10 Reasons Why You Should Use Coconut Oil

Source: http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/07/26/10-reasons-why-you-should-use-coconut-oil/

How To Make Alkaline Water And Normalize Your Body’s pH!

Water is the most valuable resource in the world. After all this years we begin to understand that. About 70 percent of the human body and brain are made up from water.

Water is so vital to our survival in every sense of the word.

Alkaline water has the biggest level of hydration and is a excellent source of minerals vital to our body.

Because of our today’s ways of nutrition which is mainly consisted of processed food that includes salt, sugar, caffeine and alcohol – the most common form of pH imbalance is excess acidity.

Symptoms that point to the fact that your body is too acidic are tiredness, headache, stomach ache and a weakened immune system.

If the environment in our bodies is too acid or alkaline, our otherwise healthy cells can become toxic, collapse and die. An unbalanced pH damages the tissues.

If the body experiences an acidic environment for a longer period, it will ultimately deposit excess acidic substances into some area of the body in efforts to alkalize itself.

In that way, acidity increases in some areas and some cells die, but others may still live and/or adapt or turn into malignant.

Cancer cells can’t live in alkaline water.

That’s why drinking alkaline water is very, very useful.

Our body surveillance systems are responsible for our pH balance values, so they remove acid residue without damaging living cells.

However, if the load becomes too big, the result can be fatal to your body.

One more reason why you should drink alkaline water is the hydration of our body.

So protect and regenerate your body by making this water and drinking it on a daily basis.

Making it is simple and easy.

This is what you need:

• 2l water, clean filtered water (if only tap water is available, than use that one)
• 1 organic lemon, washed, cut into eights
• 1 teaspoon of Himalayan salt

Preparation:

Fill the jug, than add the lemon slices (do not squeeze them!) and then add 1 teaspoon of Himalayan salt in it and cover it. Let it stay overnight (8 to 12 hours) at room temperature.

Drink 3 glasses of water every morning when you wake up before you eat or drink anything else to achieve the best pH balance in your body.

Start trying it tomorrow and your body will thank you!

Article Source: http://thespiritscience.net/2015/07/14/how-to-make-alkaline-water-and-normalize-your-bodys-ph/

One Big Problem with the Hustle Mentality

If you are a hard-working hustler, you may find yourself hustling in the wrong direction.

“The trouble with men today is that they simply don’t think.”

This quote, from the Nobel Prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer, really resonates with me. After all, it’s easy to distract ourselves from pain, boredom, or important questions. With mobile phones and tablets, we can stay connected 24/7 and consume information non-stop. The scary part is that the late great Dr. Schweitzer passed away in 1965, long before the personal computer and iPhone were invented. If the truth of this quote was evident in 1965, I wonder what the good Doctor would say about us now.

I’m as guilty as anyone. When I’m having trouble solving a problem, I find myself checking email again, subconsciously hoping that a distraction will pop up that prevents me from getting any real work done. Or I’ll open Facebook, and scroll mindlessly through the newsfeed. There are tons of tools and techniques that can help avoid this sort of behavior, all beyond the scope of this article.

Similarly, having a “hustle, hustle, go, go, move forward” mentality can be dangerous. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that work ethic separates great from good. Some of my greatest personal achievements can be credited to pure hard work and grit. But the assumption the people who are touting the “hustle” mentality often fail to mention is that you have to be doing something worthwhile, or on your best path to success. While my greatest accomplishments can be credited to hard work and determination, my biggest blunders and time-wasting episodes were the result of a strategic mistake. These screw-ups and failures I’m referring to were not a result of poor execution, but failure to choose the best strategic path from the beginning.

For example, when I launched full speed into the development (and marketing) phase of a software program geared toward Personal Trainers, I failed to realize that there was already a very low-cost, non-industry specific application that was popular with my target market. Apparently I didn’t do a good job of vetting the competition. This is an obvious blunder, but the same types of mistakes in strategy and prioritization can creep into everyday life. If you aren’t careful, you may find yourself executing on tasks and “hustling” like a mad man while ignoring your highest priority goals.

I’m not saying hustle is a bad word.  What I’m advocating is spending at least as much time and energy on strategy as you do on “hustling.” When I reflect on the time and money wasted on terrible ideas or secondary priorities, I realize that there is no referee tallying up my “hustle points.” The hustle only has value if it breeds results — a fact so obvious that it gets forgotten.

The best way to ensure you are on the right path, and that your actions line up with your priorities, is to regularly zoom out. Other than an extended trip into the wilderness with no access to the internet, the best method I’ve tried is the Daily Priority Review.

If you are a hustler, you probably love To-Do Lists. Instead of launching into your list of tasks first thing each morning, review an attached Priority List first. The Priority List should be comprised of the top five most important things in your life, ranked from one to five in order of importance. Go as broad and obvious as you like. You’ll need to periodically reconstruct your list over time as priorities shift, and will find that you get better at articulating actionable priorities that align with your core values the more you do it. Try jotting your priorities down on a note card, and keep it next to (or attached to) the medium you use for task management (this works whether you use a digital device or good ol’ fashioned Sticky Notes.)

The point is to force yourself to become cognizant of the values, goals, and aspects of life that are most important to you and ensure that your daily “To-Do” list falls in line. I’ll stop there and leave the rest up to interpretation, because only you know what daily reminders will keep you focused on what is important. Otherwise, you are at risk for falling prey to the “hustle” mentality and hustling in exactly the wrong direction.

Article Source: http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/one-big-problem-with-the-hustle-mentality-dg-2/

The Difference between GOOD and GREAT

Article Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8FQQUHYJvY


‘What’s Your Definition Of ‘Great’?

Why Do So Many Runners Get Injured?

Why Do So Many Runners Get Injured?

Hey Everyone! So, are you ready for an awful and shocking truth? 70% of all runners will be injured this year. 7 out of 10. That’s nearly three fourths of all runners, including triathletes. 3/4ths! And for many of those folks, the injury they experience will be devastating and frustrating beyond words. The statistics are crazy and shocking, and also sad. It honestly doesn’t have to be that way.

WHY do so many runners get injured? There are many reasons, but let’s start with the simple fact that running is just plain HARD on your body. For example, have you ever stopped to think that when you run ONE mile, you do the equivalent of approximately 1500 one-leg-squat jumps? That’s just ONE mile. Working against the forces of gravity and ground reaction, your body had better be resilient, strong and mobile enough to hold up as the miles add up. And most bodies aren’t. Especially those just starting out hoping to use running to lose weight or get fit.

Through no fault of your own, triathletes and runners have not been told the full story of what it takes to stay healthy and become faster too. The marketing machine surrounding shoe sales and races (get your latest cool colors or latch onto the latest fad: minimalist anyone?) diverts the average runner’s attention. Add that together with uninformed trainers and coaches who don’t know any better, and what you have is what you have.

So what’s the real story? And most importantly, what can YOU do about it?

In a nutshell, movement quality is the story, that’s what.  (Keep reading, trust me, you need to know this!)

How your body moves and functions is the alpha and the omega of your ultimate athletic potential. Movement quality is the difference between an athlete who rocks it year after year, able to perform at peak potential vs. an athlete stuck in plateaus of sub-par performance or, worse, deals with vicious cycles of injury.

As gait analysis experts, we can use our knowledge of this incredibly powerful tool to provide a clear way to explain what you need to know, what you need to examine, and why you need to fix your imbalances.

Most people think gait analysis is:
a) only about how you walk or run

b) only about your feet and your shoes

c) something you get done in a running shoe store

Many think gait analysis is all about–and ONLY about–someone looking at you as you walk or run while evaluating your feet and your shoes.

How many of you have done the following? A clerk in your local running store watches you jog, and suggests a pair of shoes that are more stable, or more neutral, or more cushioned, or are the type that “forces” you to land midfoot. Voila! Your biomechanical problems are solved. This is what most people know–and have come to accept–as gait analysis.

We are here to tell you that a shoe store gait analysis is about as far from the real deal as you can get. In fact, true gait analysis is not a generic exercise, but is a scientifically-based and technically precise process. It is highly individualized, and reveals much about how you will hold up to training and, ultimately, perform.

When conducting a gait analysis, the feet are only one small piece of your biomechanical puzzle.

What happens at the feet is merely a part of a holistic, whole body, integrated MOVEMENT pattern. Running, like most other whole body activities (such as swimming or playing many field sports), is essentially a unique way of moving. When we analyze a client statically, dynamically, and then running on the treadmill during a gait analysis, it serves to provide a unique, personal movement “map.” That “map” reveals the programming of everything happening within the body–from kinesthetic awareness and habit, to individual levels of mobility, stability, flexibility, and functional strength. The analysis of all of these different elements taken together is what creates a complete picture of a person’s gait.

In essence, what we do isn’t “gait” analysis at all, it is true “movement” analysis. Gait analysis uncovers precisely how YOUR body is moving.

Every activity, even standing still, represents a unique movement pattern. That pattern is bred from your habits and lifestyle, as well as your body’s mobility, stability, flexibility and strength. Every action you take–running stride, pedal stroke, swim stroke, etc.– represents a unique movement pattern. If your movement patterns include compensations (and they likely do), we can pinpoint the areas in the body where these losses of efficiency, or compensation, originate.

Where athletes get into trouble is when major compensation, which often leads to true dysfunction, continues for extended periods of time.

What typically happens is this….

Compensations in the body lead to imbalances and instability around joints. The larger prime movers (hamstrings, glutes, quads, etc.) are often forced to help create stability or on the flip side, become less active, and end up contributing less than their fair share of the work in moving us around.

The smaller/tiny stabilizers are forced to step in (compensate) and do the work of the larger, more powerful prime movers. The stabilizers are taxed day in and day out, mile after mile. Over time they end up, in a word, fried. Shredded. The wear and tear on the stabilizers greatly compromises recovery and your ability to train consistently.

In short, this scenario is an injury waiting to happen. We see it over and over again.

Discovering the inefficiencies and compensation unique to YOU is the power of what true gait analysis can reveal. Once uncovered, you can then begin to address inefficient and costly “energy leaks” that rob you of power and free speed (*the speed you get without having to pay a “price” to get it!).

We can’t say it enough–improper, unbalanced movement limits your ultimate potential and puts you at an exponentially-increased risk of injury.

In short, gait analysis is about YOU, and your personal and very unique way of moving. Unless the underlying causes of your dysfunctional movement patterns are addressed, your patterns won’t change, and, thus, the risk of injury won’t improve. Gait analysis is about looking at your entire body as a holistic organism–a single amazing unit.

It goes far beyond an untrained eye watching you jog in a pair of sneakers.

So guys are you now ready to reduce injury with Gait Analysis.

Article Source: http://pursuitathleticperformance.com/2015/why-do-so-many-runners-get-injured/

Photo Source: http://www.robertharding.com/

 

 

Understanding Energy Balance For Athletic Performance

Are you putting yourself into a chronic energy deficiency without even knowing it? Regardless of the athletic endeavour, studies have shown that many athletes are chronically energy deficient. This includes weight class athletes in strength sports like Olympic Weightlifting and Powerlifting, but also in endurance sports, the female training population, and bodybuilding competitors.Training and performing within a negative energy balance that is not properly constructed can be detrimental to your performance and void the benefits of your training. 

We are going to examine what energy balance is, what factors play a role in it, and how we can reconstruct our thoughts about eating for performance for both the strength athlete and classical sport athlete. Because the reality is our energy balance has an effect on everything from our metabolism to our hormonal balance and mood.

What Is Energy Balance?

Energy balance refers to the relationship between the energy coming into your system and energy going out of your system. It's governed by the law of thermodynamics and decides whether you as an athlete you gain, maintain, or lose weight.

Energy balance is often spoken of as “calories in, calories out,” but taking this at face value for athletes will not produce the qualities needed to improve your athletic performance. What happens at your cellular level also plays an important role in this equation and is something to be considered when designing your nutritional performance program. That’s why looking at it as an equation of energy in vs. energy out with the goal of maintaining balance is more appropriate.

The goal of athletic nutrition is to maximize our performance. To do this, we train our bodies into the sport-specific size and strength that is required for success and focus on training the correct mix of energy systems relative to the requirements of our sport. Nutrition and working within energy balances can produce the changes that we seek for performance improvement and can sometimes be the difference in performance against competition.

Energy expenditure is a combination of your basal metabolic rate (BMR) plus the thermic effect of foods (TEF) plus the thermic effect of your activity (TEA). This essentially breaks down to your activity level and your energy requirements when you are at rest, as well as food and fluid absorption, digestion, and transport. Your energy intake is a combination of the protein, fats, and carbohydrates you eat, along with your fluid and supplement intake.

ENERGY EXPENDITURE

The energy you expend is dependent on what type of training you are doing, along with the duration, frequency of training, and intensity of that activity. Other items may play a factor such as the sex of the athlete and their prior nutritional status. Because many people don't have access to the equipment that can determine actual total-body expenditure, we use predictive equations in it's place.

The two prediction methods that best estimate energy expenditure are the Cunningham equation and the Harris-Benedict equation. Most sports dieticians use the Harris-Benedict equation.

To estimate your expenditure, BMR or RMR is multiplied by a factor of 1.8-2.3 dependent on your physical exertion levels. An alternative to this method could also be using METs, or metabolic equivalents, recorded during a 24-hour time period. Most find Harris-Benedict a sufficient starting point.

ENERGY BALANCE

There is a lot more to energy balance than just a change in your body weight. It also has to do with what is happening at a physiological level. When your body is in a chronically low energy balance it will turn to lean tissue and fat for fuel. When you lose lean tissue mass as a direct result of your nutrient intake, you also lose strength and endurance and have difficulty adapting to your training regimen.

In addition to performance, you may also compromise immune, endocrine, and musculoskeletal functions. With a chronic negative energy balance, athletes can see a reduction in their bone mass, thyroid hormones, testosterone levels, and metabolism, as well as a disruption of their endocrine system. All nasty stuff for athletes who want to perform optimally.

 But almost all athletes will say, “But I am losing weight!” And while yes you are losing weight, your body has no idea in what way this is happening. Your body cannot tell the difference between a carefully constructed nutritional program and you being stranded alone on a desert island.  All your body knows is that it is not getting the energy intake it requires. As such, your body will slow down or stop certain non-survival functions..

On the flip side, there are detriments to over-feeding or taking in more nutrients than your body requires for your sport. Blood pressure and cholesterol can increase, you could develop insulin resistance, and plaque can build up within your arteries. The human body is in constant motion, and with that it must be adaptable to the demands we place upon it. Micronutrients can help mitigate some of the issues mentioned above.

MICRONUTRIENTS

So what should be the goal of your nutritional intake be in regards to keeping a proper energy balance? Food quality and adjustment of your macro nutrients relative to the needs of your sport while accounting for fluid intake, micronutrients, and fiber. Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) act as co enzymes in freeing energy from your food, helping in the repair and growth of body tissues, oxygen transport and oxidative metabolism, antioxidants, immune function and more.

If micronutrient intake is not sufficient, this could lead the athlete to sub-optimal health and an athlete that is performing at a decreased level is unlikely to perform at their best. We want to maintain micronutrient intake so as to not disturb the athlete’s energy balance and reduce the chances of the unwanted side effects of under- or overeating.

Before all the diet fad people start chiming in, let’s revisit who we are talking about - competitive athletes. We are not discussing aesthetics in this case or about your recreational competitive athlete. If our food quality (rather than quantities) could provide even a 0.01% difference in training or performance, think of the resulting effect on game or meet day. What if the athlete next to you has been poorly managing his or her energy balance? Advantage - you. When scouts are watching and scholarships are on the line, that very small difference could have a meaningful impact for you.

High quality foods with the groups mentioned becomes very important due to the fact that weight class athletes are at risk for a low intake of important vitamins and minerals. Many athletes are still young and in periods of growth and development where the low intake of important minerals can lead to deficiencies. It should be noted that vitamins do not play a direct role in energy supply but do play an importance in regulating metabolism. An athlete deficient in B-group vitamins for instance, are at larger risk of premature fatigue along with the inability to maintain a heavy weight training program, necessary for athletic improvement.

Overeating on quality food choices can also happen. The athlete needs to be cognizant of extra calories coming in through high-density food choices, such as olive oil or mixed nuts. Eating these foods is great, but eating too much of them could be detrimental to your athletic performance and health.

One productive way for a coach to address athlete energy balance during competitive season can be through maintaining weight stability. Weight stability shows the proper energy requirements are being met, providing the athlete with the ideal balance to ensure optimized performance for competition. For the athlete, this can include checking weight before beginning the day’s training, then rechecking post-training to provide feedback on his or her hydration status, providing necessary feedback for hydration protocols.

IN CLOSING

For the athlete, the maintenance of an appropriate and specific energy balance can mean the difference between standing on the podium holding a trophy and shaking your head trying to figure out where it went wrong.

Are you cognizant of your energy balance? What have you noticed your needs for your sport consist of? Let us know in the comments below.

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& Conditioning information delivered weekly!

Article Source: http://blog.pantheratrainingsystems.com/understanding-energy-balance-for-athletic-performance

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