Mussels for Muscles
- By Green Rocks Fitness
- •
- 05 Jun, 2017
- •
A saying here at Green Rocks Fitness has been "Mussels
for Muscles!", for quite some time now!
Why do we say this?
We train intensely, but intelligently! Quickly, but effectively! We never waste a
single inch of any range of motion for any exercise. Developing our physique is
only one component for a healthier lifestyle! To develop our physique, we not
only have to train properly with weights, but we must implement the other
components as well! There are many important components to health, but this
post is about nutrition. If you aren’t properly fueling your body, your
training can and will become destructive and catabolic, rather than energizing
and anabolic!
Nutrition
"Take all the supplements and
minerals you want, it won't help. Use foods like fruit and shellfish (among
others) to provide your body with fuel and the right minerals to aid in energy
production and tissue growth."[1]
I'm sure you're familiar with the saying "You don't develop your body in the
gym, you develop it in the kitchen and with sleep and recovery tactics!" If you're constantly training, but not eating properly, your body will break down,
injuries occur, and no progress will be made! We recommend a lot of
nutritious food, but we particularly love to supplement with shell fish!
Why do we love shellfish?
"Did you know copper actually helps
to convert inactive thyroid to active thyroid hormone! Eat right (shellfish,
whitefish and liver) and don't over supplement on it as it can be
toxic!"[1]
Shellfish, specifically MUSSELS, oysters, clams, shrimp, lobster, scallops
and crab, are all good sources of high quality protein! Proteins, while often over-consumed, are vitally important for building muscle and sculpting the
physique! Shellfish contain vitamins A, C, D and E, and the B vitamins. It's also
an exceptional source of vitamin B12, which is required for every metabolic
process in the body!
"Eating low-fat seafood (sole,
whitefish, turbot, scallops, oysters, lobster, shrimp, squid, etc.) once in a
while can provide useful trace minerals, without much risk. However, fish from
some parts of the ocean contain industrial contaminants in the fat, and large
fish such as tuna, swordfish, Chilean sea bass and halibut contain toxic
amounts of mercury in the muscles."[2]
When supplying the body properly and consistently with vital nutrients, you will not fail to see progress
if you're following a consistent training program (provided you are performing the
movements correctly and with a purpose.) We go over all of this, and more, in each
of our programs when we work with clients! We take out the guess work!
Where to find good quality Shellfish in
Pittsburgh!
-Whole Foods Market is located on 5580 Centre Avenue, and offers a wide variety
of delicious shellfish.
-The East End Food Coop doesn't have a a lot to choose from but they have a
limited supply of shellfish that can be purchased.
Summary:
• Shellfish contains vitamins A, C, D and E, and the B vitamins.
• Shellfish are an exceptional source of vitamin B12, which is required for
every metabolic process in the body
• Copper actually helps to convert inactive thyroid to active thyroid hormone
• To simplify, thyroid health is very important, so eating foods that nourish
our thyroid will allow us to develop and sculpt our bodies by being
able to train effective and consistent.
• To recover properly and continually progress, we have to nourish our body and
mind with the proper fuel/food! Shellfish does just that by providing an
abundance of nutrients.
• Whole foods Market and The East End Food Coop both sell good quality
fish/shellfish.
1. EastWest Healing
2. Raymond Peat, PhD
If you want to lose weight, go restrict your calories, over train doing cardio, be miserable, lose your period, forget your libido, feel like shit but be happy because you lost 10 pounds of ... muscle, tissue, bone and a little bit of fat. But in the process you created dysfunction, facilitated disease, and potentially will experience a rebound (more fat gain while having less muscle) in the near future.
Let's slowly reverse what we have been doing and form new habits, new behaviors, new standards together. We have to be honest with each other and ourselves and until we are, don't expect to get anywhere other than where you have already been.
“We Generate Fears While We Sit. We Overcome Them By Action.”
~Dr. Henry Link
Action
Changes
Things
I cannot say enough great things about working for Green Rocks Fitness! The environment, the staff/owner, and the awesome members/clients and people we interact and work with each day just make it all so great! The health and goals of our clients are as important to us as our very own! That's why we facilitate a space where we can both share and communicate valid information about health and fitness, as well as put it into practice through action! Change is not only dependent on having direction and purpose, but also on taking steps toward the manifestation of our goals into reality!
What do we mean when we say "Set Yourself Up For Success"?
For us, a typical morning starts off with waking up and eating breakfast. It is very important to start the day off with a balanced (tailored to your ratio demands of sugar, protein, and fat) breakfast, after fasting all night while sleeping! After breakfast, Melissa and I come to the Green Rocks Fitness office (located at 401 Shady Avenue G-100, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 in the Kenmawr Apartments building) where we work with clients, and work on the business by writing content, filming videos, and doing research to further help both our clients and ourselves. We have a refrigerator where we can store our refreshments and the food that we bring with us. This enables us to work longer without having to leave the premises to go eat, which as we have learned, really sets us up for progress with finishing tasks. When you are in the zone and really tackling projects, having to stop because you are really hungry puts a huge damper on productivity! As we educate and tell all of our clients, eating throughout the day is very important and should not be neglected when it comes to our health, wellbeing, and productivity!
Portable Burner and Mini-Oven
Sometimes we need or prefer to heat/cook certain foods! We purchased a mini-oven and intended to order a portable burner so that we can bring the food from home and have it stored in the office refrigerator.Problem solved! I was telling one of our clients this and she was so inspired by the idea of this whole concept that she purchased the burner for us right there on the spot. We were greatly surprised to say the least, and I couldn't thank her enough for her kind gesture! The people we work with and the sense of community we are building is truly amazing and special! This is exactly what we envision in our business, but I will talk more in-depth about that in another post. This burner allows us to cook food during our days at the office in order to stay properly fed and regulate our blood sugar throughout the day, while being able to stay at work for different tasks and projects. We would like to have a kitchen in our new storefront (in the future) so that we can provide these services to our clients, but I will talk more about that in my vision article!
Coffee and Tea Machine
Our clients are all about having coffee regularly, and rightfully so! Coffee, when used properly, offers many great benefits! Most people "do coffee" wrong, as we point out in our blog article, Benefits of Coffee. Most times, our clients get coffee from less than ideal sources, and the ingredients they put into the coffee is of poor quality. That is where a good thing turns into a bad thing! We offer good quality milk with the right types of sugars, and even mix in some gelatin
( purchase here
) for some beneficial protein.
What does setting up for success mean to you?
Whether it is going to sleep 5 to 15 minutes earlier so that you can wake up with time to eat a good breakfast, or preparing foods in advance so that you aren't going long hours without eating, you can take steps using your foresight in order to prevent certain issues from arising and sabotaging your health/fitness goals!
Meal Prepping
Make time during the week to cook and prepare foods so that you don't have to suffer when those busy moments or days hit and you end up resorting to less than ideal meals (or no meals at all.) This can be beneficial for a multiple of reasons! These situations are stressful and can cause blood sugar dysregulation, resulting in sleepless nights (or waking up between 1-4 am,) cravings, irritability, depression, and reduced ability to handle situations, tasks and other stressors. Personally, it's relieving to know I have food already cooked and prepared! I know that if days get busy, or interrupted, I'll be okay knowing my food can be ready at a moments notice.
Summing up
If you know certain things will cause stress, or prevent you from doing what needs to be done, put yourself in a position to win! Set yourself up for success by taking the necessary precautions allowing you to stay on the path that you want to be on! Action! Action! Action! I'll repeat it again... “We Generate Fears While We Sit. We Overcome Them By Action.” –
Dr. Henry Link
This is something we help with for all of our clients! We offer guidance, as well as understanding, in all areas of health and wellness. This includes movement, nutrition, meal plans, mindset, motivation, and tips/tricks to stay the course. If you find yourself struggling in any one (or even all) of these areas, take action NOW and let us help you help yourself!
TIPS:
1. OWN THE MOVEMENT: Never do an exercise with a weight that owns you! This means you are dictating the movement and in control at all times, performing the movement safely and targeting the muscles you want to target. Do not allow the weight to pull you forward without your consent.
This movement can target the thighs more, or the glutes/hamstrings more, depending on the position of your torso (more upright versus more forward/bent over). In this video Melissa is performing the squat to target all of the muscles as a whole. The thighs, the glutes and the hamstrings. Her rear delts and upper back also get worked indirectly from her good posture and by keeping her shoulder blades retracted and chest up: http://bit.ly/2pEVl82
