THE PRIDE: October 2021

OCTOBER 2021 | ISSUE 35

#QUOTEOFTHEMONTH

A message from Founder and Owner, Coach Tristan Mitchell:

Fall is officially here, and I would like to share all of the offerings currently at LD as the new season arrives. As always, we have personal training – the most individualized training that we offer, workouts that are catered to your goals and needs by great coaches who are all certified Movement and Mobility Specialists. Coaches at LD are dedicated to your success and will progress your programming according to where you’re at now, they will guide you in healthy habits outside of the gym in order to improve all aspects of your health and wellbeing. In addition to our top of class personal training we offer various small group training options:

Lions Den Class Membership: Our classes are M-F at 6:30am, noon, and 5pm and Saturday at 10am. Our Strength Class (M, W, F) while simply named provides far more than just strength. Programing is focused on touching a variety of training benefits – strong movement fundamentals, increasing strength, improving balance and stability, applying speed to stable positions, and becoming more cardio fit. Our Flow Class will utilize a variety of less than traditional training tools – things like kettlebells, steel maces, slam balls, sleds, battle ropes, and more. These variety of tools allow us to challenge movement capacity in different ways, challenging strength, coordination, and conditioning.

In addition to our LD class schedule we have small group programs that are the brain children of our coaches, each with different focus and emphasis.

REBUILD 101: Coach Coope’s women’s only program that is built inclusively for ALL WOMEN, who want to feel inspired and empowered by movement and strength. You’ll spend 2-3 days per week training in a small group setting, where you will focus on intentional and purposeful movement. REBUILD 101 optimizes joint health, body composition, and performance, while keeping your body going strong for the long haul. Program day/times: M/W – 9am, 6pm, Tu/Th – 9am, 4pm

Primal Athlete Program: Coach Derick’s new program is for people looking to become more mobile, enhance muscular endurance and increase body awareness to become an overall better mover, athlete and functional human! The name of the game is movement diversity. You will be introduced to new exercises and complexes every session, with the focus being to train your brain and coordination as much as the muscles and joints we all want to be supple and strong. Program day/times: M – Th 8am.

Ski and Snowboard Strength Program: Coach Ian’s program is designed to work on lower body strength and endurance to help keep the legs feeling fresh after each run. Build core stability and rotational power to help with the balance required when skiing and snowboarding. Incorporating aerobic work to build the engine required for a full day on the slopes and mobilizations to reduce the risk of injury. Program day/time: M/W – 6:30pm

Nutrition and Wellness Coach: Tammy Damrath is a Functional Nutrition Therapy Practitioner. She will consult and evaluate the bio-individual needs of her clients to fine-tune their eating plans and how it’s not just about the food but also lifestyle factors (sleep, stress, breath, movement, digestion, hydration, chronic disease, and more) that are keeping people from their health goals. She will help you get these increasingly important aspects of your wellbeing back on track, assisting you to recapture control of your health. Schedule with Tammy here!

Youth Programs: LDSMP performance training programs are designed to develop a higher level of sport preparation and performance. The programs are not just about getting stronger or bigger but are designed to reduce injuries and improve sport performance. Strength, conditioning, and mobility are practiced with the intent of improving athletic skills and sports performance. Our programming will be utilized based on the necessity of training, whether athletes are in-season or off-season. Contact us here to inquire about what youth programs are scheduled now and in the future!

Join us at LD this fall!

PRIMAL ATHLETE PROGRAM COMING SOON!!!

This Program Is For You If You Want To:

Gain flexibility/mobility with methods other than yoga or traditional stretching
Feel more connected to your body and aware of your posture/body position when you move or lift weights
Push your physical limits, develop a resilient mindset and break out of your current workout routine
Learn more about kettlebells, steel maces, animal flow and how they will improve all of your strength based lifts

Reserve your spot now! Spots will be limited. You can also reach out to coach Derick if you want to learn more.

Program times: you pick two times per week, Monday - Thursday at 8am

Lifestyle with Linds!

Fall is finally here! If you’re anything like me it’s a roller coaster ride of emotions because while it’s getting cooler outside and the leggings and oversized hoodies are coming out (my ladies will understand this one).. I still clinch my jaw with hope that it doesn’t start snowing early and yet again, fall goes by in the blink of an eye.

(Luckily I live in South Carolina now but I’m still holding on to that hope for my Coloradan friends!)

Aside from the weather changing, so is the choice of in-season produce! So let’s look at a list of what’s best to eat in the month of October and then I’ll share with you some research I did on where you can find locally sourced foods near you!

In-season veggies in October: chard, cauliflower, white cabbage, Savoy cabbage, chicory, onion, beet tops, beans, mushrooms, endive, lettuce, potatoes, peas, leeks, radicchio, horseradish, turnips, radishes, scorzonera, celery, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, pumpkin.

In-season fruits in October: chestnuts, apples, pomegranates, figs, plums, grapes, prickly pears, pineapple, winter cherries, bananas.

You’re always going to get the best quality when you find locally sourced foods; and produce is no exception. Sometimes your local grocery store will carry locally grown produce but your best bet is a farmers market! And yes, there are still farmers markets open in Denver through October 30th.

Cherry Creek Fresh Market

E. 1st Ave. and University Blvd.

When: Saturdays, 9 a.m.–2 p.m

City Park Farmers Market

East High School Esplanade

When: Saturdays, 8 a.m.–1 p.m

University Hills Farmers Market

2500 S. Colorado Blvd.

When: Saturdays, 9 a.m.–1 p.m

Southwest Plaza Farmers Market

Southeast Parking Lot at Wadsworth and Bowles Ave., Littleton

When: Saturdays, 8 a.m–2 p.m

Highlands Ranch Farmers and Street Market

Highlands Ranch Town Center, 9288 Dorchester St., Highlands Ranch

When: Sundays, 10 a.m.–2 p.m

South Pearl Street Farmers Market

On the 1500 block of Old South Pearl St.

When: Sundays, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

(This one actually goes through November 14th!)

So there you have it! Endless Saturday and Sunday options for locally grown food to fuel you and your family through the fall months!

#MOBILITY

Barbell Hamstring Smash by: Coach Joel

Here at Lions Den we love teaching our membership how to properly use their lower posterior chain. We’re talking glutes & hamstrings and we like to train them as if it's a second job. Unfortunately, compiling posterior strength training with stints of sitting behind a desk, driving or even biking can often lead to tight hamstrings. Tenderizing stiff hamstring tissue takes tremendous amounts of pressure to generate a positive impact. I have several ways I like to mobilize my hamstrings, but my favorite is smashing them with a barbell while I lay face down. It's my preference because I’m able to get the hip in extension, produce enough pressure with the barbell and restore length & function through tissue movement. Being able to floss the tissue while the hip is extended really sets this apart from some of the other methods.

Barbell Hamstring Smash:

Start by lying face down with the knee bent, then roll the barbell up & down the hammy until you find a tight spot.

Once you’ve found the spot, keep the barbell in place. Next, take a big breath in and contract the hamstring for a 4 count, then relax and exhale for an 8 count. During your exhale scrub the muscle with the barbell moving it slightly up & down, see-sawing it side to side or rotating your smashed leg inwards & outwards. Spend 5-10 breath cycles contracting, relaxing and scrubbing the hamstring tissues.

The next technique to utilize is flossing the tissue by straightening then re-bending the knee. Think butt-kicks here and the goal is at least 30 flosses. Continue to include big breaths in and slow controlled breaths out during this technique.

If you’re doing this by yourself, starting in a kneeling position with the barbell placed on your lower leg can make it easier to maneuver it onto the hamstring once you're lying flat. Having a super friend makes it easier for barbell placement and if the pressure isn’t enough they can add more by pushing down on it.

Beginning this mobilization with the leg bent allows for slack to the sciatic nerve which is embedded within the hamstrings. Be mindful of numbness and tingly nerve pain, particularly when your leg is fully straightened which could mean you’re on the sciatic nerve. Try and reposition the barbell. If this numb, tingly feeling intensifies after moving to a different spot be done with the smash for the day.

As a side note, also avoid smashing the tissue behind the knee where there are even more nerve bundles that easily get irritated. Irritating your nerves in general can lead to nerve inflammation which can last weeks. Please keep your nerves happy because once they rebel, deeper and sometimes longer lasting issues can ensue. As with any mobilization just be mindful of what your body is communicating and focus heavily on your breath work. Doing so helps to assess the intensity as well as increases better control of your parasympathetic system.

Performing a hamstring smash after every lower body posterior chain workout and long bouts of sitting works wonders for restoring suppleness to the tissue. The Barbell Hamstring Smash is yet another great mobilization for your self-maintenance tool bag. If you have questions, other mobility issues or would like to further learn about creating a more supple body, please reach out to link up with your friendly neighborhood mobility nerd. Stay Mobile My Friends!

#PODCAST OF THE MONTH

The Matt Walker Podcast | Episode 1 What is Sleep

Human sleep has been separated into two main types: Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. NREM sleep is further divided into four stages, with each stage increasing in their depth of sleep. REM sleep is named this way because of the bizarre, horizontal, shuttling eye movements that occur underneath your eyelids during this stage of sleep. REM sleep is the principal stage in which we dream, although it can occur in the other stages as well. NREM and REM sleep play out in a battle for brain domination throughout the night. This cerebral war is going to be won and lost every 90 minutes, creating the standard cycling architecture of sleep for humans. Other species may have a slightly different NREM to REM cycles, with birds experiencing a cycle that only lasts about 4-5 minutes, and giraffes about 24 minutes. During NREM sleep, we see bursts of deeply powerful brain waves that flow over your cortex. We also see sleep spindles, which are short, synchronous bursts of electrical brain wave activity that last for about 1-1.5 seconds. About 60-70 minutes into your first sleep cycle, your brain starts to rise up again into later stages of NREM sleep, then pop into a short REM sleep period, back to NREM sleep, then returning to REM sleep once again. Your brain goes through this cycle every 90 minutes. What changes is the ratio of NREM to REM sleep as you move through the night, with your sleep cycle comprised of more REM sleep during the second half of the night. If you wake up two hours earlier than usual, you aren’t just losing 2 hours of sleep - you could be losing 50, 60, or even 70% of your REM sleep. All stages of sleep are critical and perform different functions for the brain and body at different times of night.