Warm Up

An often neglected, but very important part of a workout is the warm up. A warm up prepares your heart, lungs, muscles, bones, and joints for exercise. It also prepares you mentally for what you are about to do. Starting out with vigorous intensity exercise when your muscles are still cold can set you up for injury. 
Tips for Warming up:

• Low intensity cardio is a good way to increase the temperature of the body and the muscles
• Start slowly and progress to harder or faster exercise over a 5-8 minute period of time. 
• During a warm up, your heart rate should be 40-60% of your max (max HR is about 220-age).

Some light stretching can be done towards the END of your warm up. Save any deep stretching for the end of your workout.

Exercise Recommendations

Are you getting enough exercise? The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) provides a minimum weekly exercise recommendation. While more is ideal, strive to get at least the recommended time.

• Children & Teens: 1 hour of moderate to vigorous activity daily
• Adults: 2 ½ hours of moderate to vigorous activity per week

For more specific guidelines, go to http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/factsheetprof.aspxit

Wellness in the Workplace

Does your workplace encourage a healthy lifestyle? More and more employers are recognizing the need for healthy employees and encouraging their staffs to exercise, eat right, and manage stress levels. 
It makes sense for companies to invest in the health of their workers:

• Billions of dollars are lost annually by employees calling in sick to work
• Health insurance costs are higher every year, while 70% of diseases are preventable
• Sedentary jobs contribute to obesity
  Healthier employees are more creative and more productive
• Research shows that the return on investment (ROI) for wellness programs is 6 to 1

If your employer does not have a wellness program in place, volunteer to start one or find a company that specializes in corporate wellness. Workplace challenges can be fun and increase morale.  

Lifting Tempo

Resistance training can be done at slow, medium, or explosive speeds.  We sometimes get stuck in a rut with the same routine, but mixing up the tempo of our lifting can be beneficial.  New research shows that the mechanoreceptors that sense stimuli in joints, muscles, and ligaments are more efficient when the tempo is changed.  This will make injury less likely, and help us move better.
Try lifting at a new tempo, such as:

• 4 seconds down
• 2 second hold
• 1 second up

When you have mastered this tempo, increase the speed to:

• 2 seconds down
• 2 seconds up

After two weeks, change it up to a higher, more explosive speed tempo:

• 1 second down
• 1 second hold (or no hold)
• 1 second up

Muscles become adapted to the workload placed on them, and by changing it every couple of weeks, plateaus can be avoided.

Avocado Deviled Eggs

Getting together with friends and family to watch the big game can be enjoyable and exciting without ruining your healthy eating plans.  For a protein-packed snack/appetizer, try this recipe:

• 1 dozen hard boiled eggs
• 3 avocados
• Juice of 3 limes
• ¾ tsp. garlic salt
• fresh dill
• pepper

Peel the eggs and cut in half, removing the yolk.  Combine yolk with avocados, juice from the limes, and garlic salt. Pipe mixture into the center of the eggs. Top with fresh dill, salt and pepper.  Enjoy!

Prebiotics & Probiotics

You may have heard the term “gut health,” but do you know what it means?  The gut, or gastrointestinal tract is full of bacteria that assist in digestion.  Foods rich in prebiotics and probiotics are necessary for microflora in the gut to keep you healthy. 

So what foods have these prebiotics and probiotics?

Prebiotics are a dietary fiber that feeds healthy gut bacteria and can be found in these foods and others:

• ·     Raw onions
• ·         Raw garlic
• ·         Raw leek
• ·         Raw asparagus

Probiotics are live and active bacteria (good bacteria) and are found in:

• ·         Yogurt (labeled with live and active cultures)
• ·         Sauerkraut
• ·         Kombucha tea
• ·         Miso soup
• ·         Kefir

Eating a variety of foods rich in prebiotics and probiotics may promote weight loss, reduce cholesterol, and improve your mood.

A New Approach to Food in the New Year

Have you made your new year’s resolutions? Is a diet on the list?  This year try taking a fresh new approach to nutrition. Instead of counting calories, focus on the quality of the foods you eat. 

Consider one or more of these strategies:

• Switch from juicing to smoothies. Juicing removes most of the fiber and many vitamins. Puree whole fruits and vegetables in the blender with ice, a splash of milk, protein powder, or yogurt. Experiment to find the combinations you like most. 
• Go whole and eat only non-processed foods. Cooking from scratch is much healthier and can save you money.
• Make a goal to try a new vegetable every week.
• Cut back on sugar by limiting yourself to one or two desserts per week. Satisfy your sugar cravings with fresh fruit.

Simple changes like these can make a big difference to your waistline and your overall health.  Don’t forget to motivate yourself with a non-food reward for meeting your goals.