The Perfect Body

Every body is different. Different height, weight, and shape. And with everyone's different body types, there are many different ideas of the "perfect body" for them, which means different goals. Different goals mean different types of training. Sometimes people don't even care about a certain look, they're just training for other goals like running a marathon or 5K, being able to bench their bodyweight, or squat a certain amount. Sometimes they want to simply be able to play with their kids outside without getting worn out quickly.

The key is knowing how to train for the results YOU want. Sometimes you get lucky. Maybe you're just working out for your health, or to maintain strength or bone density. As a side effect you might start seeing your body change in a great way. I believe that's the best way to train. That way, if you're training for your health primarily, you're always excited by the side effects no matter how small the changes may be.

If you ARE training for weight-loss you need to know how to train for that. For example, if you've always been a runner, chances are that running will not help you in your quest. Your body is already accustomed to this method of training. You can still do cardio if you prefer, but you have to change it up with stairs or the rowing machine. If you're a lifter, like me, you're going to have to suck it up and get in some cardio (running, elliptical, stairs, or rowing). You may be able to skip it if you add in some high intensity lifting, like adding the use of kettlebells, ropes, or circuit training.

My ideal body looks like, UFC MMA fighter and bantam weight champion, "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey. She has the ability, in my opinion, to be a beast in the weightroom/octagon and a knockout on the red carpet. Just enough muscle without being hyper-masculine. To achieve my goals, I'm going to have to put more emphasis on making muscular gains for a while then add in cardio to cut some body fat to show off the flat abs, guns, and tree trunks for legs.

(Note: I know not everyone shares my idea of the perfect body. I wouldn't train others the way I train myself if they had other goals in mind.)

If you need help attaining your goals, comment here or reach out to me at cpollner@ftwfit.com. You can also go to my website www.ftwfit.com

Eating Healthy on a Budget: Marathon Training

For those of you getting ready for a big endurance event, like a triathlon or a marathon, I have the perfect healthy/cheap recipe for you. This recipe is packed with good carbohydrates, healthy fats, and protein.

Equipment Needed:
Pot (for spaghetti)
Skillet or Pan (for sautéing)

Ingredients:
1 Container, Barilla whole wheat thin spaghetti
1/2c Olive Oil
1c Sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil), drained
1c Sweet Peppers, multiple colors, sliced
1 Habenero, chopped
1 Clove Garlic, minced
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Recipe:
Heat the oil in the pan/skillet over medium heat, add in the peppers. After a few minutes, break the spaghetti in half and begin boiling it in the pot. Next, add in the sun dried tomatoes and the habenero. When the spaghetti is nearly done, add the garlic to the peppers and tomatoes in the pan. Continue sautéing. When the spaghetti is done, strain it and add it to the peppers and tomatoes pan. Remove it from heat and toss the mixture to blend everything together. Serve and add parmesan to taste. ENJOY!

Nutrition Facts:

This carb load and healthy fats will be the perfect meal the night before a big run or other cardio intensive event!

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays

What did you get for Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) this year? There are many families all over the world that can't afford much; however, almost everyone can afford physical activity. Playing with kids, walking your dog, going for a hike, walk or bike ride are all free or very inexpensive

 ways to stay active. 

Looking forward to New Years, many people will set New Years resolutions. I am personally not of fan of them because so many people, including myself, fall off the wagon quickly. We set our goals too high and when we fail to achieve them, we feel even worse. This year let's set a couple smaller, more attainable goals. Think about it. When you achieve something, the thrill of success makes us want to do even more. 

Soon I will be posting videos for little physical activity tips and tricks on YouTube. You can also go to www.ftwfit.com if you're looking for a little more help with setting and reaching your fitness goals this 2014. 

My New Years plan is to continue working on eating healthy on a budget and practicing what I preach in the gym. I love to lift weights way more than cardio, so I will be trying to increase my cardio every couple weeks. Slow and steady wins the race. 

Help me help you and visit www.ftwfit.com or like me on Facebook at Facebook.com/FTWFIT

Squats - Knees over toes

Myth: Your knees should never go past your toes
- The idea behind this myth is that by letting your knees drift too far forward, in front of your toes, during squats and lunges places dangerous shearing forces on the knee ligaments. This concept dates back to a study performed at Duke in the late 70s. They stated that the "shin bone" should stay as vertical as possible.
We have since learned that it is not as much about the lower limbs themselves as it is about the upper body leaning too far forward. Now let's bust this myth!

Let's start by just talking about the movement and the muscles involved.

The squat movement utilizes the quadriceps femoris, hip extensors, hip adductors, and hip abductors.(aka your butt, quads and hamstrings) Also, there is a great amount of tension in the abdominals, spinal erectors, and upper back to facilitate trunk stabilization. There are 3 categories of squats including: partial squats (40 degree knee angle), half squats (70-100) and deep squats (greater than 100). When performed properly, squat related injuries are uncommon. Normal range of motion at the ankle joint is 20 degrees of dorsiflexion and 50 degrees plantar flexion (pointing your toes). When ankle flexibility is limited, your heels tend to leave the floor, shifting the weight into the front of the foot. This changes the forces on the ankles, knees, hips, and spine which can increase risk of injuries. A study by Hemmerich et al. found that a dorsiflexion angle of about 38.5 was necessary to keep the heels down during a full squat. And a study by Schoenfeld found that the knee has from 0 to 160 degrees of flexion, which allows for deep squatting.

Above you can see three different squat bar placements (with good form). The first is the front squat, the second high bar back squat, and finally low bar back squat. Proper lifting technique: Three important things to note, with regard to the above photo, is the knees in front of the toes, feet flat on the floor and the weight or load directly above mid-foot.
When trainers and strength coaches talk about squatting to parallel, we mean the top of the thigh being parallel to the floor. When we talk about squatting to 90 degrees, we're talking about the femur. Since you can't directly see your femur, it is best to go to the "top-of-the-thigh parallel" or deeper.

Here is an example of a split squat or a stationary lunge. In this movement you have a split stance, or lunge stance. Don't be afraid to take a big step out. From here the feet do not move, and you simply move down and up maintaining the weight over the center of your stance.
Please understand that I am saying that it is okay for the knee to pass the toe during lunges; HOWEVER most people cannot control the weight while moving forward. That lack of control typically lead to the front heel leaving the ground and the weight shifting too far forward and, as stated above, this increases the risk of injury.

Above is one stretch that I use, with clients and athletes alike, to increase ankle flexibility, or dorsiflexion. Stand with the working leg closest to the wall, the big toe about 2 inches away. Keeping the heel on the ground try to touch the wall with your knee. If you can easily reach the wall, move your foot back half an inch or so. Continue in this manner until it is difficult to reach the wall. Perform 2-3 sets of 10 repetitions each leg.

Good squat form reminder:

• Hands on the bar, close to the body to minimize excess movement of the weight
• For a regular squat, feet shoulder width or slightly wider
• Toes pointed slightly outward, don't over exaggerate
• Keep the chest up, back and abs tight
• Deep breath before decent, begin exhale about halfway through standing back up
• Squeeze glutes (butt cheeks) upon standing up to avoid knees collapsing in
• KEEP FEET FLAT ON THE FLOOR, WEIGHT OVER MID FOOT

Articles:
Hemmerich, A, Brown, H, Smith, S, Marthandam, SS, and Wyss, UP. Hip, knee, and ankle kinematics of high range of motion activities of daily living. J Orthop Res 24: 770–781, 2006.

Schoenfeld, BJ. Squatting kinematics and kinetics and their application to exercise performance. J Strength Cond Res 24(12): 3497–3506, 2010.

Eating Healthy on a Budget: Note.

For me the key to eating healthy on a budget is creating a good "one pot wonder" using a crock pot, or slow cooker. I recently came across a great site that has 77 healthy options from breakfast to dinner, with even vegetarian options. Any time I find something that incredible, its worth sharing with the world!

Here is the link: http://greatist.com/health/healthy-crock-pot-recipes/#_a5y_p=1029680

Flexibility Part 1.

WARM UP
In the beginnings of my exercise science education, I worked as a research assistant mostly entering data. The first study that I was brought in on was a study based around the proper amount, or volume, of warm up to optimize flexibility and muscular strength endurance at the same time. We attempted 3 different protocols. 1) 5min jog only. 2) 5 minute jog plus a dynamic warm up lasting about 8 minutes. 3) 5 minute jog followed by a dynamic warm up at double the volume lasting about 13 minutes.
Option number 2 provided the best results. Each stretch should be held for just a brief moment, then alternate; 4 repetitions per side. The warm up stretches included:

• Pull knee to chest
• Alternating quad stretch
• Leg Cradle
• Lift Knee Up & Move Out to Side
• Step & Kick
• Lunge & Reach Upward
• Lunge & Reach Inside Elbow to Heel
• Lateral Lunge
• High Knees (running)
• Butt Kicks (running)
• Power Skips

This warm up is of course optimal for a primarily lower body workout. (Stay tuned for an upper body warm up)
Proper warm up:

• Increases the core temperature
• Increases blood flow to the working muscles
• Prepares the muscles for the movements that will be performed
• Improves joint lubrication
• Wakes up the central nervous system
• Improves extensibility/flexibility of muscles

*Important note: Dynamic stretching prior to exercise and static stretching after. Static stretching prior to exercise puts the muscles at a mechanical disadvantage and increases risk of injury.

COOL DOWN
Cool-down stretching is like uncoiling a spring. When you're working out you're tightening up your muscles, essentially shortening them. Think of it as a spring coiling up tighter and tighter. If you don't straighten it back out, the muscles will pull on the bones/joints they are attached to and may lead to joint pain after a while.

Anything Is Possible

Whenever something bad, frustrating, annoying, or stupid happens everyone tries to tell you to look on the bright-side. They then come up with whatever that bright-side is. Here are some examples from my Tuesday... This morning I was supposed to have 2 clients starting at 6:30 but one of them rescheduled meaning that I went into work for only 1 hour. The "upside" is that I was up so I could get my day started early. In reality I was just tired with nothing to do till 11am. Next I go in for my 11am client and a little fifteen minute meeting at noon. My 11am texts me 7 minutes prior and tries to reschedule for noon which obviously won't work. So, instead, he simply cancels. Upside: some extra time to bring my boyfriend his lunch and enjoy some raspberry greek yogurt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Noon meeting is over now and I have nothing till 5:30pm. I'm tired from sheer boredom so I decide to get a coffee. By now you know that I ride my bike everywhere, so I have to figure out how I'm going to get my starbucks and take it home. I have them put one of those little green plugs in the mouth hole and I strap it into the cup holder of my backpack. I made it all the way home without spilling a drop. Miracles do happen! Honestly this made my day. If I can carry my coffee home in the side of my backpack, while riding my bike, without spilling a drop.... anything is possible!

Find YOUR upside and get through your day.  ;)

A Biking Adventure

Most would think that going for a leisurely bike ride in December is a crazy idea because of how cold it is... But this is Texas. In Texas, it can be 80 degrees one day and 30 the next. With that in mind, we ride in anything but when we were blessed with a 65 degree Sunday afternoon, we took advantage! There are so many cool and interesting things to do in Downtown Fort Worth. The path we rode was from Belknap, up Samuels to Northside Dr., over to the river, then onto 7th street and back through downtown.
When the weather is decent, the river is still and you could row a skull (crew boat), kayak, or stand up paddle board. In the summers there's even a concert series on the river at Panther Island Pavillion. We recently discovered that you can go horseback riding along the river (shown in a pic below). These people we met this time actually owned their own horses and happen to ride in Christmas Parades and other events here in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. You never know who you'll meet out there. You would also be surprised at the graffiti. While stopping under a bridge for a quick sip of water, I spotted "I (heart) FW" spray painted on the wall. The very last picture on this post shows how bundled up we get to go to work or run errands. Everything except the hands for now. Here's hoping we get gloves for Christmas. The only time we drive a car is in the rain or for grocery shopping... and of course really anything outside of downtown.

Eating healthy on a budget

Like I said, I'm no nutritionist or dietitian, however, I do have a general knowledge of healthy eating. With this knowledge and meal prep simplicity in mind, I've come up with a recipe that has just the right amount of macronutrients. Your macros are your protein, carbohydrates, and fats. For the purpose of this post I'm calling it B's Rice Dish (its my boyfriend, Barrett's, favorite). From start to finish the whole thing takes 3 hours and you have lunch and some dinners for the whole week... or even just lunches for 2 weeks.

Equipment needed:
7qt Slow cooker
Large Saucepan or Wok

Ingredients:
4c Low Sodium Beef Broth (only 1 container necessary)
2 Cups Whole Grain Brown Rice
Stubbs Beef Marinade
2-2.5lbs Beef Chuck Roast
1 Onion, chopped
2c Organic Carrots, chopped
5 Celery Stalks, chopped
3 Bell Peppers, chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Jalapenos, minced
2.5c Broccoli Crowns, cut to bite size

Recipe:
The day before, or at least a few hours prior to cooking, place the roast and marinade in a large ziploc bag and refrigerate till time to cook.
In the slow cooker, pour in the rice and beef broth, set to low, and set a kitchen timer to 3 hours. Remove the chuck roast from the bag, trim excess fat, and cut into cubes bite-sized or slightly smaller. Saute the meat, in batches, in the pan over medium-high heat and place into the slow cooker with the rice. Be sure not to add in excess fluid from the meat pan. Pour out excess fluid from the pan and use it to saute the onion, celery, bell peppers, and carrots over medium heat. For a little added flavor, pour the marinade from the ziploc into the vegetable mixture as it cooks. Cook the vegetables for a little over 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are opaque. Just before the vegetable mixture is ready, add in the jalapenos and garlic. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the vegetables into the slow cooker. With approximately 1 hour left on the clock, saute the broccoli crowns on medium heat just to heat them through. Then add them to the slow cooker. Be sure to stir the rice-veggie-meat mixture thoroughly.
If you accidentally added too much moisture from the veggies or meat, simply remove it from the slow cooker with 30 minutes left. You will be able to tell by the rice's doneness.

I have added the nutrition facts of this dish below.

Sleep Is My Favorite

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to sleep. I am queen of naptown. I regularly take the train to sleepville. I love sleep so much that I've even gotten myself a boyfriend who has a mild form of narcolepsy. My mother is always telling me that I'm wasting away the day and missing out on so much. Well I am here to argue the benefits of sleep!

I found an article through the National Strength & Conditioning association to back me up. It is entitled "Sleep, Recovery, and Athletic Performance: A Brief Review and Recommendations" by Stephen Bird, PhD, CSCS. I understand that the subjects for this study were elite athletes but the conclusions can be translated to anyone. The article suggests "7-9 hours (of sleep) to ensure adequate physiological and psychological recovery" and suggest that most of that sleep time come during the night. If you are unable to get adequate rest during the night, the article addresses taking a post lunch nap of about 30 minutes. The results of this study showed significantly improved performance, alertness, mood, and a decrease in sleepiness and fatigue.

I can honestly say that everyone is different. Some people only need that 7 hours, while others may need up to 10 (like me!). Just yesterday after only sleeping for 6 or 7 hours, I tried this 30 minute nap theory. I found one major flaw... If you are napping in the comfort of your bed at home, it significantly harder to get up after 30 minutes. I know that this theory works, however, because of my first internship. While at Dartmouth College in 2010, I worked most days from 5am to 8pm and lived 30 minutes away. This is when my boss introduced me to the under-the-desk nap. She and I would roll up yoga mats or our sweaters to use as pillows, and lay under our desks. She would set an alarm for 20-30 minutes, after which we'd get up and continue working. I never thought it would be enough but it was perfect. Its also much easier to get up off of the floor.

If you don't have the ability to curl up under your desk for whatever reason, your car is another option. Upon moving to Texas, I was forced to work more 12-16 hour days and lived too far to bother going home to nap. This is when I discovered car napping. Like many working Americans, I parked in a parking garage, so it was nice and dark. I would put on my big coat, lean the seat back and take that little 30 minute nap. Think about it. Its 30 minutes to close your eyes, rest your body/mind, and tune out the world. Give it a shot!

Here is another article found on entrepreneur.com that discusses the 35 Habits of the Most Productive People. Two items on the list were 1) Get more sleep, you'll get more done; and 2) Take naps when energy runs low. 

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230392

What is the last book you read?

The last book I read I actually finished just this afternoon. The title of the book was "The Alchemist" by Paul Coelho. It's about a boy in search of his personal legend' which takes him on a long journey across the desert only to have him return to a place familiar to him. What I got from this tale is that we must have faith and do whatever it takes to achieve our dreams. We will be tested. It will be difficult. But in the end, it will be worth all the trials and hard work. My favorite quote from the book comes close to the end. "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

That quote actually brought up an interesting memory. In high school, our softball coach was trying to change how he approached the team. He had realized that we were a collection of very different girls that he had been coaching the same way for years. That particular year, he asked us all to think about this question: How are you motivated? By the fear of failure, or the thrill of success? By the answer to this question alone, he knew whether we needed to be yelled at when we made a mistake or to hold our hand and talk us through it. The thrill of success is a much better feeling than the fear of failure. Think about it. What motivates you?

Staying active without the gym

So I've lived in Texas for almost a year now. I first moved to the Dallas area for the first available job. When a job and an apartment became available in downtown Fort Worth (where the boyfriend works/lives) I jumped at the opportunity. Moving downtown and working within a mile from home made it possible to be more active by riding my bike or walking to work. Right before moving downtown, I bought my first bike. It was a used Trek that I got from an old coworker for a very small price tag. This was the best example of "you get what you pay for" because it didn't have disc brakes and the tires had dry rot. It wasn't the best but it did the job..... until it got stolen.

So unfortunately I've been driving to work for the last month, trying to figure out how I'm going to get a new bike. Anyone who spends time on the trails knows that a cheap bike from walmart won't cut it. Luckily, it close to Christmas and my mother offered money for mine and my boyfriend's christmas presents. All he wanted was for me to have another bike so we could hit the trails again. After much searching and researching on the internet we stumbled across the beauty you see in the picture. Its a GT  Karakoram mountain bike with 29" wheels. We were able to negotiate a decreased price that included the helmet. Of course the day after purchase we get nailed with an ice/sleet/snow storm.

By Monday I'll be riding to work again! Sometimes you've got to find a way to stay active when you don't have time for the gym. What do you do to stay active?

A little note about me

I wanted to use this first blog to tell you a little about myself. I chose two pictures that would give you a quick idea. One is from a color run and the other is from a ball. I've always been someone who is adaptable and enjoys a variety of activities. My boyfriend (in the tux) would say that I clean myself up and do hair & makeup about once a month. That's pretty close to true. I spend most of my days in sweats or some other variety of gym clothes whether its for work, working out, or just relaxing.
I am currently working at a local college as a volunteer strength and conditioning coach and at a local gym as a personal trainer. Before moving to Texas, I lived in South Carolina and worked at the university as a strength and conditioning coach for two years. Before that I was an intern in strength and conditioning at Dartmouth College. I had seen such great results with both my athletes and personal clients that I wanted to find a platform where I could reach more people. I hope that I can be helpful here. Let's get one thing straight first..... I am not a nutritionist. I am strictly a strength and conditioning coach / personal trainer and I love food. I have nutrition knowledge but it is outside my scope of practice so I defer to a licensed nutrionist friend. I can give generic information but the best advice comes from MyPlate.gov or from a licensed nutritionist (I can hook you up with my girl if you need it)

Well... that's all I've got to say for this first post. I think this is going to be such an adventure and I can't wait to see how it plays out.