One of the more common questions I get asked is "can I have a protein bar instead of a protein shake?" My answer is usually no. Unless you are in a pinch or in an extreme time crunch store bought protein bars are slightly better than eating fast food or other assorted junk food. What's wrong with store bought protein bars? The simple fact is that the majority of protein bars out there are glorified candy bars. They contain high amounts of fructose corn syrup and other forms of sugars,low quality as well as, low amounts of protein and lots of artificial ingredients. This is why they "taste good" but tasting good and being good for you are two very different things. This does not mean that healthy things can not taste good though.
Below are a few recipes for homemade protein bars I got from Dr. John Berardi and Coach Mike Mahler. These bars not only taste great and are easy to make but also way healthier than anything you can buy in a store.
Vanilla Almond Protein Bar
4 scoops whey or rice protein, vanilla
2 T almond butter
2 T ground flax seed
1 and 1/2 cup of water
1 T ground ginger
1 T ground cinnamon
1 T pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon of stevia
Preheat oven to 425. Mix everything in a bowl with a spoon until a thick paste forms. Divide into four parts, roll into balls, then shape into bars. Place on cookie sheets and bake 12-15 minutes.
Nutrition:
calories 540
protein 70 gr
carb ~20 gr
fat ~20 gr
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar
2 scoops whey or rice protein, chocolate
2 T natural peanut butter
2 T ground flax seed
1 T ground cinnamon
1/2 cup almond milk
Mix everything in a bowl, stirring with a spoon until a thick paste forms. Divide in two, wrapping each bar in aluminum foil. Place the bars in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, you'll have two delicious bars, ready for breakfast or whenever you want a snack.
Nutrition
calories 365
protein 27 gr
carb 17 gr
fat 21 gr
Chocolate Pecan Bars
3 scoops Sun Warrior or whey protein, chocolate
1 T ground cinnamon
1/4 cup pecans
2 T ground flaxseed
2 T raw almond butter
1 T non-dairy/gluten-free brownie mix
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
Mix everything in a bowl, stirring with a spoon until a thick paste forms. Divide into 6 balls and place in the refrigerator for two hours. Preheat oven to 425. Place the six balls on a cookie sheet, flattening slightly with a fork, and bake for 12-15 minutes. These are delicious. Have three bars as a snack and the other three for dessert later.
There you have it 3 simple and great tasting recipes that are easy to make!
Make up a batch and wrap them in plastic and keep them in the refrigerator. Take them when you are on the go and want to have a good quality source of protein available!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Success Part 1: What Do You Want?
What do you want? It seems like a very simple question. Unfortunately, for too many people they truly don't know. I can hear it now from most people. "I know what I want. I want to run a 4.5 second 40 yard dash. I want a division I scholarship. I want to make a lot of money. etc. etc. "These are definitely wishes but just saying you want something is not good enough. Not if you ever hope to achieve what you want that is. The purpose of this post is to help you take the first steps toward what ever you hope to achieve and in part 2 I will explain how you get it!
The following list are the first 3 steps.
Step 1) Making vague statements such as, "I want to lose 20 pounds" isn't going to help you lose 20 pounds. The first step to achieving what you want is first finding out exactly what that is? Now, when I say exactly I mean exactly! Yes you need to be as specific as possible! So don't just say I want to lose 20 pounds. Rather say " I am going to lose 20 pounds of body fat and gain 10 pounds of lean muscle in the next 3 months! Once you have an idea of what you want you must first write it down in as much detail as possible. Writing it down is important because until you do it is just another vague idea passing through your brain! Writing it down makes it real and achievable. After you have it written down hang it up somewhere you can see it and read it everyday.
Step 2) Choose a starting date that you will begin your quest for whatever it is that you want. Without setting a specific starting date you will most likely procrastinate and never achieve anything. Pick a date and on that date START! Two great quotes about procrastination are "The best way to get something done is to begin." Author Unknown and "Don't wait, the time will never be just right." Napolean Hill.
Step 3) Set a deadline! If you don't have a deadline then you will not have any pressure to work hard to accomplish your goals! Deadlines work plain and simple. Think about all the times in your life you've had them. You got what you needed to do done didn't you? More then likely you did and if you didn't it is time to step up to the stage and perform or you will never get what you want. To further sum it up "What can be done at any time is never done at all." ~English Proverb
So there it is. Pretty simple huh? So get up off your butt and figure out what it is that you want? Write it down. Read it everyday. Set a start date. Set a deadline to achieve your goal. START! Here's to your success. See you in part 2.
The following list are the first 3 steps.
Step 1) Making vague statements such as, "I want to lose 20 pounds" isn't going to help you lose 20 pounds. The first step to achieving what you want is first finding out exactly what that is? Now, when I say exactly I mean exactly! Yes you need to be as specific as possible! So don't just say I want to lose 20 pounds. Rather say " I am going to lose 20 pounds of body fat and gain 10 pounds of lean muscle in the next 3 months! Once you have an idea of what you want you must first write it down in as much detail as possible. Writing it down is important because until you do it is just another vague idea passing through your brain! Writing it down makes it real and achievable. After you have it written down hang it up somewhere you can see it and read it everyday.
Step 2) Choose a starting date that you will begin your quest for whatever it is that you want. Without setting a specific starting date you will most likely procrastinate and never achieve anything. Pick a date and on that date START! Two great quotes about procrastination are "The best way to get something done is to begin." Author Unknown and "Don't wait, the time will never be just right." Napolean Hill.
Step 3) Set a deadline! If you don't have a deadline then you will not have any pressure to work hard to accomplish your goals! Deadlines work plain and simple. Think about all the times in your life you've had them. You got what you needed to do done didn't you? More then likely you did and if you didn't it is time to step up to the stage and perform or you will never get what you want. To further sum it up "What can be done at any time is never done at all." ~English Proverb
So there it is. Pretty simple huh? So get up off your butt and figure out what it is that you want? Write it down. Read it everyday. Set a start date. Set a deadline to achieve your goal. START! Here's to your success. See you in part 2.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Skill Training Verse Conditioning
Having been involved in the training of athletes for over 10 years I have witnessed some pretty amazing displays of incompetence. There seems to be be an overwhelming misconception by many coaches and trainers out there about training speed and agility skills and conditioning athletes. Now I am not posting this today to insult anyone, with all the misinformation out there it is extremely hard for even the best intentioned trainer or coach to not only decipher the best information and techniques to train speed and agility but to then apply them. This post today is intended to not only make an important point but to educate many of the coaches and trainers out there involved with the training, success and well being of our athletes about the most important aspect of training.
There are many ways to improve speed and agility. I am not saying that one way is necessarily better than another or that I have all the answers but certain mistakes for sure can lead to improper skill development, poor performance and injury!
The first mistake is speed sessions that consist of beating the ever loving crap out of your athletes until they are exhausted or puke. Now I'm not going to lie to you when I am in the stage of conditioning my athletes before the season and I work them hard enough to puke I do get an overwhelming devilish degree of joy inside but conditioning and skill training are two entirely separate entities! You must first teach your athletes to master the individual skills and then train these drills in proper fashion that relates to their specific sport.
The second biggest mistake is trying to train every aspect of speed and agility in every workout session. Doing drill upon drill upon drill just to do them is not going to improve your athletes! Especial when proper technique of each drill or skill, plyometrics and proper rest are not taken into consideration. Training athletes like this is the same as having a list of 10 projects to do but instead of completing them one at a time in order of importance you do a little bit of each every day. The problem with this approach is that instead of completing the projects you get 10 projects that are half ass ed and incomplete. This leads to piss poor results.
The last two paragraphs bring me to the most important point of this post. To further make this point I would like to make mention of one of my favorite quotes of all time "The devil is in the Details!" When training athletes or accomplishing anything else in life you must pay attention to the Details. The Details is what separates the champions and successful people from the rest of the pack. When learning a new skill it is vital that you are properly instructed on the little details that make that drill or skill effective. Then once the drill is mastered you can progress to harder drills and finally their specific application in sport and conditioning. To end this post I will leave you with another one of my favorite quotes from my client Tom Battle. "Always remember the 6 "P's" Proper Preparation leads to the Prevention of Piss Poor Performance!" CHEAHHHHHH
There are many ways to improve speed and agility. I am not saying that one way is necessarily better than another or that I have all the answers but certain mistakes for sure can lead to improper skill development, poor performance and injury!
The first mistake is speed sessions that consist of beating the ever loving crap out of your athletes until they are exhausted or puke. Now I'm not going to lie to you when I am in the stage of conditioning my athletes before the season and I work them hard enough to puke I do get an overwhelming devilish degree of joy inside but conditioning and skill training are two entirely separate entities! You must first teach your athletes to master the individual skills and then train these drills in proper fashion that relates to their specific sport.
The second biggest mistake is trying to train every aspect of speed and agility in every workout session. Doing drill upon drill upon drill just to do them is not going to improve your athletes! Especial when proper technique of each drill or skill, plyometrics and proper rest are not taken into consideration. Training athletes like this is the same as having a list of 10 projects to do but instead of completing them one at a time in order of importance you do a little bit of each every day. The problem with this approach is that instead of completing the projects you get 10 projects that are half ass ed and incomplete. This leads to piss poor results.
The last two paragraphs bring me to the most important point of this post. To further make this point I would like to make mention of one of my favorite quotes of all time "The devil is in the Details!" When training athletes or accomplishing anything else in life you must pay attention to the Details. The Details is what separates the champions and successful people from the rest of the pack. When learning a new skill it is vital that you are properly instructed on the little details that make that drill or skill effective. Then once the drill is mastered you can progress to harder drills and finally their specific application in sport and conditioning. To end this post I will leave you with another one of my favorite quotes from my client Tom Battle. "Always remember the 6 "P's" Proper Preparation leads to the Prevention of Piss Poor Performance!" CHEAHHHHHH
Monday, September 27, 2010
Upper Body Warm-up Complex
In a previous post I showed you a great warm-up complex to use for your workouts. That warm-up will work well for both upper body and lower body workouts. However, if you have had shoulder problems, participate in throwing sports or just want to warm-up your shoulders better then the following complex is for you. Many of my baseball and softball players use this warm-up before their games or practice! Give it a try and let me know how it works for you?
The following video demonstrates the whole complex as it should be done. It only takes around a minute or so and will warm-up all of the muscle groups in your shoulder girdle.
Upper Body Warm-up Complex
1. Shrugs 6 Reps
2. Front Raise 6 Reps
3. Lateral/Side Raise 6 Reps
4. Bent Over Lateral Raise 6 Reps
5. Supermans 6 Reps
6. Upright Row To External Rotations 6 Reps
7. Overhead Press 6 Reps
8. Sideways External Rotations 9 reps
9. Forward Circles 3 Reps
10. Backward Circles 3 reps
Rest 2 minutes and begin first exercise warm-up sets!
The following video demonstrates the whole complex as it should be done. It only takes around a minute or so and will warm-up all of the muscle groups in your shoulder girdle.
Upper Body Warm-up Complex
1. Shrugs 6 Reps
2. Front Raise 6 Reps
3. Lateral/Side Raise 6 Reps
4. Bent Over Lateral Raise 6 Reps
5. Supermans 6 Reps
6. Upright Row To External Rotations 6 Reps
7. Overhead Press 6 Reps
8. Sideways External Rotations 9 reps
9. Forward Circles 3 Reps
10. Backward Circles 3 reps
Rest 2 minutes and begin first exercise warm-up sets!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Good Luck!
All of us here at K STRENGTH Sports Training and Overtime Sports Facility would like to wish all of our high school fall sports athletes the best of luck this year!
We also want to wish our last crew of college athletes Brandon Glyck (Princeton) Claire Reinhard (Manhattan College), Kate Reinhard (Loyola), Chris DiIenno (Bentley), Joe Ricciardi (Wesleyan) the best of luck in their upcoming seasons!
All of our athletes worked their butts off this summer and we are extremely proud of you all! Now go out there and Kick Some Ass!!!!!!! CHEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
We also want to wish our last crew of college athletes Brandon Glyck (Princeton) Claire Reinhard (Manhattan College), Kate Reinhard (Loyola), Chris DiIenno (Bentley), Joe Ricciardi (Wesleyan) the best of luck in their upcoming seasons!
All of our athletes worked their butts off this summer and we are extremely proud of you all! Now go out there and Kick Some Ass!!!!!!! CHEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Train The Body Part 2
The second part of my post "Train The Body as Well as The Skill" is for the majority of athletes out there that train on their own or at school without a program. These are two of the most important tips that will make HUGE improvements in your training!
First things first you need to have a plan! One of my favorite sayings is "If you fail to plan then you are planning to fail"! By far the most common problem I see with people of any age in gyms everywhere is that they don't have a set training plan. They go to the gym and ask each other (or themselves)"what should we train today?" or "wanna do some chest and tri's?" They then proceed to go about their workout doing only the exercises they like to do such as, bench press, curls, pull downs etc. and none of the exercises they need to do to really improve such as, squats, dips, deadlifts, chin-ups etc. Let me start by saying that if you are heading to a gym to train and you don't know what you are training for and don't have a plan to achieve it then why bother to go at all? Just randomly picking and choosing exercises every time you go to the gym will only get you zero or half ass results at best. When you decide to train for something you need to have a clear and concise goal of what you are trying to achieve. If you don't have a clear goal then how on earth are you going to achieve it? Simply saying that you want to get bigger or stronger is vague as hell and not a precise goal. First, find out what you need to train for. Then write it down. Lastly, develop a plan or hire someone who can prescribe the right program to reach your goal! Enough said.
The second problem that I see is that most people fail to keep records of their training. If you don't record your training stats then how will you know if your program is working? How do you know what weights and reps you completed in the previous workout? With hectic schedules and rampant ADD most of the athlete's I know can't remember what they lifted last set never mind last workout! Rule number 2 keep accurate logs of your workout programs!
These two things if implemented properly and consistently will dramatically improve your results and help you progress faster than you ever imagined. Give them a try. The only thing you have to lose is poor results!
First things first you need to have a plan! One of my favorite sayings is "If you fail to plan then you are planning to fail"! By far the most common problem I see with people of any age in gyms everywhere is that they don't have a set training plan. They go to the gym and ask each other (or themselves)"what should we train today?" or "wanna do some chest and tri's?" They then proceed to go about their workout doing only the exercises they like to do such as, bench press, curls, pull downs etc. and none of the exercises they need to do to really improve such as, squats, dips, deadlifts, chin-ups etc. Let me start by saying that if you are heading to a gym to train and you don't know what you are training for and don't have a plan to achieve it then why bother to go at all? Just randomly picking and choosing exercises every time you go to the gym will only get you zero or half ass results at best. When you decide to train for something you need to have a clear and concise goal of what you are trying to achieve. If you don't have a clear goal then how on earth are you going to achieve it? Simply saying that you want to get bigger or stronger is vague as hell and not a precise goal. First, find out what you need to train for. Then write it down. Lastly, develop a plan or hire someone who can prescribe the right program to reach your goal! Enough said.
The second problem that I see is that most people fail to keep records of their training. If you don't record your training stats then how will you know if your program is working? How do you know what weights and reps you completed in the previous workout? With hectic schedules and rampant ADD most of the athlete's I know can't remember what they lifted last set never mind last workout! Rule number 2 keep accurate logs of your workout programs!
These two things if implemented properly and consistently will dramatically improve your results and help you progress faster than you ever imagined. Give them a try. The only thing you have to lose is poor results!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Train The Body as Well as The Skill Part 1
In sports today everyone is in a race to get ahead. The competition is much more fierce then it was years ago. Working with athletes of different ages, sports and levels for so many years has allowed me to observe many phenomenon. One of the most notable trends is for athletes, parents and coaches to spend the majority of their time focusing predominantly on sport specific skill development. I acknowledge that this is vital for athletic success but this brings me to the point of this post and that is "what about the body?"
Today in order to get ahead many athletes hire professional instructors to teach them the specific skills of their prospective sport. This is extremely beneficial because back when I was growing up many years ago these types of coaches were hard to find and rarely existed in most areas of the country. Sure high level athletes had this luxury but for many of youth sports this wasn't the case. If you have access to great skill coaches and can afford it hiring one of these coaches is well worth it.
Now that I have acknowledged the benefits of skill training I will discuss the overall problems with placing too much emphasis on skill development. The main concern is that people fail to realize that to perform any athletic skill the body has to be capable of supporting and executing this task. The unfortunate fact is that far too many athletes, coaches and parents see the value of skill specific instruction but not in proper instruction in the physical aspect of training performed off the field. This leads to the body being ill prepared or incapable of properly executing specific skills optimally. To use an analogy it would be like a race car driver hiring a driving coach but having his Joe Schmoe neighbor who is good at helping to get his lawn mower started work on his car instead of a qualified high level mechanic! Sure his driving skills will improve but only to the extent that his car can perform. Weight room training has all too often been overlooked for its importance in producing a quality athlete. Far too often coaches, parents and kids train the way they were trained or worse yet put young athletes on programs they see on the internet or in magazine articles with no regards to the specific needs and abilities of the individual athlete. This hit or miss approach can often do more harm then good. Some possible negative effects are injuries from improper technique, developing faulty motor patterns and causing or increasing muscle imbalances to name a few. These problems all lead to decrease in performance and injuries. This is the exact opposite effect of why they trained to begin with!
The purpose of part 1 of this post is to create an awareness of the importance of training the physical side of the athlete. By realizing the value of training both the skill set and physical set athletes will optimally prepare themselves to perform at their best on the field! Stay tuned for part 2 when I will explain the two most important factors to optimally train athletes.
Today in order to get ahead many athletes hire professional instructors to teach them the specific skills of their prospective sport. This is extremely beneficial because back when I was growing up many years ago these types of coaches were hard to find and rarely existed in most areas of the country. Sure high level athletes had this luxury but for many of youth sports this wasn't the case. If you have access to great skill coaches and can afford it hiring one of these coaches is well worth it.
Now that I have acknowledged the benefits of skill training I will discuss the overall problems with placing too much emphasis on skill development. The main concern is that people fail to realize that to perform any athletic skill the body has to be capable of supporting and executing this task. The unfortunate fact is that far too many athletes, coaches and parents see the value of skill specific instruction but not in proper instruction in the physical aspect of training performed off the field. This leads to the body being ill prepared or incapable of properly executing specific skills optimally. To use an analogy it would be like a race car driver hiring a driving coach but having his Joe Schmoe neighbor who is good at helping to get his lawn mower started work on his car instead of a qualified high level mechanic! Sure his driving skills will improve but only to the extent that his car can perform. Weight room training has all too often been overlooked for its importance in producing a quality athlete. Far too often coaches, parents and kids train the way they were trained or worse yet put young athletes on programs they see on the internet or in magazine articles with no regards to the specific needs and abilities of the individual athlete. This hit or miss approach can often do more harm then good. Some possible negative effects are injuries from improper technique, developing faulty motor patterns and causing or increasing muscle imbalances to name a few. These problems all lead to decrease in performance and injuries. This is the exact opposite effect of why they trained to begin with!
The purpose of part 1 of this post is to create an awareness of the importance of training the physical side of the athlete. By realizing the value of training both the skill set and physical set athletes will optimally prepare themselves to perform at their best on the field! Stay tuned for part 2 when I will explain the two most important factors to optimally train athletes.
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