Motivating to go to the gym during the wintertime isn't easy: It's hard to leave a warm, cozy bed in the morning, and short, dark days sap the urge to work out in the evening. No wonder exercise regimens tend to fall by the wayside. During these dark, cold, and dreary months, though, trainers continue to rise and grind. What's their secret?
Read MoreWhat do mac and cheese, stacks of pancakes, and bowls of pasta all have in common? If you answered, “Umm, they’re delicious,” you’d be right. But they’re also heavy in carbs and can leave you feeling tired and annoyed. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We’ve gathered some of the most notorious carb-heavy foods and found a delicious, low-carb alternative to satisfy any craving.
Find low-carb options and recipes here!
Read MoreSugar can become an overwhelming daily temptation that we feel powerless to resist. Instead of occasionally indulging in special-occasion desserts, many of us are straight up hooked on sweets, needing a daily (sometimes hourly!) fix to satisfy our sugar addiction. If you’ve ever found yourself in a sugar-trance, locked onto a doughnut like a heat-seeking missile, you know how potent sugar cravings can be.
See how implementing these research-backed tips will suppress your sweet tooth for good!
Read MoreYou can diet. You can exercise. You can have a plan. You can chart your progress. There are lots of ways for you to set and achieve your weight-loss goals, but taking off the pounds can still seem like a struggle. If you are looking to find a great way to keep yourself motivated to lose that fat, incorporate this simple secret into your lifestyle – social support.
Find more about the SOTA 6 weeks metabolic challenge here!
Read more to find out why social support is beneficial and how it is incorporated in our SOTA 6 WEEK METABOLIC CHALLENGE!
Read MoreWhen you lose weight, your body fights back. You may be able to lose quite a lot of weight at first, but weight loss tends to slow down or stop altogether after a while. This video looks at 8 reasons why you're not losing weight and how to get things moving again.
Watch this 5 minute video here!
Read MoreThe key is eating healthy throughout the holiday season and remembering portion control when it comes to your it-wouldn’t-be-Thanksgiving-or-Christmas-without-them foods. For the rest of the courses, all you have to do is make the right choices that will allow you to indulge and enjoy, yet keep you from loading up on the fatty, high-calories dishes that can quickly lead to unwanted weight gain.
Find lower calorie food swaps here!
Read MoreDespite the advancements in our understanding of the role strength training plays in our development as long distance runners, there are still some pervasive myths in the running community about the best way to approach improving running-specific strength.
Like most long-standing myths, the misunderstandings about strength training come from outdated information that has been passed down throughout the years.
Unfortunately, in today’s world where anyone can become a running coach by attending a weekend seminar, and message boards in forums contribute to the spread of misinformation; many runners simply repeat the information they’ve “learned” without regard for recent findings, research and developments in the sport.
Luckily, in this article we're going to dispel some of these myths and hopefully start reshaping how all runners view and incorporate strength training into their running schedules.
Read MoreIt's easy to quote the famous motto: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Let's be honest. How many times have you finished work and thought, “I’m too tired to cook and there’s nothing in the fridge. I just I’ll hit the drive-thru”? By planning and prepping, you can help prevent that from happening. And, once you get the hang of it, you’ll be amazed how much time and money you might save. You might even start to see faster results because you’re not getting fries with that. Ya dig? Here are 10 things you can do while prepping that will help you get the most out of this crucial fitness lifestyle staple.
Read MoreAchieving your goal weight can be tough. While weight tends to come off fairly rapidly at first, at some point it seems as though your weight won't budge. This inability to lose weight is known as a weight loss plateau or stall, and it can be frustrating and discouraging. However, several strategies may help you break through that plateau.
Watch video here!
Read MoreToo cold to run outside? Read more to find out why utilizing strength training during the winter months can boost running performance.
Studies have shown that strength training can improve body composition by helping you maintain or increase your lean body mass and can decrease your percentage of body fat, helping you look leaner and burn additional calories. Here's how it works.
Read MoreA strict nutritional regimen of low calories or low carbohydrates can be hard on the body and the spirit, especially over the long haul. For high-level nutrition programs, one solution to this dilemma is carb cycling.
Learn how to implement carb cycling here!
Read MoreAn epic hunt for healthy food every time you’re hungry? Who’s got the time? Instead, try these 3 key strategies for having healthy food available when you need it. They’ll help make meal planning a no-brainer.
Read MoreHolistic fitness is a synergetic path to wellness that considers equally the essential components to make up a whole person, a healthy person that is physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually well.
Read more to find out how you can apply this approach to achieve your own fitness goals!
Read MoreWhile a weight-training session may not burn as many calories per minute during the actual workout (although that can depend on how intense the weight lifting is), the overall calorie-burning benefits you receive from it typically outweigh those of cardio.
Keep reading to find out why!
Read MoreHere’s What You Need To Know…
1. Lifting weights won’t make women bulky, but it will make them strong, lean and healthy if you’re interested in that.
2. Save the pink dumbbells for a doorstop, ultra high rep training is a dead practice. Sticking to strategic rep ranges will build the body of your dreams.
3. Weight lifting is not inherently dangerous; being brutally weak is actually a more risky daily practice.
4. Cardio may help you lose weight, but that “weight” may be muscle mass, which can lead to the dreaded skinny fat appearance. Not exactly the long-term result you had in mind from your daily run.
5. Protein should be prioritized, and eating more with goals of building muscle won’t leave you fat and dumpy. It will help you stay satiated and recovering from training more effectively than ever.
Read MoreWhat works for one person may not work for the next.
When making changes, some people prefer to go all-in and change everything at the same time while others prefer the longer, slower approach… making small changes, one at a time. Neither approach is better than the other, people simply have different personalities and like to approach lifestyle changes differently.
This article is geared towards a longer, slower approach. It explains how to adopt a healthy, real food based diet in 12 simple, easily manageable steps. You can do one step per week, one every two weeks, or one per month… whichever suits you. Waiting until you get used to one change before making the next is a good idea. Whatever you do, you should start seeing results right away, because each step can have a powerful effect.
If you're able to integrate these habits into your lifestyle, you'll be right on track to drop some body fat and perform better during your workouts.
Remember… habit puts willpower on autopilot. Changes in lifestyle and behavior can be tough in the beginning, but become effortless when you turn them into a habit. By mastering one small habit at a time, you will set yourself up for long-term success.
Ready to start? HERE WE GO!
Read MoreNutrition is CONFUSING AS HELL; there are contradictions left and right, controversy is rampant, and there's a whole lotta bullshit being spat by self-proclaimed "experts" in the magazine you see at Lunds next to the peanut butter cups.
Well, it’s actually pretty simple. However, that doesn't change the fact that it confuses, stresses out, and annoys most of the people I work with. Then, when we coaches talk with other coaches it turns into a very controversial topic because everyone has their favorite nutrition strategy, many believe that there's ONLY way to coach it, and the media is blasting us with so many poorly constructed product ads that it'll make your head spin and make you quit altogether.
This is part of the reason I love it so much; nutrition is going to be different for each and every individual.
So here are the top 10 questions I tend to receive from new fitness goers. I answer them for you, and do so in a way that will finally end the frustration and confusion. If you read it closely, it is absolutely going to help you solve the struggles you’re experiencing with nutrition without the flowery nonsense you're going to read everywhere else.
Got it? Awesome…Because you’re gonna love this. Print this out, fold it up and put it in your pocket or somewhere close so you can constantly remind yourself of what you should be focusing on.
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