To avoid strain and injury you need to stretch your calves religiously!

Most runners are familiar with the gastrocnemius and soleus stretches. If you are lazy and don’t get around to the rest then these are the ones you must do.

There are many more muscles in the calf and you need to stretch these other little muscles as well.

image: askthehealthclub.com

Here’s a short video showing the main gastroc and soleus stretches – straight rear leg and bent rear leg. I also show how you can hit the other rest of your calf muscles from different angles.

Do these stretches after every run or high impact training session. If your calves are particularly tight, be sure to stretch thoroughly before you go to bed, and at any time you happen to think of it during day.

Do you stretch after training or do you not bother? Do you get tight muscles?

 

 

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I am completely in love with ChocChilliMango’s Raw Chocolate Protein Bars. I never seem to have that many ingredients in the cupboard so my variations were not nearly as good… Until I made this one! Because of the almond butter and the higher content of moist ingredients, these turn out just like FUDGE! They are soooo good, I just had to share

Serves 1-4 people. Store in the fridge.

1 Tbs Cacao Powder
1 Tbs Almond Meal
¼ Tsp (or large pinch) Sea Salt
1 Tbs Almond Butter
½ Tbs Coconut Oil or Cacao Butter (melted)
3-4 Fresh Dates, pitted
1 Tbs Cacao Nibs (optional)
1 Tbs Almond Slithers (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and mash up with your hands. Or, if you have a food processor, whiz it up in that.

Press onto a tray lined with baking paper or a silicone baking tray.

Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before slicing into pieces.

Notes, tips & variations:

• I use heaped tablespoons for everything… because that’s just how I roll.
• Measurements don’t have to be precise.
• Be sure to use cacao powder or organic cocoa powder for maximum tastiness – cheaper cocoa powder from the supermarket tastes bland.
• Do not under any circumstances leave out the sea salt! This will taste good without, but unbelievable with. And make sure it’s sea salt – when you add salt to your food you may as well use the stuff with minerals your body can benefit from.
• The amount of dates to use depends on your sweetness  preference. I use 3½ because then I get to eat half a date while making these, and I have a habit of eating my food as I make it.
• If your coconut oil is too solid at room temperature, heat a spoon over the stove, then use it to get your coconut oil out of the jar.
• You can use peanut butter instead of almond butter for another heavenly combo.
• Add any other solids you like such as shredded coconut, roughly chopped nuts, pepitas, protein powder… whatever you have in the cupboard.

Give them a go! I’d love to hear your variations

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It's important to have the *right* personal trainer - not this one!

It doesn’t matter where you are in your training career, hiring a coach or trainer will always get you closer to your goals. You don’t have to see your trainer daily or even weekly. Sometimes just a monthly session to touch base and get a new program is all you need.

Beginners

If you are have been training less than 18 months, are returning to exercise after time off, or are wanting to take up training for a new sport, then you are considered a beginner. You need to learn correct technique for exercises, and of course which exercises to do (like squats) and which exercises not to do (like leg presses). You also need to have a program in place to tell you want to do and when. This program will need updating from time to time to ensure you progress. At this stage of your training you may also rely on the motivation that comes from having someone by your side pushing you to the next level.

Intermediates

If you have been training successfully and kicking goals for a couple of years you are in the intermediate category. At this point in the game you know what your fitness goals are and you pretty much know how to get there. You may need someone to tell you to have easy days so you don’t get injured and you may need someone to help ramp up your intensity to push you along to the advanced stage. You probably have your own ideas about training regarding what is good and what is not, and what suits you best, but you could always do with someone to bounce ideas off to get good direction. A good trainer or coach will help you stay right on track so you keep improving.

Advanced Trainees

After several years of training, learning from your mistakes, getting over injuries and having a good idea of programming, you are definitely an advanced trainee. Advanced trainees know more than the average personal trainer in the gym and generally know what works and what doesn’t. Unfortunately this can also lead to stagnation. If you need to get out of a plateau then a third party opinion could be just what you need. You may have an idea of what your weaknesses are and how to address them, but someone else can give you an objective opinion and see things that you might not notice.

Real Life Example

I’ll give myself as an example. Obviously as a personal trainer I know a few things about training. I can get great results for my clients, I know what works and what doesn’t, I know how to bust out of plateaus and I love learning new things so I am always open to adjusting my training to suit. The problem for me is I have conflicting goals – long distance running, kettlebell competitions and powerlifting. When left to my own devices I will do all the things I enjoy: a lot of heavy deadlifts, moderate squats, no benching, occasional kettlebell training – but never long enough or focused enough, and a few easy-paced mid distance trail runs. Combine this lack of training direction with an old running injury, a terrible habit of hopping from one program idea to the next and a distain for core training, and you can see that I am not very good at training myself!

I am a member of a powerlifting club and there I follow a program written by my coach. Without this program I would not do any assistance or core exercises and would take fewer rest days. I also would not have the confidence to lift the weights specified. My program is unbelievably simple, and something I could have come up with myself, but having a person to answer to and to get feedback on my form is invaluable. I do best when I can blindly follow a program where someone has specified the weight to lift or I would never have the confidence to pick up something so heavy! With this training set in stone weeks in advance, I can easily slot in training for other pursuits around that. Since I’ve taken up “doing as I’m told” I have won my weight class in a novice powerlifting event, was “Best female lifter” in the (kettlebell) long cycle event based on technique, and won that event too. Things are going well!

So you can really see how having a trainer would help your health and fitness goals. You may meet multiple times a week, or converse via email a few times a month. Either way, an objective opinion is invaluable. I am not selling anything here and saying “You really need me as your trainer” because the fact is, it depends on your goals and you might be better off with someone else. I’m just strongly suggesting that if you don’t have a trainer, you should at least get another opinion from time to time to ensure your training progresses.

Do you have a trainer? And how have you benefited?

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Most people I train are in it for fat loss. For some of these people, fat loss alone isn’t enough to make a commitment to a permanent lifestyle change.

My first powerlifting competition has driven me to be even more focused on quality training and nutrition.

If you have a performance goal in mind, you are more likely to take massive action in your training and nutrition. You have a deadline. You have set a bar for yourself. You flick the switch to “Competitor Mode”. And pleasant by product of this is usually a healthier, trimmer you.

When you are in “Competition Mode”, there are often thoughts running through your head:

~ I can’t do this. It’s too hard.
~ This is too fast for me. I’m not a runner.
~ This is too heavy for me. I’m not that strong.
~ I’m out of breath, this is really uncomfortable. I just WANT TO STOP NOW!

When you are in the midst of heavy training, you might go through many mind battles:

~ I am so hungry I could eat a whole packet of cookies.
~ I don’t want to go to bed early because my favourite TV show is on.
~ I’ve been training really well, so I’ll take a rest day today and get back to it tomorrow.

The thing is, when you can CONQUER these mind battles, you can CONQUER ANYTHING! When you develop the skills to push through to the next level, lift one more rep, pick up the pace when fatigued, don’t party all night so you can train well the next day… you develop this mindset that you can carry over to your everyday life. Training purely for fitness becomes easy and enjoyable, cleaning up your nutrition is a breeze, and getting that healthier, trimmer you just happens.

Not only will you end up healthier and probably hit your original health and fitness goals, but you develop a sense of determination, discipline and drive. You can use this to your advantage in all areas of your life – doing further study, getting that promotion or job you always wanted, saving for your dream holiday, getting everything done that you ever wanted to do… Following your dreams and putting into practise the theory that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.

Here are some great examples of things you can sign up for:

~ Enter a fun run or triathlon. This will increase your fitness, mental health and general well-being.
~ Enter a weight lifting or powerlifting competition. This will increase your strength and fitness. If you want to reduce weight to be in a particular weight class then you will have a very strong incentive to focus on nutrition and become healthy and trim.
~ Join a local basketball team. This will increase your fitness and agility. It will widen your social circle and when you have a team counting on you, you will show up to training and games without question.
~ Sign up for a bootcamp. Once you have paid your money you will want to make the most of it so you will show up to every session and give your best when you are training with others.
~ Join an orienteering club. This is a great way to get fit, learn navigational skills and enjoy nature. There are also street orienteering events easily accessible in the suburbs and mountain bike orienteering if you’d prefer to ride.

A real life example of using competition to drive you to achieve your goals would be me! I remember the first 100km race I entered. I trained 6 days a week. I had an office job at the time so would get up at 5am to run. Sometimes I’d run the 18km to work and home again. I was also going to class two nights per week to get my personal trainer qualification. And I also worked for myself two nights a week. To top it off I was self-experimenting a lot with nutrition in order to learn more about it (a Certificate in Fitness teaches you next to nothing about nutrition and I wanted to learn more). On the weekend I would sleep in until 6am and go for a 35km run. Everything I did was driven around this goal. My cardio fitness was excellent, my endurance was fantastic, I was also lifting weights so my strength was on the increase, my nutrition meant I could reduce fat despite eating a lot from so much training… oh, and I also reached my goal of running 100km

Another example more recently would be when I entered my first powerlifting competition. I had been wanting to do this for a few years, but thought I would drop weight first to get into the weight class I wanted, and then start training. But as much as I wished this would happen, wishing alone wasn’t enough. So this year I threw that idea out the window and entered my first powerlifting comp! Because it was my first one and I was not expecting to do well, I was not focused on getting into a lower weight class, but during training in the lead up, and still now, I am focusing on nutrition to get me down to the next weight class. And you know what? I am STRONGER than EVER, and I am nearly down to my goal weight class… oh, and I no longer have a sugar addiction I have found it much easier focusing on making weight for my next comp rather than wanting to reduce fat ‘just because’.

I am opening up these posts to comments for the first time. I would love to hear if training for an event has set you up with an improved mindset. Or maybe you’d like to give this a go but just don’t know if you are ready yet. I’m very interested in your questions and thoughts…

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That means your joints have to have the mobility to do the exercises, your muscles have to feel warm and ready to go, and you have to get rid of any stiffness that may cause your workout to suffer. It really is amazing what a difference a good warm up makes to your workout.

Now I am no video guru (as you can tell, I do not even have a microphone!) so excuse the unpolished finish and check out how you should be warming up.

Please share with your friends if this is helpful to you 

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I was so pleasantly surprised with the success of my previous ice cream recipe that I decided to give another one a go. After browsing my recipes here, I realised almost everything revolves around chocolate. Usually I put cocoa powder in everything (and you could add it here too) but decided to stray from this and try something completely different. So here is another nutritious, yet oh-so-sweet, ice cream recipe for you.

Ingredients:

½ Cup Nut Butter
6 Dates (pitted)
2 Cups Rice Milk

Put the dates, nut butter and a splash of milk in a bowl and blend. Gradually add the rest of the milk.

Pour mixture in ice cream maker and follow instructions for ice cream.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, put it in the freezer until it starts to freeze, then take out and blend. Repeat a few times until you get the ice creamy texture you want.

Serves 2-4.

I didn’t blend it completely fine, but left bits in. Partly because I only have a cheap stick blender and partly because I wanted some texture to my ice cream. I used a combination of peanut butter and almond butter. That’s because there was only a bit left in each jar and that was all that was in the house. It tasted great, but you can obviously use whatever you like. I used rice milk because that is the only non-dairy I could find in the supermarket without added sugars. You could also buy or make almond milk, or use any other milk you like. You can of course adjust the quantity of dates as per your taste.

Some other good combos would be:
Ferrero Rocher – ¼C hazelnut butter, ¼C cocoa powder, 6 dates, 2C milk.
Peanut Butter Cup – ¼C peanut butter, ¼C cocoa powder, 6 dates, 2C milk.
PB & Jelly – ¼C peanut butter, 2C milk, ¼C homemade sugar-free jam or jelly stirred in at the end.

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Fruit & Vegetables

1. Shop at a market if you’re not doing it already. For $10 you can buy a week’s worth of vegetables. Cook your food in larger batches so you don’t waste any food that gets old at the bottom of the fridge.
2. Buy food that is in season. Food that is not in season ALWAYS costs more. If you don’t know when each fruit or vegie comes in season then shop at a market or your local green grocer as they will only stock the fresh stuff. For this reason you should avoid supermarkets as much as possible.
3. Frozen vegetables are a good option to keep in your freezer for when you run out of fresh food. They don’t taste as good as fresh, but they are fine when used in cooking.
4. Vegetables that I have found to be the cheapest and go a long way are cabbage, onion and potato. These are so versatile, and if you vary your herbs and spices you will get a great range of tasty meals.
5. Fruit is often more expensive than vegetables and generally doesn’t fill you up so much. If you are counting your pennies then I suggest forgoing fruit. Vegetables generally have a higher nutritional value so you won’t be missing out on much.

Meat

1. My number one tip here is to shop at a farmers market. They are EVERYWHERE here in Melbourne – from Collingwood to Hurstbridge, you can find a farmers market near you. The markets tend to travel so some market locations are monthly, while others are bi monthly or weekly. Search online for a farmers market near you so you can plan in advance when to go.
2. Make friends with your local butcher. The meat is better quality than the supermarket and often cheaper too. Buy larger quantities to cook up a big batch of something, which can be portioned and frozen for future meals. You can also bulk up your meals with potatoes, onion, capsicum and other cheap vegetables.
3. If you have a fishing rod, consider catching a meal or two.
4. Meat is not a cheap source of protein so if times are tough then you should consider vegetarian sources of protein.

Other Protein

1. Dried beans and lentils are dirt cheap. For $2 you can buy a decent sized pack that will last a couple of weeks. Remember to soak overnight and rinse before cooking. Go to markets or Indian grocers to find different varieties.
2. Vegetarian protein can be mixed with meat sources to bulk up the meal while still providing good nutrition.

Other

1. Oats are a decent breakfast choice if eggs are out for you. You should be able to buy a kilo for $1 at most supermarkets.
2. Tinned tomatoes can be very cheap. Stock up on them when you see them on special for under $1.
3. Avoid processed and packaged food as much as possible. It doesn’t fill you up, you are paying more for the packaging, and it’s less nutritious.

Cheap Cooking Ideas

                Vegie stir fry

Combine onion, cabbage, capsicum, broccoli, mushrooms and any other vegies in a big pan. Stir fry with some oil, and spices of your choice. This is a good vegie base that can be added to potato, legumes, tuna or other meat. Refrigerates well.

                Chili mish mash

Cook onion, minced meat, pre-soaked kidney beans, carrot, capsicum, tinned tomatoes, some water and any other vegies in a pot. Add salt, pepper, garlic, dried chili, ground cumin, coriander, paprika and any other spices you like. Freezes well.

                Dahl

Soak some lentils overnight. Be sure to drain and rinse well before cooking. Put in a pot with a tin of tomatoes, some water, vegetables of your choice (eg cauliflower, capsicum, onion, garlic) and add salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric and any other spices. Cook until soft. Freezes well.

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At the start of the year, I challenged myself and everyone else to eliminate sugar for 7 days. If you haven’t done it, give it a go! I felt so good that I continued it, and now it’s March and I still haven’t had any sugar! Of course, when the weather’s warm or I head to the beach, I do feel like an ice cream would be nice, so finally I came up with something that meets my criteria and is dead simple too.

Ingredients:

270mL Coconut Cream
½ cup Apple & Blackcurrant Juice
¼ cup Cocoa Powder

Put all ingredients in a bowl and stir so well combined.

Pour into ice cream maker and make ice cream as per instruction manual.

Done! Could it get any easier??! Well, to make it even easier, I kept my coconut cream in the fridge so it was already cool. This meant the whole ice cream making process only took 10 minutes! Not to mention, 270mL is conveniently the size of the Ayam brand tin. This is the only brand I use as it is one of the few brands that is 100% coconut with no additives, and it has a good texture too.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can blend it up in a bowl, stick it in the freezer until it starts to freeze, then blend again. Do this a couple of times until you get the ice cream texture you like.

You can alter the quantities of juice and cocoa powder to taste. You might also like to use orange juice for a jaffa ice cream, or chuck in a bit of cinnamon or chilli. Just make sure the juice is 100% natural with no additives, otherwise you may as well buy your ice cream from the shops

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If you are training once or twice per week, you should be able to go hard at each session. There are 5 other days in the week for you to fill up on nutritious food, get adequate rest and rejuvenate your body.

EVERYONE can benefit from using foam rollers. They're cheaper than a massage!

To get the full benefits of training, I suggest a minimum of 3 days of exercise per week. Once you are training hard for 3 or 4… or even 7 days per week, you really need to build in a recovery system so that you don’t burn out or get injured. There are several ways to go about this.

If you are training for a race or competition then you need to train hard to get faster and stronger and to be able to beat your personal record. If you are doing the same movements over and over again, such as running, cycling or bench pressing , then you need to program some recovery movements into your training. This might include direct core work, correcting muscle imbalances, foam rolling and stretching. You will also need to make sure your nutrition requirements are met and that your nutrition is geared towards optimal performance. And don’t forget to get enough sleep, as sleep is the time when your body heals itself. Every 3-4 weeks you should take a ‘recovery week’. In this week you will still exercise, but it will be at a lower quantity and intensity than usual. This is enough to keep the legs ticking over, or to maintain good exercise form, but without the stress of hard and heavy training.

If you are training purely for health benefits and you aren’t aiming for a competition of some sort, then the best thing is to have a mix of high intensity training days and recovery days. These recovery days may still include exercise, but as with the recovery week mentioned above, the intensity will be much lower and will be aimed at rejuvenating your body rather than stressing it. Some examples would be a casual swim, a bushwalk, yoga or a dedicated foam rolling and stretching session. Getting adequate hydration and eating for optimal health will of course help your training and recovery too.

So if you are one of those people who like to exercise daily, then make sure you incorporate a recovery system into your plan. Then you can keep training daily knowing it will be positively impacting your body.

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People ask me about nutrient-timing, protein shakes, refeeds, low fat, low carb, intermittent fasting and other dietary hacks. ALL of these things work, but my principle is to keep things simple. If you are still eating processed food, refined sugar, soft drinks or fast food then these are areas you need to look at before you start applying any advanced nutritional strategies. If you only eat healthy whole-foods, keeping that up for an extended period of time WILL show results, albeit sometimes slow.

The problem most people have, is demonstrating dietary CONSISTENCY. That means not deviating from your plan for several months. If you know that your plan is for optimal health, and that there is nothing in there that would cause unwanted body composition change, then you need to have belief in your diet and trust that you will get there eventually.

If you have been consistently eating a whole foods diet for an extended period of time but have come to a plateau for 4 weeks, then you can consider employing an advanced nutritional strategy. There are so many different things you can try so you need to pick one things only and track everything so you know for sure if it works.

But before you get to that stage, check with yourself how consistent you have been and if you really qualify for an advanced strategy. If you think you are ready for it, then decide what you want to try and WHY. If you want to try intermittent fasting because all the cool kids are doing it, then that’s probably not a good reason, and you might not see the benefits you were hoping for. If there is a strategy that suits your lifestyle and is designed to make the changes you want, then give it a go. Always be sure to track your results using body measurements, scales, the mirror, or photos.

If you want more info on advanced nutritional strategies, just let me know. I have tried many methods over the past few years with varying results. My end conclusion is the KISS method – Keep It Simple, Stupid. That is, eat natural unprocessed food.

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