Did you know that 70% of Americans suffer from ailments related to their diet, which can be improved from following a plant-based diet? Or that it takes approximately 2,500 gallons of water to produce just one pound of beef? There are several health and environmental reasons why people choose to follow a plant-based diet. However, there are several things that you're diet may be missing once you make the switch to becoming vegetarian. Most people only plan to cut out the meat in their diet, but forget to plan the rest of their dietary intake. Here is a list of nutrients that are often low or missing in a plant based diet:

1. Vitamin B12 - It aids in forming neurotransmitters and helps maintain healthy nerve cells and red blood cells, but is found in primarily meat products. As a vegetarian or vegan, look at eating foods that are fortified with B12 or supplementing it.
   
2. Calcium - This is the most common mineral in the human body. It helps with nerve impulse transmission, muscle contraction, hormone secretion, and forming your teeth and bones.  Outside of dairy products, calcium can be found in tofu, nuts, legumes, and fortified non-dairy beverages. Some compounds, eaten in a large amount following a plant-based diet, can hinder its absorption. 
   
3. Iodine - Aids in the formation of T3 and T4, two hormones that help increase your body's metabolic rate.  Vegetarian diets tend to have a large amount of soy-based foods, which can compromise thyroid function. Make sure to use iodized salt or supplementation. 
4. Omega-3 Fatty Acids - Found primarily in fish, it should come as no surprise that an individual following a plant-based diet may be deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial for your body's overall ability to function. Instead of using a fish oil supplement, look for one that is algae based in order to prevent chronic disease and help with body composition management.
5. Vitamin D - Found in very few foods, sunshine is the best source of receiving adequate amounts of Vitamin D. If you live in a place where the sun goes into hibernation during the winter months, supplementation is crucial. 

"You're such a great athlete!"
'You're so smart!"
"You're jump shot is amazing!"

Most of you would agree that those statements above would be classified as a compliment and that you could see yourself saying those words, or similar phrases, to your children. What if I told you that those are not compliments at all and would actually be detrimental to your child's development and growth? Would you believe me? 

Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck would say that those statements help generate a fixed mindset, one where individuals believe that their intelligence or talents are fixed traits. They believe that because of their talent that they will be successful. You are good at some things, bad at others, and there is no way to change that. They are afraid of challenges because they are afraid of failure.

She also talks about a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset believe that their basic abilities can be developed over time with work and dedication. This view fosters growth and values the process of becoming great at something.  Individuals with a growth mindset love challenges and see them as an opportunity to grow, rather than an opportunity to fail. 

The video below explores a study of Dweck's and the concept of mindset. Trevor Ragan of Train Ugly, does a great job explaining the study and the results.  After you watch the video, take another look at the statements above and think of different ways that you could rephrase those statements to add to the growth and development of your child, instead of being a detriment. 

When you go to the gym, what is the first thing that you do? Do you go straight to the dumbbell rack and start doing bicep curls? Do you head straight to the bench press to see what your one rep max is? By programming your workouts and having the correct exercise order, it will help maximize you gains and reduce your chance of injury by ensuring your maximal force capabilities are available to complete your sets with proper technique. 

DYNAMIC WARM-UP
You should always begin each training session with a 8-10 minute dynamic warm up routine. Most people are used to static stretching before the workout. Don't do that. Save all of that for the end of your training session. You need to get the muscles activating and ready for work.

EXERCISE ORDER
Your exercise order will depend on the amount of resistance training sessions that you do each week. The arrangement that we use the most for our clients is described below. 


 Power, Other Core, Then Assistance Exercises
This is how we typically set up our sessions at Specialty Athletic Training because we like doing whole body workouts with each of our clients and this is the best set up do so. We want to target the large muscle groups first with multi-joint movements, then hit the smaller muscle groups with more single-joint movement patterns.  

We start with an explosive movement, example box/stair jumps, because they force your body to exert the most energy. You want to be fresh when you do these movements. More complex movements that you could begin with would include Power/Hang Cleans, Power/Hang Snatch, and Jerks. 

Following the Power exercises, you want to move on to other multi-joint exercises that target the large muscle groups. This is how we will generally set up our exercise order following the Power exercise.
1. Legs - Targeted by doing a some version of a squat, dead lift, or lunge
2. Chest - Targeted with a variation of the bench press or push up
3. Back - Targeted with a variation of a row or pull (ex. single arm dumbbell row, blast strap inverted row, seated row, lat pull down) 

After the large muscle groups are targeted, we then move on to the the smaller muscle groups of the body (ex. biceps, triceps) and do additional core stability work. 

Now is time for the cool down. Make sure to go for a 5-10 minute walk or a nice easy bike ride to ease your heart back to it's resting state, followed by some of your favorite static stretches. You should always feel better leaving the gym then when you arrived and following these steps will definitely help you do just that!

Did you know that water is the largest component of the body (representing 45-70% of a person's body weight) and affects athletic performance more than any other nutrient? Water is essential for normal cellular function and thermal regulation. With a fluid loss of as little as 3% of your body weight, dehydration will begin to affect your performance by straining your cardiovascular system and impair your ability to dissipate heat.  However, on average, we only replace about two-thirds of the water that we sweat out during exercise.  Here are some simple guidelines to make sure that you stay adequately hydrated.

1. Aim to drink 2.5 liters of water a day. If you live an active lifestyle, aim for 1 gallon of water a day.
2.  Before exercising, consume at least 1 pint of water 2 hours prior. 
3.  Bring a water bottle to your workout and keep it near you at all times. Try to drink 6-8 ounces of water every minutes during your workout. 
4. Weight yourself before and after your workout. For every pound lost, drink 1 pint of water.