Answer to a question

Answer to Question
by Andrew Nelson for www.tricoachandy.com
andy@getfitnyc.com

I was recently presented with a situation from one of the athletes on a women’s triathlon team:
She is a cyclist and a runner who has pain in the knee. The MRI showed significant edema, inflammation, and bursitis. The bursitis was the result of a fall. Inflammation is often the result of trauma; edema is a fluid buildup in the tissues of the body usually the hands, legs and ankles and can be from injury or pregnancy).

As a longtime athlete, she has worked hard to overcome some injuries (Runner’s Knee, most recently) and is concerned about losing the fitness she has gained.
She asked which procedure would get her back racing sooner?
The doctor gave her 3 choices - 1) cortisone shots; 2) 4-6 weeks of immobilization and crutches; 3) PRP, physical therapy, and complete rest (not even swimming).

Here is my take from years of coaching, running, racing, and being an athlete:

1- If you can manage it financially, get the PRP and the PT. Complete rest may lead to a greater understanding of why you race to begin with.

2- If you gained fitness once, you will not go back to “zero” if you take the time to heal. It may seem like you are "losing ALL of your fitness," but the reality is that is just not the case. If you make things worse by not recovering fully then you will be out longer.

3- Treat fitness and exercise as an investment in your body; a long term investment.  There will be ups and downs; as well as plateaus.  Fitness and health are not just for this season or this training cycle. Athletes, especially highly competitive ones, do get injured (in her case it was another bike accident avoiding a car).  

4- You can strength train without mobilizing the knee joint. Straight leg raise w/ankle weights, hip abduction w/cables, straight leg dead lift- all of these will strengthen the hips/legs without bending the knee.

5- Swimming can be done while still immobilizing the knee, ONLY IF THE DOCTOR CLEARS YOU. Swim with a pull buoy and a band around your ankles (and maybe even your knees). It feels strange at first but makes your upper body swim form and rotation come from the hips; where you’re stronger anyway.

6- Take it slow! If you were running 6-10 miles/session before the injury, start with a 1/2 mile easy jog. That’s right, 1/2 mile. Your body will need to reestablish neural pathways for optimal muscle ordering; an efficient gait. This will help the body to break the old injury cycle. If you try to come back too quickly and resume where you left off, you risk re-injuring yourself.

Even great doctors who are athletes often fail to see what great trainers and coaches are able to do to keep athletes moving. I once had a dentist who had been a teacher of Dentistry tell me: “Some dentists were A students and some dentists were C students. At the end of school they were all still dentists.” Coaches and trainers are not all the same; just like any professional.

I understand the head game of an injury (I once took 13 weeks off immediately after being trained for a marathon to recover from an accident). The “career” of an athlete can be cut short, and lead to a lifetime of pain, by not taking the proper down time or doing too, much too soon after an injury. Take time to recover fully from an injury. Sometimes a longer time recovering can mean a stronger next season and a longer athletic career.

Stay Healthy and use a great coach to help you achieve better results for next season.

The Effects ARE Real

Strength training improves your Marathon running. Strength training improves your bike sprint performance. Strength training makes your swim stroke stronger. I know that is hard for most runners to imagine and even harder for cyclists to see how more muscle can lead to FASTER times. I like to run! I am a running coach! I am a triathlon coach! But giving up 1 or 2 runs a week in exchange for focused Strength training can improve your run and or bike regardless of distance. Throw in some speed work and you just might drop that marathon time/century time/mile swim time.

The science is clear and unwavering that strength training improves your running economy and helps to better vascularize your muscles, improving blood flow during exercise. So why don't more people who call themselves athletes strength train? It makes you more lean. It makes you stronger. It reduces injury. And if done properly, improves your balance and function in everyday activities. It even makes you look better.

So I ask again: Why don't more runners strength train? I mean pick up something that weighs more than they do. Simple answer: Runners like only running. To that end they should build muscle so they have the stable, strong base to continue to run without injury. My father is a lifelong runner and, at 67, he JUST got what I have been telling him for 10 years. Cyclist fear having more weight to carry up hills but the strength:weight ratio improves more than the weight stays on. Swimmers do not float as well, though but somehow finish faster.

Now I will make the argument that lifting heavy improves endurance performance. Yes, at the professional level running more, faster helps you to run a marathon faster. However, most people who run do not spend 2-3hrs/day working out and 21 hours only recovering like the pros do. Most people spend the day sitting down at a desk letting their hip muscles get short and junky. Strength training and the preparatory work necessary to lift are great at making a runner, cyclist, swimmer or triathlete stronger and more flexible, allowing a powerful run stride/pedal stroke/swim stroke that is more efficient.

I would also make the argument that preparing your body to strength training helps to make you better at the other sports. If you are a triathlete you need to be very flexible, very strong, and have tremendous endurance. Strength training combined with swimming, biking and running can make you a very balanced strong and focused person. More muscle allows you to finish stronger, recover faster and prepare better.

Don't just watch a video on YouTube of how to do the following lifts, get some professional coaching or at least take a small strength training class.
My recommended lifts for endurance athletes are as follows:
Dead Lift (build to fewer than 6 reps. GO HEAVY)
Dumbbell snatch
Kettlebell swings (initiate from the hips)
Thrusters (Front Squat to Jerk press)
Pull Ups
Push Ups
Squats (build to fewer than 6 reps with great knees placement)
Med Ball Chop or slam/ Med Ball Cross Body lift
Box Jump

Now go have some fun being strong. The hills will look and feel easier.

Easy Healthy Delicious Recipe

I LOVE to Eat. I love to eat well. I love the way I feel after a meal that I put love in to creating and has the most flavor for the nutrition content. Food should taste good! Period! The thing is to open up what tastes good to you.

Try new vegetables.
Try new ways to prepare meats and vegeatables.
Eat Healthy fats like avocados, olive oil and nuts.
Learn to cook. Learn a NEW way to cook.
Discover new flavors. Be prepared to taste something you don't like.
Be adventurous about healthy food. Have some courage!

Enough of my rant. Here we go. This calls for Grass Fed Beef. If you cannot find Grass Fed, local organic beef then AT THE VERY LEAST get Chorizo with NO NITRATES/NITRITES. If their beef is good enough to eat then should not have to put nitrates in it.

Ingredients:
12oz. Grass Fed Organic Beef Chorizo or Smoked Turkey Kielbasa (nitrate/nitrite free please)- Sliced
1lb Kale - Red Russian is best - clean and stems removed
1 Cup Quinoa
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries- chopped
1/2 cup Pistachios (sunflower seeds or slivered almonds)
3tbsp Olive oil

Place 2cups of water and 1 grind of Himalayan Rock Salt in a large Sauce pan. Remove stems from kale, rinse, cut into ribbons and place in boiling water. Lower to a simmer for 25 min. (its actually healthier with Kale)
Place sausage in a medium ceramic sauce pan and heat on low. Stir occasionally to keep from burning. Cook until done. Use a thermometer if necessary.

Rinse Quinoa well in a mesh strainer and add to 2cups of boiling water w/1tbsp of olive oil. Simmer on Low for 10-15min.

If you are on a High Protein diet, Paleo or just trying to eat healthier then this recipe is great. I love the spice from the Chorizo with the flavor of the kale. The texture of the Quinoa, cranberries and pistachios makes for a very satisfying dish that is easy on your calories and has a very low glycemic impact.

Stay healthy and eat well!

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Well Its the 2 week mark

So we have been in 2013 for 2 weeks now. How are your resolutions going? Did you vow to change your diet? Get more exercise? Lose weight? Go to the gym every day?

And how are you doing? You are probably already letting the little things slip.

Did you write down your resolutions and post them where you can see them every day? Writing down your resolutions makes them more real. More real than just saying it.

I will talk mainly about diet goals since exercise info is everywhere.
98% of diets fail. If you change 1 small but effective daily habit, just 1, you can have a 95% success rate. Once that thing is part of your daily routine then we can add 1 more. If you try to do both small changes at the same time your fail rate will skyrocket to 80%.

So lets just start with 1 thing, for the next 2 weeks. Take a fish oil supplement and a multi-vitamin. That may sound like 2 things but only if you look at each supplement as an individual behavioral change. Take a quality multi and a quality fish oil. Take 1g for every 1% body fat. If you are obese then start with 25g over the course of the day. This 1 little thing shows dramatic results in a week or 2. Take a multi-vitamin so your body operates well. You really do need all of those vitamins for your body to be efficient at eating, moving and living.

For the next 2 weeks just make that small change, it is the best bang for your lifestyle change buck. Now go do it.

if you need further diet and exercise needs feel free to email me.
Andy@getfitnyc.com.
Stay healthy!

5 Simple ways to be Healthier (Simple does NOT mean Easy)

I love fitness! I love the concept, the challenge, the known and the unknown when challenging my fitness or the fitness of my clients/athletes. I love when someone has that "Aha moment"(thanks Oprah) when they grasp the healthy idea or movement exercise that has eluded them. Most of all I love success!

Running is simple (unless you look at it like an engineer). Eating fewer calories is simple. Even writing a training program is simple. Running 100 meters in 12 seconds is simple. Losing 100 pounds is simple. But not 1 of those things is easy. Some things in life are hard. You will spend far more effort trying to make your life easier than you would fortifying yourself against the struggle and enjoying your health.

Getting fit and staying fit is really very simple:
1- Improve your flexibility
2- Improve your stability
3- Improve your ability to move efficiently for your every day activities
4- Achieve a healthy weight
5- Eat for balanced hormones and muscle strength.

That is 5 SIMPLE things master so you can be healthy and extend healthy life.

1 - Keeping yourself flexible or having mobility can allow you to, as the word implies, keep you more mobile. If you are more mobile then you can can move more efficiently, easier and better. When we can move better then we can move more, allowing us to keep up with our kids or even grandkids.
Find a flexibility program that you can do daily a little while before bed or before you go out for the evening. Hold each stretch for a minute- Low back, hamstrings, calves, chest and Hip flexors. Your body will thank you by moving better longer. Do not get too creative. Just find what is stiff and try to make it move better. Find what is stuck and unstick it.

2- Improve your stability - The ability to stand on one foot/leg is an essential skill for walking. It can also come in handy if you are are texting and step into the street in front of a car. The ability to be stable in most positions you body can get into is a great way to avoid injury. However, you cannot train for everything. A stronger, more stable mid-section with strong abs, hips and low back can be enough to avoid most injuries that do not involve outside forces (like the car we mentioned).
Keep a strong core by holding plank for 60 sec, side plank 30 sec each side and a table top (face up plank) for 60 sec. Don't worry if you cant hold for the entire time, build up to longer and longer. See how long you can hold. Basic exercises done for a simple amount of time, 60 sec or 30 sec.

3- Improve your ability to move efficiently for your every day activities. If you just sit at a desk all day and you are transported there via a floating chair then you ONLY need to maintain minimal function to keep your body from getting sick. If you have to walk from the car to the office; shop for groceries, sit down on a toilet, play with your kids or do anything that requires movement you should train for it.
Go play on the monkey bars with your friends- start slow so you don't get hurt. Go to the gym and pick up something heavy- hire a coach or a trainer to show you what to do. Do deep breathing activities to improve how well you breathe. Get down on the floor and  get back up as fast you can 10 times, try to do it faster tomorrow. Stick to simple exercises but make them challenging by adding speed or changing directions.

4- Achieve a healthy weight. This 1 simple thing is probably the hardest thing to do but yields the best outcome almost regardless of how you get there. Surgery, exercise, metabolic medication and lifestyle modification will all help you lose down to a healthy weight. A Healthy BMI, one below 25, is a great way to delay most cancers, reduce orthopedic injuries and lengthen life. No matter what healthy method is chosen it should be done for life as long as it works.

Choose a simple diet of healthy foods and daily exercise to keep your heart and mind healthy. A diet higher in protein, lower in carbohydrates and with a healthy balance of fats can keep your weight down and your body functioning smoother.
 
5- Eat for balanced hormones and muscle strength. A higher protein diet with healthy fats from mostly plant sources can help you to keep your hormones, especially insulin, more balanced. Especially when combined with proper exercises and well timed nutritional intake the right foods can balance your hormones and help to build lean muscles. It is simple to stay away from breads, sweets and pastry. The problem is we often associate these things with something like love or Mom or Gramma or Christmas or something other than a means of sustaining our bodies.
Choose things you can gather, hunt, raise or pluck. I have never seen a loaf of bread growing in the field. I have never seen flakes in the field on a stalk. It is not always easy to choose the cleaner way of eating but it is simple. Know yourself. Know what you are really craving and eat only what can fuel you. Choose to find pleasure in things that will still leave you healthy long after the food is finished.

Choose a simple way of eating, exercising and stretching to keep yourself younger and healthier. These simple ways of eating and moving can improve brain function, increase insulin sensitivity, make your muscles stronger and more supple and make your life more full. If you are giving up sweets or bread for more quality time with your family and more life in your years then i would argue that you are making a healthier choice for you and your family.

Now go live simply and cleanly. Go live healthy!

Olympic and Election Year Health

For me the the best things in life come around every 4 years: the Olympics! I really enjoyed watching the Olympics on all the NBC channels this year. The technology and footage was just amazing! Others are absolutely glued to the television watching Election year debates and how quickly candidates fluctuate in the poles. I don't watch much TV (other than some Olympic sports and biking and running) or read the newspaper very much- I find them to be tough on my well being. This year we are offered political choices that seem to be as divisive as ever.

I believe quite fully in the American Dream, I feel like I get to live it EVERY day! The American Dream seems to have taken a very sharp turn somewhere. Somewhere we have skipped over the desire of humans to do useful work. Scrubbing toilets is useful work, the American dream says that if you work hard, use your brain a lot and get over your belief that you are "too good" to clean toilets then maybe you can invent something that takes the place of you scrubbing that toilet. That invention can make you a millionaire.

I will give you my take on this dream:

My American Dream says that if one works hard and wishes to improve their standing in life they can do so. I can push myself, as I feel every American should, to improve my input into this society and, as you raise your standards you can help those who are struggling to raise theirs. I choose making us, as a country, stronger and healthier as my means to living the dream. As I find ways to better my health and wealth I am encouraged, as a citizen of the USA and of the world, to improve the health and wealth of others. Effecting massive change on the health and wealth of this country is my dream. Making what i consider a good living at this chosen profession is My American Dream.

 I do not fear that we will fail as a society in my lifetime. I do not feel that we will continue our trend toward an ever growing obesity epidemic either. We are Americans after all. We don't back down from a fight. We show the world just how rebellious we can be. Be rebellious in the fight against obesity, it will benefit your health and well being as well as the health of the economy. We use P90X, Sweatin to the Oldies, Tae Bo and Insanity:the Asylum to lose millions of pounds and become healthier than we ever thought.

DO NOT buy in to over eating as the "American Way!" DO NOT take being sedentary as the "American WAY!" We have the best athletes in the world, just look at our Olympic medal count! How can we have the best athletes and the highest level of obesity in the world? The sport of running has more participants, by far, than competitive eating. We should demand more of ourselves! We are the greatest nation after all! If your local, state or federal government imposes some rule or law that you feel infringes on your right to choose a gluttonous soda or trans-fats it is because you have not demanded better of yourself, you were irresponsible or too ill to make a better choice for yourself. Feel free to vote that politician out of office. Then show them that you can be responsible for your own healthy actions. Do not go it alone! Get help if you need it.

Get out and exercise to the best of your ability! Challenge yourself to do your part as a citizen. You can vote only every 4 years but you can make healthy choices that can effect the economy for the long run every time you eat. Choose more vegetables, lean protein sources and healthy fats like avocados and olive oil. Stay away from sugary foods, especially high fructose corn syrup and processed foods. Go out and participate in a sport or activity that brings you closer to your friends and family. Just DO NOT SIT THERE AND COMPLAIN!
GO! Be ACTIVE!
Make healthy choices like an industrious, productive and healthy American. Bring our greatness to a new level.   

The Dumbbell Snatch is your Secret Weapon

The Dumbbell Snatch

1 “Secret Weapon” for a Leaner Tummy and strong, sexy legs (and maybe a new PR)

The dumbbell snatch is a version of the Olympic lift, the snatch, performed with a dumbbell in one hand. You move the dumbbell from the floor to above your head in one explosive movement.

The dumbbell snatch is a full body movement and most of the major muscle groups come into play, particularly legs, shoulders and core.

As we wind down our run up to the Olympics I want to bring some attention to an often overlooked Olympic sport: Weightlifting. “But Andy, this is an endurance training blog! How can you put a power exercise in here?!” Simply this: Training for Power is missing from most endurance athletes workouts. Period! As an endurance athlete (triathlon, duathlon, marathon, half marathon, long bike ride), if you train for power you can become more flexible AND stronger while making your swim, bike and/or run form more efficient.

Let me explain: The Dumbbell Snatch is great for engaging the core quickly while stabilizing the hips, shoulders and trunk for a seamless and efficient transfer of power from the legs to the shoulders. The bottom (start) position of the exercise requires a great deal of flexibility in the hips, low back and shoulders, something that most endurance athletes are lacking. The middle, movement portion, of the exercise require an explosive “opening” at the front of the hips, an engagement at the core to control the weight as it is lifted from the floor and passes to over head. At the top of the movement the shoulder must be in a stable position with the best point of stability being at the ground where the feet are in contact with the ground. 

What this means for your sport: Across all sports this movement is taxing to the Central Nervous System leading to better balancing of the endocrine system. The endocrine system can be negatively affected by long efforts like those associated with traditional endurance training. For cycling the dumbbell snatch can give you the muscle to in your hips and thighs to power over those longer hills and help you recover from a long day in the saddle. It helps the cyclist, the runner and the swimmer have a more stable torso allowing the legs and the arms to work more efficiently thru transfer of force thru the core.

What this means for a flatter tummy: You can do crunches all day and achieve some good results, but who has the time? The dumbbell snatch “forces” all the muscles of the core to work almost in unison. The core muscles have to fire to move the hips from a stable position (the starting squat position), thru an unstable position (the “jump” phase), and then stabilize again with the arm in an extended position (Stabilizing both the shoulder and the hips simultaneously). You will burn fat all day if you do these in the morning by stimulating the Central Nervous System to adapt to such a demanding exercise. This demand can balance the hormones and improve the body’s efficiency while running, swimming, biking or just having a healthy day.

Incorporate the Dumbbell Snatch into your strength workout once a week for 6 weeks. Start with a light weight to get the form down and then move to more challenging weights to see faster improvement and help your athletic performance. Lean athletes are more efficient athletes.   

So go move something heavy! And then move it fast! 

Some websites with pictures of the Dumbbell Snatch:

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/DBSnatch.html

http://gubernatrix.co.uk/2007/11/one-arm-dumbbell-snatch/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1zGGVGkOEE&feature=related

Between Mother's Day and Father's Day

A def. of Healthy (just so we are on the same page)
1 : enjoying health and vigor of body, mind, or spirit : well
2 : evincing health
3 : conducive to health 
4 a : prosperous, flourishing b : not small or feeble : considerable 

   Right in the middle of when we honor our Mothers and when we honor our Fathers comes Memorial Day. The day we kick off the Summer season is also a time to remind ourselves why we have those freedoms. But with freedom comes responsibility. 

I may step on a few toes here but I don't have enough followers to make a splash. 
So here goes:

 There are just too many Americans who are fat! 
I don't mean a little over weight; F-A-T!! 
   It is a drain on our economy and a dis-service to generations past and future. Those who died for your freedom expected you to handle it gently and with honor. Now our fingers are too swollen from abusing our bodies to feel the delicate freedom we hold. We hold the freedom of choice, of democracy, of a beautiful country with teeming cities and open farmland and 68% of the inhabitants are obese! 

   We were once deprived as a country; now we have too much! We have a "Free Enterprise System" that is hard to match. I have heard both sides of the argument as to how "free" it is but lets stick to health and fitness. We reward those who reward us. If you work hard you can be a billionaire. You can come from absolutely nothing and be wealthy and healthy if you have the right long term goals and make the right decisions. 

Is there a separation? Sure. 
Do some families or people have it easier? They sure do.
    It is probably quite a different thing to be a Buffett or a Gates or a than a Nelson (that's me). Who was Warren Buffetts dad? How about Bill Gates mom? Exactly my point. 1 Generation away from being known in a small town or a city maybe to being known world over.

   We have food production that well exceeds Our needs and that far exceeds our caloric requirements. The problem we have with food is that we can't live without it so are forced to be responsible and make good choices or suffer the consequences.

 You can go without alcohol.
You can go without cigarettes.
You can go without marijuana.

   You can go without any vice we've chosen but we can't do without food. Using food as a vice is a slippery slope. Sometimes you can use food to comfort yourself but why do you need to be comforted every day? If you need to be comforted every day then you should seek help from a professional.

   Sometimes food is a reward. If food is your reward then you can use it but it can be a tightrope. I like to have wings and beer on the day I finish a marathon. It is difficult for me to justify the high fat food under many other circumstances. Don't reward yourself like that for every workout, you will become frustrated at lack of results and quit exercise altogether.

   We all know how to stay healthy: exercise vigorously, eat more vegetables, eat less meat, don't over eat, don't eat much sugar. But just because we know how to eat properly does not mean we are doing it. Clearly, we're not doing it!

   The majority of this country considers himself either Jewish or Christian. In both cases we are told treat the body as a Temple. You wouldn't treat a Temple this way. You wouldn't bring substandard food to your place of worship. Why would you feed yourself that way?

   It seems as if there is a disconnect between what goes into our mouth and how that affects our body. We should be responsible for what goes in our mouths as well as what comes out. You cannot constantly deride someone for their weight or how they live and then not live up to your own standards.

   I'm not against chocolate. I'm not against McDonald's. I'm not against fast food or even processed foods. I just feel that if you're connected to your body and you understand how your body feels after you eat these things you will choose wiser.

   We choose any number of ways to disconnect ourselves from the way things are going around us. We act as if the food we eat is not making us sick. It is not normal to feel bad every day. If you are on medication for any "Co-morbid risk factors" (diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol ). We need to look at our lives as a whole. If you have high blood pressure but are otherwise healthy then maybe you need to do something to manage your stress or lower your salt intake. If you have high cholesterol but are otherwise healthy then maybe you need to exercise more and eat healthier. There are a few rare cases of those whose only risk factor for heart disease is that they are obese. These people should play the lottery. That's almost how rare it is! It is also quite rare to find an adult who is healthy with type II diabetes.

   I don't claim to have the answers. If you pay attention to how your body feels when you eat then you will know if you are eating properly. If you get indigestion after you eat it is a sign that your body is rejecting something you have eaten. If you feel sluggish after you eat then you are probably eating something that is lacking in true nourishment.

I like ribs!
I like burgers!
I even like french fries and chocolate and wine and pizza and even like BACON!. I also like to cook. I really like to cook healthy food. My grandmother taught me to cook Southern when I was very young. Around the same time my father was pulling recipes from Runners World magazine. My father would run nearly every day and have a bowl of ice cream nearly every night. Back then runners still "carb loaded" before a race. My father taught me about exercise but he also taught me about dessert. I still run, even after more than 30 years but I had to teach myself that ice cream is only for 1 or 2 days per week.

   We let ourselves get caught up in watching the news and being concerned about whether or not we are going to make it to our next paycheck. We worry about this politician or that politician. We worry about things and we have absolutely zero control over them. We busy ourselves and find excuses not to exercise. You could've found time for exercise in the time you spent on Facebook this week.

   We find excuses why it's "hard" to find time for exercise. Just go. Move your body! Simply moving heavy things can challenge you physically. We were meant built to exercise all day long! Challenge yourself mentally to take responsibility for your own actions. Try new exercises just to see if you can do them! For your own healthy life!

  There is a concern over big government and government run health care. Lets try some self care to show we are responsible enough for our own health.  Big government does not try to control your health. Though some feel it should because you haven't done a good job of staying healthy on your own. It's not the governments job to take care of you. It's not the governments job to do anything about your health. But if you are not taking care of yourself and you're putting a drain on the economy by being unhealthy then someone has to step in.

   If your family and friends are not going to tell you you're Fat then they're probably fat too. In our attempt to be nice and not tell someone they're overweight or not tell someone that their fat, then we've allowed ourselves to become a nation of sick people. Being sick is not normal, and there's not a pill for everything. Ask your doctor for about options for exercise. Check with your insurance company about what they pay for in the way of exercise intervention for being over weight or obese.

   Demand of your leaders better health from them. Start in your home by being healthy there. If you are overweight or obese then begin to do something about it. Find the answers! Ask a fit friend to show you how to work out. Go online and find a new exercise. Sign up for and event to run a 5k or bike to raise money for something like Wounded Warriors, Fisher House or Team McGraw.

   Begin to make daily exercise a part of your life. Don't watch so much television. Make vigorous movement part of your life just like taking pills to manage pain.

   Community organizers, City Council members, preachers, rabbis, imams, Senator, Mayors - ALL civic leaders owe it to your communities to become more healthy. Begin a campaign of checking on the health of your constituents. Make the health of your community a priority and the financial needs of your community will be more easily managed.

   This Memorial Day honor those who died for our freedom! Run your Memorial Day 5K. Play hoops with a veteran. Throw the baseball with a wounded veteran who wishes he could run a 5K.
Honor your freedom and treat it well.
Stay healthy for your country.
Create a healthier and stronger place to call the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
Take control of your health today. Your country's future depends on it.

Andrew Nelson

P.S. Forward this to as many people as you care about. I hope this gets back to me many times.
Comment! Tell others! Pin it! Facebook it! Tweet it! Then go for a run!

What does not kill us...

As a triathlete I understand the importance of cross training, it is built in to my sport. You cannot expect to see long term improvements simply by following one program. Eventually you will adapt or become bored of your workout. Now and then you should take a different type of yoga than usual or take a Step aerobics class for the change to your workout.

I like trail running to supplement my daily life. Kundalini yoga keeps my head straight with movement and deep breathing. It also helps me push through during the mental fatigue of a long race.
Check out what boxer George St Pierre does to cross train!

The Trail Changes! Adapt!

I like running trails. They are a microcosm. The world changes faster than you can realize it. Right now your cells are changing themselves from what they were to what they think they will be used for later. The trail changes every time you run it: limbs fall, leaves blow, and trees give way to the forces of the wind.

When you demand of the body sitting on the couch, then the body adapts to the "rigors" of sitting on the couch: it adds some fat, the muscles become weaker, digestion slows, and cravings change. When you demand work from your body then the body changes to adapt for that work: it adds muscle to what was overworked, it reduces the fat that slow the work and it speeds digestion so there is less to do during a given effort.

On the trail Nature needs to adapt. A tree that can no longer stand in the wind will fall and decay to strengthen the roots of the trees still standing until the cycle repeats itself. Leaves blow over rocks making your footing more difficult for running. Limbs fall from trees and make the trail just a little more challenging than the last run. Sometimes rocks settle into soft soil and make your run easier.

The lack of predictability is what makes trail running enjoyable. The constant focus on the new terrain is what allows my mind to stop thinking about the day and the struggles of life and focus on the task at hand. It is meditative to run trails. It sharpens your focus on what needs to be done right now, not the possibility of what MAY happen in the future. You only get right now! The past is gone and the future may never get here.

The take away:
It is fine to prepare for the future. Buy accident and life insurance to protect yourself and your family. The focus on the now is more important, Be Present with what you are doing.

You can adapt to what you have overcome and be stronger for the now. A life lived is greater than a life worried over.

The Workout for the week: Once or twice this week do the following:
Run your the distance of your longest run in the last 6 months. At every mile or every 8-10 min do - 20 Body Weight Squats, 15 burpees(30 if you are training for a Spartan Race), 20 situps. If you run for an hour you will do be challenged enough to complete your "average" Spartan Sprint.

Go Prepare yourself for life! Get out on the trail and run!