Sunday, January 31, 2016

Training Principles: Recovery



TRAINING PRINCIPLES: RECOVERY

By Sarah Seads, BA Kinesiology


Training doesn't make us stronger. We need recovery for that.

The body is an amazing, adaptive machine. Overload it with a new stimulus and it will respond with adaptive mechanisms and rebuild itself to handle the new load. Wowza.

Want to get stronger? Lift more.

Want to run faster? Run faster.

Want to run further? Run longer.

Want to improve range of motion? Reach further.


Right?

Yes and no.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Recipe: Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies



Happy Saturday!
It is time to make some power packed cookies to fuel your adventures for the weekend!  Thank you to ELM Super Coach Kathy Penner for sharing the original Hollyhock recipe, which I have reworked to create my own, based on what I found in my kitchen this morning-hee hee. 

These cookies are full of natural ingredients, allow for 101 variations and they literally took me 5 minutes to mix up while I was waiting for the coffee (Brad) and tea (me) to brew this morning.  I am posting this recipe while they are cooking in the oven!  You can find all of my favourite whole food recipes in my cookbook NRG: Foods that will move you!  Download your own e-cookbook today!


Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
Makes 2 (small) dozen
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Mix dry in a small bowl.  Mix wet in a large bowl.  Mix together and fold in additions.
Drop in small spoonfuls onto baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown.

1 cup ground almonds (you could use spelt or any other whole grain flour here as well)
1 cup ground oats
1/4 cup ground flax
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup melted coconut butter
1 cup natural almond butter (or any nut/seed butter you like)
1/2 cup maple syrup (yum!)
1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup whole oats
1/3 cup whole almonds
1/3 cup raisins (or any other dried fruit like sour cherries!)
1/3 cup dark chocolate

Enjoy your weekend...and your cookies!

SS


Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Mental Strength: Harnessing the Power of Intention




The end of one year and the transition into the next is the perfect time to reflect, reset and reboot.  You know I love the energy of a new year!  And you likely know that I am a strong believer in the power of intention.  We coaching geeks love goals.  Dream goals, long term goals, short term goals, weekly and daily goals.  We love them all.  Why?  Because we know how powerful these simple tools for motivation and action really are.  No trendy gimmicks.  No expensive contracts.  No state of the art or latest greatest craze.  And definitely no guru's charging your credit card on a monthly basis.  Just you and your vision.  Nothing fancy.

Intention is a powerful thing.  The thoughts that we cultivate day in and day out feed our minds just as the air we breath and the food we eat feeds our bodies.  We are not only what we eat.  We are, in fact, what we think.