Recovery Aids

Happy Turkey Day week to everyone, hope that you and your loved ones get together and have a great time. Me and my adventure race team hit it hard today in Miami at Oleta Park, literally I hit it hard. This was my first time mountain biking a trail and I crashed at least 30 times. We managed to get 15 miles in on the bike, an hour long kayak ride and an awesome 5 mile trail run to finish our day and did I mentioned it rained all day. This is the longest activity I have ever partaken in and man do I feel great mentally. I’ve accomplished and pushed myself to the limits that I never thought I could do. Physically I feel like I got hit by a bus, so this is why I am going to go over a few of my recovery tricks to help me power through the next day’s workouts.

Nutrition: The better fuel you put into your body, the faster you can recover from a workout. If I know I have a big day ahead of me I pack my food the day before and I make sure I eat a lot of calories the day before and right after the training session. These calories not only help me power through my workouts but the help my muscles recover from such a grueling workout.

Ice Baths: I do these every so often to help regenerate some blood flow to my legs. The freezing cold water helps your muscles recover because of the shock it provides to them. With this shock it gives you more blood flow and with more blood flow comes nutrients and muscle recovery. Note: Be sure to get in the cold water before you put the ice in.

Epsom Salt Baths:  The two main components of Epsom Salts are magnesium and sulfate. Magnesium helps the body regulate activity in over 300 enzymes. It plays a role in energy production, muscle control, and elimination of toxins.

Many folks are deficient in magnesium these days. Food, environmental factors, and lifestyle all lend to deficiency. Industrial farming has depleted magnesium from soil.

A diet high in fat and sugar further depletes this essential mineral. Too much calcium will deplete it, and yet calcium works the best when there is a good amount of Magnesium. Making sure both are entering the body is important for maintaining balance.

For some who want more magnesium, supplements are a great option. For others, they do not easily assimilate into the body. Absorption in the digestive tract may not happen, or stomach acid blocks assimilation. A bath with epsom salts is a great alternative or addition to supplements, as the magnesium gets absorbed through the skin.

Sulfate is also important for the body. Sulfates are said to release toxins from the body and form proteins in joints and brain tissue. They also generate digestive enzymes in the pancreas.

Hot/Cold Showers: This is a great way to shock the muscles into recovery it has the same benefits as a cold bath and a hot Epsom salt bath all in one. This is a must if you don’t have a bath tub. I usually go 1 minute hot 1 minute cold for a total of 10-20 minutes you will feel like a whole new person when you get out.

Foam Rolling: Breaking up the scar tissue in any muscles will aid in recovery and allow blood flow which brings recovery nutrients into your body. Now I know what you’re thinking I can’t afford a massage every week, well just go to your local home depot and buy a 4 inch PVC pipe and start you myofascial release or massage.

There are a few more tricks that will help with recovery like a good night’s sleep and a good pair of compression socks and a warm up and a cool down.

Try these out for yourself and let me know how they work for you because they have done wondrs for me.

Protein Pumpkin Pancakes

Enjoy these tasty pumpkin pancakes without guilt. Made with almond meal and packed with protein from eggs, these pancakes are sure to satisfy without shortchanging your results.
Servings: 5

Here's what you need…

• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup egg whites
• 1 can of pumpkin
• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• cooking spray

1. In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients together.
2. Heat pancake griddle to medium heat and coat with cooking spray.
3. Cook each side about 3 minutes until brown, then flip and cook remaining side.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 255 calories, 15g fat, 112mg sodium, 11g carbohydrate, 5g fiber, and 19g protein.

Spartan Race Training and Breakfast

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

 Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am starting to get my legs back under me; it has been difficult going from Strongman/Powerlifting to training for the Spartan Race. At first I wasn’t even able to run 7 minutes without my ankles swelling up and my calves and shins feeling like they were going to explode, but just the other day I was able to run 41 minutes nonstop with zero pain. I went from 245lbs to 230lbs in 4 weeks and will try to get down to 210lbs by Feb. 4ths adventure race. This experience has completely opened my eyes as to what the human body is capable of only if you put your MIND and HEART into it. Dedication is the key and I am extremely dedicated to being the best!!!

Here is yesterdays and todays workout:

11/16/11

5:30am Boot Camp

6:30pm Max Effort Lower Body

Safety Squat Bar Box Squats w/ Heavy Bands- 1rm-495lbs

Glute Ham Rasies w/ Light Band- 4x12

Leg Raises- 3x10

Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings- 3x20

Power Wheel Leg Ins- 3x20

Today’s Cardio 11/17/11

5:30am Brick Run

1.8 mile run, 8.8 mile bike, 1.8 mile run (Took me 1hr and 12 minutes)

8:30pm Recovery Walk 45 minutes

Today is the first day of my new diet and breakfast looked like this:

5 egg whites

3ounces of Turkey

Handful of Spinach

Gluten/Wheat Free Oatmeal

Gluten/Wheat Free Quinoa

Almond Milk

It was a good mix of protein, fat, and carbs which is essential after a hard workout. I will taper of the carbs as the day goes on simply because I am not doing any other form of exercise today besides my recovery walk later on tonight.

This journey is going to be like nothing I have ever done before but I am extremely excited to see how far I can push the human body and the human potential!!!!

11/15/2011 Spartan Race Training

Today’s Training: Distance Cardio/ Upper Body Endurance

Ran 41 minutes at a 8min mile pace

Upper Body Workout:

Swiss Bar Floor Press: 275lbs- 9x, 9x, 6x, 9x, 6x

30secs rest in between sets

Weighted Pull Ups- BWx5x2, 40lbsx5, 50lbsx5, 60lbsx5, 70lbsx5, BWx10

Superset with

Kettlebell C&P- 50lbsx8, 60lbsx8, 70lbsx8, Run the Rack Press 80lbsx5, 75lbsx5, 70lbsx5, 65lbsx5, 60lbsx5

Overhead Band Tricep Extensions- 100reps

Band Pull Aparts- 100reps

DB Curls- 100reps

All Supersetted w/ No rest

Power Wheel Alligator Crawls 25’ then 10 leg ins 4sets

Night Bike Ride:

35 minutes

Building A Game Plan

With a new mind set and goal comes a new game plan. Formulating a game plan is the key to success in reaching any goal. You can’t have a game plan unless you have a goal though, so first develop your goal and then formulate your game plan.

My goal is set for February 4^th for our 24 hour adventure race; this will require a great deal of mental strength, physical strength, muscular endurance, and cardio vascular strength. I have to set up my game plan to optimize my HUMAN potential in all these facets. The race will consist of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, land navigating, and swimming. As you can see it will require a very stringent training and nutrition regimen in order for me to be at my best for the race. With all these different requirements you can feel like you have to do everything at once which will lead to overtraining and worst injury. That’s where the game plan comes into play, planning it out now instead of winging it will help me not over train.

When formulating your game plan you have to start at the date of the competition and work your way back in order to peak for the contest. Who cares if you have the best run time of your life in week 6 and then you run like crap at the race because you peaked too soon.

So here is a rough template of how my training will look:

Sunday: Bike/Mental Toughness Training

Monday: Boot Camp

Tuesday: Run/Upper Body Endurance

Weds: Boot Camp/ Strength Legs

Thurs: Run/Bike

Fri: Boot Camp

Sat: Run/Strength Upper Body

Now the mental toughness days are just crazy workouts used to push myself to the limits of my mental threshold and to make me better so I never give up. I will go into more detail and give a lot more specifics as to what I am doing, but I just wanted you to see what I have going on right now.

Changes

What’s going on guys, hope you are all having a great day. I found out fast this past week how valuable life is and the time we have on this earth is. My papaw recently passed away on Nov.3^rd 2011 and that had me and my family reeling and we are still trying to catch our breathe. He was one of the nicest and funniest men I have ever known and you could not find a person to say anything negative about him. With his passing I had a ton of time to think and reflect about where I‘ve been and where I am about to go. After 2 days of no sleep and a lot of thinking I started to put my life in order. I’ve moved on in my life and I am ready to start a new chapter in it. I have a book deal coming up where I will be writing a chapter on strength training. I’ve found a great person who is a POSITIVE influence in my life and keeps me motivated and going forward. I capitalize positive for the simple fact that I had to many negative people in my life and had to get rid of them and slowly but surely they are exiting my life and guess what I am more successful and happier than I’ve ever been and I look forward to waking up every day and I can’t wait to see what the next couple months has to bring and the next year will bring.

With all these life changes happening I’ve also decided to change up my entire workout and diet regimen. My calendar for 2012 is starting to fill up with events I never even thought about doing.

February 4^th I will be doing a 24 hour adventure race

March 10th I will be doing a ½ Marathon

Oct. 13^th I will be doing a Spartan Race in South Carolina

And I am sure There will be a lot more thrown in there throughout the year as my outlook and life and training has changed so will my diet instead of carb cycling I will be doing a diet based on 45% Protein, 35% Carbs, and 20% Fats. There will be tweaks here and there but this is my base for now. I will be putting up sample diets and sample workouts as well. I’ve moved on from powerlifting and strongman to trying to achieve peak human potential in all 3 facets of training strength, endurance, and speed. I will keep everyone posted on my workouts, diet, and cardio regimen in order to turn myself into a Spartan Warrior by October 2012!!!!

What changes are you making in your life and why wait until the New Year to do it start NOW!!!

Wild Blackened Catfish

Any caveman would be proud of this catch! Wild caught catfish is delicate and flaky, with loads of flavor. Catfish contains healthy fatty acids, provides complete protein, is a source of vitamin B-12, and is low in mercury. Pair it with dark leafy greens and some fruit for the perfect caveman meal.
Servings: 4

Here's what you need...

• 2 teaspoon olive oil
• 4 fillets wild caught catfish
• blackened seasoning (try Cajun's Choice)
• 1 lemon, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil a glass pan.
2. Coat the catfish fillets in the olive oil. Generously apply the seasoning to both sides of each fillet.
3. Line the fillets in prepared pan, and top with sliced lemon.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until flaky.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 160 calories, 9g fat, 120mg sodium, 0g carbohydrate, 0g fiber, and 17g protein.

Low Carb Pumpkin Muffins

Here's a muffin that isn't sugary, starchy and devoid of nutrients – like the muffins at your favorite coffee shop. These muffins are rich in beta-carotene and contain half an egg's worth of high quality protein. The delicately sweet flavor will satisfy and have you coming back for more.

Servings: 12

Here's what you need...
•1/2 cup coconut flour (find at natural foods store)
•2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
•1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
•1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/2 cup canned pureed pumpkin
•6 eggs, beaten
•3 Tablespoon coconut oil, melted
•1/3 cup honey
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•12 pecans for topping

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Oil muffin pans.

2.In a medium bowl, combine the coconut flour, spices, baking soda and salt.

3.In another bowl, place the pumpkin puree then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add melted coconut, honey and vanilla and mix until well combined.

4.Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, blend with a whisk until most lumps have disappeared.

5.Spoon into prepared muffin pan, filling each muffin 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden.

6.Place on wire rack to cool.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 127 calories, 7g fat, 230mg sodium, 11.7g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, and 5g protein.