March Madness

Be on the lookout for asparagus, avocado, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, mushrooms, parsnips, peas, and radishes as the calendar turns to March and these produce items come in-season. Cookie + Kate have some fresh ideas to incorporate these foods into your everyday diet.

A special focus today is on the radish. These little nutritional nuggets have a decent amount of Vitamin C, regulate blood sugar and protect against insulin resistance, can help the liver detoxify and the kidneys to flush out toxins, and also nitrates that improve blood flow while protecting against heart disease. As always, they are best to enjoy in moderation, but these crunchy vegetables pack quite a bit of punch.

#NutritionTips

The pull-up is a bodyweight-exercise staple, and the basis of many a fitness goal and New Year’s Resolution, but where many want, few do.

The key: Programming Regressions. The hardest part about doing a pull-up is figuring out how to get better at pull-ups without being able to do a pull-up. (Sidenote: a pull-up is where your palms face away from your body with your arms about shoulder width apart. Anything where your palms are facing your body or themselves is defined as a chin-up.)

Regressions are easier, more achievable movements that can help build towards the greater goal. A pull-up involves a lot of back strength, scapular depression, grip ability, and core stability. Train all of these things individually and you’ll build the pieces necessary to achieve the pull-up goal when they’re all put together.

Extra nugget of wisdom - did you know that grip strength is one of four success parameters that one can train in the gym that has been scientifically tied to a longer life expectancy?

#WorkoutIdeas #ProgrammigTips

Cold exposure has been all the rage for the past few years. Wym Hoff is running around Mt. Everest in his underwear, The Rock is enjoying cold showers every morning, and celebrities and fitness leaders alike are taking cold plunges for the supposed health benefits.

But you hate the cold, and no amount of reduced inflammation, improved immune health, or enhanced energy could be worth your steaming hot morning shower. Enter hot/cold contrast showers and one writer’s 7-day experiment with them.

The 10-30 seconds of hot water alternated with 10-30 seconds of a freezing cold blast is a pretty good intermediate step to taking a nap on a polar ice cap, and still may have some of the same benefits - there is still a lot to be understood about the benefits of cold exposure and contrast work, but for many, this uncomfortable morning experience has unlocked quite a few health benefits.

#TFSRecommendations

Meat Eaters Win This Round as a London-area Fitness coach reveals she gained 40 pounds after switching to a vegan lifestyle, and was only unable to shed the weight after reintroducing meat to her diet.

Fitness For All Check out these 17 black-owned Fitness brands to buy and support.

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