Don't Forget to Breathe!

I tend to make this statement all throughout my client's sessions, especially ones that include thrusters or wall ball.  I make sure to say this while my clients are on the rower...or pretty much performing any movement.  I get quite a good laugh when the client is stretching and their face is more red/purple/green during stretching than during the actual workout.  We sometimes forego the breathing to accomplish the task at hand.  In some cases, that is a good thing.  In most cases, its a HUGE hinderance.  In addition, it doesn't help that most people breathe incorrectly.

For the most part, we take very shallow breaths.  We have a tendency to breathe using our chest.  Try this out: have a seat anywhere and breathe normally.  Is your chest moving up and down with every inhalation/exhalation?  If so, you're breathing incorrectly.  If your stomach moves in and out, awesome!  You're breathing correctly!  Don't worry if you're not.  This takes some getting used to and takes lots of practice.  So why is "breathing with your stomach" better?

Its better for a couple reasons.  However, let's start with what happens when we breathe.



Lining the bottom of our chest cavity and ribs is a muscle called the diaphragm.  This is what allows our lungs to expand and contract during inhalation and exhalation.  Directly below the diaphragm is our stomach.  Without the extra room to contract, the diaphragm moves downward slightly, forcing our chest to move upward and actually compressing our lungs against the ribs.  This forces us to use less of our lung capacity.  If you use stomach breathing or diaphragmatic breathing, this would entail pushing your stomach out of the way, allowing the diaphragm to contract further and allow the lungs to expand even more.  So you're stomach expands out when you inhale and contracts in when you exhale.  Now don't be fooled.  There will be SLIGHT chest expansion with diaphragmatic breathing but its NOWHERE near the expansion compared to "chest breathing".  So wait...how is not breathing a good thing?

This is a plus during any lifting of heavy objects (barbells, stones, couches) and the same diaphragmatic breathing technique should still be used...with one slight change.  Let's say that you are about to do a 3RM back squat.  You're already warmed-up and about to start your first working set.  You get underneath the bar, unrack it and step back slightly.  Right before your first rep, you use the technique stated earlier: take a breath by pushing your stomach out, only this time, you hold it.  You actually want to hold your breath while pushing the air against your stomach at the same time.  By doing this, you are actually using your body's natural weight belt: your abdominals.  (I know, I know...we all think the abs were meant for 1,000 sit ups everyday, especially if your Herschel Walker, but alas, they weren't.)  Your abs are meant to transfer energy but, more importantly, to protect internal organs and your spine/vertebrae.  You can actually see this being done right before an Olympic lift is performed in addition to the typical powerlifting movements (back squat and deadlift) and front squats.

One last part about breathing.  There is a rhythm to breathing as well.  Whenever you are going from the starting point to the midway point of the movement (eccentric phase), you are to breathe in.  When actually performing the movement (concentric phase), you breathe out.  For example, when performing a push-up, you take a breath in on the way down and breathe out on the way up.  When performing a squat, you breathe in on the way down and out on the way up.

So during the strength portion of a workout, you are to use the diaphragmatic breathing with the pause.  However, during the conditioning portion of a workout, the technique to be used can vary.  Sometimes, the wegith is light enough to breathe constantly...like this (I recommend watching the entire scene but it gets really good after the 4 min mark.  And when I say during class "breathe deep and breathe often", this is EXACTLY what I think of!).  If the conditioning portion is "short and heavy", you are to use a combination of the diaphragmatic breathing and "breathing Cosbys" technique.

Again, this will take some getting used to but also TONS of practice.  I've been breathing the proper way for close to 5 years and only because of my martial arts background.  However, every once in a while, I fall back to old habits.  Its usually corrected quickly by realizing I'm very short of breath.

Next week's post will be on how chocolate cake is great for breakfast...

Where are you?

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there." --Lewis Carroll

Hope you're all enjoying today's weather.  Today's date is April 29, 2012.  Does that date ring any bells?  No?!  Good, it shouldn't.  Its just today's date!!  However, it does hold SOME significance.

As of today, 120 of the 366 days in 2012 have gone by.  That's one-third of 2012 gone.  120 days you're not going to get back.  Am I saying this to anger you?  Definitely not!  I'm saying this so you can reflect on your goals for 2012.

Have you made a plan yet to accomplish your goals?  If haven't, why not!?  Grab a coach and let them help!  If you have, how are you progressing?  If you have, awesome!!!  If you haven't, don't worry.  The important thing is that you're working towards your goals.  Again, if you're in doubt of your plan or lack of progression, grab a coach!

What's that...you haven't written out your goals yet!?  Seriously!?  GO RUN A LAP!!!  I'm kidding...kind of.  Take some time on this gorgeous Sunday and write down your goals.  Don't know where to start?  You can start here.  Go ahead and read that post...

Hey...welcome back!!  Ok, now that you've read about making your road map, make sure to make each goal measurable and attainable.  What do I mean by measurable?  Don't just say "I want to do pull-ups".  Are they strict, kipping or butterfly?  How many?  By when?  What do I mean by attainable?  If you're goal is to deadlift 600lbs, awesome!!  Not so much if your current deadlift is 135lbs.  Or 30 unbroken muscle-ups if you can barely hold onto the pull-up bar.  Catch my drift?

Even though Rome wasn't built in a day, it WAS built one stone at a time with plenty of set-backs.  The most important thing to remember is to have a plan, keep checking back on it, and keep moving forward, no matter how small the steps.

Recipe of the Week

Good day!!  Like I had mentioned in my previous post, summer is right around the corner and you're probably dialing in those workouts.  Hopefully you're spending more time dialing in your nutrition.  One great way to do that is to make sure you're doing a body good and eating breakfast. Again, coffee is not breakfast.  Here's a great idea to add to your cooking/prepping day:

Breakfast Frittata

*oven-safe iron skillet
*8-10 scrambled eggs
*3-5 slices of bacon
*2-3 turkey sausage links
*8oz of frozen veggies (I don't measure anything so this is just a guess-timate)
*2 ground meat patties (these were left-overs from last week so I just threw them in)

 Pre-heat the oven by turning the broiler on LO and moving the rack to the second-highest setting.  I started off by cooking the bacon and the sausage links.

We all know what bacon looks like but...its bacon!

After cooking all the meat and sauteing the veggies in the skillet, I added in the scrambled eggs and some seasoning.  I gave the eggs one quick stir and let them sit for a minute or two:

Place in the oven for 3-5 minutes, or until the eggs turn a nice golden brown.

Mmmm!! Cut into individual serving sizes and store in the fridge for later use during the week.  

Disclaimer: Although plenty of animals were hurt in the taping of this post, the Emeril "BAM" or the Paula Dean "Crisco Shuffle" were never used.

How Not To Get "Got"

Summer is right around the corner.  You have your nutrition dialed in.  You're feeling good.  The workouts are starting to fall into place.  But here's something you probably don't know: supermarkets want you to fail.  They have great marketing ploys and product placement.  Here are some tips to make sure you don't get "got" by fancy marketing.

Stay to the outside. Most supermarkets are set up to lure you with fancy marketing props and displays.  Most of the time, its for foods that are completely processed with no nutritional value of any kind.  Take a look at all the foods within the aisles.  All the food has been uber-processed so that it can be canned, boxed or bottled.  That doesn't bode well for people eating Paleo/Primal.  Last time I checked, hunters and gatherers weren't out hunting boxes of pancakes.

Eat the rainbow. No, I don't mean Skittles.  40% of your plate should consist of vegetables.  Make sure they are of various colors to ensure proper nutrient uptake.  Your plate should look something like this:

If you're only eating green, leafy vegetables, you're missing out on vitamins and minerals that are offered by yellow (vitamin C), red (lycopene) and orange (beta-carotene) vegetables.  

Bacon...and other meats.  Believe it or not, there are other meats besides bacon.  Not as good but they do exist.  A quick rule of thumb for meat is the less feet the beast has, the better it is for you.  Fish is chock-full of Omega-3 fatty acids.  Then there's chicken and beef/pork/lamb.  

Make sure the fish is wild caught.  Farm raised is no longer safer than or better for the environment than wild caught.  The fishing industry has made huge strides in keeping their industry sustainable and the environment a priority.  In addition, make sure the other meats are grass-fed.  No, not organic but grass-fed.  Organic means nothing more than that the animals were fed organic grains aka corn.  If you're lucky enough to shop at Fairway, they make this selection process easy for you by having the grass-fed meat in blue containers:

The top row is all grass-fed meat while all the others are corn/grain-fed meet.  Last time I checked, animals can't digest and were never meant to be fed corn or any grains.  As for chickens, make sure they are cage-free.  For some more information on this topic, check out the documentaries King Corn and Food, Inc.

Not all of it is bad.  Back to my first point: staying away from the interior aisles.  99.9% of supermarket aisles are bad for you.  For example, I had one of these fall into my cart one day:

However, not all of it is bad.  For example, if you're making the switch from regular cattle milk to almond milk, good for you!  Did you know about coconut milk?  The best one comes from a can...and its in those interior aisles.  I can't buy fresh veggies because they will go bad before I even get a chance to use them.  So I buy frozen veggies.  They have the same nutritional content as fresh veggies.  Just make sure there are no additives or anything else added to the veggies.  On your way to a sales meeting or visit with a client and need a quick pick-me-up?  Grab a bar.

LaraBar is the closest bar out there to being Paleo.  Just don't make it a habit.  You should still make it a goal to eat real food as often as possible.  Another great idea are PaleoKits.  Not only are these kits COMPLETELY Paleo, but some of the proceeds go towards a great cause!  For more information on Steve's Kids, click here.

Make a plan. During team wod's, I'm notorious for saying "Make sure you have a plan...even though it'll fall apart in the first 2 minutes." (I tend to use a bit more colorful language than that.)  However, its always easier to deviate from an established plan than deal with the chaos of a wod without one.  The same holds true for your work-week and life at home.  

Try to prep for as many meals as you can on Sundays.  Try to cook the meat to be used for a few days out and separate them into containers for each day.  Recipe call for chopped/diced veggies?  Does spaghetti squash need to be baked?  Do it all on Sunday, even if its as simple as planning a menu for the week.  The last thing you want to do after getting home from a nasty workout is to stand on your legs that you can no longer feel and attempt to cook.  

Bon appetit!

Epic Fail

Seriously!?