La creatina, a pesar de necesitar de más estudios, es el más promisorio entre los suplementos, existiendo un cierto consenso entre los investigadores en lo que se refiere a las posibilidades de auxiliar en la hipertrofia muscular, aumento de la fuerza y capacidad anaeróbia en los ejercicios de alta intensidad. Sólo no está totalmente aprobada por existir todavía sospechas de efectos adversos tales como la retención hídrica y problemas asociados. Por eso, suplementos deben ser prescritos por nutricionistas o médicos especialistas....More

We can't eliminate stress from our lives and certainly the holiday season brings its own brand, even though the holidays are supposed to be joyous. Stress can negatively affect every aspect of our daily lives including  sleep, our moods, our ability to concentrate, and it can even make us more susceptible to catching a cold. Sometimes we may not even realize how stressed we are! So, do any of these common holiday stressors sound familiar? ...More

Thanksgiving (a favorite eating holiday of mine, I might add) is fast approaching and many of us are making our shopping list for the big day. Most of us Americans look forward to this feast of eating by allowing ourselves some indulgence. But do we realize that in addition to good food with lots of calories, we are also consuming lots of those disease fighting phytochemicals? Yes, many of the traditional Thanksgiving foods are high in phytochemicals along with other important nutrients...More

We're back from our vacations, back to work, school and oh yes, back to the gym I hope. Since we're getting back into our routines, let's gear up this week for exercise by first discussing our fitness level. We'll begin by reviewing the components of fitness so that we can decide which areas we need to improve and focus on most. Then we can set about designing a well rounded routine. But what exactly does being fit mean? Fitness has several components, and when we increase our fitness, let's not forget that we increase our health too!...More

Imagine the beautiful desert sun beating down your neck as you begin your training. In a rush, you have forgotten your camelback full of sports drink. As you continue, you start to notice a muscle cramp developing in your calf which soon turns into an annoying muscle twitch. At last, a water fountain arrives. You take a few sips and continue on. Unfortunately, the unpleasant cramp returns and suddenly, your breathing starts to act up almost as if you are having an asthma attack. Even though that potent sun continues to beat down your neck, you start to get the chills...More

Have you ever started a long run or ride feeling amazing only to suffer tremendously towards the end of the workout? Perhaps your muscles felt like they were experiencing a migraine headache. And every slight incline in the road felt like you were climbing Mount Everest. Even those typical downhill blessings felt horrible, almost as if someone were hammering your legs into the ground or stabbing your muscles with a blade. Most endurance athletes have had at least one or two less-than-desirable long training days throughout an endurance-training program, whether it is for marathons, triathlons, or adventure racing. Fortunately, these “bad” days can be minimized through careful planning of dietary and fluid needs during longer training bouts...More

It's in the air oxygen that is, along with nitrogen, small amounts of other gases, water vapor and unfortunately air pollutants. An air pollutant is any substance in the air that can cause harm to us humans, to our animals and to the environment itself. Today let's discuss a bit about the indoor air pollutants which we inhale and especially the ones that with repetitive use overtime, can cause disease in us and in our pets too...More

For the most part, multi-sport racing requires a steady, consistent pace from start to finish. Multi-sport racing is a balance between energy conservation and expenditure. With the exception of draft legal events, opponent strategy and tactics are largely not a consideration, whereas individual pacing is. There are, however, instances where tactics and strategy can help you defeat an opponent in a close race. First, you should be in contention for an age group of overall placement. Never waste time attacking an athlete that is not in your category. Secondly, the opponent must be within your performance grasp. ...More

Mr. Mick Wilkinson and Mr. Alun Williams’ article advocates the inverse relationship between flexibility and running economy. In layman terms, it means that we don’t need flexibility in running and even more, it is bad to have good flexibility. They support their conclusion with some research data suggesting that inflexibility of the ankle in dorsiflexion could reduce energy expenditure by enhancing of elastic energy storage and return in the Achilles tendon and calf muscles....More

Stay motivated to exercise, that is! It's a new year and the gyms are crowded. But will they stay crowded? Why do some of us exercise all year long and why do some of us lose our motivation? I believe that there is no secret or magic will power but just habit and a few tools that help to keep us going. So, whether we've just started to exercise or we want to exercise more, here are some tools to help us to "just do it" as the popular ad states....More

I consider "Health & Fitness" to be a pretty broad category that covers our physical, mental and emotional well- being. After all, can we really consider any of these components separately as if they don't affect each other? Here are a few questions I think we can ask ourselves about our perceptions from last year which focus on how we viewed food, exercise, and the change process in general....More

We feed our hunger, our appetite and most of us feed our cravings, at least once in awhile. But how often do we feed ourselves to nourish and protect? Okay, in other words, how many times during this week, did we consider how our food choices are connected to the function, appearance and health of our body? Today, let's discuss "Feeding Our Eyes"...More

As the triathlon season enters full bloom in the heat of the summer, many athletes will suffer the performance detriments associated with dehydration which makes determination of fluid and electrolyte needs an important part of your triathlon training program. In this article, I explore water’s role in human performance and also explain how you can maintain peak performance as the thermometer rises...More

What do I mean by "Feeding Our Soul"? Feeding Our Soul means to me "nurturing" ourselves whether we want to reward ourselves, pat ourselves on the back, relieve stress, repair ourselves, or just make ourselves feel good. It also means treating ourselves in a loving way on a regular basis, whether we're building a "Feeding Our Soul" account or responding to everyday life stressors in a healthy way. Of course I always suggest we feed our souls in non-food ways (other substances apply too if they hurt us). So, here then are just a few suggestions to feed our soul whether it's a little every day or once a week....More

Let's gear up for exercise, that is! It's almost fall, we're back to our routines, and we've got a bit of time before those eating holidays come around. Whether we continue to exercise outdoors or bring it into the gym, let's gear up, get the habit going again, and let's do it for our waistline and our health. How? Let's turn our attention to the pro's for a moment. Ever become mesmerized watching athletes perform? Ever wonder how athletes can train so hard for so many hours, or perform under such extreme pressure? Well, there are many variables to this of course, but let's start with a little Sports Psychology to gear us up!...More

Stretching is a vital component to an ironman, triathlon, exercise program and it is a component of fitness. Research reports that regular stretching may be more effective in preventing injuries than occasional stretching and a review of 7 out of 9 studies indicates that regular stretching improves sports performance....More