Source: http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/front-squats/

Gregor Clegane aka The Mountain

We’ve all seen it: an overzealous lifter in the squat rack, four plates deep on each side, bellowing out a battle cry as if entering battle against Gregor Clegane in the Game of Thrones.

One of two things happen:

1. An underwhelming quarter squat.

2. A “hybrid good-morning” that resembles Miley Cyrus twerking at the VMA’s rather than a true squat.

My point isn’t to make fun of these well-intentioned lifters; rather, it’s to bring attention to this commonly butchered exercise. Despite being crowned “the king” of all exercises, few techniques are butchered as poorly as the back squat.

Miley is actually holding better spinal position than 90% of the people I see at the gym. 1-0 Miley.

The Risk/Reward Ratio

All training — all decisions in life, for that matter — is weighed on a risk/reward ratio. If the risk of a decision outweighs the reward, then it should be reconsidered. Let’s use a…

Source: http://greatist.com/live/stories-you-loved-most?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

As much as we enjoy sharing recipe roundups and comprehensive exercise lists, there’s something extra satisfying about being able to tackle everyday topics that inspire people to live healthier (and happier) lives. From a personal journey about cutting out alcohol to a powerful reflection on embracing your body to surprising explanations for which hygiene and fitness choices are the most effective, here are 12 stories that kicked a** in 2015.

…

Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2015/12/sidney-mintz-1922-2015-some-personal-memories/

The anthropologist Sidney Mintz has died at the age of 93.  It feels way too soon.

I first heard of him in 1985 when I read a review of Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History.  I immediately ordered a copy, which he signed it for me much later.

Sweetness and Power used sugar as an entry point into a critical analysis of social institutions, in this case slavery, race, class, and global capitalism.  As he explained, the book continues to be relevant to those concerns as well as to today’s obsession with sugar consumption.

Studying a single food or commodity such as sugar may seem like an incongruous project for an anthropologist who claims to work mostly with living people. Still, it is a rich subject for someone interested in the history and character of the modern world, for its importance and popularity rose together with tea, colonial slavery, and the machine era…How do we get from one child’s sweet tooth to the history of slavery, of war, and of corporate lobbying in the Congress?…These are the kinds of questions that have arisen in recent years. Alongside them are the shacks of the cane cutters, scattered in so many of the earth’s tropical corners, which deserve at least equal attention from anthropologists.

When my colleagues and I started Food Studies programs at NYU, we considered Sweetness and Power to be the seminal work in the field.  So did everyone else.  We polled academics working o…

Source: http://www.niashanks.com/health-fitness-religion/

Declaring health and fitness a religion may seem a tad exaggerated, but let’s examine some observations.

Idols who possess a “perfect” physique are worshipped.
People pray to the gods of great glutes, abs, curves, long legs, and other specific body parts or shapes.
We search for a savior in the form of the next greatest diet or fad workout program hoping it will make all of our dreams come true.
With fervor we devour magazines, websites, books, and other resources to help us mold our bodies into something we can be proud of.
We pack gyms to work off calories from evil foods and purify ourselves from over indulgence and offer our sacrifice of a gut-busting effort as sweet incense to the gods of iron and cardio machines.

A bit exaggerated? Perhaps. But if you’re nodding in agreement you’ve likely seen this in action, or even participated. At one time I was an avid, evangelical member of the religion of health and fitness. I wasn’t trolling neighborhoods, knocking on doors, and attempting to share the good news of a healthy diet and rigorous workout routine sprinkled with a hefty dose of obsession, but was close enough. 

Health and Fitness. A New Religion?

Health and fitness was a tool I used to punish myself for overeating, workouts were perform…

Source: http://zenhabits.net/yearend/

By Leo Babauta

Every year, I like to close the year by reflecting on my past year. I find it to deepen the learning I’ve made, plus it makes me more appreciative of the power of a year.

I reflected a bit on my past year in this post, but before that, I spent about an hour writing a journal entry on 2015.

It was a great practice. To really reflect on the year, I had to remember everything about the year. Here’s how I did it:

I went through my travel in my Tripit account, making a list of all my trips. You might store your trip information in email or some other place, so you’ll probably want to do a travel search in that area.
I looked through the files on my computer that were created in the last year. On a Mac, you go to the “All My Files” view and it’s sorted by date last opened. This gives me an idea of what I might have been working on.
I reviewed my Amazon orders for 2015. This was interesting to see different books I’ve purchased, different interests (OK, obsessions) I’ve had over the year.
I scanned my credit card statements, to look at any interesting purchases that stood out.
I looked over journal entries, Google Docs and notes (using Evernote or Apple’s Notes program). This showed me various notes or things I’ve been working on.

All of this showed me what I’ve been working on, what I’ve been obsessed about, what I’ve been learning, what I’ve read, where I&#8…

Source: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2015/12/29/holiday-week-eats-and-exercise/

Hi friends! Popping back in to share some of the food and fitness highlights from the past week, not including the actual Christmas eve feast.

On the food front, leftover turkey has obviously been the highlight!

Matt and I made a really good leftover turkey soup over the weekend. We started with a big pot of water and the turkey carcass and added some carrots, celery, peppercorns, and bay leaves to the mix, too. We brought it to a boil then let it simmer for a few hours. (After taking this photo we added more water so it covered the carcass.)

We strained everything out of it, leaving us with a delicious homemade t…

Source: http://tonygentilcore.com/2015/12/best-articles-of-2015-guest-posts/

Outside of the unfortunate run of crappy weather (tornados, flood warnings, snow storms), Lisa and I are having some lovely adventures down here in Texas.

We’re in the Dallas/Fort Worth area visiting family and stuffing our faces with delicious BBQ

In keeping with the “best of” theme from last week, I wanted to highlight some of the best guest posts from 2015. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of people offer their words of wisdom on this site and it’s always an honor to help spread their message.

In case you missed them the first time around, enjoy!

Lets Talk (Over) Conditioning – Jen Sinkler

Think you have to be swimming in a pool of your own sweat (and tears) in order to achieve a good conditioning workout?

Think again. Jen Sinkler explains why many people are (over) conditioned and why it’s hurting their progress rather than complimenting it.

Altitude Training Masks: Helpful Or Hyperbole? – Dan Hechler & James Darley

I saw a kid – 140 lbs s…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/videos/awareness-meditation/

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAgDdR2amPg

When life is busy and you can’t find time to yourself to meditate, there are a few questions you can ask yourself, wherever you are, to bring a sense of mindful awareness to your day. In this video, Deepak Chopra, M.D., outlines three questions that will help guide your headspace into a calm, nonreactive place—almost as if you spent 30 minutes meditating.

The post A Guided Meditation You Can Practice Anywhere appeared first on Sonima.

…

Source: http://greatist.com/live/hungry-during-period?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Although annoying, cravings are at least predictible—when it’s that time of the month, and you see a raging pimple pop up, you know you’re going to inhale that emergency chocolate stash like there’s no tomorrow.

What’s more mysterious is that insatiable hunger that can arise right before and during your period. So if you’re wondering why the triple-stacked turkey sandwich you had for lunch didn’t even begin to fill you up, don’t worry: That lurking hunger is totally normal, and actually comes down to our primal instinct.

The Hunger Games

During ovulation (around 12 to 16 days before your period), your body is getting ready for a potential pregnancy, says Jamé Heskett, M.D., author of The Well Path. It wants to be stocked and ready just in case, so the hormones that peak during that time—estrogen and progesterone—trigger a hunger response, telling you to get some food (yep, your body sounds a lot like a Jewish grandma).1

On top of that, your body’s basal metabolic rate speeds up just before and during the early part of your period to fuel the process of menstruation, says Gerardo Bustillo, M.D., an OB/GYN at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center.2 Up to 15 percent more calories are burned (around 100 to 300 calories more per day), which can also make you feel hungrie…

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/29/460589462/the-year-in-food-artificial-out-innovation-in-and-2-more-trends?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

Cage-free, antibiotic-free, artificial-free. Sound familiar?

Many of the world’s biggest food companies announced major changes this year — in what they purchase and how they manufacture their food.

Many of the big moves we saw came from company’s striving to bring more transparency to their supply chain. McDonald’s pledged to source chickens raised without antibiotics. Dunkin’ Donuts and Costco are switching to cage-free eggs.

Some companies signaled to customers that they were “cleaning up” and simplifying their ingredient lists. Panera ditched dozens of additives. Even Lucky Charms and Butterfingers are getting minor makeovers: General Mills and Nestle said they’re removing artificial colors and flavors from their products.

“Big Food is definitely feeling the pressure,” Scott Allmendinger, who consults with food companies for the Culinary Institute of America, told us. Packaged-food companies lost $4 billion in market share last year, according to a Fortune analysis.

A 2015 Nielsen survey found an increasing number of consumers say they’re willing to pay a premium for “all natural,” “clean” and minimally-processed foods. (As we’ve reported, it’s hard to know…