Coulee Region Bootcamps

Halloween does not have to be a nutritional nightmare.

Kids love Halloween and especially all the treats that they get. Candy is all around us, but it doesn’t have to derail our health and fitness goals or those of our children.

Here are some tips to help keep the candy binges under control.

1. Create a plan

Have the kids set out all their candy on the table.  Divide them into smaller piles or rations they can eat.  Make sure they have at least one piece of their “favorite” candy in each ration.  This help prevent all the candy from disapearing overnight.

2. Eat a good meal

Make sure to eat a healthy dinner immediately before or after trick or treating.  Definately before any candy is eaten.  This helps the kids from trying to fill up on candy.  Instead of using candy to fill their bellies, they are eating it for a treat.

3. Gives kids the power of choice.

Inform your kids about the nutritional information of each piece of candy.  Let them read the nutritional labels and allow them to choice pieces.  The temptation to splurge is less when it’s their choice to have or have not.

4. Provide plenty of healthy options

Keep plenty of snacks available that are healthier alternatives to typically Halloween candy.  Either give them these treats or trade them for some of their candy.  Here are some great choices:

-dried fruit

-granola bars

-goldfish crackers

-fruit rollups

-beef jerky

-string cheese

-trail mix

The most important thing to do is create a positive experience for your kids.  Whether that involves candy or not it up to you.  Try to make every holiday an extension of your habits and values.  You kids will remember experiences much more than any pile of candy they get.

Have fun and be safe!

Ok, so maybe hamstring stretching is not all that bad.   Don’t stop completely, but please stretch more than just your hamstring.

But when my hamstring feels tight I need to stretch it out  so it lengthens and feels better…. right?

WRONG!

Your hamstring feels tight because its over stretched already!

Most people spend way too much time sitting.  They sit to eat, to drive to work, they sit at their job almost all day, they sit to drive home, they sit to eat again, they sit to watch TV for hours at night.  They even  sit  when they go through the Cybex circuit at the gym or ride the recumbent bike. 

What does all this sitting to do us? 

For one it  shortens our hip flexors.  Hip flexors are the muscles right in front of your hip at the top of your leg.  When they are shortened, they pull the top of the pelvis forward.  This is called anterior pelvic tilt.  When your pelvis tilts forward it pulls on the muscles on the back of the leg which just happen to be your hamstrings.  Tada! 

So what do we do? 

Step 1: Stretch your hip flexors.  Here’s how

Get into a lunge position, lower your self as low as you can.  Try to straighten out your back leg as much as possible.  Then push down through your hips.  You should feel a nice stretch in the front of your hip.  It won’t be comfortable, but it’s beneficial.  To increase the intensity of the stretch raise the hand that on the same side as your back leg and over your head and lean to the side of the leg that is forward. Perform this stretch for 30 seconds per side 2-3 times a day.

Step 2: Strengthen your hamstring

The best  way to do this is to use resistance training.  Start lifting weights.  Focus of exercises that use the hamstrings and glutes to extend the hip.  Lifts like deadlifts, good morning, back extensions, and certain lunge variations. 

Step 3: Minimize sitting time. 

This should be a no brainer.  Every 30 minutes or hour get up from your desk and walk to the drinking fountain.  Stand when you eat, take a walk instead of sitting on the couch watching TV. This will help from always being locked into that shortened hip flexor position.

Step 4: Minimize high heels

This is for the ladies (hopefully).  Wearing high heels puts you into an anterior pelvic tilt.  Plus it shorten your achilles tendon and hyper-extends your lumbar spine.  All these factors can lead to disaster.

The key point is not to treat symptoms as problems.  If something hurts it try to understand why it hurts.  That will be your best bet to finding a real solution and not a temporary band-aid.

Take care,

Anthony

Milk has been consumed by humans for centuries.  Recently though, people have been making claims that the benefits of milk are just propoganda from the dairy industry.  That dairy contains dangerous hormones that can negatively affect our health. 

So which side is right?  Men’s Health recently shared some research results that show milk it the power house food many of us have known.

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/dairy_products/?cm_mmc=DosefNL-_-2009_10_12-_-HTML-_-dek

So is Men’s Health speaking the truth, or are they drinking the milk kool-aid?  I believe milk is one of nature’s finest food. It is a great source of protein and calcium.  But I grew up on a dairy farm so maybe I am biased.

Anyways… what about all the millions of people that are lactose intolerant.  They say our bodies are not made to digest milk.  True, SOME people may not be able to digest milk properly.  However, those  people are having trouble digesting pasteurized, homogenized milk.  Studies have shown that people who are lactose intolerant can comsume and digest milk that has not been pasteurized (raw milk) much easier.  So maybe its not milk, but pasteurization that is the problem.  Pasteurization kills most of the bacteria that is in milk.  This is done to protect against certain diseases that are caused by bacteria that can very rarely be found in milk.  The interest fact is The US has more cases of these diseases than other countries that do not pasteurize.  

I am starting to ramble, but the point is this.  Milk is very beneficial for your body.  For healthy bones, strong muscles and to lose fat.  Raw milk is even more beneficial to your body as it is easier to digest for lactose intolerant individuals.  Raw milk has contains many beneficial bacteria that would otherwise be killed during pasteurization.  This beneficial bacteria (probiotics) is essential to proper intestinal and gut health.  When you consider that over 75% of your immune system is in your digestive tract, this seems like a good thing.

But Anthony, where do I get raw milk? I thought it was illegal to buy & sell in most states?

Glad you asked.  It is illegal to buy and sell raw milk in Wisconsin and most other states in the US.  However, many farms allow you to become members of their “coop” for a small fee and that gives you the right to purchase rights to their milk.  That is perfectly legal.  So it you live in the La Crosse area I suggest checking out St. Brigid’s Meadow.  We purchase raw milk from them and it is phenomenal!!  They are also certified organic.  So go to their website http://www.stbrigidsmeadows.com/ and check them out.  They are more than happy to have vistitors and show you around the farm.  It’s what farms should be like.   If you do happen to decide to purchase product from them, tell them Anthony Dix sent you.  I don’t know if it will do any good, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Swine flu vaccinations are starting to be distributed in large numbers as the flu season is now upon us.  Vaccinations get different reactions.  Some people swear by them as the only way to avoid sickness and some feel they can cause more harm than good.  

No matter how you feel about vaccinations, I think we can all agree that being healthy and having a strong immune system is essential avoid any time of sickness, including the flu. 

How can we build our immune system into a lethal disease fight force?  Nutrition is a big part.  Check out this post from Prograde Nutrition to learn more.

http://couleeregionbootcamps.getprograde.com/Swine-Flu-Prevention.html

Take care,

Anthony

Traditional resistance training workout specify one exercise at a time.  We call this “straight sets”.  Your start with one exercise and perform a certain number of reps and then rest for a certain amount of time depending on your goals. Rest periods are shorter for fat loss and longer for building strength and/or power. Then repeat the process for that exercise and move to another and do the same thing.

You might say “What wrong with that?”  Well, straight sets are simple to understand and have been utilized for many years by some very strong people.  However, they are very inefficient.  If you walk into any commercial gym on Monday (international chest day), you’ll see someone perform three sets of 10 reps on the bench press.  They do their 10 reps, go to the water fountain, check themselves out in the mirror, pretend to watch Sportcenter highlights while trying to get the attention of that cardiobunny on the treadmill, and then finally wander back to do another 10 reps.  This takes 3-5 minutes each time meaning 3 sets might take up to 15 minutes.  This is only one movement.  Performing four movements take an entire hour! 

Using alternating sets would make this workout more effective and efficient.  Perform one exercise, take a short rest, perform a different exercise that is non-competing with the first, rest again and repeat.  By working two different areas of your body, you are allowing for proper rest between sets and increasing your workload.  As a results you get increased training economy and density.  Increasing the training density allows you to perform more work in less time and is crucial to any fat loss program.  Alternating sets can be structures as shown below:

 1.)     Supersets: Alternate between two different non-competing exercises (e.g. upper body and lower body such as pull-up and squats)

 2.)     Trisets: Alternate between three different exercises (e.g. push, pull, and lower body such as push-ups, rows, and lunges)

 3.)     Circuits: Alternate between four or more different exercises

Supersets and trisets are great options, but I believe that circuits are the most effective option every time. To demonstrate, let’s examine one of my favorite circuit training templates using timed set intervals:

The 50-10 Five Exercise Circuit: You will alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for all five exercises in the following 5-minute circuit:

Exercise#1- Squats

Exercise#2- Dips

Exercise#3- Single-Leg Hip Extensions

Exercise#4- Pull-ups

Exercise#5- Leg Raises

Perform this circuit up to four times for a 20-minute total body fat burning workout.

So instead of only completing the bench press in 15 minutes, you performed three sets of five exercises!  The intensity stayed high due to getting 4 minutes before repeating an exercise.

The key for fat loss is to create the optimal hormonal environment.  This is done by performing high intensity exercises with minimal rest in order to get as much work done is as little time as possible.  The best way to accomplish this is with circuit training.  It stand alone for gaining lean mass and maximizing fat loss.  Use the following template I use with my boot camps for some killer, yet simple fat loss circuits:

Exercise#1- Double-Leg

Exercise#2- Push

Exercise#3- Single-Leg

Exercise#4- Pull

Exercise#5- Core

I’ll be sharing some great circuit training workouts from my boot camps in the weeks to come

 Anthony

Welcome to the home of Coulee Region Bootcamps! 

If you want to drop those unwanted pounds and get in the best shape of your life, then this program is for you.  Our programs in designed to get you looking better, feeling better and moving better!  This is done using interval training methods designed to blast away fat. 

For more information and to try our Free 2 Week trial.  Send an email to couleeregionbootcamps@gmail.com.