the descent of a squat you need the foot to go into dorsiflexion which is the opposite of the set up you've just established.And the body works as a series of chain reactions. So as one group of joints and muscles loads up under force this triggers the neighbouring joints and muscles to prepare...

  This is a continuation of a 3 Part series related to common gym training mistakes. Please see the previous post for Part I.4. Going straight into my first set. When I was younger and it was bench day a warm-up involved doing 10 or so reps with just the bar. That's it. And then as I started to add load to the bar for my working sets I might do a doorway chest stretch in between sets. Not anymore. Now before I even get under a bar for I'll do a general warm-up, some foam rolling, a dynamic warm-up, some mobility and stability work and then some full depth squats or hip hinges. And even once I step under the bar I'll do many more light sets before getting up to working load. And guess what? My lifts are as good as they ever been, I recover more quickly and I have no joint issues to speak of. Couldn't say the same of my body in my younger days. 5. Don't ignore the little guys. I'm talking about the 2.5 lbs and 5 lbs plates. When was the last time you added 2.5 lbs to the bar? Be honest? But how many guys with a strong bench will do 135 lbs, 225 lbs and 315 lbs for their last set? I'm not sure why it is but we seem to ignore the value of small increments in our loads. If you are calculating your loads properly then 2.5 lbs per side  may be adequate for some people to increase from one workout to the next. To keep your gains coming and to minimize injury look to the little guys. 6. Shrugs. Every young at some time has wanted big traps. It goes without saying that when we're young guys we want to work on every muscle from the...

So every now again I'll find myself looking around the gym seeing things that I don't understand. Don't get me wrong. Some of these things I probably did myself as some point. And looking back I'm not too sure why I did them. Maybe it was because I saw somebody else train this way. Maybe it was from a fitness magazine I was reading at the time. Or maybe it was just a bad habit I developed all on my own. But it doesn't change the fact that seeing some of these misktakes being made in the gym is like finger nails on a chalk board.Whatever the reason for developing these bad habits or using bad form the fact remains that I wasn't aware that what I was doing was bad and that I needed to change this. And so now when I see others making some of the same mistakes I once did I feel  compelled to help them out.But why not walk over and help that person right then and there you may be asking? For a few reasons including:1. The gym is the last place unsolicited advice seems to be accepted. Short of you injuring yourself on the spot I've found that many people prefer to be left alone.  Am I wrong  in assuming this?If you were doing this I may come over.So as long as you aren't going to kill yourself by what you're doing I may stay out of it rather than get into a debate with someone.2. I can reach more people this way. With these posts we can help thousands of people compared to individuals at a time on the gym floor.3. When I work out it's my time. I like to make my workouts as intense and short as possible. Stopping to help coach, correct and advise...

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...

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...

Hi there: Hope you had a great weekend. Were you watching the Grey Cup? If you were it's a sad day in Riderville. But getting to the championship game two years in a row is quite a feat when you consider there was a time when making the playoffs or hosting a playoff game was something to get excited about. It's great to see the Riders do well and set new standards and expectations for themselves.But enough about football I want to look at a popular training product. This product is the Perfect Pushup and while it's not necessarily new to the market, the research investigating its claims is new.This device allows the arms to rotate on the handles while performing a push up. And from their website the claims include:* engages more muscles* reduces strain* helps accelerate resultsA very recent study in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research looked at upper extremity and upper body EMG data to investigate the claims made by the manufacturer. Here's what they did.They measured muscle recruitment at the triceps, chest, serratus and shoulder while performing push ups with three different hand positions. The positions were narrow, standard and wide. Participants performed both regular push ups and those with the device.Here's what they found.* The narrow hand position was most effective at stimulating the triceps and rear deltoid (shoulder) muscles.* The Perfect Pushup did not preferentially enhance muscle recruitment compared to a standard push up.What does this mean?According to this study the investigators dismissed the claims made by the manufacturers of the product. There is no additional benefit in terms of muscle recruitment by using this product compared to a traditional push up.So is there any benefit to using this device at all?One of the other claims of the manufacturers is that the device helps...

Hi there: Hope you're doing well. This has been a great week. You want to know why? I think it's because I've had great perspective lately. I've been really thankful for the good things in my life while not worrying so much about the distractions that can sometimes get us down. It might be the Thanksgiving weekend that has me in this kind of mood but it definitely ties in to your weight loss or performance goals.'Ok, hold on a sec', you're probably saying. 'Did he just say Thanksgiving and weight loss goals in the same sentence.' Absolutely I did. And here's what I mean by it.Our bodies go through both positive and negative stress. The positive stress is called eustress. Sound familiar? Unfortunately for most people this may be the first time they've ever heard of this word. And that says a lot if the positive aspect of stress is so foreign to us we don't even recognize the word for it.So it would make sense then that the balance tends to be skewed towards the negative end of the stress spectrum.But first we should identify a couple of hormones involved with the stress response. These are cortisol and adrenaline.Adrenaline is the hormone associated with 'fight or flight'  and results in increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure and boosts energy supplies. We are hard-wired for this response to always be at the ready and thus available to protect and keep us safe.Cortisol is another stress hormone and increases sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances your brain's use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues.  It also alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes.Let's take a quick look at how stress affects digestion, recovery and training.1. When stress triggers the 'fight or fligt'...

 Hi there: Alright I'm not sure where you're at when you're reading this but here in Kelowna it is cold! -14 C to be exact! All the prairie people are rolling their eyes right now thinking 'wimps'. Speaking of prairie people maybe this is just our way of being hospitable to the Regina Pats who are in town to play the Rockets tonight. Yeah that's it, just our way to make them feel at home.But enough talk about the weather it's almost Thanksgiving weekend and with that means big meals, a few days off and maybe some football on tv. So whether you are south of the border or not I want to make sure you are well armed going into this weekend to stay on track with your training, to enjoy the holiday to the max and mostly importantly to stave off the weight gain experienced by so many. So here are 9 Ways to Beat Back the Thanksgiving Bulge.1. Schedule your big meal earlier in the day. Most of us tend to eat dinner at the end of the day after school and work. But school is out for this holiday and many get the day off work. Since this frees up the schedule use it to your advantage to schedule the big meal earlier in the day.  This will allow you more time after to work off some of the extra calories than if you finish late into the evening and simply slide in front of the tv before going to bed.2. Eat your veggies first. This is important for a few reasons including the fact that when our plates are left unfinished often times it is the yams, broccoli and cauliflower that go untouched. Secondly, there are many enzymes contained within vegetables that assist in the digestion and absorption of other nutrients. Lastly,...

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: Hope you've had a great week. Mine flew by partly due to being busy. But I did manage to fit in a date night with my wife. And we went out for dinner and then to see the movie Conviction. She's not a huge Hilary Swank fan but we both did agree the show was pretty good. And it wasn't until after the show was over that it occured to me that the title was a play on words. You see the movie is about a couple of foster kids from small town Massasschusets. The brother is wrongly convicted of murder and the sister takes it upon herself to right this wrong and get her brother freed from jail. The only problem is that the sister is not a lawyer. Nor does she have degree to apply to law school. Nor a GED for that matter. But that doesn't stop her from doing whatever is necessary to achieve the end goal of freeing her brother from jail. Initially I looked at the title and thought it had to do with the brother and his conviction. But in retrospect it had to do with the sister and her conviction to overturn his sentence.So what does this have to with health, fitness, performance or anything?Well there are two messages you can take from this movie. The first is the most successful people aren't always the most gifted. Or the smartest. Or having the most of anything that is a pre-requisite for success in that field. Take Wayne Gretzky for example.He didn't have the hardest shot. He wasn't the fastest skater. He was in no way a physical presence on the ice. (some reports have him scoring the lowest on the Oilers' fitness testing). But he was the greatest player to ever play...

  I had another topic planned for today but someone asked if I would cover this one instead. Since more and more people have been asking me about cleanses lately I thought I might as well cover this topic now. But first I need to ask you a few questions. How you ever done a cleanse? What were your reasons for doing so?   Was it drop some weight quickly to get ready for a beach vacation?   To fit into an outfit?   To rid your body of toxins?     Because Oprah said so? (just kidding, I don't want to get sued by O)   You might laugh at the last one but it's unfortunate what our rationales are for doing a cleanse. And they are rarely due to the advice of a medical professional. Instead they seem to be based on the anecdotal evidence of friends and family. What do I mean by that?   Well the benefits of cleanses aren't front page news on the cover of JAMA or other medical journals. Instead it is usually a friend that has done this exact cleanse before, lost 7 lbs and feels great. And oh yeah, this friend is usually a distributor for a supplement you need to take during the cleanse.   (what a cynic I am, right?)   But seriously if weight loss is your goal, what would you expect to happen if you stopped eating food for a week or longer? Some cleanses last as long as 45 days.   And when you stop eating for this much time, what do you think happens to your metabolism? It comes to a screeching halt. And with a slower metabolism body fat will increase over time.   Doesn't seem worth it to me.   But what about the benefits of all the...

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: 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...

Hi there: Hope you're having a great week and are accomplishing all of your health, fitness and performance goals. One of my favourite ways to relax and unwind is to go the movies. Last night my wife and I check out 'Due Date'.  Think of it as an updated version of 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles'. Anyways, it was good for a laugh. Never underestimate the value of relaxing and having a good time as it relates to your body's ability to regenerate and recover.But enough about relaxing and movies because it's Wednesday and that means it's time for a nutritional tip. Over the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with how many calories my body is burning. Knowing this informating allows me to be not only more specific with my training but also more specific with my meals.I now know how many calories I should have at each meal. And how often I should eat in order to put on 10 lbs of muscle. So with that being said check out the following video where I show you a sample healthy snack and a great online nutritional resource for looking up your favourite foods.Here's the link for the video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UomdVRRzzzsLet me know what your favourite snack is. And have you used this online resource before?Your coach,Chris                                                                                                                                                                                                    okanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'

A colleague wrote a blog post recently about the leg press machine. He made some great points that I thought should be shared with you. So here are some of the reasons to be cautious with the leg press and some tips to perform this lift as safely as possible.For many people when they want to do a lower body workout there are a lot of exercises they could choose from. They could perform squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses with multiple variations of each of these.But if we don't have a lot of experience in the weight room we may shy away fromt the free weight exercises. And as a result people tend to migrate towards the leg press machine.And even if we're not a newbie to the gym we will sometimes opt for the leg press because it's one exercise where we can really load up the machine with lots of weight and feel strong.But the leg press has some limitations. One of the biggest is that it results in a posterior tilt of the pelvis as the knees and hips flex to lower the platform.And as the pelvis tilts posteriorly it causes the low back to go into flexion and increases the chance of disc herniation.And nobody wants this. But there are certain things we can to minimize this from happening.First, our core works the best for us when we establish proper posture.  From the head down through the trunk we know this to mean:* neutral head* chest tall* shoulders down and back* neutral spineIf we can establish these positions prior to initiating the lift we'll do a better job of protecting the spine.What we sometimes see happen  are the following mistates:* forward head* flexed neck* chest and shoulders rounded forwardSo before we even attempt...

Hi there: Hope you had  a great week. As the weekend approaches for many this equates to some down time and relaxation. And this is vital for optimal health and performance. We can't be at our best if we don't allow our bodies to rest and recover every now and again.So with this in mind I wanted to pass along one of my favourite ways to recover in between training sessions. I'm talking about massage therapy. But rather than have me attempt to pass along all the benefits I thought I'd get a registered massage therapist (RMT) to fill you. So I'll let Tanya Gervais of Lotus Massage take it from here. For those interested in a massage make sure to read to the bottom for a special offer Tanya is extending only to the readers of this blog.What are the benefits of massage therapy?The easy answer is for me to blurt out everything that I learned in school; however, the other answer is to reply that this is a heavily loaded question. There are a multitude of different conditions that massage therapy can provide treatment for.  Massage therapy isn’t just about getting a good (and I’m cringing as I say this) rub down; there are specific treatment protocols for specific injuries and conditions; e.g. tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, frozen shoulder, and sprains. For other conditions that are more related to pain syndromes as a result of repetitive movements and or occupational postures, education, prevention and a maintenance program play an important role in a successful treatment plan.How to Assess Tissue HealthThere are many factors involved when assessing tissue health. Muscle tension may be due to repetitive movements from work, play or hobbies that apply stress and strain to the body. Sports injuries and car accidents can create trauma to the tissues and affect...

Hey there: Alright I think I need to change my FB profile pic. I put up the picture from my Hallowe'en costume and the feedback has ranged from:'That is so creepy'  to'The girls are hot, Chris is not'  to(my personal favourite)  'I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth'So to salvage any sort of shred of confidence I may have this pic will have to come down haha. Good times though.Anyways for most people the goal when they go to the gym is to lose bodyweight. They are carrying a few extra pounds and would like to tone up or just get lean.But what about for the other people? There are some people out there who are looking to gain weight. I was one of them. I graduated high school at 154 lbs and then got up to 217 lbs in university. So it can be done. Below is a question from ST. He writes:Hey Chris, I really having problems with my diet. I'm really  not eating at the right times or nearly enough i think. I did about 3 weeks of the workout we did, and not even a dent on the scale. I  really think its a diet issue, just having troubles keeping up to it and eating enough. So should i be eating about 5 meals per day? I just need a couple tips maybe and a bit of modivation haha. Is there something that i can consistently have for a few of the meals and it not be unhealthy or anything? Once i start to see some results i get pretty motivated, but when im in a lul like this it makes it harder for me to get to the gym (vicious cycle and so on). Just looking for a  few ideas along the diet and motivation lines.Thanks,SYou know what's...

Hi there: I hope you had a great Hallowe'en weekend. It's such a great time of year to be able to let loose and be a kid again for a night. And possibly the next morning if you promise to wear your costume the following Saturday AM for a stairs workout. Looking back this probably wasn't the smartest thing I've decided to do but I did it and hopefully it lightened the mood for those that came out for the workout and helped them work a little harder. Below you can see a picture of Wonder Woman, Les Grossman and Kat Von D.I've got some video footage from the Saturday morning workout and will try to work that into a future post.Switching gears here a little bit I want to let you of a device I'm testing out. It's called a BodyBugg and it measures you caloric expenditure. You wear it around your left arm and it records how many calories you expend during day.Now some people will be thinking 'I have a heart rate monitor that tracks my calories so how is this any different?'True, a heart rate monitor provides an estimation on calories burned but it isn't very accurate. Basically the caloric measurement from a heart rate monitor correlates to how many calories would typically be burned at a particular heart rate.So first of all we realize this is an estimation and therefore is not a totally accurate method of tracking your calories. But secondly your heart rate monitor has no way of detecting whether an increased heart rate is due to physical exertion or a hightened emotional state. For example if you wore your heart rate monitor to a scary movie you might get a number of spikes during the frightening scenes of the movie. And your heart rate monitor would...

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....

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: Hope you have a great weekend. I was at the Okanagan Sport Leadership Conference at UBC on Saturday. Okanagan Peak Performance had a booth at the trade show and was there to provide information and hand out t-shirts. It was great to meet a lot of athletes, coaches and sport practitioners at one time. You can definitely see the impact the Olympics has had on the sports being practiced locally. This was the first time there was such a large contingent of freestyle skiers, ski and boardercross, figure skaters and other winter sport athletes.After the conference the rest of the weekend was spent landscaping and watching the UFC over at some friends. While I don't follow the sport that closely I do appreciate the training that goes into preparing for a UFC event. You have to be versatile in a number of martial arts and develop your energy systems for both quick explosive efforts and to be able to go five-five minute rounds. And so this part I find fascinating.And after years of study, research and training both myself and other athletes I have found that we all have certain abilities and strengths. For example some people respond better to higher volume training and others are better suited to a lower volume of training. Some athletes are very effective with short burst efforts and others really shine when the challenge is longer in duration. So what accounts for these differences?Part of it has to do with your body type. An ectomorph is going to find it easier to move themselves then to move an external load. And the opposite is true for an endomorph who can pile the plates on a leg press but may have difficulty performing overhead bodyweight squats.So what do we do to improve? The answer is...

Hey there: This past spring I was contacted regarding training a few Special Olympics athletes. Richard, Glen and Andrew compete in track in field and were looking for some help in getting ready for the Nationals in July. So I agreed to do my best to help these guys out. What a great experience it was.At the very first meeting we sat down and discussed their goals, training history, previous injuries, rest habits and anything else relevant to realizing success in track and field. And I was really impressed how much focus these guys had. They were dedicated to their training. They avoided empty calories and made sure to get at least hours of sleep a night. If I remember correctly Andrew told me he really likes having stir-frys for dinner. Unless there's pizza!And so we got started. I didn't realize their level of dedication until one day Richard was quoting one of my more recent emails that you all receive. It didn't make sense how accurate he was it being able to recall the content until I realized he was printing them all off and collecting them in a binder. He would bring the binder to our training sessions and then share them with others.Lastly I'll remember Glen for going for runs into between our training sessions. Even if his training partners were busy he'd still be out there putting in his mileage then come inside the gym for a workout. Although I seem to recall him teasing me about how poorly Italy did in the World Cup.Recently one of these guys received a very admirable acknowledgement. Richard was named Special Olympics Canada's male athlete of the year. While Richard will be receiving the award all there of these guys are deserving. And knowing Andrew and Glen they are proudly...

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...