Haven’t done one of these in a few weeks, so lets get right to it.
1. Blanket Statement of the Week (courtesy of some random nutrition professor that I don’t know): “excess protein will be turned to fat.” A little back story. A friend of mine’s brother is in school. He’s taking a nutrition class. His teachers says that there is no need for anyone to go above the ADA’s recommendation of 0.8 grams of protein per kg of body weight, because any excess protein will just be turned to fat. Really? And here I thought it was excess calories that make people fat?
Some quick facts:
It’s pretty well established in current research that 0.8 grams of protein/kg (particularly for active individuals) is woefully low. I’m 200 lbs and need far more than 72 grams of protein per day to keep chicks wanting to hang out with me. Come on.
Also, compared to carbohydrates and fats, protein has a higher TEF (Thermic Effect of Feeding) and must to go through a rather extensive process in order to be broken down (cue sciencey stuff that I really don’t want to elaborate on here), and as such, is actually the hardest macronutrient to be able to “convert into fat.”
I don’t know, this professor might have just trumped Trainer McMakeShitUp as being #1 on my list of people most deserving of getting punched in the face. With a brick.
2. My colleague, Brian St. Pierre started his own blog not too long ago, and I encourage all of you to check it out here. Brian is a very bright guy* who happens to take care of the bulk of nutrition consultations at Cressey Performance. Furthermore, you will all appreciate his no-nonsense approach to telling it like it is. Read: he swears when he’s angry! Don’t believe me, read his post on The Non-Awesomeness of MSN Health Tips. Trust me, if there’s one thing I’ve learned is that you don’t make Brian St. Pierre angry. He’ll eat your babies. True story
3. In the past, I’ve stated that I’d much prefer to make plank variations “harder” or more challenging than to increase time. Here’s a great variation of the side plank that we’ve started to incorporate at CP called the side plank wall slide.
The objective here is to place your head, shoulders, butt, and heels up against the wall and to stay as “stiff” as possible. Don’t let your hips sag and try to keep all points of contact ON THE WALL throughout the duration of the exercise. Try for three sets of eight to ten reps on each side. They’re harder than they look!
4 It’s been brought to my attention (Nel) that apparently it upsets some of my female readers that I include so many pictures of hot chicks being hot on my blog. So to appease you (Nel), I decided I would include a picture of one of my man-crushes and current Sexiest Man Alive, Hugh Jackman. Why do I have a man-crush on Hugh? He’s freakin Wolverine. Nuff said. However, just for the record, my abs would totally kick his abs’ ass.
5. This is a recipe that I got from Jen Heath for protein pancakes, and they’re absolutely delish.
1.5 cups cottage cheese
2 cups oats
12 egg whites
2 scoops vanilla Low Carb Metabolic Drive
cup water
cinnamon (quite a bit)
Just put all the contents into a blender and “blend” them till they’re a consistent texture. Obviously the recipe above will make roughly twelve pancakes (which can be used for breakfast and/or snacks), so feel free to half the ingredients if you choose to do so.
* = engaged at 24. Not so bright in my book. Freakin idiot. Oh, hey Anna (Brian’s fiance), what’s up? I didn’t realize you were there. What’s with the rabid German Shepard? Wow, he looks mean. Wait, what are you doing? Don’t let him off his chain. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
UPDATE (from my hospital bed): Brian and Anna = true love forever. It’s a beautiful thing.
