Photo © By U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class William R. Goodwin.

I think we can all agree on one thing: being sick sucks.

Personally, I hate getting a cold (and not just a couple sniffles with a cough, I’m talking about sinuses all jacked up, you can’t hear out of both ears, and you’re lucky to go 10 minutes without coughing or sneezing… and don’t forget your eyes watering and nose running like a faucet!).

I was recently asked how to deal with getting a cold while training and making sure you keep on your diet. My initial response was: listen to your body, rest, drink plenty of water, take Emergen-C^®, and continue eating your meals as best as you can. A few days later, what happens? I get sick. Awesome.

I woke up on Tuesday morning with a scratchy throat and didn’t think anything of it. I dragged my butt to the gym and put myself through a pretty intense leg workout followed by some light cardio. I went home, enjoyed my daily breakfast (oatmeal, blueberries, egg whites, and coffee), and drove myself to work. As my day progressed, I felt my throat getting sorer. You’ve got to be kidding me?

So, my water-pounding and green tea-chugging day began. By the end of it, I guzzled nearly two gallons of water and at least four cups of green tea. Despite having no appetite, I still ate the meals I packed – chicken with green beans, protein shake with rice cakes and peanut butter, and fat-free cottage cheese. By the time I left work, I needed some soup! My throat needed it! I was wondering what type I’d get and I really was in no mood to spend a ton of time figuring out which would be best for my diet.

To my surprise, I stumbled upon Progresso’s Light Chicken Vegetable Rotini. In one serving, it had:

• 70 calories
• 15 calories from fat
• 1.5g fat
• 10g carbs
• 1g dietary fiber
• 2g sugar
• 5g protein

And there were two servings in the can. I looked over the ingredients and realized I could pronounce everything on there and was familiar with it all, too. WOW! Can this be? I purchased it and took it home and ate the entire can (of course, after emptying the contents in a microwaveable-safe bowl and heating it up) – all 140 calories, 3g fat, 20g carbs, 2g dietary fiber, 4g sugar, and 10g protein of it! Because, for me, it wasn’t enough protein, I decided to cook myself a couple of egg whites, which brought me up to 20g of protein and only an extra 50 calories, which I could definitely spare for that meal – still less than 200 calories!

Thankfully I already worked out in the morning so I just planted my mouth-breathing self on the couch next to a box of tissues and watched Lifetime movies.

Day two was the most brutal day. I called in to work (not a bad thing, per say!) and took myself to the doctor where she prescribed me with some antibiotics and sent me on my way. I’m not gonna lie, I was definitely dressed in my workout attire and was thisclose to going to the gym, but then I thought of all the innocent, defenseless people working out who weren’t sick. If it’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s people bringing themselves to work or the gym while they are sick and hacking up a lung and sneezing every two seconds. I certainly did not want to be that person so I parked it on the couch for the remainder of the day and got two naps out of it!

All in all, when you’re sick listen to your body! If you do not feel well enough to go to the gym, don’t go. Or, if you’re contagious, don’t go! Some people might say sweating it out is good for you and while I don’t necessarily have an opinion on that, I’d just much rather take a day to rest and come back with more strength and a better mentality to have a kick-ass workout!

I personally believe the best way to get over being sick is to try your best to stick to your regular schedule. I continued eating the same way, but I did increase my fluids, which is what I needed anyway. Obviously, I skipped a day in the gym and I’m glad I did because I know my body thanked me. My first workout back in the gym, I didn’t kill myself because I knew I still wasn’t 100 percent. Instead, I did the routine I planned, but just did it lighter than normal. I did sit in the sauna for a while, and maybe it’s a mental thing, but I felt a lot better after!

What are some ways that help you get through being sick? Share them with me in the comment engine below!

Happy training!

photo © Daryl Furuyama

“Aren’t there days you just don’t feel like working out or eating clean?”

“How do you find the motivation to workout?”

I get asked questions like these all the time. Here are my answers:

Yes, of course I have days where I don’t feel like working out or eating a clean meal every 2-3 hours. I am human! But, on those days, I dig deep and remind myself of my goals and where I want to be at. Once the day is over, I feel a sense of accomplishment that I sucked it up and still gave 110% toward my workout and diet even though I didn’t feel like doing it. It will only reflect in my results, and put me that much closer to my goal anyway. (This is also why I make sure I have a cheat meal on Saturdays.)

I find the motivation to workout through magazines, photos, Facebook pages, websites, knowing my goals and what I want, and quotes. I also find the majority of my motivation through people who have been following my journey. I can’t explain the feeling I get whenever I receive a message from someone wanting to learn more about my journey, how I did it, how they can do it, congratulating me, and the most heart-warming messages of them all – the ones where they are telling me that I inspire and motivate them!

I am always doing research on training, eating clean, and fitness shows. My Facebook and Twitter newsfeed is full of fitness models’ and fitness magazines’ updates. They are constantly posting motivational quotes and photos. I especially love Pinterest for this. I have a couple of boards on there named Fabulous Fitness and Eat Clean Get Lean. They are filled with photos and quotes pertaining to fitness and staying motivated to workout.

I want to share with you my personal top 10 favorite quotes that help me get and stay motivated.

Motivational Quotes

1. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryuh
2. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” – Fred Devito

3. “Fear is what stops you. Courage is what keeps you going.” – Unknown

4. “Clear your mind of can’t.” – Samuel Johnson

5. “Just do it.™” – Nike

6. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

7. “The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.”- Arnold

8. “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” – Taras Brown.

9. “To keep the body in good health is a duty…otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” – Buddha

10. “There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success.” – Paul Bear Bryant

Do you have favorite quotes you like that help you stay focused and motivated? If so, share them with me!

Happy training!

Why it May Work

Honey is composed entirely of sugar, a simple carbohydrate that quickly dissolves into the bloodstream and provides a quick source of energy. This is why carbohydrate-based beverages and bars are highly effective for providing instant energy during exercise. Honey, however, is composed of about equal parts glucose and fructose. Nearly all carbohydrates are ultimately converted to glucose after consumption, at which point they provide fuel for our body’s cells. Any unused glucose is stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. Fructose dissolves much more slowly than glucose, providing more sustained cellular fuel (energy). Honey is unique in that it provides both quick and prolonged energy. For this same reason, honey helps restore the glycogen the muscles use to perform activity during exercise.

Honey is also believed to have wound-healing and immune-building properties that may promote injury recovery.

What the Research Says

The research exploring the relationship between honey and exercise performance is still somewhat sparse.

In one study, subjects who underwent an intensive weight-lifting workout and subsequently consumed a protein solution mixed with either honey, sugar, or maltodextrin. The honey group maintained blood sugar levels longer during exercise and more favorable glycogen restoration two hours following exercise than the other two groups.

A 2001 study, summarized by Scientific American, tested the effects of honey on a group of cyclists. Researchers had nine competitive cyclists pedal 64 kilometers per week for three consecutive weeks. One group was given honey, another a dextrose gel, and a final group a flavored placebo. The honey and dextrose groups both outperformed the placebo group, although the dextrose group slightly outperformed the honey group as well.

A 2009 study, published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, investigated the effects of a honey-sweetened beverage, compared to a traditional carbohydrate beverage and a placebo, on a 90-minute soccer simulation. Following the study, results demonstrated that neither the honey nor traditional carbohydrate group outperform the placebo group.

Additional studies have produced fairly similar equivocal results.

Conclusions

Honey certainly has numerous health benefits, such as carbohydrates, antioxidants, anti-bacterial enzymes that promote immune system function, and an array of vitamins and minerals. However, the paucity of research investigating its role in exercise performance are insufficient to support claims that honey provides an extra edge in the gym. Honey is likely equal to similar carbohydrate-based beverages and bars in its ability to provide energy and restore muscle glycogen following exercise. Future research may shed light on honey’s additional ability to improve performance in any way.

Photo © Flickr by philroeder

Looking for a kick-ass workout in a short period of time? Find a track (or a non-busy road)!

Luckily, I live a half mile from a university and they have a nice outdoor track. Since the temperatures have finally started to climb and it’s (sort of) beginning to feel like spring in New England, I plan to do a workout outside of the gym this weekend!

The Workout

I’ll jog the half mile to the track as a warm up, then I’ll just sprint right into it – pun intended!

I’ll perform a short distance sprint of 100 meters and I’ll do high knees on the way back. After a 25-second rest, I’ll repeat this at least another four times, or whenever I’ve maxed myself out. If you want to make it more challenging for yourself, try making each sprint faster than your last one!

After the sprints and high knees, I’ll move on to burpees. A burpee is performed in the following way:

• Begin in a squat position with hands on the ground in front of you.
• Kick your feet back into a push-up position.
• Immediately return your feet to the squat position.
• Jump up as high as you can from the squat position.

This is one full rep. Instead of counting these, I’ll do as many as I can for 30 seconds and rest for 30 seconds. I’ll repeat this for a total of 2-3 minutes.

Lastly, I’ll do squats with side shuffles. Since it’s bodyweight, I’ll likely perform outside of my normal 12-15 rep range and shoot for 20-25 reps, followed immediately by side shuffles. I’ll aim to complete five sets of these – or, again, until I max myself out.

As a cool down, I’ll either jog or walk back to my house! The workout should only take me 20-30 minutes to complete.

Do you have a track workout you do? Share it with me and other readers in the comment engine below!

If you’re like me, you get bored easily with your routine if you’re following the same plan over and over. I have a great workout you can try that will change all that!

High Rep Sets

For two weeks, I am switching up my routine drastically by doing high rep sets – reps of 40 for four sets! If you’re a beginner, I definitely wouldn’t recommend this to you.

Why am I doing this? I want to work my slow twitch muscle fibers (also referred to as Type I). Because I’m so used to doing 10-15 reps, my slow twitch muscle fibers rarely come into play. Hitting about 35 reps or more will cause hypertrophic stimulus of the slow twitch fibers.

Slow muscles are more efficient at using oxygen to generate more fuel, which is commonly known as ATP, for continuous, extended muscle contractions over a long period of time. They fire slower than fast twitch and can go for a long time before they fatigue. This is why slow twitch fibers are great for helping marathon runners or cyclists for hours.

Other benefits of doing high rep sets are increased strength, vascularity, muscle fullness, and muscle endurance.

How It’s Done

You still want to use the same weight you’d use when you normally do 12-15 reps. When you hit failure, it’s ok to rest at the starting position, but do not put the weight down. You can proceed with a few reps at a time until you make your way to 40 reps.

I try to maintain the same tempo throughout the entire set. Of course the last few reps, I’d say the last five, are going to be the hardest. This is all fundamental in working those slow twitch muscle fibers!

For my first workout of this regimen, I focused on my glutes and hamstrings. Because I really enjoy circuit training, I went from one exercise to the next until I finished one whole set. I let myself rest for a minute and repeated that another three times for a total of four sets.

Sample Routine

Here’s what I threw together for my 40 rep sets:

• Lying Hamstring Curl
• Glute Kickback
• Straight-legged Deadlift with Barbell
• Fire Hydrant
• Seated Hamstring Curl
• Sumo Squat
• Dumbbell Glute Bridge
• Single-legged Bosu Bridge

Interestingly, the worst thing you can do when you develop osteoarthritis or osteoporosis is to become less active. An abundance of research has demonstrated that resistance training is effective for both delaying the effects of osteoporosis and osteoporosis, as well as alleviating and reducing the effects of current bone conditions.

According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the best way to exercise for bone health is to perform persistent resistance training exercises. Here are a few tips on how to keep your bones healthier later into your life:

1. Weight-Bearing Exercises Reign Supreme

Like muscles, bones adapt to increases in load and intensity of exercise. When an increased load is placed on the bone, it adapts by becoming stronger and denser so that it can handle future loads of that degree. To force the bone to adapt in the most efficient manner, exercises that bear the entire weight of the body are best. Choose to job instead of cycle, or to do pushups versus using the incline press.

2. Free Weights are Better Than Machines

As a rule, free weights are superior to exercise machines because they force the bones to bear more body weight. You can imagine that performing an overhead press with a bar places a much greater load on the axial skeleton than performing the same exercise on a machine. Free weights have the added effect of targeting the smaller, stabilizer muscles within a given exercise, which can prevent stress on the joints and osteoarthritic conditions later on. Of course, if you suffer from severe osteoarthritis, machines may help you perform certain exercises through controlled ranges of motions without stressing the joints too much. Talk with your physical therapist about what exercises you are capable of performing.

3. Progressively Overload Your Bones

Also similar to muscles, they become stagnant when they are not sufficiently stimulated. Your bones will stop adapting if you stop exercising. Progressively increase the load of your exercises by about 10 percent each week to keep your bones healthy and strong. You will also need to allow for sufficient rest between exercise sessions, and to take a week of exercise off from time to time to allow your body to recover.

4. Calcium and Vitamin D

You’ve probably heard that calcium and vitamin D are crucial for maintaining bone health. It remains true that these micronutrients play the most direct role in preventing bone pores later in life. Calcium helps form the structure of bones and the body uses vitamin D to metabolize and absorb calcium. The best sources of calcium are milk and dairy products, as well as green leafy vegetables. You can get nearly all the vitamin D you need from sun exposure, but vitamin D also exists in fish and eggs.

The one-month period is a critical measuring stick to assess your progress, alter your goals, or consider revamping your resolution entirely. According to a 2010 study in the journal “Sports Health,” most New Year’s resolutions last just two months. It may provide some solace to know that you’re not the only one struggling with your goals at this point, but having this knowledge also allows you to take some precautionary measures to keep you motivated and avoid dropping your program.

Here are some tips, both for those who are struggling and those who are well on their way, to making 2012 the best fitness year of your life.

1. Make Your Resolution Specific and Measurable

We all want to lose weight, gain weight, build muscle, or become healthier. But these are simply dreams, not goals. For a resolution to become an actual goal, it needs to be specific. Research has demonstrated that the more specific and detailed you can make your resolution, the more motivated you will be to achieve it and the more likely you will be to achieve it. Make your resolution as specific and measurable as possible. Don’t just lose weight in 2012. Lose 20 lbs. Don’t just build muscle. Bench 200 lbs.

2. Set a Timeline

As with the specificity of your goals, you may also not have set a timeline for accomplishing this goal other than “sometime in 2012.” You need to take it a step further than that. Have a specific date at which point you’d like to get that goal over and done with, so you can move onto the next one. If you feel that this goal will take the entire year, set several intermediate target dates so you can measure your progress. I suggest one per month.

3. Alter Your Goals

It’s okay, you’re not ditching your program if you need to make your goals a little easier. Just by getting out and exercising more than in 2011, you’re heading in the right direction. But if you’re finding it more difficult to keep your exercise or nutrition program going, make it easier. It’s much better to accomplish an easy goal and feel successful than to feel like a failure for not accomplishing something that you didn’t have at least a moderately reasonable chance of achieving anyways. It always baffles me, but this is the concept that many people don’t seem to get. Goals are just tools and they’re not concrete. You need to use them to your advantage. If your goals are defeating you, it’s okay to pull back on the reigns a little bit. As a rule, a goal should be about 10 to 15 percent harder than your previous level of performance. For example, if you can run a mile in nine minutes, a realistic goal is to run it in eight minutes and ten seconds by your next time point.

4. Reward Yourself

If you’re like me, you berate yourself when you don’t accomplish something but fail to compliment yourself when you’ve done something well. This “never-good-enough” attitude is dangerous when it comes to goal-setting. It’s okay to be hard on yourself from time to time, but ultimately this will wear you down and lead to what sport psychologists call a failure-based goal-setting style. We set goals to avoid failure, not to achieve success. This attitude will never allow you to perform your best, only enough to avoid feeling like what you construe as a failure. Reward yourself when you achieve your goals, but avoid punishing yourself when you don’t. How you reward yourself is up to you, but make sure to acknowledge your own success and efforts.

5. Add Some Social Support

If you’re struggling on your own, involve a friend or family member in your exercise or nutrition plan. Friends and family members can hold you accountable for your program and you can also do the same for them. Sport psychology research has shown that exercising in a social or team environment leads to markedly improved performance and motivation compared with going it solo.

6. Shake it Up

New Year’s resolutions are fun because they inspire us to improve in some way and they make us feel as if we’re stepping into a new “us.” This rejuvenating feeling, however, will fade after awhile and causes many people to rid themselves of their programs or jump to new ones. Don’t completely ditch your program. Simply find ways to mix it up so that your resolution constantly feels fresh and new. If you always exercise in the gym, go hit the mountain or run on the beach. If you’re sick of your nutrition plan and eat the same things everyday, go to a new grocery store or find a bunch of new recipes. Because of practical issues, you probably have to adhere to some sort of routine. But at least once a week, exercise or eat in a way that you never have before. This can even be your reward.

7. Remember Your Purpose

Your purpose for your resolution will keep you motivated when times get tough. Remember why you chose to set a New Year’s resolution. This isn’t your goal itself, but it’s the reason you decided to set the goal in the first place. Maybe you set a goal of losing 20 lbs. because you were generally feeling lousy about yourself. Or maybe you wanted to eat more servings of fruit to avoid getting cancer or to live longer in order to see your grandkids. Your purpose is the one thing that shouldn’t change during your resolution and it will be the one thing that should always provide a sense of motivation. If you don’t know, or don’t remember, what your purpose for changing was, really think on this and try to find one. With a strong sense of purpose, achieving your resolution itself will be almost secondary.

Performance Benefits

Caffeine’s greatest exercise benefit is on your body’s aerobic endurance, or your ability to maintain a certain exercise intensity for a greater length of time. Numerous studies have demonstrated that caffeine intake prior to, and during, exercise results in greater exercise duration, reduced fatigue, and greater time to exhaustion. Similar effects have been shown for short-duration exercise intervals as well.

Some research suggests that caffeine can improve sprint and power events, but the findings are somewhat equivocal. Furthermore, the number of studies examining caffeine’s role in these types of events (e.g., weightlifting, 100m dash, etc…) are scarce.

How it Works

Caffeine is believed to improve aerobic endurance performance by increasing the body’s ability to use its fat stores during exercise. It is well understood in exercise science research that the greater use of fat for energy prevents the depletion of glycogen — the stored form of glucose that we receive from consuming carbohydrates. The more glycogen we are able to conserve in our muscles, the more energy we will have later on in an event.

Dose

Research has demonstrated that the most effective caffeine dose prior to exercise is about 1.5 to 3 mg per 1 lb. of body weight. Keep in mind that a cup of drip coffee contains about 150 to 200 mg of caffeine, while a cup of tea contains about 50 mg.

Consuming more than 4.5 mg of caffeine per 1 lb. of body weight may cause adverse symptoms, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). The NCAA penalizes athletes who have more than 15 micrograms of caffeine per 1 mL in urine samples, and consumption of more than 10 g is believed to be fatal for most humans. You’d need to consume about 8 cups of coffee to exceed the IOC’s caffeine limit.

Source

Caffeine appears to be more effective when consumed in tablet form than from food sources such as coffee. Consider purchasing pure caffeine tablets for the most optimal effects. If coffee, vitamin water, or energy drinks are your preferred caffeine modality, you’ll just have to consume more. According to Graham and colleagues (1998), coffee may contain a compound that limits caffeine’s chemical response in the body.

Warnings

Not all people react to caffeine the same way. Some individuals may experience heightened nervousness, irritability, and anxiety after consuming high amounts of caffeine. Some sources of caffeine, such as coffee, can cause stomach problems, such as gas, bloating, and cramps. In severe cases, caffeine can lead to heart problems.

Caffeine is also a diuretic, and increases the risk of dehydration and heat-related conditions in hot temperatures.

1. Keep it Simple

When if comes to lifting weights, you don’t need to overcomplicate matters — at least, not at first. Once you become an advanced lifter, you can focus on more difficult lifts and rep/set schemes, but for now, simplicity is your goal. Focus on lifts that target your major muscle groups first, such as your chest, back, and legs. You can then narrow your program down to smaller, stabilizer muscles. Here are some easy lifts for each major area of the body:

Chest: Bench press, incline press, decline press, pushups

Back: Seated row, bench pull, cable row, lat pulldowns

Legs: Leg press, squats, knee extensions, hamstring curls, calf raises

Arms: Biceps curls, triceps pushdowns, shoulder raises, dips

Abs/Core: situps, weighted crunches, Russian twists, back extensions

2. Aim for Balance

Hit each of these areas of the body every time you go to the gym to promote balance. When you get some experience, you’ll want to focus on one are of the body during one session and then allow one to two days of rest while your focus on other areas. But for now, pick one or two exercises for each major area each session. If you focus only on your chest muscles, for example, it’s easy to develop a hunched posture that places excessive pressure on the thoracic spine.

3. Warm Up and Cool Down

Always start your workout with at least 10 minutes of cardio before you lift to get your heart rate and body temperature up. Mix up the cardio as well. Jog one day, bike another, and row on the third. I can’t tell you how many people I see in the gym who don’t warm up before working out, only to complain of nagging tweaks and aches in their bodies later on. You know you’re sufficiently warmed up if there is sweat dripping down your forehead.

Also, cool down following a lifting session by stretching. This helps initiate the recovery process and can improve the elasticity of your muscles. Perform about two to three separate static (holding the position in one place) stretches for each major body area. Hold stretches for a minimum of 10 seconds and repeat.

4. Use Machines

I never recommend machines to anyone except absolute beginners, but for safety and learning purposes, start out only using these helpful pieces of equipment. Machines typically have pictures of the muscle groups they target, making exercise selection fairly simple, and they come with a significantly lower risk of injury. If you want serious results, you’ll have to forget about machines later on, however.

5. Progress Slowly

There’s no need to rush it. Focus on the quality of your lifts versus how much you are lifting or how fast you are progressing. Start out by performing two, nonconsecutive weightlifting sessions each week. For the first month, focus on very light weights and don’t worry about increasing the load. Just perform each lift slowly and with an even tempo, making sure to use a full range of motion.

First Week Program

Here’s a sample program to get you started for your first week:

Session 1

10 minute jog on treadmill

5 minutes of dynamic stretching (arm circles, leg swings, windmills, toe touches, torso rotations)

3 sets of 10 reps of: bench press, lat pulldowns, leg press, dips

10 minutes of static stretching

Notes: allow 2 minutes of rest between sets, 3-5 minutes between exercises. Use about 50-60 percent of your maximal load for each lift.

Session 2

15 minute elliptical

5 minutes of dynamic stretching

3 X 10: Incline press, seated row, squats, decline press, calf raises, weighted crunches

10 minutes of static stretching

Notes: allow 2 minutes of rest between sets, 3-5 minutes between exercises. Use about 50-60 percent of your maximal load for each lift.

1. Garmin Forerunner 910XT

Why: It’s really, really cool. With all the features of its predecessors, the 910 XT is sleeker, smaller, and has a number of additional functions the previous versions don’t. Most of the previous GPS watches were incredibly bulky, making the watch awkward and annoying — especially if you plan to wear it when not working out. Plus, may people complained that sweat around the wrist caused the watch to malfunction (something I know firsthand from paddling). Apparently the 910XT no longer has that problem, and its barometric altimeter can help improve the mapping data during ascents/descents. Plus, the swim mapping features can be transferred to the kayak stroke — which is perfect for me. At a retail price of $449, however, this is not a cheap toy.

2. A Juicer

Why: Anyone who’s read my posts knows I’m not really into fad diets, but I’ve seen variations of the juice-diet work firsthand. My sister, my sister’s boyfriend, and my mom have all lost over 20 lbs. on juice diets, and have never looked or felt better. I’ve had the juice blends, and they’re quite tasty. If you’re looking for a quick and convenient way to pack an amazing amount of nutrients into a small, low-calorie meal, I highly recommend “juicing.” Juicers range from about $75-$200.

3. Vibram Five Fingers Bikilla LS Shoes

Why: I’ve begun to see these shoes more and more in gyms and on local trails and running routes. Designed to mimc the barefoot marathon runners of Kenya and Ethiopia, I’ve known many people who swear by these and will never return to regular running shoes. Evidently barefoot running, when executed properly, is better for the foot’s natural arch and curvature and many people say these shoes are substantially more comfortable than more traditional versions. Vibram’s latest version was recently named one of the top fitness products of 2011 by Health.com. You can generally find these for under $100.

4. A Lifetime Supply of MET-Rx Bars

Why: I tend to favor “real” food, such as roasted seeds, nuts, and fruit slices to boost my energy during long workouts, but I’ve also used MET-Rx bars for years. As I’ve posted in prior articles, you don’t need nearly as much protein to balance the protein cell degeneration cycle following a workout as nutrition suppliers would have you believe, and carbohydrates are probably more important both during and following a workout. Therefore, high-protein bars aren’t of much value, in my opinion. But I’ve always thought the classic MET-Rx bars have the best flavor and consistency of any workout bar on the market — much more easily dissolvable than the rubbery Power Bar. I recommend these if you don’t have time to prepare a real snack for your workout or training. The classic MET-Rx bar was also named Askmen.com’s top-rated fitness bar in 2011. The chocolate chip cookie dough flavor is my favorite, and a box is about $20.

5. A GoProHD Camera

Why: Ok, this isn’t really a fitness product, but it’s still a really fun toy. The world’s leading sports action camera, the GoPro is ideal for the extreme sports athlete who wants to recapture and relive their physical heroics. So why am I interested in it? Well, I am a kayaker and I’ve found that stopping to pull out a camera from my waterproof compartment is a bit of a hassle. Plus, most waterproof cameras take pretty poor pictures. While the GoProHD cannot match that of a really good non-waterproof camera, it’s close. Plus, with a camera mounted on either my boat or my person, I always feel inspired to work out harder and venture into areas I wouldn’t normally go. This may work for you, too. Like the Garmin, it’s pricey at just under $300.

There’s my list. I’d love to hear about your favorite fitness products as well. And if you’d like to know where you can send me gifts, please send me a message.