Tight Hamstrings? Try This

I would think it’s fairly accurate to say that many people struggle with tight hamstrings (those are the muscles on the rear side of your leg near the top). There’s a well-known secret that I can’t even touch my toes! Sure, we can blame it on genetics (that’s what I like to do) and that may indeed be part of the problem, but the other part is lack of stretching. Can you remember the last time you stretched? If so, great! Was it a good enough time devoted to stretching each part of your body? Probably not, unless you took a yoga class not based on strength.

People, if they don’t ignore stretching completely, will only stretch for a short period of time. Maybe a quick swing of the arms or a grasp towards the toes. People think it’s a waste of time and that if they’re working out, they should focus on calorie-burning or strength-building, none of this stretching nonsense. Well, guess what–it’s absolutely not a waste of time. Stretching, becoming limber, and flexible will help you in any sport, any exercise, any movement. Also, stretching shouldn’t be easy (you’ll see Hungry’s pained face below). Let’s start off with a deep hamstring stretch–all you need is a wall:

Jul122016

The Top 10 Workout Songs for July 2016

Please enjoy a post from our friends at Run Hundred.

The artists behind this month’s top workout tunes could easily pass for the lineup of a great, summer music festival. Kicking off the day, you’d find upstarts like Shawn Mendes and crossover favorites like Tegan & Sara. Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood could headline the country stage. Meanwhile, club acts like Sigala and The Chainsmokers supply beats in the dance tent.

Other noteworthy tracks this month include a Coldplay remix from Seeb (who turned Mike Posner’s “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” into an unlikely hit). Adele makes an appearance with any unusually jaunty cut from her most recent album. Finally, Elle King turns up with a track from the Ghostbusters reboot. If any of these options strikes your fancy, here’s the full top 10 list—according to the votes logged on workout music site Run Hundred.

Jun292016

Lead the Whey

Your trainer told you to take protein because it’s going to help you grow big and strong, right? They told you it will help your muscles grow and repair after the tough workouts that they drag you through a few times a week, right? While I’m not telling you to (or to not) listen to your ‘trainer,’ it’s almost inevitable that you’re going to try to find a way to add more protein to your diet. As Instagram and social media gets more popular, the fitness (and supplement) industries grow at a rapid rate. For many, this change in lifestyle can be challenging and for others, the maintenance of this way of living can be equally or more challenging.

May012016

The New Protein Superfood: #FeelAmazingEveryDay (Giveaway)

Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to present to you a product that does everything in one perfect scoop. You get your 7 alkalizing greens (wheat grass, barley grass, alfalfa, spirulina, chlorella, broccoli, and spinach), your plant-based protein, and a healthy serving of your fruits and vegetables. It seems like a lot. And it is! But we aren’t pulling your leg. Amazing Grass dug deep and produced this great product for the public. It’s your daily nutrition all-in-one package. At Hungry and Fit, we try new products all the time. Some are hits and most are misses. I was a little nervous about this one. All this stuff in just one scoop? Won’t it be gross? Spoiler alert: it’s not!

Mar192016

Exercise Spotlight: Standing Plate-Loaded Shrugs

We are continuing our series of exercise spotlights with today’s version of a shrug! A lot of people shy away from shrugs because they think that their traps will flame up Hulk-style. In reality, building your traps gives you a strong-looking frame to compliment the rest of your shoulders, arms, and back. Remember, it’s important to continue to add different exercises to your knowledge base so that your body doesn’t get used to anything. Let’s learn about the standing plate-loaded shrug.

Jan262016

Learn to Coach the Best Form of Exercise

Back in August, I saw that the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) was launching a new course to become a Certified Summer Swim Coach. For those of you who are unaware, summer swim teams can be so much different from your standard club or high school teams. The competitors can often be those who face one another in other more competitive seasons. They use this format to bridge the summer gap and stay in shape while working on and developing new skills.

For many, the level of commitment and attendance is insignificant in comparison to their other teams and as a result, the coach is faced with endless new challenges. Since swimming is such a competitive sport, you’re faced with going into meets with a fraction of your team. Often, that small group are your least experienced and skilled swimmers, but you have to make due because swim meet scoring can be tremendously one-sided, and that looks bad to say the least.

Jan182016

Are Health and Fitness Magazines Worth Your Money?

We get asked every single day if this will work or that is the answer to all of their questions. People wanting to lose weight, build muscle and get stronger say that this person told me that and that person told me this but I’m not sure who to believe. Just the other night, I spent ten minutes answering some guy’s questions in a hot tub and most of that was damage control. I had to let him know that most of what he heard were nothing more than myths and misinformation.

Any teacher or instructor can tell you that it can be far more challenging and time-consuming to teach the right way to do something to someone who only knows how to do something the wrong way. To be clearer, it’s easier to make french fries from a potato instead of mashed potatoes. When I first started really taking my fitness (outside of sports and martial arts) seriously, I bought every magazine at the grocery store. If it had fitness, health, or muscle in the title, I was reading it front to back. My dream was to one day be on the cover of Men’s Health, but it isn’t anymore.

Dec102015

If I Were Organized…

A lot of things can get in the way of working out: laziness, lack of time, lack of motivation, or injuries, to name a few. However, another reason, a big one that a lot of people don’t realize is organization. Or rather, lack thereof. This one is lurking reason that weaves other reasons together to seem as the real thing. If your life isn’t organized, things like other activities, time, and such are going to get in the way. So, I want to do a quick exercise with you to get ORGANIZED.

Nov152015

Runyon Canyon Adventures

Runyon Canyon often gets a bad rap. This is because it can get very busy and socialites love to go there. So, people say, if you want to avoid a crowd, don’t hike at Runyon. That is true…to an extent. I was always wary of hiking at Runyon (I had never done so before) because of this reason. I didn’t want to be surrounded by rich Los Angelenos or clueless tourists during my outdoor fitness and peace time. We now live about a 15-minute walk away from Runyon. So, one day, Noke and I accidentally stumbled on it and said, “Why not? Let’s give it a go.” I had no idea about what trails there were, how long they were, difficulties, or anything. Like I said, I was new. As I’ve learned from previous experiences, Noke loves hiking. And we now both love our Runyon Canyon adventures.

Nov072015

NETA Group Exercise Workshop in Los Angeles

If you read our recent post about NASM’s effort to enter the Group Exercise market through their strategic acquisition of AFAA, you might remember we discussed the current hierarchy of certifications in the industry. While we didn’t give you the whole picture, you saw a glimpse and got an idea of who the heavy hitters were in group exercise. One organization we didn’t mention happens to currently be one of the only two that has NCCA Accreditation for both their personal trainer and group exercise instructor courses. In fact, I’ve looked through a lot of fitness professional catalogs and they might have the most diverse of all. They are NETA. (I spend at least ten minutes a day explaining acronyms in the fitness and aquatics industries to people.)