Serratus Anterior Activation Exercises

Push Up Plus: I have said many times on laurens fitness that the push up is a great exercise for the serratus. Here is another version which will simply target the muscle, and ensure that you get full activation quickly. You can even use them when you are warming up to do a normal set of push ups.

Basic Activation Exercise: This exercise is great for people who have a very poor functioning scapula or shoulder. You can use a normal theraband and just make it into a smaller loop. Try it out, some of you may already be way too strong for this, but you will be surprised how easy it is for the serratus anterior muscle to dysfunction.

Side Raise Isolation: Yet another isolation exercise, note that the important point is to raise your upper back and stretch your scapula apart.

Serratus Anterior Compound Exercises

These exercises use your serratus anterior, but to not isolate them specifically, they are compound exercises that use many more muscles. Perfect once you are properly functioning.

Dumbbell Pullover: This exercise will incorporate your serratus anterior muscle whilst also working out your lats and triceps.

Woodchoppers: High or low, medicine or cable, the woodchop is a great way to work your serratus anterior. Also works a lot of your other ‘core’ muscles and is a great one to add in once you need to get stronger.

Push ups: As I have mentioned many times before on Laurens Fitness, push ups are a great exercise to work your serratus anterior muscle. You will find that any kind will really hit them, and they are one of the most effective exercises available. No video necessary!

There are a lot more exercises that work the serratus anterior. As you can imagine this muscle is used in a lot of movements, considering the role the scapula plays. A strong serratus anterior will almost certainly mean great scapula control, and will ensure that your shoulders stay injury free.

Common Posture Problems

As I said before, generalizing is not great, but here I go again. As a general rule people tend to have similar posture problems. Life these days leads to us all having similar issues. Hunched shoulders and sitting down all day. When we stay in one position long enough, our muscles start to think that this is normal. To put basically, our muscles learn and adapt, and if everyday we are telling our pecs to stay in a tight and shortened position, and telling our hip flexors to be in a tight and shortened position, then chances are they are going to stay in a tight and shortened position! Not only will these areas cause problems, but the muscles opposing these actions become lengthened, tight and weak. Your upper back muscles are always on stretch, this can actually cause upper back muscle pain, and cause them to be weak and tight. Likewise, thanks to reciprocal inhibition, when your hip flexors become tight, your glutes tend to turn off. You need these working to ensure proper body mechanics, as well as avoid lower back pain.

Four Stretches & Exercises To Help Your Posture

Considering what is the normal problems that people will suffer from, here will will discuss four ways that you can get better posture support, without have to resort to using a posture support brace. I have given you examples that you can do at home. If you find that they help you, reduce your pain and make you stand up straighter, you can do more aggressive approaches in the gym.

Pec Stretch: You pecs will be tight if you have rounded shoulders. You need to stretch them. Here is a basic pec stretch.


Upper Back Strengthening: It is likely that you upper back muscles are weak and tight. You need to strengthen up this area in order to get your shoulders back. if you have a resistance tube at home you can do this exercise. In the gym do the seated row or lat pull down. Check out this post on upper back stretches for more information about this topic.

Hip Flexor Stretch: You need to stretch your hip flexors if you are sitting down all day. Here is a great hip flexor stretch.

hip flexor stretch

Glute Strengthening: Strengthen your glutes by doing bridges at home. This easy looking exercise is actually quite hard. Start with two legs if you need.

bridges for your bum

Now you know how to get should and back posture support, of course, everyone will have different problems. However if you are like most of the world these days and are sitting at a desk for endless hours, then try these simple exercises at home, and see if you feel better.

The causes of a pinched nerve in neck will vary. Often they occur because of a certain injury, or trauma to the neck. Tight muscles and muscle imbalances are also common causes. Be aware that people will often confuse a pinched nerve in the neck, for a pinched nerve in shoulder, as the pain is commonly found in the shoulder and not in the neck. A herniated or bulging disc is another common cause of a pinched nerve. As you can imagine, if the disc has a bulge in it, and it compresses the nerve, you will suffer symptoms. Poor posture and age (degeneration of the vertebrae) are also factors that you need to take into account.

Symptoms Of A Pinched Nerve In Neck

If you have a pinched nerve in the neck there are a few symptoms that you may suffer from.The most important point to note is that the pain may actually refer itself away from the neck region, to anywhere in the body. Commonly it is referred to the shoulder, arm wrist and hand. You may have symptoms in the site of the impingement, but the most common occurrence is a referral of the pain. You may experience:

• Muscle weakness in the innervated muscles.
• Pain in the area and referred through the body.
• Muscle spasms due to the compression of the nerve.
• Loss of sensation or pins and needles on the skin.

how a pinched nerve in the neck refers pain...

Treatment For Pinched Nerve In Neck

If you want to make your pinched nerve better by yourself at home, there are home remedies for a pinched nerve. be aware that you should always get yourself checked out professionally, to ensure that you know exactly what you have and treat it accordingly. Pinched nerve in neck treatment can be quite simple if you have the knowledge.

Given that the first point of call when you are treating a pinched nerve is to reduce the inflammation in the area to help take the pressure off the nerve, this is what you should focus on initially. You can put ice on the area to help reduce the inflammation. This along with some anti inflammatory medicines are a means for you to reduce your pain and help your symptoms on your own at home.

Other treatments options that will often be implemented by a professional include exercise regime. Getting strong and reducing the muscle imbalances and correcting your posture will help to take the pressure off the nerve. Surgery is always a last case scenario, and one that is almost always avoided in this case.

What Does Stress Do To Your Body Physiologically?

Stress in any type of form, whether it be from a hard day at work, a fight with your spouse, or perceived danger will affect your body physiologically. Hormones such as adrenalin and cortisone are released and generally these will work to speed up your heart rate, slow down your digestion, shunt blood flow to larger muscle groups, and also cause other changes in the body that will help to give the body a burst of energy. This may sound great, but when it is activated from simple daily activities and constant stress, it isn’t great for your body. Chronic stress is what we are talking about, and unfortunately the same responses are triggered…just all the time. Normally, the body will have a relaxation response after immediate stress, but in regards to chronic stress, things are a little different. If the stress response is activated often enough, the body is not given a chance to return to resting/ relaxation state…and this is when chronic stress occurs.

So What Can This Actually Do To Your Body?

Well people that are under a lot of chronic stress often have a very active autonomic nervous system. There are many symptoms of chronic stress, caused by the bodies physiological response, mostly as a result of the hormones released. Some examples:

• Chronic headaches
• Colds
• Depression
• Hair Loss
• Diabetes
• Over active thyroid
• Obesity
• Anxiety
• Ulcers

and many more…

Stress in something that is apparent in many people lives now, and we need to learn how to combat it, how to relax, and how to let our body be in a more healthier state constantly.

13 Great Ways To Relax And Relieve Stress

Drink More Water: There is a link between stress reduction and water consumption. Higher water intake will help keep your cortisol levels down. Drink more of it.

Exercise More: Again, a wonderful tool at regulating your hormones. Not to mention throwing a few weights around can relieve some psychological stress too…

Eat Healthy: All about the hormones, control them with a balanced diet. Keeping your blood sugar regulated doesn’t hurt either. Stick to healthy foods 90% of the time, and you really will feel less stressed.

Take A Day Off: Work is one of the biggest stress complaints for most people. If you need a day off from what is stressing you, take it. Often it is the boost you need mentally to get back at it and relax your body for one day.

Organize Your Time: Chronic stress sufferers are often busy people. Organize your time and ensure that you keep your stress levels down.

Try Progressive Muscle Relaxation: If you suffer from chronic stress there is a huge change that you have trouble relaxing. Try progressive muscle relaxation to see if it can get you into a more relaxed state. Basically tense one group of muscles for around 10 seconds, and relax, Start with your hands and move through your body.

Get More Sleep: Possibly not so easy for those with chronic stress…but try. Sleep is when the good hormones come out to play, you need it.

Go To A Spa: The ultimate relax day. You will feel like new, trust me.

Listen To Music: Music is a proven stress reliever. Find something that relaxes you, sit down or lay down with it, close your eyes and just listen.

Spends Time With Friends: Laughter is the best medicine, seriously. Call some old friends and get together. There is nothing more stress relieving than taking your mind off the things that you deal with every day.

Get Busy In Bed: Well, sex is a proven stress reliever…perhaps you need more?

Static Stretching: As much as this is bashed on certain blogs similar to mine, static stretching has its place, I have always said so. it does relax the muscles, if nothing else. So sit down and have a good static stretch, just to feel better.

Get A Massage: Similar to static stretching… a massage just feels lovely and can help release some good hormones.

If you want more ways to relax…check out this book!

Hopefully you have a few ways to battle your daily stress. It is important for your health, and something you need to make sure that you get on top of.

I have been thinking about this subject a lot myself, as my personal motivation fluctuates from day to day, week to week, and month to month. This is what I came up with and hope it helps motivate you too!

M – Mind: You must first make up your MIND to just “do it already.” Sitting on the couch thinking about it or watching shows like the Biggest Loser are not going to get you up and moving. It’s up to you and no one else. You must have a mind set in which “you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to.”

O – Objective: What’s your OBJECTIVE? (Websters: Something worked toward or striven for; a goal.) Don’t go to a gym or purchase a few DVD’s without first making your plan of attack. What do you want in the end, why do you want this change, what’s your time line, and how can you make it happen?

T – Time: Prioritize your TIME. If you don’t make the time to workout within your busy life schedule, you will never fit it in. It must be moved to the top of the list. Other things may have to be set aside for a while. When you reach your goal and are maintaining, then you can pick those thing up again.

I – Invite: INVITE friends/family to workout with you. Having someone with the same excitement for change, helps push you to a new level. Start a support group or fun competition at your work. If your friends/family do not want to workout with you, explain to them how important it is you have their support.

V – Vary: Exercise can get boring fast or become just a routine. So VARY it up and keep things fresh and new. Try different classes at your local gym, take a day to ride your bike, run or walk outside. Purchase different DVD’s with different trainers and styles of workouts and fitness levels.

A – Attitude: Nothing can make or break you as fast as your ATTITUDE. You must walk into the gym with positive attitude. Continue to tell yourself you can do it and you are proud of yourself. It’s OK to pat yourself on the back. As soon as you tell yourself you can’t, your workouts will come to a fast end.

T – Train: The word TRAIN means teaching your body to do something it may not have done before. Don’t get upset if you can’t do something the first few times. With training, your body will adapt and start to change. The average change starts to show in 6-8 weeks. Hang in there and keep pressing forward.

I – Information: If you have never worked out before you must gather INFORMATION. Use resources such as Your Happy Hearts.com and other sites to gather the information you need. Learn about proper food and diet, different exercise routines and proper form and how much rest in between workouts you need. Teach yourself everything you can. The more informed you are the better your results.

O – Obstacles: Remember OBSTACLES will get in your way no matter who you are. Whether it be the family, work, injury/soreness, your time, etc. It’s up to you to push through and come out the other side still fighting. No one said it would be easy. Or there wouldn’t be overweight people in the world today. Easy isn’t something to be proud of. Overcoming obstacles and getting incredible results is.

N – Never: “NEVER say NEVER”. If you think “I will never be able to do this or I will never look like that” You won’t! You have to be confident you can do anything you set your mind to. Think back on something you did in which you weren’t sure about and it turned out to be one of the best experiences of your life. You won’t know until you try!

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There are two ways you can and need to recover.

• Immediate Recovery
• Ongoing Recovery

The methods that I will talk about today will be a variety of both, and we’ll discuss when to use each one effectively.

Why Do We Need To Recover?

A good recovery routine will get us back to our optimal working state. The faster you get back to where you should be, the harder and more effectively you can train, and the more gains you will likely achieve. Recovery will not only get you back to your original state, but it will also help the body to super-compensate, adapt to the training you are doing, and get the gains you were working for. No recovering properly also puts you at a greater risk of injury. There is no doubt that neuromuscular fatigue has a large affect on our movement patterns. When you have deficiencies you will be placing an increased demand on certain muscles and tissues within the body. Recruitment patterns get messed up, and you increase your risk of further fatigue and injury. Recovery can be immediate and ongoing, and it is important to take a good look at your specific needs, the regeneration process, much like the conditioning process, is definitely an individual one.

Fatigue Explained

You can put fatigue into four basic categories, all of which need addressing during the recovery process, and all of which will affect performance in certain individuals.

• Metabolic Factors: Insufficient energy.
• Neural Factors: Nervous system fatigue.
• Environmental Factors: Travel, weather.
• Psychological Factors: Emotional/ stress

Effective Recovery Methods

Here are some of the most effective methods of recovery. They are not all scientifically well backed, but all show positive results in a lot of athletes, and simply need further research. I certainly have used them all to some degree of success.

Cool Down

First and foremost, don’t neglect the cool down phase. Any exercise where there are hard intervals involved you really do need to include a full cool down. Weights sessions don’t need the whole gig, much less or no active recovery and a lot more mobility work to ensure you relax the muscles and decrease adrenaline, but the cool down certainly is an important part of any session.

This can involve two parts for intense exercise:

• Walking around, lightly jogging, and keeping on moving directly after a game or tough session will ensure that you prevent blood pooling (blood pooling in the legs), helps to slowly reduce adrenaline levels, and reduce muscle stiffness (not yet scientifically proven, but positive results). Keep moving for at least 5 minutes, longer if your session or game was very hard, and be sure to perform some active stretches and light mobility exercises along the way.
• Static stretching is massively opposed in a lot of circles, and there is not much evidence backing it as a recovery method, however what we do know is it feels good and it certainly releases a relaxing effect, which can only help to stimulate growth hormones, necessary for recovery and adaptation. Although scientifically it is not proven for performance enhancement, and should actually be avoided pre exercise, it has been shown to decrease the injury rate and aid recovery somewhat. However, the more active recovery that you participate in directly after exercise, the longer you take, and the more range of motion work you do, the less static stretching you will need. In fact, it should then be individualized, and concentrated in areas of decreased mobility or extra tight spots in certain people. I am all for static stretching POST tough session and weights session, combined with active stretching and some massage modalities and always do it. Especially for problem areas such as hip flexor and pectoral muscles.

static stretch?

photo credit: hisashi_0822

Contrast Methods

Alternating between hot and cold is becoming a very popular way to recover. Physiological methods are still being discussed, whether it is the constriction of the veins helping remove ‘crap’ from the muscles, simply a decrease in sensation allowing you to perform a more active recovery without pain, relaxes the muscle and decreases neural activity, or whether it is all three combined… what is sure is that contrast baths or showers to enhance and speed up recovery, at least as much as an active cool-down. The best evidence, try it yourself. You feel better, then its a goer.

Play around with the time, however here are some good guidelines to start with:

• Shower Contrast Therapy- 30 seconds cold as you can stand, 30 seconds hot. Repeat at least 3 times. Extra soreness in special area, localize the shower head there is possible.
• Spa/ Ice bath Contrast Therapy- 4 minutes in the spa, 1 minute in the ice bath or plunge pool.

If you need greater relaxation in the shower, just up the warm water time.

The exception here is with an inflammation injury you might want to stay away from the heat, just do an ice bath. Heat isn’t great for an injury in the early stages and may only inflame it some more.

Hydrotherapy

Hydrotherapy covers a really big blanket of recovery therapies, all of which really do help to reduce soreness, or simply leave you feeling much better. Again, as I seem to keep repeating myself, the scientific back up here is a bit sketchy. It is a little unsure as to why the benefits occur, may it be from water temperature, hydrostatic pressure (like a compression force on the body that causes fluid movement in your body), simply the ability to do low impact mobility work or who knows why…the fact is that it works, heaps of people get great results, myself included, so I am going to simply tell you what to do. Try it out yourself and see the benefits.

it's fun too!!

photo credit: drewzuckerman

In The Pool: You can do a pool session as a recovery session when you are feeling a bit down and in need of some energy. It is also a great active recovery method, that we will talk about later. Get in the pool, for 30-45 minutes you are basically moving around. Try to do a routine something like this, you only need half the length of a lane for most of it, repeat everything 3 times

• Walking
• Side steps
• Lunges
• Side lunges
• High kicks (obviously slow in the water!)
• High knees & Butt Flick
• Do a few laps of an easy stroke
• Some static stretching in the water

You can always make it tougher by adding in some water running, or some more actually swimming, but either way, this will leave you feeling refreshed.

In The Ocean: The sea is a great place to do some recovery. It’s cold and it’s salty. Perfect! Same deal, get in, walk around, swim out, come back in the shallows and do some active mobility work and you are done. An instant pick me up for anyone who has not tried it.

Salt Baths: Epsom salt baths are a very popular way to recover. The proposed mechanism is the uptake of magnesium by your skin. This is a rally important mineral that helps with muscle relaxation.

Nutrition

One of the most important aspect of recovery, if not the most. You gotta get your nutrition right after exercise or a game to ensure that you replenish what you lost, and get the gain that you need. When we are looking at nutritional recovery, we are looking at a few factors.

• Refueling the muscle and liver glycogen stores
• Replacing fluid loss and electrolyte loss
• Building new muscles proteins

Refuel

During high intensity exercise, muscle glycogen is what we use first, and it is what we need to replenish first. Immediately after exercise some carbohydrates should be taken in. Ensure that you get some protein in, as amino acids are essential to building muscle (protein powders are good, but there are a lot of natural sources of protein out there) Try to get at least 50 grams of carbohydrates in if the exercise was high intensity. After a high intensity day, or game, ensure that you keep replenishing your carbohydrate stores… for the majority of you, you won’t need to concentrate so much on this, immediate post workout nutrition is the key).

For just weights sessions, it is recommended that you take in protein plus carbohydrate (with a high GI) within 30 minutes of finishing your session. There is a window where your body will use it more effectively. If you aren’t a fan of protein powder, a milk plus a banana is a great option, can of tuna on some crackers… you get the picture. Eat something high in protein and with some carbohydrates (helps the uptake of the protein to the muscle) directly after the session.

Rehydrate

You pretty much always end up in a fluid deficit after any type of training, and it is regularly ignored. Bad idea. Fluid deficits can affect performance in later training’s and hinder recovery. try to get in well over 100% of your fluid loss in the hours after your training. Ensure, especially in the case of heavy aerobic exercise r intense exercise that you get some electrolyte replacement as well. Gatorade is good for this. Totally not necessary for the average gym goer doing 30 minutes on the treadmill, in fact will probably interfere with weight loss goals… too much energy.

drink up...

photo credit: Steve Snodgrass

Real Food or Supplements for Recovery?

You don’t necessarily need to have supplements to reach your goals, especially if you are not a highly trained athlete. Start by getting real food into your body, and ensure that you don’t double up. That will only lead to weight gain, and you probably don’t need it. Ideally if you can get real food in, do that… but protein powder provides an easy option to ensure that you get what you need directly after you training or game. It is simply too convenient to ignore.

Soft Tissue Methods

• Myofascial release: We have spoken a lot about this in tennis ball therapy and fascia pain. Check out those two articles for more information. I won’t go into more information right now, you have thorough guides there. It is essential to recovery and you will instantly get better mobility, so just do it. Foam rollers are super cheap, and massage balls even cheaper. Read the articles and find out more for yourself, you will feel a difference and this is one that any type of athlete or regular exerciser should do.

Best Foam Roller From Amazon

• Massage: Getting a massage can have two effects on the body. Mechanical or reflexive. Mechanical is the result of stretching the muscle tissues, stroked, kneading, pressing.. which leads to better circulation, stretching of soft tissue, breaking down scar tissue, and improving tissue permeability. Reflex occurs when the actions of the massage can result in a change in function. Massage is a really great way to speed up recovery, and simply does help. Whether you can get it done professional, do some self massage on your own, or get a partner to help, you will feel both psychological and physiological benefits that will enhance your recovery.

Muscle Stimulation

only $99!

The use of electromyostimulation, or EMS, which is the little machine that send electric pulses into the muscle is a form of recovery used widely. Not  as necessary as some, it does give you that extra bit of recovery. It can act like a massage in that it stimulates the blood flow and creates a pumping effect. Electronic muscle stimulators can help to induce a relaxation state and also breakdown adhesion’s that may exist between muscle fibers. You have to own a machine for it, and they are pretty expensive, but if you are interested, you can see a wide range of cheaper EMS machines here at amazon. The one in the pic is just $99.

Active Rest

Rest doesn’t always have to be total rest. Although there are going to be occasions where that is essential, you also need to keep in mind that sometimes moving is better than not. Active recovery can comprise of two different things. You can either do the same activity you were doing, at a much lower intensity. Take the body through the motions, either lower the weight, the speed or the duration. It ensures that you keep the body moving, your muscles active, the correct movement patterns activated, but you also get a bit of active rest. If you were going to do a leg workout, you still can, just do it lighter. Do some light bum exercises to ensure that you activate your glutes, and some push ups instead of a heavy exercise like bench press.

On the other hand, active rest can be something completely different, and this has the psychological benefit added in as well. As we mentioned above a pool session is a great form of active recovery. Walking is very underrated, and a long walk can enhance your recovery immensely. If you are in a team sport, maybe try playing another sport if your players are down, it helps to give the body a break from the usual movements, but also keeps the blood flowing at a lower intensity.

Sleep

whatever you can get?

photo credit: Gregorios Kythreotis

Extremely important that most of us mess up. This is the time when your growth hormones are released, and you get the best chance at recovering. You need to get into a good sleeping routine in order to recover properly, and if you don’t have one, make it a priority. Here are some tips to a better nights sleep.

• Avoid caffeine after 2pm, caffeine is thought to have a 9 hour life span, so just don’t drink it after 2pm, even if you are adapted to it and you don’t think if affects you much, try to abstain and see how you sleep.
• Try some relaxation techniques once you get into bed, clenching your major muscle groups and relaxing them is a great way to start to relax all your muscles.
• Sleep in total darkness, you will be amazed how much light can affect your sleep.
• Get rid of anything electronic prior to sleeping.
• Take a good book to bed, it helps you relax.
• Avoid alcohol prior to bedtime.
• Create a pattern and try to get up at the same time everyday.

Do You Need All These Sports Recovery Methods?

Nope, definitely not. Especially if you aren’t training everyday. However, the fact is that we will all get sore and tired from time to time. Having a regular recovery routine will ensure that we get back to our normal state and increase the gains we can achieve. This is really important for any type of athlete. Try out a few of the methods, do some consistently, and add a few more in when you feel especially in need of a pick me up.

Enjoy!

We will first take a look at the nutrition value of pasta. To keep it simple, I am going to look at simple white spaghetti, and simple whole grain spaghetti. There are simply too many variations to go through them all.

image: caloriecount.about.com

As you can see, per serving (1 cup, very small serving!!!), pasta is high in calories. Whole grain does have a much better profile in regards to dietary fiber, and is slightly lower in calories. It is also usually higher in magnesium than white pasta, another important vitamin.

Do You Really Need It?

You have to weigh up what you get out of it, opposed to the energy you are consuming. Pasta, as you can see above, is a food high in calories, especially for the nutrients you get out of it. This is good and bad, depending who you are. If you are part of a very small percentage of the population, who is a professional endurance athlete, trains twice a day or participates in a hugely ridiculous amount of exercise, then this is a great thing. Energy above and beyond is a must. You need energy to train, and not having enough can cause a wide variety of problems. In saying that, you can still get your calories from sources with more nutrients. For example, I train twice a day, but am involved in a power sport. I need more energy than the average person, but I still have to be careful. I don’t eat pasta, and get most of my carbs and energy from proteins, legumes and veggies… and a lot of them at that. On the other hand, a male long distance runner will burn an enormous amount of calories, and will simply need to top them up however he can get them, this is very important for sports recovery and will help to avoid overtraining in sport.

Now, back to a very large percentage of the population, who don’t exercise like a mad man and need to somewhat control out energy intake, then pasta is probably not the best choice. High in calorie, and low in nutrients, there are definitely other choices you can make. Be aware that you want to get bang for your buck, eat foods that will contribute to your body in a good way, most of the time. Veggies, legumes and fruits are all carbohydrate sources that provide a lot of vitamins and nutrients. I don’t necessarily advocate a low carbohydrate diet, if you read on I will explain more, however, to avoid weight gain, give your body what it needs, and help weight loss if necessary, then pasta is simply not a good choice 90% of the time. If you do eat it, ensure that it is directly after exercise, where your body will use it better. I will always argue it is better to stay away from processed grains most of the time, if not completely for the majority of the population, however, whole grain is so much better than white. If you are going to choose pasta, make sure it is whole grain.

Moderation Is The Key

Like anything else, moderation is a key. Pasta is OK at times for anyone. One cup is a standard serving of pasta, and if you think about it, when we eat pasta for dinner we are much more likely to have a huge bowl full. Anything in moderation is fine. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you need to learn to eat a balanced diet. Ensure that the majority of your energy is providing you with nutrients and vitamins, and understand that most processed carbohydrates will not achieve that. As I mentioned before, I will always argue that you don’t really need processed grains at all. However, there are a lot of healthy people and athletes that eat a lot of them, and need them, without a doubt. I won’t ever go to one extreme, and there are always a few points of view. A healthy balanced diet is the key, and less processed grains is always going to contribute to you eating more vegetables… and you don’t have to be a nutritionist to know that is good. You don’t need to avoid pasta like the plague, but be smart about how much, the type of pasta and when you eat it.

Low Carb Diet The Way To Go?

After this you may think I am advocating a low carb diet. No. Traditionally when you look at a low carb diet, you are talking about zero carbs, all meat… basically a heap of protein and fat. I am telling you to have a safely balanced diet. There is no doubt that excess energy causes weight gain, and high GI and sugary foods speed that up. If you choose the right time to eat your carbohydrates (after exercise) and choose the right type (legumes, vegetables, fruits…basically no WHITE carbohydrates and preferably nothing processed) then you are making the right decisions. Carbohydrates provide energy, we need energy to live. A very low carb diet is not a good idea, and not one of the diets that work longterm but you need to get them from better sources. A dangerously low carb diet is only going to result in low energy and fatigue, definitely not what we want. For further information check out healthy fat loss.

Better Alternatives

If you need to eat pasta for whatever reason, go for the whole grain type. There is about 10 times more dietary fiber involved, and that is very important. It will also lower the GI (which is already quite low, a positive for pasta). For those that are trying to lose weight, avoid any type of processed carbohydrate, especially of the white variety, unless it is directly after exercise. Eat a whole lot of vegetables, fruits and legumes, and you will still get a LOT of carbs in, just ones that are also nutrient and vitamin dense, and give you something else for your energy.

So, in conclusion… of course pasta is not unhealthy, but I will argue that you have other, and better choices to make. Processed carbohydrates don’t give you a lot of nutrient value (in comparison with other foods), but are certainly necessary at time and for certain people. Just be smart, eat in moderation, concentrate on stocking up your plate with veggies and legumes, eat more lean proteins, and you really can’t go wrong…

How To Stretch Your Hip Flexors from LaurensFitness on Vimeo.

Great Breakfast Options

We have repeatedly spoken about the benefits of eating enough protein in your diet. You probably need more, not just for the muscle builders, but for those wanting to lose weight as well. Protein will help speed up the weight loss process, and filling your plate with it will only lead to good things. I like to get a bit more of it in the morning as well, and along with some slow burning carbs, it really provides you with a kick-start to your day. You will ensure that you stay full for longer, and get through until lunch without the usual cravings. There are three things that I personally rotate for breakfast, I tend to stay away from bread, so my mornings will be an omelette, a smoothie or some porridge, or oats if you aren’t from down under! Here are a few ideas and why each option is so great. 

Omelette

Eggs are great. They have 7 grams of protein in each servings, and you can eat them however you want. An omelette is an even better option because you can get a whole lot of other nutrients in there and really pump up your breakfast. Some options to put in your omelette to get taste and nutrition are:

• Ham
• Chicken
• Mushrooms
• Tomatoes
• Onion
• Cottage Cheese (it’s like super cheese… seriously)
• Any Vegetable Your Stomach Desires

Seriously super easy, whisk two eggs, dice up your ingredients, put it all in a frying pan and even the most disastrous of cooks cannot go wrong.

Smoothies

Smootheis are fantastic because you can get a whole lot of good things in there, quickly and conveniently. If you use your imagination you can really work out some great smoothies. If you want to get extra protein in make sure you use some milk, and you can even put a scoop of protein powder in there. For interest sake I will put my morning smoothie up:

• Milk
• Water
• 1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
• 1 Tub low fat sugar free strawberry yoghurt
• Frozen berries/ strawberries (Lots!)
• Banana

It’s super simple but it tastes great. If I have it after workout I usually put two scoops of protein in.

Porridge/ Oats

Porridge is a great option, you can put whatever you want in it, and you get slow burning carbs and a hit of protein. You can make it with milk or water, and add whatever you like. I put a scoop of vanilla protein powder and a banana in. Berries go well, honey for some sweetness, cinnamon, yoghurt… the options are endless. Oats will fill you up and keep you going for much longer.

We have discussed the benefits of eating breakfast before, but it is something that is more than necessary to reiterate. Breakfast kick-starts your day and gets you going, if you can throw in some natural protein sources in there, you are doing even better. Like I have said before, eating something is better than eating nothing, but any of these three things are a prefect breakfast that you can really get your body and your metabolism going nicely. Try to add them to the start of your day and you will see the benefits immediately.