Happy St. Patty's Day!!

So I found this great recipe for St. Patty's Day on the Food Network and decided to share it with you. It won't destroy your diet yet it's nutritious enough to fuel any good workout. Not all St. Patty's Day food has to consist of pub fare and green beer. Give it a try!

Smoked Salmon and Watercress Salad with a Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 cups pumpernickel bread, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
* 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked white pepper
* 1 teaspoon minced shallots
* 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
* 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
* 2 tablespoons chopped capers with their liquid
* 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
* 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, plus more for seasoning
* 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 12 slices thinly sliced Irish smoked salmon (about 8 ounces)
* 1 pound watercress, stemmed, washed and spun dry
* 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
* 2 hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a 10-inch saute pan over medium-high heat, and add the butter and olive oil to the pan. Once the butter is melted, add the pumpernickel cubes to the pan and toss to coat with the butter and oil. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the white pepper. Continue to cook and toss the bread until all the butter and oil have been absorbed. Place the pan in the oven and continue to cook, tossing occasionally, until the bread is crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool before using.

Make the vinaigrette by combining the shallots, garlic, mustard, honey, capers, lemon juice, champagne vinegar, dill and parsley in a non-reactive mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the black pepper. While whisking, add the extra-virgin olive oil in a thin, steady stream until the vinaigrette is well combined and partially emulsified. Set the vinaigrette aside while you prepare the salad.

On 4 large, chilled entree plates, place three slices of the salmon in a triangular pattern along the edges of the plates. In a large non-reactive bowl, place the watercress and the red onion. Season lightly with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Toss the salad to mix the watercress and onion, and add about 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette to the salad. Toss lightly to combine. Divide the salad among the 4 plates, and divide the croutons among the plates. Garnish the salad with the chopped eggs and serve immediately.

Video of the Day

Awesome collaboration!!

Nutrition Tip of the Day: Protein Shakes

Over and over again people ask me what kind of supplements they should be taking to help get the most out of every workout. No matter how much I would love to just give them one magic supplement that will turn them into that fat blasting machine they want to be, I can't. The first thing I say is that a persons fitness level all boils down to how you fuel it. I'm a firm believer that if you eat like crap you will look like crap. The best advice I can give to any gym goer is focus on a post workout refuel. Protein shakes are perfect for that. They supply you with a handful of carbohydrates and protein that are essential for rebuilding your muscles after a long hard workout. Yes, your body deserves a treat. Many people make the mistake of restricting food after a workout because they worked so hard to burn away extra unwanted calories that it would just defeat the purpose of training. This is a huge misconception. After a hard workout, even though you feel ready to quit, your body is trying to tell you otherwise. Your muscle building process is geared up and ready to go. It is most primed to refuel 30 mins to 2 hours after your workout. Most protein shakes are filled with the right amount of carbs, protein and calories to kickstart your rebuilding process. So after a great workout follow it with a great post workout routine.


You can buy protein powders at many different places. Walmart, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Bulk Barn carry basic protein powders and bars. If your looking for a higher quality protein try places like GNC, Popeyes, Healthy Planet and Nurtition House.

Here are some brands that you may want to try:

1. Optimum 100% Whey Protein
2. CytoSport Muscle Milk
3. Whey Gourmet
4. Nitrotech
5. Myoplex

The three most popular types of protein are whey, egg, and soy. You may want to speak with a specialist at the store to find out which type would work best for you.

Video Of The Day

Our Lady Peace concert at Massey Hall last night was great!



Our Lady Peace - Innocent

Support Vanessa as she raises money for F.O.P. research

A very good friend of mine has been diagnosed with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, or F.O.P for short. This disease causes the connective tissues in the body (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) to ossify which turns these tissues into bone. For those people diagnosed with FOP slowly lose mobility until they are trapped inside their own bodies.

My friend, her name is Valerie. She is a sweet and caring girl who gives more to others than Santa does on Christmas Eve. She has a loving family and a great group of friends that support her in every way.

Find out more about Valerie here

http://www.cfopn.org/ourstories.htm


It was until this past weekend that I found out just how supportive they actually were. In walks Vanessa, Valerie's younger sister. I find out that she has decided to bike From Niagara Falls to Queens Park, Toronto, Canada. She has decided that she wants to do more than just support her sister but also all the other people who has been diagnosed with F.O.P.

Vanessa, a striving student living in Toronto has decided raises money, not for her education or to pay her rent, but to donate 100% of the profits to the foundation who has supported her very sister ever since being diagnosed. All her profits will go to the Canadian F.O.P Network which is a registered charity in Canada. So who better to donate to than the frontline force in fighting F.O.P.

See more on what Vanessa has planned on FACEBOOK at



http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&gid=368155889047

Now being a guy who loves to make a difference in peoples lives I have decided to join Vanessa in her trek across southern Ontario. I have always tried to help people live a life of healthy vitality but what better way to do that then riding a bicycle 130 kilometers from Niagara Falls to Toronto.

The ride will take place on Thursday June 17th, 2010. That leaves me 3 months to train and get accustomed to my new best from, the spin bike. I understand this journey will not be easy for Vanessa so she will need our help in her mission to stop F.O.P. Join her facebook group in support of her. A few others have already decided to joined her on the long road. Many have already donated to her support her cause.

Check out her donation page at

http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=6904

Video Of The Day: Go Canada Go!

Go Canada Go!

Drop down and give me 50!

One of the best chest exercises is the push-up. It helps build up both the pectoralis major and minor all while strengthening the anterior deltoid and triceps brachii. The push-up can be done in all kinds of forms; incline push-up, decline push-ups,plyometric push-up, as well as the wide and narrow stance push-ups. By the time you try attempt the different types of push-ups your chest would be completely burnt out.

Not only are there so many variations but push-ups can be done anywhere. Staying at a friends or in a hotel room for the night? Not a problem for the push-up. Drop down and give yourself 3 sets of maximum push-ups to get in a quick pump.

There is no excuse to not get in a workout. it's as simple as dropping down and giving me 50!

+iPod

I got this song on my "workout" playlist.

High Intensity Interval Training

Next time you go to the gym for a cardio session give this workout a try. It will burn more fat than your everyday cardio on the treadmill.

To begin this workout get onto a treadmill and set it to walking speed. Walk for about 3-4mins until you get the blood flowing through your body. Once you are warmed up turn up the speed of the treadmill to a sprinting pace. At this time you want your heart rate to reach about 80% of it's max. You will run for 1min and then return to your walking speed. Walk for 1min and then once again put your speed up to a sprint. You will alternate between walking and sprinting, each lasting 1min.

Each time you doing one walking minute and one sprinting minute that is considered one interval. you can start with however many intervals you feel comfortable doing but i will suggest you aim for 8 the first time. This should take you 20mins and burn more fat than the long, boring, and steady pace you probably do all the time.

If this is too hard for you you can try intervals of 30secs instead of a full minute. for more advanced people you can try decreasing your rest time to 30secs and keep your run time at 1min. For all people however you want to push yourself all the time. Each week you will want to increase the number of intervals you complete by 1. Once you hit 12 intervals you can then begin to reduce your rest instead of adding more intervals. This is a high intensity workout for you should be able to do it for a prolonged period of time. so don't fell like you have slacked off only doing 20mins when you usually do 45mins to an hour on the traditional treadmill exercise.

Try This!

Running short on time? Got to make it a quick workout at the gym? Try this routine I slightly altered from a crossfit workout. This is a timed trial workout so you are working not only against yourself but against the clock.

Equipment required:

Olympic bar
Pull up bar
Dip station
Stopwatch

Workout:

1. 50 Pull ups (each pull-up must be from a complete hang, sorry to all you cheaters out there but this requires proper form)


2. 50 Squats (75% of your weight) (Your knees must hit a 90 degree bend to count as one rep)


3. 50 Dips (Elbows must go down to 90 degrees like the knees in the squats)


4. 50 Deadlifts (75% of your weight) (Make sure you go low enough to feel a nice stretch in your hamstrings before you pull back up)


Guidelines:

1. Once you start the clock you don’t stop it till you are finished all exercises.
2. You cannot move on to the next exercise till you are done all the required reps of the previous exercise.
3. The amount of rest time and # of sets is based on your level of fitness.
4. It helps if you prepare the Olympic bar with the required weight (the weight I used was 135 which is approximately 75% of my 175 lbs body weight)

Next time your running short on time try this workout and post your times. For fun I also added 50 dive bomber push-ups at the end but this is not included in my time. I completed the workout in 14mins and 53secs. I thought it was going to be easy but I underestimated it. Give it a try!