Eat this, this not that!

With all the abundance of information and contradictory research, it's easy to become so focused and confused about what we shouldn't be eating that the focus gets lost on what we SHOULD be eating. This quick tip is meant to keep things simple.

REALLY simple.

Without going into complex details, strive to eat "clean". Now, I'm not talking about washing your food, pesticides, organic vs non-organic debate; that's a whole other separate issue. Instead I'm talking about eating foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food" suggests that we "don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't have recognized as food."

While the merits of his argument are a source of debate among the "experts", it does offer a visual for what eating cleanly means:

1. vegetables
2. fruits
3. whole grains
4. lean proteins
5. clean/fresh water

These are the "magic five". Strive to eat from these food groups in MODERATION, with as little additives, preservatives, refining, goos and sauces as possible.

Now isn't that simple?

Workout of the Week

Hot Tabatas!
Stay cool and drink lots of water!

Dynamic warmup/stretch, 5-10 minutes

pushups, 20secs/10secs rest x 3
dips, 20secs/10secs rest x 3
squat jumps, 20secs/10secs rest x 3 ea leg

cardio: jumprope and/or shuttle run, 2 minutes

bentover row, 20secs/10secs rest x 3
biceps curls, 20secs/10secs rest x 3
one-leg squat, 20secs/10secs rest x 3 ea leg

cardio: jumprope and/or shuttle run, 2 minutes

Go down the list 2-3 times. Then cool down 2-5 minutes, as necessary.

Core exercise:
Hover 1 min/crunches (various) 1 min, x 3

Finish with cool down/stretch.

Putting on the brakes

While reaching optimal or top speed can be important, it's important to be able to STOP your momentum.

After all, imagine rushing down the freeway at 60-plus mph, pressing on your breaks, and nothing happening!

Well, you need to be able to slow down and stop yourself when performing dynamic exercises such as running, jumping, and cutting (changing direction) as well. You also need to guard against potential injuries caused by a lack of bodily control and stabilization, and allows excessive, often damaging movement.

The key to deceleration is eccentric contraction. You may know it as "the negative". During an eccentric contraction, muscles lengthen while loaded to control movement. That means when you RLH (sprint) or JS (land from a jump) as we call it in UBC, your muscles need to optimally dissipate and control the force of your stopping, directional changes and landings. In relation to the legs specifically, your hamstrings (back of thighs), need to shorten slowly, relatively speaking, while the muscles controlling the ankles stabilize the feet.

Stay tuned for more on how to improve your ability to decelerate and improve your performance at UBC.

Training for life!