Matt Scott goes over all the excuses that you could possibly come up with to skip out on your workout. What’s your excuse? Slide Glide and Burn! We dare you!

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Lentils are also chock full of folate and magnesium, which promote general cardiovascular health and improve blood flow, making sure that oxygen and nutrients circulate healthily throughout the body. They are also a great source of calcium, zinc, and iron.

Barley is another great superfood. A huge source of soluble and insoluble fiber, barley is an excellent choice for weight loss, blood sugar management, lowering cholesterol and improving heart health. It’s a great source of antioxidants, low in fat, and is full of vitamin B, selenium, iron, magnesium, zinc, phosphorous, and copper.

Mix up barley and lentils in the following recipe for an incredible source of nutrients!

 Source: Myrecipes

Barley and Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 20m| Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

3/4 cup quick-cooking barley
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
A dash of kosher salt and black pepper
1 medium head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces (about 8 cups)
1 1/5-ounce can lentils, rinsed
1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
1/4 small red onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
1/4 English cucumber, chopped
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Directions

1. Cook the barley according to the package directions. Drain and run under cold water to cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

3. In a medium bowl, toss the lettuce with half the lemon dressing. In a second medium bowl, toss the barley, lentils, carrot, onion, olives, and cucumber with the remaining lemon dressing. Serve the barley mixture over the lettuce and sprinkle with the goat cheese.

Recipe Source: Realsimple.com 

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Photo Source: Rawfoodworld

Instead of grabbing a coffee for a boost of energy before your workout, you should be grabbing raw cacao. Raw Cacao is the unprocessed form of chocolate. It might sound a bit funny, but its health benefits are serious business – serious business that you should get in on. It’s a stimulant, but unlike coffee, it will not cause inflammation or a caffeine crash.  It is the greatest source of magnesium you can obtain from a whole food, and also contains the highest amount of antioxidants. Raw cacao triumphs over processed cacao because the latter form has lost most of its nutrient benefits. It can be bought in powder or whole nib form. Instead of buying a cup of coffee everyday, you can just nibble on these or put them in your smoothies. Save time, save money, and save your health!

Raw Cacao has been shown to…

• Lower blood pressure
• Improve circulation
• Promote cardiovascular function and health
• Improve digestion
• Neutralize free radicals
• Enhance physical and mental well-being

Cacao is a source of:

• Magnesium
• Calcium
• Zinc
• Iron
• Copper
• Potassium
• Sulfer
• Manganese
• Flavonoids
• Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B9, and E
• Oleic Acid
• Protein
• Fiber

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Sometimes athletes gather together and feast on copious amounts of bread and pasta: it’s an All-You-Can-Eat Carb Dinner. This is so that they can load up on carbohydrates, or in other words, carb-load.

Carb-loading means increasing the amount of glycogen (by eating carbohydrates) in the body that helps people to endure a longer and more intense amount of physical activity before hitting “the wall”. Glycogen is stored glucose (sugar). It is the body’s first-line energy source for harder physical efforts and keeping specific bodily systems (the brain, red blood cells, the kidney) running efficiently daily.

Contrary to popular belief that extra carbs need to be consumed before exercise, the body can actually restore its own glycogen storage for physical output that does not exceed 90 minutes. All you need is a protein-rich snack after your workout to aid the glycogen refueling process. Keep in mind that the body does not rely solely on carbs for energy; it also uses up stored fats. However, consuming protein immediately (within an hour) of exercise has been shown in studies to promote increases in lean body mass, strength, muscle enlargement, and decreases in body fat. An ideal supplement should contain a source of protein that provides at least 3 grams of leucine (amino acid in most protein-rich food and beverages). Carb intake that is not consumed directly after workouts will generate insulin rushes, which then promotes fat storage since glycogen storage is full. The insulin will then lock fat inside fat cells. On the other hand, protein synthesis is actually more effective when insulin is present. Thus, combining carbs with protein will help build muscle most effectively. Furthermore, timing protein intake (for post-exercise) will increase muscle mass much more than periodic smaller doses of protein at any other time.

So how do you know if carb-loading is for you? Carb-loading is only necessary for exercise that lasts for 90 minutes or more. It is not restricted to any sport, as long as it reaches that time minimum. Popular as this method of dietary training is for marathons and triathlons, carb-loading can also be useful for weightlifting sessions, but conditionally so. One study shows that carb-loading before weight lifting increases the amount that athletes were able to lift before hitting “the wall”. However, another study shows that there was no difference in lifters’ power output post carb-loading, possibly because the participants weren’t lifting for long enough to reach exhaustion. Therefore, carb-loading should only be done for strength/weight training and weight lifting if the session will continue over upwards of 90 minutes and exhaustion is anticipated. Otherwise, shorter sessions will not require, or benefit from consumption of additional carbohydrates.

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• Body Building: developing the body through exercise and diet specifically for competitive physique exhibition

  • Body builders develop an exercise regimen and diet solely for the purpose of muscle growth and aesthetics. They focus on consuming the ideal ratios of macronutrients. Macronutrients are the major food groups that humans consume in the largest quantities and which provide energy to fuel the body. They are: carbohydrates, protein, and fats. Body builders focus on training to progressively overload the muscles so that maximal muscle mass can be gained.

• Weight lifting: there are two competitive areas of lifting: power lifting, and Olympic weight lifting.

  • weight lifting is the sport of the snatch and the clean & jerk, but in everyday language, it means the lifting of weights. In Olympic weight lifting, the bar must be moved at high speed.

  • Powerlifting is lifting maximal weight in three different lifts: the bench, the squat, and the deadlift.

• Strength training: the use of weight resistance to tear, repair, and build muscles over time.  The goal is not to gain muscle mass or to lift as much weight as possible; it’s simply to get stronger. Any style of training can be used for this purpose. Different methods are weight training, body-weight exercises, and use of machines.

• Weight training: a type of strength training that uses weights rather than elastic. It’s what one would do in the gym.

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The Spiderman Walk Out sound cool, looks easy (fyi: it’s not), hits hard and attacks the abs. Just a few times a week and you’ll see and feel the core tone right up!

1. Starting at the edge of a mat or carpet with arms and feet shoulder width apart, stick your butt in the air at roughly a 40 degree angle
2. Begin by sliding your arms forward. Then take small steps with your feet to maintain that 40 deg. angle.
3. Repeat until you reach the end of the mat/carpet, and restart as many times as possible.

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Source: iTunes Store

When it comes to losing weight, it’s all about a mathematical equation. You have to burn more than you eat. It’s simple but it can be complicated when you can’t keep track of what you eat. It’s not practical (or cool-looking) to carry around a food journal. That’s why food tracking apps are so beneficial – you always have them on you. Best of all – most of them are free!

So whether you need to track what you’re eating or just want to gain some more nutritional info, I highly recommended getting an app!

1.  MyPlate Calorie Tracker

This app is perfect for general calorie tracking. It was designed from LIVESTRONG.com, Lance Armstrong’s health and fitness website. Its best features are its simple design and its integration with the website for support groups, forums, and more! It’s easy to add physical tasks and food to get a glance at your eating to exercise ratio.

2. MyFitnessPal

This app’s biggest advantage is that it has the largest food database out of all iPhone calorie apps with over 3,000,000 foods! This includes meals at popular restaurants. You can also enter ingredients and serving sizes for your own recipes and then save them as meals to avoid wasting time entering the same dinners in time after time. It’s super easy to adjust portion sizes and edit your food diary. The app allows you to track exercise, graph your results and even scan a barcode for easy food entry!

3.40·30·30

Most apps track the amount of calories but what about the composition of your total consumption? This app ensures that you track not just your nutrition – but also the balance of nutrition. It can quickly and efficiently calculate the percent of protein, carbs and fats in each meal! Several popular diets recommend that your eating should consist of 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat! These quantities of macronutrient groups are essential to building muscle and losing fat!

It doesn’t really matter what app you decide to download – what matters is that you become more conscious of what you eat and how much. These apps are extremely beneficial and easy to use! There are #NoMoreExcuses!

The post The 3 Best (and Free!) Food Tracking Apps appeared first on OctaSlider.

A lot of us are capable of a little more. We all have skills that can be applied elsewhere. If we step back and look at all the little things we’ve done, we’ll see the big things we can do.

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The OctaSlider™ Hard Floor Pro Caps are soft PVC caps (much like edged coasters) that fit precisely over the base of the OctaSlider™ handles and the OctaSlider™ Toe Sliders. The base of these PVC Hard Surface Floor Pack is laminated with high-density felt and is designed to slide smoothly on any hard surface including hardwood, vinyl, marble, or linoleum. They will last indefinitely. Each OctaSlider™ Hard Floor Prop Pack includes 4 caps, one each for the handles and toe sliders. The primary material in the OctaSlider™ Hard Surface Floor Pack is exactly the same as is used in the OctaSlider™ handles. It is pliable and will “stick” to the base of the OctaSliders™ and provide a solid foundation for the OctaSlider™ exercise program workouts.

With the OctaSlider™ Hard Floor Pro Pack you can use the OctaSlider™ system anywhere indoors on virtually any surface. The OctaSlider™ Hard Floor Pro Pack sells for $29.95 plus $8.95 P&H.

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Are you ready for a gut-wrenching workout?

1. Get down in plank position with your OctaSlider™ handles
2. Keeping plank position, slide the right handle in a circular motion and lift up
3. Repeat with your left arm

Keep at it until you can’t do anymore!

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