Yummo, Coach like!

Ever since you first heard of smoothies, your mouth has been watering. When you’re sipping on a smoothie, your mouth is in taste heaven. When there’s no smoothie in your hand, all you can think of are strawberries, bananas, and blueberries. But if you’re not careful, your smoothies can turn into nothing more than an average dessert.

To make sure your smoothie is as healthy as it is cold and delicious, you’ve got to have more than a good blender. You’ve got to have the right building blocks as well.

Building Block: Fruit

In a healthy smoothie, the most basic building block is fruit. Ideally, you want to go with fresh fruits that aren’t sitting in sugar water or have been made unhealthy in some other way. Rather, you want fruit straight off the vine or tree. Raw fruit that hasn’t been tampered with will ensure you the most powerful smoothie punch.

Some of the most common fruits found in smoothies include bananas, strawberries, and blueberries. But don’t let this keep you from getting creative. No matter what your favorite fruit is, you can toss it in the blender for a delightful, flavorful smoothie. From cantaloupe and mango to pineapple, raspberry, and melon, you can include any fruit you can find in your smoothie concoction.

Building Block: Juice

Once you’ve got your fruits picked out, you’ll need to find a complementary juice. As with the fruit choices, there is one juice that is picked much more often than the others: orange juice. However, you can toss in whatever type of juice you want to spice up your smoothie.

For variations on your favorite smoothie, give apple juice, grape juice, or cranberry juice a shot. Each different juice will affect the consistency, thickness, and flavor of your smoothie, so keep trying out juices until you find the perfect flavor for your pallet.

Building Block: Yogurt

When you have lots of different fruits and flavors, you’ll probably want something to pull them all together into one cohesive whole. Enter stage left: yogurt. Low-fat or fat-free is the best choice, and since most yogurt falls into one of these categories, it is also an easy choice to find.

With the right amount of yogurt in the mix, your smoothie will go from a yummy treat to a must-have each and every day. While you’ll probably rely on vanilla yogurt for most of your smoothies, using strawberry, strawberry banana, blueberry, or other flavors will enhance your smoothie instantly!

Breathe!

Everyone falls prey to lies and myths on occasion. But if you buy into one of these and your exercise routine is affected by it, you could be in a world of danger. What lies may be affecting your ability to work out safely and with maximum results? Read on to find out.

Lie 1: Big Size = Big Strength

Okay, so the big guys are often rather strong (you won’t see a lot of skinny folks lifting cars), but you don’t have to be super beefy to be strong. Actually, too much muscle mass can make it difficult to perform certain activities. Instead of focusing on getting bigger, bigger, bigger, go for exercises that help you get in good shape, have good muscle definition, and retain your ability to move quickly. Remember we train for the unknown and unknowable.

Lie 2: Muscle Becomes Fat

Ever wished you could transform all of the fat around your midsection into rock-hard muscle? Of course you have. Unfortunately, you know you have to burn off the fat in order to make room for muscle. Likewise, the muscle you build up won’t turn into fat when you stop working out. You just think it did, because any time you stop working out, you see unwanted pounds show up with such speed. You need to make your eating habits match your workout habits. Make sure you are at our next nutritional seminar to learn about the Paleo lifestyle.

Lie 3: You’ll Get His or Her Results

At every gym there are people with great bodies. Everything is where it should be and every muscle is well defined and shapely. To get the same results, you ask one of these model-looking individuals for the secrets to their picture-perfect bodies. You take careful notes and then attempt to mimic their every move in the gym. Unfortunately, what works for one person may not work for you. Every body is different and responds differently to various exercises. Since there is no one-size-fits-all approach to exercise, try plenty of different workouts to find out what works best for you.

Lie 4: Tons of Gym Time, Awesome Results

If spending an hour or two in the gym five days a week is good for you, then spending five hours every day pushing your body to the max is even better – right? Wrong. Overtraining your muscles and not giving them any chance to rest can actually cause your muscles to begin breaking down and going away. On top of this, you also put your muscles at risk for some serious injuries if you spend too much time exercising – especially if you’re doing the same movements over and over again. With our boot camp workout programming, you will get a great workout inside of 45 minutes.

Lie 5: Slow Is Safe

Commercials that feature outdoor groups of people enjoying a relaxing class of yoga can be misleading. While yoga and pilates can be relaxing and slow-moving ways to get exercise, they can put your body at risk for some of the same injuries other exercises pose. So before hopping into an advanced yoga class without understanding what you’re getting into, start at the beginner’s level and gradually work your way up to the more advanced, demanding classes.

Lie 6: Form Doesn’t Matter

Back when you were first starting to lift weights, you worried about keeping perfect form for each rep. But over time, you began to realize that form wasn’t as important as just getting out there and lifting. Unfortunately, your epiphany isn’t based in truth, because if you lift weights or perform other exercises without using the right form, the negative results are two-fold. First, you aren’t actually targeting the muscle you think you are unless you maintain good form. Second, improper form puts you at great risk for a variety of severe injuries. We are super strict on form here at the gym. Proper posture while lifting can save you pain and suffering and supercharge your workout!

Lie 7: Genetics Are Everything

If your parents and grandparents are overweight and out of shape, it can be easy for you to expect the same fate for yourself. But don’t let your genetics get in the way of exercise. Instead, understand that you may have to make some modifications (including what you eat) to get the results you want in the gym. You may even have to change your goals to better meet your body’s abilities.

So, there are a few of the biggest lies in exercise. Ready to commit and get fit? Call 254-247-4999 or come by the gym and start today!

Welcome Juliana Attilio to our Morning Boot Camp Class!

Lynjoy Watson

Yvonne Tanner

]]> http://www.combativesgroup.com/archives/1455/feed 0 http://www.combativesgroup.com/archives/1439 http://www.combativesgroup.com/archives/1439#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:50:14 +0000 Jim http://www.combativesgroup.com/?p=1439
Welcome our newest Athletes!

Elizabeth Marshall

Alison Cruz

Maggie Jimenez

Adriana Silva

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken and Avocado Salad
1 medium ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced

1 tsp.  lemon juice

1 bag (10 oz.) torn romaine lettuce (about 10 cups)

2 cups  shredded cooked chicken

1 medium tomato, cut into wedges

1 small  cucumber, sliced

1/4 of a medium Vidalia or Walla Walla onion, chopped

½ cup Red Pepper

1/2 cup  Light or Fat-free Italian Dressing

¼ cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
Toss avocados with lemon juice in large salad bowl.

Add lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions; mix lightly.

Add dressing; toss to coat.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Serve immediately.

Hey, if you like that one they’ve got 196 more! Seriously, Prograde has a really cool 197 Healthy and Delicious Fat Burning Recipes ebook for just $4.95!

Check it out here: http://jimmahan.getprograde.com/prograderecipebook.html

Much like Chicken Saltimbocca, this is chicken smothered in Parmesan cheese and rolled with mozzarella and prosciutto and baked in white wine.

Categories: Lunch, Dinner, Low Carb, High Protein

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 4 teaspoons butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
• 10 ounces sliced whole milk mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Pound chicken breasts flat, and lay them on work surface.
3. Sprinkle liberally with Parmesan cheese on both sides.
4. Place a pinch of minced garlic and 1 teaspoon butter in the center of each breast.
5. Cover each breast with a layer of prosciutto and mozzarella cheese.
6. Reserve some of the prosciutto to place on top of the chicken.
7. Roll up each chicken breast, and secure with toothpicks.
8. In a 9×13 inch baking dish, combine white wine and olive oil.
9. Arrange chicken rolls in dish.
10. Place a small piece of prosciutto on top of each roll, and sprinkle with pepper.
11. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink, an juices run clear.

I wasn’t smart enough to write this, but still thought that it applied well to our Fitness Boot Campers…

Five Reasons Why Strong Women Are Sexy

By Josh Hanagarne
1. Strength implies dedication. When I see a woman who values strength, I see someone who knows the value of perseverance and commitment.

2. Strength implies a healthy sense of priorities. The current portrayal of how women’s bodies should look is pure poison. I’m hearing more about sexy “clavicles” these days, of all things! Take a look at some female kettlebellers and you’ll know what I mean.

3. Strength defies society’s portrayal of how women should be. Society does not value physical strength in women. The women in vogue are emaciated and bug-eyed, without any muscle tone. They are bony clothes hangers and I don’t know how that appeals to anyone. The physically strong woman resists the siren song of the anorexic crackhead look and makes her body do what feels good. And again, if you give your body what it needs, it’s going to look good.

4. Strength leads to confidence. When you choose to do something as difficult as real strength training with demonstrable results, it changes your body and your mind at the same time. Confidence is very attractive.

5. Strength training helps you age gracefully. Weak young women become weak old women. Strong young women become elegant, strong, confident women. In short, there’s no downside to being strong. People that are attracted to weakness are normally attracted to vulnerability and there’s not much potential upside to that.

Our classes are maxing out! We are adding TWO MORE time slots for you!!! Starting July 1, 2010:

Early AM M-W-F
Noon M-W-F

…You must preregister for these slots, we only have space for 10 folks per class.

If you are an existing athlete and want one of these, contact Jim for details.

Don’t delay or you’ll lose out!