The Podium: My top 3 beers that won’t fizzle your training

For as long as I can remember, sports and beer have always been loyal friends. It seems as though every competition uses alcohol as a reward. Whether that be the champagne shower after team-sports championships or the “free” beer at the end of just about every endurance race. Heck, the beer mile doesn’t even make you wait to finish to chug down a beer (or 4). We all know beer isn’t “good” for you, but sometimes the frothy, slightly bitter bite of a tasty west coast IPA is exactly what the body needs. This isn’t to say a beer a day keeps the doctor away, but if you’re one of those who likes to wind-down at the end of a long work day or you busted out a 15 mile trail run with 1500 feet of climbing, then these 3 beers are what I suggest.

1. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

   A classic and a staple in a independent beer lovers repertoire. Not only does this beer have a full bodied flavor you come to expect from a California-based craft brewery, this golden delicious has a relatively low calorie count (180). It is hard to beat the drinkability of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale because it has only 10g of carbs per 12 oz, half the amount of a comparable, and probably my favorite beer, the .394 by AleSmith Brewing. Still, keep your Sierra drinking to a minimum as it can be easy to rack up the calories consuming 3 or more at a time.

2. Corona Premier

   What better way to cool off after a long day than to take a mental vacation with a corona. The Premier version allows you to do this without the guilt. I personally prefer this version to the classic Corona Extra. Corona Premier is far less filling which can be attributed to the fact it has 12 less carbs and 60 less calories than Corona Extra. This is my go to mid-week beer.

3. Half-pour of something tasty

   This is a tough option but when I really want a juicy, hazy, New England style I.P.A. or a sticky and dank IIPA coming in at 8.0% or more, I’ll go to my local bar, Bottlecraft, where they rotate taps regularly. I’ll order a half-pour or if I see a couple options I want to try I’ll get two 4 oz pours. Using this strategy allows me to enjoy the type of beer I truly like while keeping my diet and hangover in check.

Cheers!

How to tackle your diet on Super Bowl Sunday

It’s late January. You have been hitting the gym 5 days a week and while you are feeling stronger and more energized, the visual results haven’t been what you expected when you decided to never eat a carb again. Monday workouts are no longer something you look at as a “great way to start the week.” Your somehow skinny friend has been enjoying beer and nachos during the NFL playoffs while you have been avoiding a social setting where you might break your dry January streak and ruin all the hard work you have been putting in. Still, your pant size hasn’t dropped a singe-digit to the odd-number scale. Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend and along with a hopefully great game comes an equally as great spread. Dry January will be over and your no-carb diet is hanging on for dear life. Is it time to give up and indulge as any true American should, or do you stay the course and pray this all pays off come Memorial Day?

I’m here to tell you, enjoy yourself!

Goals are not reached in a linear manner. Weight-loss, strength gains, and flexibility don’t improve on a daily basis over the long-term. Not all aspects of your training will increase at the same rate so we can’t expect one day of indulging (or over-indulging) will ruin your progress. If anything, this might be exactly what your body and mind need. Like a mini vacation from the routine of eat healthy, workout hard, drink protein, sleep 8 hours. Much like returning from a vacation and feeling motivated to kick-ass at work, sometimes a vacation from your fitness and diet program motivates you to get back in the gym and doing an extra set of everything.

Come Super Bowl Sunday, start your day with a long run (60+ minutes) with some hill sprints thrown in or a dynamic METCON workout at your local fitness studio (i.e. Fast as F*ck | @glidetrainingco) to establish an increased metabolic rate for the rest of the day. Then show up to the party with a 6 pack of your favorite beer, enjoy some wings, and hope you win some money in a super bowl pool. Then Monday morning do a workout to get the week started off great.

FREE 28 DAY CHALLENGE! Beginning February 12

28 Day Challenge!

Spring time is just around the corner which means…  summer is coming!

Join Josh and Lisa for an all levels 28 Day Challenge!  

Starting Monday February 12, we will be posting a FREE 20 minute workout every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and anyone participating that is currently or starts using Isagenix will receive a FREE 28 day macro balanced meal plan that will be tailored to your goals (fat loss/muscle building/etc)!

Workouts will be a combination of high intensity and strength training exercises that will increase your metabolism and fat burning ability, especially when paired with balanced intake of nutrients that fuel your body and keep you feeling great!

Requirements:

1.  Before and after photos (day 1 and day 28)* 

2.  One social media post/week doing an exercise from one of our workouts tagging @glidetrainingco                                                                           

3.  28 days of dedication!

At the end of the challenge, anyone who completes the requirements will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win prizes, including:

Grand Prize (1): 3 1:1 Personal Training Sessions**, Glide Training Co. performance style leggings (or shorts for guys) and tank

Second Prize (1): 2 weeks of unlimited classes and nutritional consult**, Glide Training Co. performance style tank

Third Prize (2): Canister of Isalean protein (flavor of your choice), Glide Training Co. performance style tank

2 participants will be chosen by Josh and Lisa to receive an additional surprise prize, based on results, dedication, and improvement!

Join us in kicking up the intensity, getting fit, and ready for summer!

*no photos will be shared without permission

** may add these on to current package if you are already a member!

Toned in 20! Day 1

Hey guys! So excited for #tonedin20! Check our Facebook page every day for the next 20 days for a workout of the day!  

Post a selfie doing the exercises of the day each day to win a prize at the end! 

Each workout will be a little bit different, but they will all target your arms, abs, butt, and legs to get you bikini (or swim trunk) ready!

TODAY'S WORKOUT: 

10 exercises.....

:45 per exercise/:15 break in between

x2

1. Mountain Climbers!  

Focus on maintaining your tempo throughout the whole :45. Keep your core tight and keep your shoulders square over your hands. 

2. Plank with hip extensions

Focus on maintaining your pelvic tilt- so no sagging in your low back and no arching when you lift your leg!  This exercise is meant to work your booty and your core! 

3. Squats

Focus on keeping your weight on your heels, chest up tall, tight core!

4. Sumo Squats

Wide stance, toes turned out, chest up tall, shoulders back, tight core: working your inner thighs and booty!

5. Reverse sit-ups

Slowly lower yourself back into a reverse sit-up until you feel like you're as far as you can pull yourself back up, keeping your elbows wide! *for more support, have a partner hold your feet!

6. Bicycle Crunches

Keep your elbows wide and chin up so you don't pull on your neck!

7.  Ab Wipers

Maintain your pelvic tilt, slowly lower your legs to either side, pausing in the middle *to increase difficulty, perform with straight legs

8.  Thrusters 

REALLY focus on making sure your back doesn't sag on the jump out, keep your core tight, and shoulders over your hands!

9. Hydrant Kicks

Pelvic tilt, "PEE ON THE HYDRANT", "KICK THE HYDRANT" ;)

10. Glute pulses

Make sure your hands are shoulder width, and focusing on glute contraction NOT using your low back :)

How Much, How Often?

Most people aren't gluttons for punishment and prefer not to dedicate the necessary amount of time to create serious bodily changes. In fact, most people also want to do the bare minimum and yield the most results. Unfortunately for these types, that isn't how the body works. Our body's respond to stress. The more we apply the more it will adapt, but if we apply too much stress the body can fail. Over-usage injuries such as stress fractures and tendonitis are the most common, but major joint injuries can also occur due to too much progressive overload. So how much time should we dedicate to see solid results? That number you should aim for is 10 hours per week of fitness related activity. That's right, 10 hours! This may sound very unrealistic, but if we break it into days, we are looking at less than 1.5 hours per day. Here is how you can split up your fitness schedule to make that 600 minutes per week easily attainable.

1. Get your cardio in every day! Mix it up so that it doesn't become boring and redundant. Try something like an easy Fartlek workout on Monday, 15-20 minutes of Stair Climber on Tuesday, a 45 minute Spin Class on Wednesday, Track or Treadmill intervals for 30 minutes on Thursday, an easy jog or bike ride for 60 minutes on Friday, and a  hike or trail run on Saturday.

This should total about 3.5-5 hours of your fitness for the week. The more weight you are looking to lose, the more cardio you should be putting in. Also, adding cardio DOES NOT mean taking time off from your other fitness activities.

2. Make your resistance training short and sweet but also very intense. I suggest at least 3 "hard" workouts per week. Hard is obviously a relative term but and good indicator of a "hard" workout is at the end of 30-40 minutes you have only taken a total of 5 minutes of combined rest time. These fast-paced workouts will boost your metabolism while also increasing the bodies ability to recover.  Do your hard resistance workouts on days that are easier cardio days. You can also combine cardio and resistance into circuits to save time.

Interval workouts and Fartleks are great cardio workouts to mix resistance training and cut down on the amount of time spent in the gym.

3. The most common workout to skip is probably the most important to hit, our corrective exercises. We all make it to the gym for our favorite grueling HIIT class, but most people usually just squeeze a couple corrective exercises in at the end of their workout. While I would never say thats a bad thing, it is much less effective to do 2 exercises than it is to do 2 sessions of correctives. Allowing yourself to focus on what ever muscle imbalances you may have, or joints with a lack in range of motion helps prevent injury and will increase efficiency in the body mechanics.

4. Lastly, the therapeutic aspect of your fitness must be addressed, stretching and myofascial release. I have never told a single person that they foam roll too much. It doesn't matter where or when, but daily stretching and massage will help your body wake up easier. Stiffness and tightness can be mistaken for soreness and lead to skipping your daily fitness fix. 20 minutes per day is all you need. This can even be broke into two 10 minute sessions at the beginning and end of the day. If you really don't like to do it, ask your trainer if they offer stretching sessions. We saw a huge increase in the amount of activity our members were engaging in after the started signing up for 1-2 stretch sessions per week. We also saw a huge decline in the number of complaints about lower back pain, shoulder impingement syndrome, and knee soreness. 

By splitting up our fitness into daily goals we can manage our time better and get great results without risking injury or burn-out. Don't expect to hit 10 hours every week, but make it a goal. Some weeks you will do much more and some weeks you might come up a bit short, but sticking to this goal will create healthy habits. Good luck!

My Favorite Post-Run Snacks, Drinks, and Meals

Refueling post-run or post-workout is just as important, if not more important than pre-run. Our body will store reserves of glycogen(carbs) and adipose(fat) so that when necessary, the body has sufficient amounts of potential energy available. Because of this, fueling just before an event is not necessarily the most important time to ingest macros, but after. Here are my choices for post-workout eating:

SNACKS  

 After a hard interval workout, especially on a hot day, I don't have big appetite. I aim for something quick, small, and packed with protein and electrolytes. My go-to is a part-skim mozzarella cheese stick, kosher pickle spear(preferably Klausen), and poultry, usually chicken and always breasts. I add a side of mustard and horseradish for taste, sodium, and clearing my breathing pathways. Horseradish also has great joint healing properties and cancer fighting abilities. Check out this interesting article! 

DRINKS

Water is the obvious choice here, but sometimes our body can use a bit more than the clear stuff. I like to make a fresh antioxidant juice. I usually do a concentrated shot of fresh squeezed or I mix a 1:1 ratio with water to have as a drink. I also consume at least 16 oz. of water to replace what I lost in sweat. Pro-tip: infuse fruit into water for tasty, refreshing electrolyte filled hydration, Lisa's favorite is a Cuke Citrus Cilantro - this water hits all 3 of the main electrolytes used for exercise.

MEAL

I'm not one to eat a lot post-workout or race, but long grueling runs with lots of hills will leave your liver depleted of glycogen and eventually, for me about 45 minutes later, your stomach will begin begging for food. Also, if I'm training for a race my post-long run meal is much different than if I'm trying to shed a few pounds. When training I need to be able to get back to work soon, sometimes later in the day, so my meal will be a little more carb heavy (root veggies, beans/lentils, and antioxidant rich fruits), along with some good fats like avocado or coconut oil. If I'm looking to lose a few pounds I wait 45-60 minutes post-workout to eat because my body is working its hardest to convert stored fat into glycogen. During this window of time is when the body is most efficient at burning fat and replacing it's liver glycogen stores. Then I eat a meal that is protein and omega fatty-acid rich, like a Zuke, ham and egg white Scramble.

Glide Training Co. prides itself in providing high-end personal and performance training paired with nutritional guidance and injury prevention strategies to maximize the results of their clients and athletes.