Author: Burch

Even though I have been physically active the vast majority of my life, it wasn't until several years ago that I became truly dedicated to being physically fit. This dedication was the result of several different exercise regimens including MMA, crossfit, and triathlon training. What remained constant in all of these disciplines is the community training aspect. Whether it was training with a group or just knowing I was part of a team, community-based training motivated me to give it my all at every workout. The benefits of being part of a fitness-based community inspired me to get in the ring. They inspired me to run that race. They inspired me to earn my personal training certification and they inspired me to create Elemental Training Tampa with the hope of inspiring others to be physically fit and create a community for like minded people.

Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – From the Vault: Sleep Supplements & Biggest Loser

Guest post by Shannon.

As we draw closer to the holidays and the close of another year, it’s a great time for a flashback.

One of the great things about podcasting is that you have a store of regular discussions to look back on and relive. Thus, we bring you one of the Vault episode from the earlier rendition of the podcast known as the ETT Wrap Show.

In this podcast episode, Nick and I review his and the ETT race team’s performances in the Mud Endeavor 5k, how he avoided serious injury and how this race gives other obstacle course races, like Tough Mudder, a run for their money.

 

NOTE: The next ETT team competition is going to be the 2017 Gasparilla 5K on Feb. 25th in Tampa. Want to join the team? Register here and when you choose a team, look for Elemental Training Tampa.

We also get into my constant battle with getting back to a normal sleep routine after enjoying a total lack of sleep structure on vacation. Could simply getting out of an established routine be to blame or is work stress adding to the challenge? We reference a Primal Blueprint podcast and explain the cortisol effect and what supplements can help depleted adrenal glands.

Getting more into news, we chatted about a New York Times article describing former “The Biggest Loser” contestants’ post-show weight gain. A bit of friendly debate around whether a calorie deficit diet really is the best way to keep weight off, follows. It’s a common practice by celebrity trainers, but health experts don’t necessarily agree, opting for quality over quantity.

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We’ll be bringing you an all new podcast next week, so keep listening for more health and fitness information each week. Let us know if you have any topics you want to hear. Send us an email – elementaltampa@gmail.com – or give us a head’s up on social. As always, rate, review and share the podcast. We love and appreciate the support. Stay healthy this week peeps!

Links to this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/from-vault-mud-runs-sleep/id1121420986?i=1000378584024&mt=2

Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/from-the-vault-mud-runs-sleep-supplements-the-biggest-loser

 

 

What’s on the Menu

One of the big components of eating healthy is cooking the majority of your meals at home with whole ingredients. As a working professional I know that meal planning & grocery shopping for an entire week of meals can be time consuming. Fortunately, services like Blue Apron can have all the ingredients you need to make wholesome meals, that meet your dietary preferences, sent right to your door. Plus, if you’re a avid podcaster listener, I’m sure you’ve heard the host give out a Blue Apron promo code to get you a couple free meals. No, I’m not a paid endorser (I wish I was honestly), I just know services like these can reduce individuals reliance on ordering takeout or going out to eat. Shannon and I go into more detail about this awesome service, and meal prep in general, in a past episode of the Addicted to Fitness podcast. Give it a listen and let us know if it convinced you to give Blue Apron a try.

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Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – Holiday Eating & Travel Survival Guide

This post coming at ya from Shannon.

Along with the twinkling lights and chipper holiday music, the holidays bring some health challenges for many people – food, drinks, more food, travel and visits, and seemingly less time than normal.

This all adds up to some serious challenges for keeping your health and fitness goals intact. In fact, the urge to throw your hands up and surrender to the over indulgence for the balance of the year is overwhelming tempting.

This week on the Addicted to Fitness podcast, we’re bringing you some proven tips and tricks on how to battle the food and travel obstacles.

We also get chatty about:

  • ETT news including welcoming a new client and our recent group workout recap.
  • Yoga with a Twist at the Epicurean: A meal is donated to a child in need, via Feeding Tampa Bay, for each ticket sold. Yoga hosted by Megan Blizard of the Conscious Coconut, each month.
  • Friends get the Peloton bike.

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Now for those tips.

You’ll have to listen to get all the details (we use these ourselves and have truly put them to the test), but here’s a quick rundown:

  • Enjoy your holiday – Eat like it’s a holiday on the day. Then, get back to it the next day and remember your body can take a day of splurge, just don’t forget to take care of it after indulging.
  • It’s not just about what you eat, it’s also about how much you eat – Tryptophan making you tired is not exactly true, it’s your digestion working hard that’s really slowing you down.
  • Order light when you’re out – Share an entree or appetizer versus going for the full meal.
  • Pack your own snacks  when traveling – Control what you eat on the go and be prepared when your stomach starts rumbling with some healthy snacks.
  • Drink loads of water – Dehydration can lead to illness and fatigue, so be sure you’re traveling with plenty of water.
  • Plan a pre-travel workout – Specifically target this around stretching out your muscles and joints to prepare for being cramped in tight spaces while traveling.
  • Hit it hard after the feast – Once you’ve digested your food and had a good night’s sleep, tackle a kick-butt workout the next day to start burning off the excess from the day before.

Don’t forget to get in that holiday spirit!

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After you listen to this episode, tell us what you think either on Facebook or by leaving a review in the iTunes store. Stay tuned this holiday season as we continue to bring you interesting and helpful health and fitness information each week. Have a topic or interview you want to hear us discuss in a future podcast? Send us an email – elementaltampa@gmail.com – or give us a head’s up on our social channels.

We truly enjoy producing the podcast and hope you enjoy listening. Thanks again for all your support!

Links to this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-survive-holiday-eating/id1121420986?i=1000378331756&mt=2

Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/how-to-survive-holiday-eating-travel

What’s on the Menu

I’m tired of one of my favorite Thanksgiving Day staples being blamed for post feast sleepiness. Tryptophan is an amino acid that contributes to the production of the body’s “calming” hormones serotonin and melatonin. It’s true that turkey contains tryptophan, but no more than any other animal protein. According to the infographic below, a 3 ounce portion contains 250-310 milligrams. If you look at natural sleep aid supplements, like Onnit’s New Mood, a recommended dose contains 2-3 times that amount. The turkey you eat during your meal is not solely responsible for you feeling like you have narcolepsy. 

The real culprit of post Thanksgiving dinner sleepiness is most likely the amount you eat and, in my opinion, the massive amount of sugar you consume. Think about it. The marshmallows & brown sugar on the sweet potato casserole, the cranberry sauce, the obligatory pumpkin pie. All these dishes create a massive blood sugar spike which will almost certainly lead to you passing out in front of the TV while the Lions lose another Thanksgiving Day football game. If you’re interested in not acting like a tranquilized bear after yourThanksgiving Day meal, you may want to eat a little more turkey and ditch the sugary & carby side dishes. With that said, you best believe I’m having some pumpkin pie tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving peeps!

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Infographic courtesy of Time.com

Addicted to Fitness Show Notes – First Floatation Therapy Experience

It’s Shannon and I’d like to welcome you to my inaugural Addicted to Fitness Show Notes post. Seeing as Nick went on a little excursion for the latest podcast episode without me (how dare he?!), I’m taking on the recap without his input. Hope you enjoy!

If you’ve made it through the eight episodes of Netflix’s Stranger Things, you’ll recall a specific scene where a giant pool was filled with salt and water in the middle of an abandoned gym to create a makeshift sensory deprivation tank that allows El to fall deep into her thoughts to track down the Demogorgon.

This may sound a bit on the sci-fi side. You might even think I’m pulling your leg.

Does such a thing exist outside of top-secret labs?

In fact, it does! Floatation therapy has been popping up in cities with more scientific credibility offering promises of improved calm, supple skin and clear creative consciousness. Convenient enough to tack onto the end of a long workday or even during a long lunch, fitness centers, spas and health clinics are adding floatation tanks and offering 60-90 minute sessions.

One such location, Sacred Floats & Gems Company in Seminole Heights (Tampa), hosted Nick for his first experience at getting tanked. The manager, Memi, and her colleague Grant guided him through the experience expertly, answering his many questions.

One of those questions, you might be thinking as well – Is it true that the point is to block out all outside stimuli?

Believe it! Each tank (for one) is filled with water (usually only about 11 inches) and 1000 pounds of Epsom salts (which are actually skin nourishing magnesium sulfate) to ensure anyone will float. Seriously, anyone.

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As the floater, you strip down to your birthday suit and lay in the water – a lovely 93.5 degrees – and immediately feel like as though you’re floating in outer space, a sensation helped along by the fact the inside of the tank is pitch black. You let your body go, drop your ears beneath the surface of the water and enjoy the total lack of light or sound.

It’s just you, the sounds of your breath, and whatever voices and thoughts you need to quiet down in your head. After an hour to an hour and a half, your mind quiets and you may even find yourself drifting off to sleep.

Nick dives in and shares the details of his experience, along with an interview with Memi, in episode #26 of our podcast. Float on over and check it out!

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After listening to this episode, we’d love to hear what you think. You can always leave comments below, email us at elementaltampa@gmail.com or better yet, give us a rating and review in the iTunes store. We strive to give you interesting and helpful health & fitness information each week. We enjoy producing the podcast and we hope you enjoy listening. Thanks again for all your support and have a healthy & happy holiday week.

Links to this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-first-floatation-therapy/id1121420986?i=1000378089494&mt=2

Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/our-first-floatation-therapy-experience

 

What’s on the Menu

Taking a little different approach to this week’s look at what’s on my menu. Instead of highlighting a healthy food item, I’m going to tell you about a healthy endeavor that Elemental Training Tampa (ETT) will be offering this week. On Saturday, November 19th, ETT will be bringing our free monthly group workouts to the Seminole Heights neighborhood. Shannon and I are residents of Seminole Heights and we thought what better way to give back to the community we love so much than helping people improve their fitness.  The workout will incorporate basic punching & kicking techniques with complimentary strength building exercises to help you start your weekend off right. No experience is required and exercise modifications will be provided for all fitness levels. As if the workout wasn’t enticing enough, each participant will receive a 15% discount at one of Seminole Heights best coffee “shops” Spaddy’s Coffee Co. We will also be collecting non-perishable food items for ETT’s annual food drive for Metropolitan Ministries. All the details about the workout can be found on our Facebook event page. If you live in and around Seminole Heights, please come out and see what ETT has to offer. You won’t be disappointed.

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Thanksgiving Edition of The Macros Game

Shannon and I kick of this week’s episode of the Addicted to Fitness podcast teasing a pair of upcoming Elemental Training Tampa (ETT) events. We make a bold prediction about ETT member Carmin’s fight at Mike Calta’s Punch Out 2, which will have already taken place by the time this episode debuts. Make sure you check out our Instagram or 102.5 The Bone’s website to see if our prediction was correct.  We also mentioned our upcoming group workout taking place November 19th in the Tampa neighborhood of Seminole Heights. If you live in the area and want to participate, RSVP at our Facebook event page. After all the ETT news, Shannon let’s us in on a huge decision she recently made that will certainly change her life for the better.

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For the last decade or more, Shannon has wanted to acquire her yoga teacher certification. She has practiced numerous types of yoga over the years and has even help tudor beginners through basic poses. After years of searching for the right program, she finally took the plunge and invested in the Bella Prana Yoga teacher program. Shannon outlines their curriculum and describes why Bella Prana’s approach to yoga inspired her to enroll. She promises to give us periodic updates about her training over the next several months. I think it’s safe to say that ETT Yoga will be coming soon. One thing you won’t have to wait for is the newest edition of The Macros Game!

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ETT Yoga by Shannon coming soon. Paddle board not included

We are closing in on Thanksgiving Day, which in my opinion is the most epic food holiday of the year. That’s why this edition of the Macros Game will feature common Thanksgiving Day food items. Shannon and I go head to head in this nutritional trivia game to determine who know more about the macronutrient (protein, fat, carbs) content of turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and several other items you’re likely to see on Turkey Day. Make sure you play along at home and send us your scores.

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In addition to your Macros Game scores, we’d love for you all to send us your thoughts and comments about the podcast. Better yet, leave us a rating and review in the iTunes store. You may not realize it but those rating and reviews help us grow our listening audience. We’re always appreciative of your support and feedback. Keep listening, keep sharing and stay healthy this week peeps!

Links to this week’s episode

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/thanksgiving-edition-macros/id1121420986?i=1000377818029&mt=2

Android: http://subscribeonandroid.com/addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/rss

Website: http://addictedtofitness.libsyn.com/thanksgiving-edition-of-the-macros-game

What’s on the Menu

This week’s #whatiatewednesday is not only a delicious one, but a super easy “do it yourself” one. It all started when I saw that my local Whole Foods had a sale on organic pork ribs. For less than $10, I was able to purchase ribs from pigs that weren’t given any antibiotics or growth hormones and were fed organic, non-GMO, feed. Even though we’ve recently talked about how misleading food labels can be, the price and my desire for ribs made this an easy purchase. I have a preference for smoked ribs, but that takes a tremendous amount of time, which is something I feel most people lack especially in the middle of a workweek. That’s why the crockpot is such a godsend. Cover these bad boys in a homemade NO SUGAR dry rub, then throw them in the crockpot on low for 8 hours and BAM! Fall of the bone ribs. No need to cover these ribs in a sugary BBQ or any liquid at all. Your dry rub will provide all the flavor you need without giving you that pesky blood sugar spike.

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