The Benefits of Stretching + Video Special!

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Stretching is an active recovery technique that can help the muscles become stronger, longer, and more relaxed.  While it has been debated whether or not stretching helps prevent injury (or even creates injury), there are several benefits of stretching on a daily basis.

Increase Flexibility

Whether you are swimming, biking, or running, most of us can use some help with flexibility.  Flexibility can be useful to increase athletic performance, especially on the bike using the aero position.  The more flexible you are, the farther down you can be positioned on your aero bars, the more aerodynamic you will be, and therefore the faster and efficient you will be.  In swimming, Ankle flexibility is very important but difficult to do.  It should be mentioned that stretching your ankles can be risky for injury and should be preceded cautiously.

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Improve Circulation

Not only will stretching your muscles improve circulation, but the actual ACT of stretching is a low level aerobic activity that will improve circulation as well.  This will increase recovery and hopefully performance in subsequent workouts. 

Relaxation

Stretching can be a great way to relax and wind down at the end of the day.  If you suffer from mild cases of certain insomnias (like having difficulties falling asleep) you may want to include a quiet stretching routine before you head to bed.

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When to Stretch

• ·        At the end of a day
• ·        On an off/recovery day
• ·        When you feel very tight

When NOT to Stretch (static)

• ·        When muscles are seriously sore
• ·        Before any workout
• ·        Immediately after difficult/long workouts

Stretching when the body has already stretched itself out or is already damaged is a sure way to damage the body more.  Also, stretching before workouts decrease the potential power production those muscles can create.  Take a look at MCT Triathlon’s Video Stretching Special below for a great daily head to toe routine!

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VIDEO SPECIAL!

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Eating Healthy is LAME! : Nutritional Series

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Nutrition, like exercise, is considered by many as a lifestyle, not a task to an end.  What’s great about, Lifestyle is it can shift, but only in small increments.  The human body craves nutritious and healthy food and good quality exercise.  Yet because the way we have evolved, it is easy to be self-destructive with the foods and activity patterns of modern society.  I would like you as the reader, not to be defensive towards the ideas listed here.  Read them, learn them, and even apply them if you wish.  

I have been living a low sugar/carb, natural diet for a few years now.  I stay away from most processed and high sugar foods.  Though last week I visited my Aunt’s house in long island and fell away from my normal diet.  She makes the Greatest chocolate chip cookies known to man and just like Crack-Cocaine, the high of getting one, is all about getting more.  After eating about 12 cookies, I became nauseous (like I usually do) and felt sluggish for the next 2 days.  It's easy to realize how un-healthy certain things are when you don’t have them often.  But how can you move to a healthier lifestyle?  It’s not as easy as a magical transformation or going cold turkey from all un-healthy foods… It’s about small lifestyle changes.  

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Below is a screen shot of a healthy lifestyle presentation I made for increasing athletic performance.  The graph stresses the importance of taking small steps to change your lifestyle.  While, you will notice you become stressed when your lifestyle shifts to an “un-healthier” state, you also become stressed (temporarily) when your lifestyle shifts to a healthier state.  Only when this new stress disappates and becomes part of your normal lifestyle should you include another healthy habit and stress the lifestyle again.  (Athletes, does this sound familiar?  Stress the body, rest, stress the body, rest)

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How to: Try using the following steps to make small lifestyle changes healthier and happier living!

The LAME Method

Limit – Every 2-3 weeks, Limit intakes of damaging nutrition.  Find one “un-healthy” staple of your diet and greatly limit your intake.  Some examples would be Soda, Fast-food, or other processed foods such as high added sugars, hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated oils.  This goes for activity as well, possibly limit TV to two hours instead of three.

Add – Every 2-3 weeks, add intakes of healthy nutrition.  Find a healthier food to try to regularly add to your diet.  These can include fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, olive oil, eggs, or even daily goals.  Goals could be shown as “eating a fresh vegetable/fruit at every meal,” or eating a healthy non-sugar/carb breakfast every day.  You can devote to add a 15-30 minute slow walk around the neighborhood after meals.  These smalls decisions will add up over the weeks and months and slowly develop your lifestyle without stress.

Maintain – After 2-3 weeks ends and a new cycle begins, try to continue with the small lifestyle changes you had made recently and try to incorporate another cycles of changes with those.  If you haven’t become completely accustomed to the new changes that were made, don’t incorporate anything new but take another week or two and get used to what you changed.  It’s not perfect, but what lifestyle is? 

Enjoy – You may find that over time you can’t imagine how you lived without the new changes.  Your changes hopefully become routine and easy to remember over time.  Just remember, it’s just a series of small, slow steps to healthier living.  But the most important factor is to ENJOY what you are doing.  If you don’t like tofu, try eggs, if you don’t like zucchini, try a cucumber instead.  Tastes, preferences, and abilities all vary and there are endless possibilities to living healthy!  Eat, Exercise, Enjoy!

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The "Mainstream" Disagreement - Dr. Oz's Eggs - Nutritional Series

Recently Dr. Oz had an article in the June edition of  People's magazine on 15 things you should carry in your kitchen.  There were a few things that carried with them a certain "myth-busting" feeling.  For years, many of these foods have been seen as harmful to the human body and should be avoided at all costs.  It's incredible how slowly the mainstream view on diet changes and what really should be and not be included in our diets.  The following is an explanation of certain disagreements between Dr. Oz and mainstream thinking.

Vitamin Supplements
This debate goes back and forth on the truth about vitamin absorption rates in multivitamins and supplements.  Dr. Oz suggests a multivitamin and calcium be included in our diet, not as a substitute, but just as a way to make sure everything is there.  If you're worried about the mainstream thought that vitamins are a waste of money because the majority never gets absorbed into your bloodstream, try a liquid multivitamin like ReViva.  (I always like buying in Bulk from Sam's Club, saves me some money.)

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Milk

1-2% Milk is Great

What's suggested?  Give it a guess!  Whole milk? 2%? 1%? Skim?  Dr. Oz gives the go ahead to buy 2% milk (Organic).  But mainstream always suggests Skim to be healthiest, like blogs and articles like Skinny Chef tell us!  The human body works more efficiently when it has all the vitamins, minerals, structural macro-nutrients (protein and fat), and energy macro-nutrients (carbs) working together at once.  It is said by some experts that calcium is more readily absorbed in the body in higher fat milk than skim and that the higher saturated fat content isn't as bad for you as once thought.  Take your milk experience to the next level and look for Raw Milk (from grass fed cows) which includes higher packed and easily digestible nutrients.

On a side note: Milk is a great after workout recovery snack.  Take a glass and choose a workout from the Fitness Workout Database!

Do Not Avoid Eggs!

Eggs
Say it!  Go for it!  "Cholesterol in eggs is bad for you."  Well, Dr. Oz says you should keep Eggs (organic/free range) in your kitchen.  "Yes, even the yolk."  Unfortunately, studies from decades ago still rule mainstream thought that eggs lead to heart disease and other "wonderful" illnesses.  Eggs should be viewed as the start of life and therefore bursting with the building blocks for the human body.  Eat plentiful every morning, crack a few open for lunch, and maybe even throw in one with your steak for dinner.  (As an Elite athlete, I eat 4 eggs every morning. 2-3 a day is perfectly safe and healthy.)  While Free Range eggs cost a little more, they tend to be 10-20 times more nutrient packed than regular eggs.  A suggestion for the financial minded: Buy 2 packs, one regular pack, one organic pack, and use 1 of each for breakfast.  Another suggestion:  Use an Egg Slicer on Hardboiled eggs for convenient eating, and wonderful salad presentations.

Well there you have it, myths twisted in a knot.  Take your vitamins, eat your eggs, and drink your milk and you will grow to be strong and healthy!

Workout of the Week
The Brick of Death by Sue Rodgers in MCT Triathlon's Workout Website Wiki

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The Ultimate Stew

This is an ridiculously healthy and amazingly delicious stew. Take a look at the MCT TriathlonVideo!



Ingredients:

• Cabbage
• 2 Green Peppers
• 1 Green Zucchini
  
• 2 Yellow Squash
• 1 Butternut Squash
• 1 Head of Garlic
• 1 lb of Carrots
• I head of Broccoli
  
• 2 Heads of Celery
• 3 White Potatoes
  
• 4 Sweet Potatoes
• 1 Larger carton of Mushrooms
• 1 Large Can of Diced Tomatoes
• 3 Yellow Onions
• 1 Can of Chick Peas
• 1 Can of Kidney Beans
• 1 Can of Black Beans
• 1 Can of Sweet Golden Corn
• 1 Can of Sweet Peas
• I Can of Water Chestnuts
  
• 3 Cans of Lower Sodium Beef Broth
  
• 2.5 lbs of Meat (sirloin tip)
  
• 1 Medium Bag of Barley
  
• To Your Liking
• Salt
• Garlic Pepper
• Garlic Salt
• Pepper
• Italian Seasonings

Directions:

• Dice up all the Vegetables and Meat
• Brown the Meat in the Pot
• Throw in the rest of the Vegetables
• Boil and cook the rest of the Barley separately
• Keep low and Cook the stew on a low light for 4-5 hours - constantly stirring
• Spice the Stew to your liking
  

Note: The Stew is going to taste bland on first making. Spice the stew somewhat excessively and to your liking. Find the Video at the WWW or Youtube.

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