HLI Personal Training - From The Kitchen

ACIDIC VS. ALKALINE FOODS

Recently there has been a lot of attention on acidic vs. alkaline foods. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll give you a brief background.

Acidic or Alkaline refers to the effects that the food we eat has on ph levels of our body. It is measured by looking at the level of acidity in your urine. Acidic foods (i.e.- chicken, bread, fish) raise the level of acidity in your body while alkaline foods (i.e.- almonds, avocadoes, dark leafy vegetables) lower the acidity levels and raises the alkaline levels in your body.


So what does this all mean? Studies have shown that people with high acidity in their urine have a slower rate of recovery from various diseases. In fact people with a higher level of acidity tend to be prone to more ailments and disease that those that have low levels of acidity. An acidic body can also accelerate the ageing process, cause system degeneration and can contribute to cancer, heart disease, kidney disease and hypertension among other things.

A healthy body should be alkaline with a ph value of 7.3 to 7.4. You can get your body to this level by eating foods that will increase your alkalinity levels. Your goal should be to consume 80% alkaline foods and 20% acidic foods. Check out the link below to find out what foods will help and what foods to avoid.

http://www.essense-of-life.com/info/foodchart.htm

From the mind of Steve Brown, Fitness and Nutrition Coach for HLI Personal Training
For more information visit: http://www.hlipro.com
If you are interested in recieveing a personalized nutrition plan contact me at trainer@hlipro.com

HLI Personal Training - From the Gym

SINGLE LEG SQUATS

With this weeks installment on my BLOG I thought it would be good to get back into some great exercises. This week's exercise is the Single Leg Squat. This exercise is a great alternative to the Squat. One of the biggest benefits to performing the single leg squat is it's focus on individual leg strength.

Contrary to popular belief, your legs are not always equal in strength. In fact the vast majority of us has one leg that's stronger than the other, it's usually based on our dominant side (i.e.- whether you are left handed or right handed). This exercise helps us strengthen any weaknesses that exist in each leg.

So let's get to the good stuff, how exactly is this exercise performed. You'll be happy to know that this exercise can be done anywhere as it does not require any special equipment.

Step 1. Stand straight with feet just inside shoulder width apart. You can stand beside something (i.e- a chair) to help you with your balance.
Step 2. While standing on one leg, lift your other leg in front of you.
Step 3. Lower yourself slowly as low as you can comfortably go, keeping your raised leg in front of you.
Step 4. Using only the leg which is supporting your body weight, try to return to a standing position.





Until next time, eat well, stay active and happy lifting.

From the mind of Steve Brown, Fitness and Nutrition Coach for HLI Personal Training
For more information visit: http://www.hlipro.com/
If you are interested in recieveing a personalized nutrition plan contact me at trainer@hlipro.com

HLI Personal Training - From the Kitchen

The Wonderful world of Almonds

I’m back again with another gem from the kitchen. Our wonder food this week is the miraculous almond. Yes, I know most of you know it’s good for you, but do you know why?

Well for those of you interested in losing weight this nut is a great. It’s chock full of fibre, protein and healthy unsaturated fats.

For every ¼ cup of almonds (roughly a handful), you get 7.5 grams of protein, 4.5 grams of fibre, and a whopping 15.25 grams of unsaturated (mono and polyunsaturated) fats.

Not sure if you’ve noticed while reading my blogs, but I’m a big, big fan of including unsaturated fats in your diet. My mantra is eliminate the empty carbs and sugars and increase the protein, fibre and unsaturated fats.

Until next time, eat well.

From the mind of Steve Brown, Fitness and Nutrition Coach for HLI Personal Training
For more information visit: http://www.hlipro.com/
If you are interested in recieveing a personalized nutrition plan contact me at trainer@hlipro.com

HLI Personal Training - In my Opinion

The Importance of Strength

I figure its time for another HLI rant. For those of you who aren't familiar with the "In my Opinion" installment, it's usually based on my observations in and out of the gym. This time it's all about strength. It's amazing how much we underestimate the importance of maintaining our overall strength.

I've seen it many times in the gym where an individual becomes complacent with their strength levels. "I'm not training to be an olympic calibre athlete or a bodybuilder so there's no need for me to try and increase my weights". I have to tell you, that's a really poor attitude to have. Whether you are 18 or 80 you need to push yourself to be as strong as you can be.



Why?

Well it's simple, being as strong as you can possibly be is the difference between a 55 year old woman falling, picking herself up and dusting herself off and that same woman falling and having to call for help in order to get back up. It's the difference between a 35 year old man wrestling with his son and that same man gingerly playing with his son for fear of tweaking that weak back.


So the next time you are in the gym and you feel like you've done enough after pushing around those pretty pink dumbbells go back and try giving the real dumbbells a try. If you can only lift it once that's ok. Next time you are in the gym try and lift that dumbbell twice. Remember, better overall strength means a better quality of life.

That's great, it's that simple, now you are on your way to greater strength.

Until next time, happy lifting

HLI Personal Training - From the Kitchen

The Benefits of Avocados



Avocados could arguably be one of the best fruits for those interested in losing fat. Why? I'll tell you.

For starters, it contains two very important ingredients for people trying to lose fat; 1. fiber and 2. healthy fats.

Per 100g, avocados contain 7 grams of dietary fiber and 12 grams of mono and poly unsaturated fats.

So what does this mean for you? Pay attention, it gets better.

Fiber controls blood sugar levels, lowers blood cholesterol levels and helps in weight loss by making you feel more full for longer periods of time.

Mono and Polyunsaturated fats help increase insulin sensitvity, aid in the prevention of muscle breakdown and lowers your LDL (bad cholesterol) levels.

On top of all these fantastic benefits, it tastes great too. I know because I eat them all the time.

From the mind of Steve Brown, Fitness and Nutrition Coach for HLI Personal Training
For more information visit: http://www.hlipro.com/
If you are interested in recieveing a personalized nutrition plan contact me at trainer@hlipro.com

HLI Personal Training - In my opinion

I thought this would be a good place to put an opinion piece in my BLOG. Then again, the topic I'm about to discuss with you is not solely based on my opinions, but rather research and basic human physiology as well.

I want to talk about women and resistance training. As a trainer (and a damn good one at that), 90% of the time when I first start working with a female client I will get that oh so familiar statement, "I don't want to get big and muscular or bulky". Those words are usually followed by "i want to be toned and tight".

Now I can understand why most women wouldn't want to turn into female bodybuilders (not that there's anything wrong with that, I have the utmost respect for a woman that can kick my ass), but in reality it's about as likely as me joining an aerobics class. In order for muscle to grow, and I mean really grow, there most be a lot of testosterone present in the body. Most women don't have enough to be able to build big muscles. The women you see on those magazines flexing those pecs (which were once breasts) usually incorporate supplements in their diets which increase the level of testosterone in their bodies.

Now please don't misunderstand me. Women do have some testosterone in their bodies, but typically not enough for them to be able to build muscles as big as Arnold's. I hope that puts your collective minds at ease. So the next time I tell you to push that weight and stop whining, you'll know it's because I know you won't be getting any bigger, just stronger and more toned. It's all because I care. :)

From the mind of Steve Brown
For more information please visit: www.hlipro.com
For a personalized workout program please contact me at trainer@hlipro.com

HLI Personal Training - From the Gym

Interested in something new for your arms. Try this exercise, it's called the Gironda Perfect Curl and is guaranteed to blast those biceps. I got this exercise from my favorite website, http://www.t-nation.com/.

1. Start the exercise as if you're doing a regular standing barbell curl (you can use a straight bar or an EZ-bar).

2. Before starting the movement, bring your upper torso backward (shifting your weight toward the heels). Note how the shoulders are aligned behind the hips and knees in the starting position.

3. Now slowly curl the weight up from that position. As you lift the weight you're going to slowly bend the upper torso forward so that in the end position the shoulders are in front of the hips and knees.

4. Lower the bar using the opposite motion. Start in the torso forward position and as the bar is lowered, bring the torso to the backward position.

Try it and let me know how it works for you.

From the mind of Steve Brown
Please visit: http://www.hlipro.com/
For a personalized workout contact us at trainer@hlipro.com