Here’s a recap of the best health and fitness articles I’ve read over the past week.
9 Hardgainer Training Myths – How to Build Muscle
This was a fun three part series to read, with a lot of great information for hardgainers like me. I don’t know if the story is true, but this series definitely has me on the verge of purchasing the program. It’s hard to part with money when you don’t know if something is gonna work for you though. I’ll put it on the backburner for now, but I’d really like to try it out.
Should I Exercise with a Hangover
A quick video explaining why it’s a good thing to exercise the day after having a few too many drinks. If you can manage to get yourself up to workout on a hangover, you should definitely do it. I remember one specific time when I tried to workout on a hangover while I was out in Vegas and I felt miserable. I’ve never tried it again.
Lessons In Weight Belts: How And Why To Use Them
When I had a gym membership, I would see people misusing weight belts all the time. If you use a weight belt and you want to make sure you’re not looking like a fool in the gym, read this. I actually have one of those really wide-backed belts because it was given to me by someone who sold me weight lifting equipment. If you don’t already know, the extra wide backs on lifting belts are pointless, because it’s not the back of the belt that’s important, it’s the front. And when the back is too wide, it’s difficult to get a proper fit.
How To Make Your Own Probiotics
I’ve actually just started making my own kombucha at home about a month ago. I’ve only bottled one batch so far and I have two batches fermenting right now. This is a really helpful video from Ben Greenfield.
5 Factors That Affect Nutrient Absorption From Your Diet
I liked this one a lot because it’s all new stuff that I’ve never heard before. I had no idea that coffee and tea can reduce the ability of the body to absorb nutrients from plants. Being vegan, it’s really good for me to know.
Caffeinated coffee linked to vision loss
Coffee has many benefits, but it seems that overuse can lead to glaucoma. This study shows that three cups or more per day can lead to increased risk of developing glaucoma and women with a history of glaucoma in the family are at an even greater risk.
4 Lower Leg Injuries that Slow Weight Loss Progress
I thought this was really informative. I’ve never suffered from any of these injuries, but it’s good to get a better understanding of how they’re caused and how they can be prevented.
I guess I’m in the minority because I eat plain oatmeal with coconut oil mixed in every morning. I eat quick oats, which I now know from reading this article that it isn’t as nutritional as steel cut oats, but it’s not all that bad. It has no additives or other ingredients of any kind. If I had an oven at work I’d move to steel cut oats, but that’s not an option. I’ll try to find a more natural rolled oats option when I finish the oats I have right now.
How to turn an ugly jicama into something awesome
I’ve only used jicama to make jicama rice for nori rolls and I think it’s really tasty. This recipe sounds delicious too. All you need to do is slice a jicama into chunks like fries, sprinkle chili powder and salt on top and add a squirt of lime juice.
How to Design a Sprint Workout Routine
This looks like a solid sprint routine, despite a few grammatical errors in the post 😉
How to Train Harder and Smarter Without a Power Rack
I purchased a power rack and I’d have to say that it’s my most prized possession in my home gym. If you don’t have access to one though, you still have options.
What to Drink: Bulletproof Alcohol for Thanksgiving (Infographic)
I’ve been waiting forever for Dave to post an article about alcohol on his website and it’s been there the whole time! This was before I started following his blog, so I didn’t know it was there until he linked to it in one of his recent articles. I like to have drinks with friends, so I’m excited to see how well this works. I actually don’t get bad hangovers anymore anyway since I’ve cleaned up my diet, but I’m sure this will really help me feel much more alive the next day.
Three delicious smoothies made using homemade pumpkin puree, or canned if you’re lazy like me 😉
Avocado chocolate “Nutella” pudding – Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Egg-free and Delicious
This isn’t just a recipe, but also a lesson in the beneficial health properties of avocados and cocoa. I love Nutella, so I can’t wait to try this.
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* image courtesy of cast_tkohl