Cat/Cow (Back Flexion/Extension)

Paleo Rosemary Flax Crackers (Chip Replacement!!)

The facts are coming out about the number of people that are affected by gluten.  I have noticed three different categories of people in terms of how they react to gluten.  Some people have celiac disease and they will tell you how horrible they feel when something is consumed that was processed even near a source of gluten.  The second group of people aren't as serious as the celiac response but will often live in a suboptimal state without realizing that gluten is dragging them down a bit.   The third group has somewhat adapted to the consumption of gluten and doesn't have a negative response.   Figure out what makes YOU feel good and not what makes someone else feel good.  Also, don't let others judge you about what makes you feel good because they can't tell you what that is!!

Ingredients

• 2 cups organic almond/coconut flour
• 1 cup organic flax seed meal
• 1/2 cup organic whole flax seeds
• 2 organic pastured eggs
• 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons organic rosemary
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (the dirty kind!!)

Directions-

• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, flax seed meal, flax seeds, eggs, rosemary, oil and salt.
• Mix everything together very well.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
• Roll dough between two sheets of parchment paper until dough is about 1/8" thick.
• Score with knife into 2"x 2" squares.
• Sprinkle a little extra salt over top of crackers.
• Bake @ 350 for 10-12 minutes or until crisp.
• Cool and break into squares.

Running Drill - Pawing

Transverse Step to Balance

Homemade Larabar's!

I've been dabbling in the homemade bar realm for a few years now with quite a bit of success. This recipe is similar to a Larabar, using for dates as the binding agent so doesn't even need honey to help hold things together.  Beyond the dates and nut mixture, you can get creative with different fruit/spice combos to get some pretty amazing flavors.  Some of my personal favorites have been coconut/sour cherry, blueberry/ginger and mango/cinnamon.

Coconut/Sour Cherry Bar

1 cup organic almonds

1/2 cup organic pecans

1 cup organic dried sour cherries

1/2 cup organic shredded coconut

1 cup organic pitted dates

1/2 teaspoon sea salt....the dirty kind!

2 Tablespoons organic coconut oil

Blueberry/Ginger

1 cup organic almonds

1/2 cup organic cashews

1 cup organic dried blueberries

1 cup organic pitted dates 

1/2 teaspoon sea salt....the dirty kind!

2 Tablespoons organic coconut oil

Mango/Cinnamon

1 cup organic almonds

1/2 cup organic pecans

1 cup organic dried mango

1 cup organic pitted dates

1/2 teaspoon sea salt...the dirty kind!

2 Tablespoons organic coconut oil

Directions:

• Blend nuts and sea salt in food processor leaving small chunks.
• Put processed nuts in large mixing bowl.
• Blend pitted dates, coconut oil and fruit in food processor until everything is almost like a paste.
• Add to processed nuts in mixing bowl and use hand to mash everything together.
• Can either be put into a snapware glass container and cut into squares or put onto a cookie sheet and pressed into squares.  

Ball Pike

Hip Clamshell (Internal/External Rotation)

Ball Twister

Single Leg Hip Rotary Drill

Frontal Step to Balance

Frontal Lunge

Side Iso-Ab or the Side Plank

Sagittal Step up to Balance

Prone Iso-Ab or the Plank

Get in Shape with the Mill Creek Fitness Challenge!!

DATES:

INITIAL WEIGH IN - BETWEEN FEBRUARY 20TH-29TH

FINAL WEIGH IN - BETWEEN MAY 21ST-30TH

COST:

$20 PLUS TAX (CASH OR CHECK ONLY!)

TERMS:

BASED ON THE BIGGEST LOSER WITH A BODY FAT TWIST, FIT 4 LIFE IS JUDGING A CONTEST TO SEE WHO CAN ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF BODY FAT AND SCALE WEIGHT LOST.  THE JUDGING BASED ON PERCENTAGE GIVES EVERYONE, INCLUDING ALREADY FIT PEOPLE, A CHANCE TO WIN IT ALL!  HERE ARE A COUPLE EXAMPLES TO SHOW HOW IT WORKS.

CONTESTANT                            MARK                JOE                PATTY

STARTING WEIGHT                    220                    300                 135
FINAL WEIGHT                            176                    240                 105
TOTAL WEIGHT LOST                 44                     60                   29
% WEIGHT LOST                         20%                   20%              21.48%
STARTING BF%                           22%                   39%                28%
FINAL BF%                                    8%                    21%                14%
TOTAL BF% LOST                      14%                   18%                14%
% BF% LOST                              63.6%                 46.2%            35.74%
AVERAGE % LOST                   41.82%              33.08%           35.74%
PRIZE                                        GRAND                2ND                1ST  

PRIZES:

GRAND PRIZE

-$200 GIFT CARD TO CENTRAL MARKET!
-3 FREE PERSONAL TRAINING SESSIONS! ($255 VALUE)
-FEATURE ON CONTEST NEWS COVERAGE & WEBSITE!
-FIT 4 LIFE T-SHIRT!

1ST PLACE

-$100 GIFT CARD TO CENTRAL MARKET!
-1 FREE PERSONAL TRAINING SESSION! ($85 VALUE)
-FEATURE ON WEBSITE!
-FIT 4 LIFE T-SHIRT!

2ND PLACE

-$50 GIFT CARD TO CENTRAL MARKET!
-FEATURE ON WEBSITE!
-FIT 4 LIFE T-SHIRT!

3RD PLACE

-$25 GIFT CARD TO CENTRAL MARKET!
-FEATURE ON WEBSITE!
-FIT 4 LIFE T-SHIRT!

Power Transverse Rope Med Ball Chop

Sagittal Stationary Lunge

Good ol H2o

Here's some info on how much water to drink and filtering your water!

Getting our bodies an adequate amount of clean water daily can be a tough task if you normally don't drink much, but is very important to function properly both mentally and physically.   Some people experience headaches, fatigue, dry mouth, confusion and usually our first signs of hunger are actually cues of dehydration.   I drink about 4 liters of Aqualiv water a day beginning with 1.5 liters right when I wake up.  This flushes my body from any stored up toxins released during sleep and gets my cells hydrated and ready for their day.   After I drink my morning water, I wait about an hour to eat breakfast (unless it's an intermittent fast day, then I don't eat until around 3p).  Timing water intake around meals is important to allow proper digestion to occur.   A good rule is to not drink anything 30 minutes before or 2 hour after eating.   The rest of my 2.5 liters is spaced around my meals and snacks.  If I ever have a day that has a longer workout like a 100 mile bike ride, I will increase water intake accordingly.

To figure out how much water you should drink, take your body weight in lbs and divide by 2 to get your intake in ozs.  For example, if you weighed 180 lbs / 2 = 90 ozs of water.  To covert to liters, multiply by .03. 90 ozs - 2.7 liters.

Be sure to drink the best filtered water you can afford.  There are definitely different quality levels of filter systems ranging from your standard Brita to the Aqualiv system, the best filter system in the world.  The Brita will at least get rid of basic contaminants like chlorine and small particles but leaves many contaminants behind like flouride and does nothing to change the alkalinity, structure of the water or bioinformation.  This is where the Aqualiv steps it up.  The Aqualiv system gets rid of all contaminants and small particles including chlorine, flouride and arsenic.  The water is also naturally alkaline between 8.5-10.0 depending on the source water.  By structuring the water back to it's natural hexagonal state, the water is able to hydrate the cells much more efficiently.   Lastly water just like any other substance on earth has bioinformation.  Aqualiv has discovered how to read the barcodes of substances and erase negative images and reprogram ideal images onto a carrier.  This is beneficial because even when some toxins are removed, if the bioimprint isn't erased, it can cause the same reaction as if the toxin were present.  

I can personally say I am a total water snob and won't drink water unless it's at least Brita filtered.  I prefer my Aqualiv though.  After putting in Aqualiv at the studio, everyone empties their bottles upon arrival and fills before they leave!

Bosu Walk Around Toe Up/Toe Down

Tight joints, including our ankles, affect movement patterns that can cause compensation overload leading to injury.  Tight ankles can affect literally everything in your body.  That sore right elbow, caused by a tight left hip that was caused by a tight left ankle.   You can see where we are going here with the connect the dots of etiology of a problem.  Keeping things in their ideal state prevents these out of control compensation patterns from occurring.   This exercise is aimed to wake up the balance proprioceptors while stabilizing the ankle joint in plantarflexion and dorsiflexion.   Check out the video and comment with any questions or requests for future videos!

Inch Worms

Inch Worms serve as a great dynamic warmup for the entire body.  They really do work chest, shoulders, back, arms, core, and legs.   Instructions for fun are below!

1. Begin in a standing position with knees straight but not locked.
2. Inhale arms overhead, draw belly toward spine and as you exhale, hinge at the hips reaching fingers towards the floor.  Keep knees straight unless hamstrings/calfs are too tight, then give them a slight bend.  
3. Place hands on floor.  While keeping core engaged walk hand forward into a high plank/pushup position.  Shoulders over wrists with a straight spine.  
4. If your back is healthy, keeping arms straight, drop hips into an updog position.  Otherwise skip this.
5. Keeping knees as straight as posible walk toes toward hands.  Repeat steps 3, 4 & 5 for desired distance.