Q & A With Corey: End Holiday Drinking Hangovers

Question:  How can I reduce hangovers from drinking at social events during the holidays?

Answer:  Here are some tips to help you with that.  You don't have to do them all but the more you can do the better.  At the very least do the first two.

1. Have 16-24 oz of water as soon as you get home.  If you can work up to a liter, that is better.
2. Add an electrolyte capsule to the water such as Nuun.
3. Take 2-3 Omega-3 capsules with the water.
4. Take 2-4 Rebound capsules with the water.

Enjoy Thanksgiving this year!

Avoid Thanksgiving Weight Gain This Year

A simple way to avoid Thanksgiving weight gain is to do one or more of the following tips:

1. Eat the Turkey and Green vegetables first.
2. Try to chew 20-30 times with eat bite.
3. Drink 8-16 oz of water right before you eat your meal.
4. Take 3-6 high-quality Omega-3 capsules prior to the meal.

By doing steps 1-2 you won't eat as much because you will get full faster.  

Steps 3-4 will help lower cravings.

Following one or more of these steps will help you avoid gaining weight during this holiday while still being able to enjoy the food that comes with it.  

Enjoy Thanksgiving this year and stay healthy and fit!

A Simple Tip to Avoid Hoilday Weight Gain

Many people gain a few pounds over the holidays.  

I have heard of national news papers doing surveys that say the average American gains 7-8 pounds over the holidays, while published university studies usually show 1-2 pounds gained.  

Either way holiday weight gain is common between Halloween and New Years.

A simple way to avoid this is to get a Metabolic Test done a health club or clinical setting.  Once it is done, focus on spending 80% of your weekly training time within five beats above or below your Aerobic Base heart rate.

I have found performing cardio at this heart rate during the holiday season reduces cravings making it easier to say "No Thanks" when people offer you cookies, crackers or chips.

Eating less processed carbs leads to less weight gain or even weight loss which is a good thing over the holidays.

Strictly Strength Workout 10/30/14

Here is the workout from the Strictly Strength class done at Eden Prarie Athletic Club on October 30th.  This workout featured Tri-Sets (Three exercises in a row for the same muscle group).  Since this is a group fitness class I do three upper body exercises done consecutively followed by three lower body exercises for a six exercise circuit.

The workout is below.  Do each exercise for 15-20 reps for 2-3 sets.  For video descriptions for most of the exercises go to my YouTube Channel.

-A:  Dynamic Warm-Up/Movement Prep

-B1:  Push-Ups
-B2:  Flat Dumbbell Flyes
-B3:  Flat Dumbbell Chest Press
-B4:  Dumbbell Front Squat
-B5:  Single-Leg Squat
-B6:  Resist-A-Band Squat

-C1:  1-Arm Dumbbell Row
-C2:  Lying Flutter
-C3:  Seated Resist-A-Band Rows
-C4:  Figure-8 Band Standing Leg Curl
-C5:  Dumbbell RDL
-C6:  Single Leg RDL

-D1:  Dumbbell Hammer Curl
-D2:  Resist-A-Band Biceps Curl
-D3:  Dumbbell Biceps Curl
-D4:  Lying Dumbbell Skull Crushers
-D5:  Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
-D6:  Dumbbell Kickbacks

-E1:  Abdominal Crunch
-E2:  Abdominal Rotational Crunch

Enjoy the workout.

Simple Tip to Reduce Gender Specific Cancer

If there is one simple tip I can give people to reduce the chances of getting gender specific Cancer it is this:  Avoid Heating Food in Plastic!  In addition do not put hot food or liquid in plastic containers.

When plastic is heated to 80-degrees or above it will release plastic into your food.  What is bad about this is that plastic releases xenoestrogens that mimic bad estrogen in you body.  Increased levels of bad estrogen are often correlated to gender specific cancer like Breast, Cervical and Ovarian in women and Prostate in men.

Going forward avoid heating food or liquid in plastic (especially in a microwave).  In addition try to avoid adding heated food or liquid in plastic containers.  Try to use glass instead.

Strictly Strength Workout 10/28/14

Below is the workout we did on Tuesday, October 28th in Strictly Strenth at Life Time Eden Prairie Athletic Club.  This workout is a long circuit with fourteen exercises done in a row.  It is unique as I taught it in an "Inside Out" order by starting out by performing exercises for smaller muscle groups first and the larger muscle groups (Normally I start with the larger muscle groups first) last.

For each exercise (The ones that are listed under "B" and "C") do a 15-20 reps for one circuit and then repeat 1-2 times.  For video demonstrations of the exercises click here.

-A:  Movement Prep

-B1:  Lying Glute Bridge
-B2:  Lying Dumbbell Skull Crushers
-B3:  Figure-8 Lateral Tube Walk
-B4:  Resist-A-Band Biceps Curl
-B5:  Single Leg Dumbbell RDLs
-B6:  Dumbbell Side Raise
-B7:  Dumbbell Front Squat
-B8:  Dumbbell Shoulder Press
-B9:  Dumbbell Step-Ups
-B10:  Seated Resist-A-Band Low Rows
-B11:  Lying Glide Disk Leg Curls
-B12:  Push-Ups
-B13:  Dumbbell Plié Squat
-B14:  1-Arm Dumbbell Row (Elbow Out)

-C1:  Reverse Crunch
-C2:  Regular Crunch
-C3:  Accordian Crunch 

Enjoy the workout!

Q & A With Corey: A second Benefit of Magnessium

Question: I am a woman and I have a hard time falling asleep and wake up many times in the evening. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem other than taking sleeping pills/medication (I don not want to go that route)?

Answer:  As I talked about in the previous post regarding constipation, an easy way to fix sleep issues is to start taking magnesium as a supplement.  Some females have sleep issues and problems with constipation.  Adding magnesium can hit two birds with one stone. 

Regarding magnesium dosage to improve sleep, most people will benefit from 400-500 mg/day but some people may need to take much more than that (Over a gram). To figure out how much you need start with the above dosage for a week. If the sleep quality doesn't improve, up the dosage to 800-1,000 mg. In most cases these dosages will solve the problem. Some people may need to use more, but the key is to increase the dosage no more than 500 mg/day.

As far as brands, Thorne has a good product that can be purchased from the Life Time Fitness website.  It is high quality and very inexpensive. Natural Calm is a powdered form that can be found at most higher end grocery stores and Co-Ops. Finally, one of the best ones I have used regarding improving sleep for my clients is Ubermag from the Poliquin Group.

Try one of the above products and using the directions given and your problem should be solved in 7-14 days.