(Little) Girls and Kettlebells!

Hey! It's never too early to start swinging! Kettlebells, that is!

Emily and Madison show you how it's done! At 11 and 10 years old, respectively, they're already on the right path!

Take a look:



Kettlebells offer unique training variables. Good swings create effective glute activation and better knee stability for girls and women.

What does this mean for you (and your daughter/sister/teammate?)

The opportunity to VIRTUALLY ELIMINATE non-contact knee injuries like the ACL tear and even sprains and strains!

Contact us here to find out more about how we help girls play stronger, faster and longer without knee pain and injuries. I want to be faster, stronger and injury-free!

How about you? Are YOU swinging in the Athlete Underground?

Twinkies, the Ultimate Fitness Food ?!?

Would YOU like to lose 25 pounds or more in just 2 short months?

Would you like to lose that weight while eating nothing but Twinkies, Ho-Ho’s, Devil Dogs, Little Debbie snacks and other convenience store goodies

Well…YOU CAN! Or so it would seem.

That was the experience of one Associate Professor of Nutrition at the Kansas State University. In so doing, he helped to prove a point I’ve been making for years. A calorie is a calorie.

He also helped reinforce a basic and accepted law of physics proven by Einstein, Newton and many smarter people before me. That law is simply this: energy taken in by a body versus the energy expelled by a body will result in either mass lost or gained.

Professor Mark Haub spent 2 months last summer eating nothing but sugary, crème filled snacks like Devil Dogs and Twinkies and lost 27 pounds in 2 months! Amazing, right? Wrong!

You see, the real reason Dr. Haub dropped the 27 pounds is that he did the one thing that will always result in a loss of mass (body weight) for any body. He reduced the amount of energy he took in!

Dr. Haub reduced his caloric intake from 2,600 kcal per day to 1,800 kcal per day during the specified period. Since a pound is made up of 3,500 calories, we can do some simple math and deduce the largest portion of his reduction. Almost 14 of the pounds he lost are attributable to the 800 kcal per day caloric deficit he created.

The remaining 13 came from the increase in activity he undertook during the study period. There; simple math and a simple fact: calories (energy) in vs. calories (energy) out equals mass (weight) gained or lost.

I’m NOT endorsing the Twinkie diet, or any other ridiculous “diet” plan out there. What I am saying is what I’ve said for over 12 years. If you consume fewer calories than you burn each day, you will reduce your weight. Period.

When it comes to the essential definition of a calorie, one calorie of Twinkies is equal to one calorie of steak is equal to one calorie of salad is equal to one calorie of Haagen Dazs Vanilla Swiss Almond Ice Cream.

This doesn’t mean you should ignore the quality of the calories you put in your body. It simply means that energy (calories) and mass (body weight) are related. Duh!

What we do know about calorie quality is this: whole foods have a far more thermic effect on the body. Additionally, our bodies tend to burn the calories from whole foods better and more readily than those from processed foods.

Scientists at Pomona College in California recently published a study in Food and Nutrition Research which showed that processed foods reduced the rate of diet-induced thermogenesis – calories burned while eating and in digestion - by almost 50% when compared to meals made of whole foods.

When you consider that up to 10% of your total caloric expenditure for a given day may be the result of diet-induced thermogenesis, a 50% boost starts to sound pretty good! For a 2,000 calorie a day diet, that’s an additional 100 calories burned just because you choose whole foods. That adds up to one pound lost every 35 days, provided your output (exercise and activities of daily living) are equal to your intake (food.)

So in theory you could eat a reduced calorie diet consisting of Twinkies or Snickers bars. But why would you?

Eat a varied, fresh, whole food diet and watch your “burn rate” go up. Reduce caloric intake and watch the weight come off.

Do both in conjunction with smart exercise (try this Power Fitness Camp) and watch the body fat fry off while you chisel the muscle! Soon, you’ll reveal the great physique hiding under that layer of “insulation”(you know, F-A-T!)

If you’re looking for an organic, whole food snack that’s delicious AND convenient, you have to try Prograde Cravers! Read about them here Prograde Cravers! and find out how they can satisfy your craving and help you maintain the “burn” of thermogenesis!

Cloud Circuits...gotta love 'em

Saturday April 9th.

A beautiful spring day.

Great day to "blow it off" and relax, right?

WRONG!

It was a great day to be in the Athlete Underground!

"Cloud Circuits!" 3 exercises per cloud, 5 clouds. 2 minutes to work, NON-STOP, with 1 minute rest.

Now we're talking Athletic Circuit Training!

Here's a quick look:



Questions? Contact us right here:

Still struggling with what supplements you should be using? The nutritional products you need are right here!

One "tiny" factor in YOUR energy levels

Many things affect our energy levels.

Some of us just don't get enough sleep. Others have our sleep habits disrupted by repeated schedule change and interruptions. People working swing or night shifts and parents with newborns and infants know just what I mean.

Stress is a big energy drain. Manage your stress (sleep, diet and exercise all help...I know, easier said than done!)

Others are affected by pharmaceuticals, either prescribed or recreational. Everything from alcohol to the harder stuff can take a toll on energy levels.

Diet and exercise, of course, also impact our energy levels. But aside from the obvious things like calorie intake, sugar and fat intake and lack of (or too much) exercise, there's a "tiny" factor that greatly impacts your energy levels and how your body produces energy.

Mitochondria are microscopic structures in your cells. In muscle cells, they produce ATP, or adenosine tri-phosphate, which your muscles use to create energy for movement. Here's a closer look:

An "inside" look at your mitochondria

Many things can affect mitochondrial ATP production as well as the number of mitochondria in your cells.

Diet and exercise are two big factors. Regular exercise can increase the number of mitochondria in your cells, providing the potential for more energy production.

Poor diet and lack of certain critical nutrients, however, can hurt your mitochondria and your energy production.

Here's a great article that talks about some specific nutritional action YOU can take to nurture your mitochondria and crank up your energy production: Secret Microscopic Help in Your Weight Loss Battle!

The writer describes some specific things to do and eat to make these little engines chug along better!

If you want help with the exercise side of the equation (and the nutrition side) contact us!

Getting Enough Fruits and Veggies? This Can Help!

It's recommended that we eat 6-10 fruits and vegetables a day. That's what's been suggested to maximize vitamin, mineral and antioxidant intake to maintain good health, healthy weight and avoid the conditions and diseases associated with poor diet and obesity. Here in the States it is reported the actual average of fruits and veggies eaten each day is just 2.

Yup, just 2.

Now, I don't know where you stand on this, but overall, it really is a sad state of nutritional affairs. We live in a world where we're constantly under time, work, family and other stresses. We often reach for the foods that are most convenient, but not always the ones that are most nutritious.

Unfortunately, potato chips may be made from potatoes (maybe) but they don't count as vegetables. And "drinking" your veggies in the form of some mutated fruit juice is not going to get it done either.

Coffee comes from a plant and beer is made from grains (barley malt, wheat) and "veggies" (hops) but these don't fill the bill, either. It would be nice if they did, but no dice.

But do not despair! It's not that tough to get more fruits and veggies in each day.

Here are some super simple tips to get you started:

1) Buy 'em already chopped

Look, I can be lazy, too;-) There's nothing wrong with not wanting to go through the hassle of having to chop up fruits and veggies. If you want to buy them pre-chopped go ahead. It's much better for you than not eating them. Alternate: Spend an hour a week chopping vegetables and fruits into serving sizes. Then you'll be able to:

2) Carry 'em with you

Load up a plastic baggie with your pre-chopped veggies and bring them to work. Seriously, see how easy this can be! Especially if you've used my suggestion from #1! Bringing the "right number of bags and making sure to eat them all is a great way to ensure maximum fruit and veggie intake, even in a stressful, busy day!

3) Add real fruit to your yogurt

Have some yogurt for breakfast and add some fresh blueberries, raspberries or blackberries. It's that simple! Cherries, bananas, red grapes, chopped plums, chopped nectarines, chopped peaches and chopped pears also work. Whatever fruits you like, use 'em in your yogurt!

You can even crank up the fiber content by adding a few tablespoons of high fiber cereal!

Bonus tip: A great way to provide your body with the nutritional foundation you need each day is a Whole Foods based multi-vitamin. Prograde Nutrition VGF 25+ is one example. It's made from 25 veggies, greens and fruits. There are other great whole-food based multi's on the market and if you know of one, go for it. This one is a great one, however, providing maximum bang for the buck.

Here's another great article on how to be sure you're getting enough fruits and vegetables each day: Getting Enough Fruits and Veggies?

Be sure to use these tips and let me know how they help you out. Or send me some of your own!