SEPTEMBER 2020 | ISSUE 22

#QUOTEOFTHEMONTH

A message from Founder and Owner, Coach Tristan Mitchell:

As the seasons begin to change so do things a Lions Den. The end of August saw us saying goodbye to two wonderful coaches, Jennifer and Lindsey. Jennifer is off to Louisiana with her husband and we wish them all the best in their new adventures! Lindsey is pursuing a new career path and lucky for us it still includes Lions Den. Lindsey will still be a part of our team, working on all things photography, videography, and social media. She has started Lindsey Brooke Media and we would highly recommend her if you are looking for help in that arena.

As Jennifer and Lindsey move on we are happy to welcome new coaches to the team: Sophia, Stephanie, and Esprit. Their bios are below - we are thrilled for what they bring to LD!

We are also making some adjustments and additions to our class schedule. Coaches Justin, Sophia, and Joel will be spearheading our new schedule. Coach Sophia will be teaching yoga starting this month on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. This restorative yoga class is centered around improving mobility and addressing aches and pains and we call can use some of that!

We look forward to seeing you in the Den this fall!

#COMMUNITY EVENTS

#MOVEMENT CHECKLISTS

Next on our Checklist series is the deadlift with Coach Shaun. Our checklists break down big movements into bite sized pieces. Each checklist will come with a full video describing the movement. Click the video below to learn how to deadlift!

NUTRITION #FitTip

Hey guys, Lindsey here. I hope you all got a lot of value last month when we discussed the spectrum of foods - specifically around vegetables, meat/poultry & eggs! These food items should be staples in your diet and getting the highest quality will be conducive to more energy and better health!

But let’s continue to move into other food categories because we only covered the tip of the iceberg! What oils are you cooking with? Because, yep, there’s a spectrum for that, too. What fruits do you eat? What about dairy?

Let’s dive a little deeper and let’s start with cooking oils! The oils you choose to cook with can make a huge impact on your health. Most of the oils you’ll see in the grocery store today are highly processed and not only offer no nutritional value, but they can cause a lot of oxidative damage in our bodies. So let’s go ahead and throw all of the following oils to the end of the spectrum where the donuts and pizza are hanging out (aka, oils we want to strictly limit or avoid): 

Refined high polyunsaturated vegetable oils:

• canola

• soybean

• safflower

• sunflower

Instead, replace those with:

• butter

• coconut oil

• lard

• ghee

• olive oil

• avocado oil

Good fats (such as the ones listed above) offer tremendous health benefits. On the other hand, cooking with the wrong oils can be quite destructive. 

Next on the list is fruit! Fruit is a really great option for those looking to replace unhealthy sweets in their diet. “But wait, doesn’t fruit have too much sugar?” ..well, yes and no. Fruit is high in fructose which is a form of natural sugar and if someone had a goal of losing weight, per se, I would encourage them to eat a moderate amount of fruit. But fruits are rich in disease-fighting antioxidants and phytonutrients and are a great way to reload liver glycogen after a workout.

So what fruit is best? In order, here’s what I would suggest.

• Wild growing fruit

• Locally grown, in-season fruits from certified organic growers

• Locally grown, in-season fruits from small farmers, with typically minimal to no pesticide interference

• Highest antioxidant/lowest glycemic fruits such as berries

• High-antioxidant/low-glycemic fruit such as pitted fruits

• Other organically grown fruits, especially for edible skins or if listed in Dirty Dozen

• Conventionally grown fruits

Keep eating your fruit! But keep this list in mind next time you’re out shopping for the highest quality. 

Finally, dairy! There are many debates out there about dairy being good for you or bad for you. I’m not really here to defend it or argue against it. I just want to help you make the best choices you can around this category of food if you fall into the group of people that aren’t negatively effected by it.

Raw, whole, full-fat unprocessed dairy: yogurt, butter, cream, and even milk has comprised the diets of many successful, healthy people throughout fairly recent history. If you consume dairy in moderation, stay within those same guidelines.

The dairy you want to avoid or place at the low end of the spectrum are things like sweetened dairy products (fruity yogurt, ice cream, frozen yogurt) and low-fat or non-fat milks.

I hope this encourages you to have a healthy relationship with fat. Whether it’s the oils you’re cooking with or the dairy you’re consuming, fat provides us with so many benefits and it’s important that we choose the very BEST sources to get the most out of those benefits.

Carbs are not “bad” and fat is not “bad”.. it’s about the QUALITY of those foods that you’re eating. Understanding the spectrum can, hopefully, decrease your stress around how much of these macro-nutrients (carbs, fat, protein) you’re eating and allow you to just make nutrient-dense food choices that make you feel good, energized and live a long life!

WHY SINGLE-LEG TRAINING IS IMPORTANT
with Coach Justin

You’ve heard of Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts, Bulgarian Split Squats, Cossack Squats, and Lunges. They’re all great exercises, but how often do we let them fall by the wayside after a difficult leg day?  I know that I have opted to skip lunges after a day of heavy squats more times than I like to admit. However, there are a few reasons why I’ve recommitted to being consistent about my single-leg training.

Balance

Unlike the squat or deadlift, single-leg exercises place a higher demand on your ability to balance. The more you practice these single-leg exercises, the more your balance will improve. Ultimately, this will have a positive effect on your ability to walk, run, hike, jump - you name it!

Less weight on the body, more stimulus on the muscle

Okay, let’s say you squatted 185 lbs for a set of five. Great work!! Assuming you were able to perfectly distribute the weight evenly between both legs, that would have been 92.5 lbs distributed to each leg. Now let’s say you do a set of five Bulgarian Split Squats, but you were able to use 115lbs for each leg. The Bulgarian split squat allowed you to move more weight per leg for the same amount of reps, and you didn’t fry your nervous system by putting a ton of weight on your spine. Totally worth it!

Reduce your muscle imbalances

As human beings, we are asymmetrical creatures. In order to prevent injury and improve athletic performance, it is wise to do our best to improve symmetry in our muscles. More likely than not, one of your legs is stronger than the other. Programming single-leg exercises is a great way to reduce the discrepancy between the strength, balance, and coordination of your legs.

So, to wrap things up, do not skip the single-leg exercise in your program and witness the many improvements you’ll make, both in the weight room and in your everyday life. If you need help with your programming or workouts in general, email me for a complimentary session!

#MOBILITY

September Hip and Ankle Mobility Challenge
by Coach Joel

Hello Lions! This month hip and ankle health are the areas of your focus. The challenge is to improve your mobility in both areas by concentrating on mobilizing either or both of them for 10 minutes per day. This can be 10 minutes per mobilization at which point you will alternate mobilizations each day or you can execute both mobilizations for 5 minutes each day.

Mobilization #1 Lunge Position: Hold a lunge position for at least 10 breaths at a time per position before you switch directions of your legs. Accumulate at least 10 minutes of total work in this position (5 min per leg). While hanging out in this position play around with emphasizing focus on either hip. For example focus your attention on your front hip and its flexion and external rotation, or straighten the leg and target your hamstring. While focusing on your back hip work on hip extension. For an added benefit rotate your torso and/or your back leg internally to increase the efficacy.

Mobilization #2 Pistol Lunge Position: This mobilization is designed to improve ankle dorsiflexion of your front ankle and plantar flexion of your back ankle simultaneously. Play around by rocking in all directions searching for areas needing attention. Again, hold this pistol lunge position for at least 10 breaths before you switch leg positions and accumulate at least 10 minutes of total work (5 min per leg). 

We know that we need to hold positions for at least 2 minutes sometimes to elicit any positive responses from our central nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Setting a timer and getting after your your tight spots will help and incorporating breath work improves efficacy and productivity of the mobilizations. Get control of your systems by focusing heavily on your breath work. Any breathing practice will work, though my recommendation is using a 4 second inhale, 4 second breath hold, and 8 second exhale. Ten breaths like this adds up to almost 2.5 minutes. Therefore not only does 40 focused 4-4-8 count breaths help establish control of your CNS but also accumulates your ten minutes of maintenance work without having to set a timer or look at a clock.

Switch Mobilizations each day for the entirety of the month, then reach out to tell me how your lower back, legs and feet are feeling. Please feel free to contact me any time with questions before then. Stay Mobile My Friends!

#PODCAST OF THE MONTH

The Tim Ferriss Show | #444: Hugh Jackman on Best Decisions, Daily Routines, The 85% Rule, Favorite Exercises, Mind Training, and Much More