Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients:

Frozen riced cauliflower
Pepper
Melted butter or avocado oil
Chopped garlic or garlic powder (a little goes a long way)

OPTIONAL: Any other seasonings you wish to add – oregano, paprika, cayene pepper, rosemary, thyme, etc.

You will also need a blender

Directions:

1. Cook the cauliflower according to the instructions on the packaging – microwave or stovetop.
2. Add cauliflower, butter/oil, and seasoning to blender. 
3. Mix until pureed. 
4. Serve. Voila!

Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick (4 oz) softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 3/4 cups almond flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup chocolate chips
1 egg
2 tablespoons raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar, and coconut sugar with a spoon or spatula until well combined.
4. Add egg and vanilla. Mix.
5. Stir in the almond flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
6. When fully combined, stir in chocolate chips.
7. Chill dough for 20-30 minutes.
8. Scoop out a tablespoon of dough at a time and roll it into a ball.
9. Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet a few inches apart.
10. Bake 15-18 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top and the sides.
11. Cool on a rack before serving.

Pancake/Waffle Batter

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
1/2 cup water
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp natural raw honey
2 tbsp melted butter
1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
Coconut oil for the griddle

OPTIONAL: dark chocolate chips or peanut butter chips
Assorted berries or sliced bananas or apples

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
2. In a bowl, whisk eggs, coconut milk, water, butter, vanilla, and honey until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt together. Combine the wet and dry ingredients into one bowl and whisk until smooth – batter will appear a little grainy. If you’re using chocolate and/or peanut butter chips, add to the batter.
4. Heat a large nonstick griddle or large pan over medium heat with the coconut oil (for waffles, use a waffle iron). When the pan is hot, use a ladle or 1/4 measuring cup to drop the batter onto the griddle for each pancake.
5. Cook the pancakes until the first sides are light brown (approximately 4-5 minutes). Bubbles will start forming at the edges before it’s time to turn the pancakes. Turn the pancakes over to do the other side (approximately another 2 minutes). I use a pancake spatula to do this, but prior to that I used a regular spatula and a butter knife.
6. Remove the pancakes and place them on a warm plate in the oven, covered. Repeat the process until the batter is finished – approximately 12 pancakes depending on the size of your pancakes.
7. Option to top pancakes with fruit upon serving.

"Earn the Right"

I  think there’s a common misconception that yoga is just handstand, arm balance, headstand, and/or trick after trick. I think this misconception is perpetuated by what you see on social media because “trick” photos get more likes. While you may walk into a class where one of these poses are taught, that doesn’t make it more of a yoga class than one where they’re not taught. It also doesn’t mean that you a) have to do the pose or b) should do that pose.

Have you thought about whether or not you’ve actually “earned the right” to do a particular movement pattern? If you’ve taken my classes in the past, especially the ones I taught at Equinox, you’ve probably heard me use this phrase: “earn the right.” It means, “do you have the necessary strength and/or mobility to perform the movement correctly and safely?” If not, you should be working on the skills necessary to do the movement BEFORE moving onto the movement itself.

Using handstand as an example, I encourage you to either stand in front of a mirror OR photograph yourself in the following position:

Stand with your big toes touching and heels slightly apart so that your legs are in neutral. Lift your arms overhead and extend your wrists so that the palms face the ceiling. Spread your fingers wide. Engage your belly by imagining you can suck your bellybutton to the back of your body. Pretend there is a yoga block between your forearms. Better yet, why don't you actually place a yoga block between your forearms? Squeeze (adduct) your arms towards one another so that the block does not fall.

• Can your biceps line up next to your ears or are your arms slightly forward (or a lot forward)?
• If they’re in the right spot, is your back arched? If so, focus on engaging the belly & bringing the pelvis back into neutral. When you do this, do your arms shift out of alignment?

These are indicators that you are compensating & not ready to be weight-bearing in an upside down position. That doesn't mean you can't ever practice a handstand. It just means that you have some stuff to work on before getting there. Therefore instead of forcing your body into these types of postures, focus on developing the strength and mobility necessary to get yourself there. In the above scenario where the arms are unable to line up to your ears without compensating (i.e. the back has to arch in order for the arms to extend overhead or the legs have to widen to help make room to extend the arms overhead), you’ve probably got a few issues going on here.

• Restricted thoracic mobility (mid-upper back area)
• Restricted shoulder mobility
• Restriction in the pectoral muscles (chest)
• Weakness in the back
• Weakness in the core

In fact, the issues referenced above are common ones resulting from poor posture and can impact whether or not you’re able to safely and correctly perform common exercises in the gym as well – deadlift, squat (particularly a barbell back-loaded squat), overhead press, pulldown or pullup. The reason for this is that you’re unable to get your body into the correct position in the first place in order to successfully perform the movements and therefore, unable to maximize the benefits of the movements. You’re actually setting yourself up for potential injury by doing these movements with a compromised alignment.

Restricted Mobility

There is a difference between flexibility and mobility. While it helps to have flexibility, it’s mobility that helps you get into the required position in order to do these big movement patterns we’ve been discussing. In simple terms, flexibility is the ability of the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, tendons) to passively stretch. Mobility, on the other hand, is the joint’s (i.e., the point where two bones meet) ability to actively move through its full range of motion. An example of this is the pistol squat. Many of my more flexible students can easily get to the bottom range of this movement, but are not strong enough to stand back up again. Of course, my more inflexible students can’t access this movement pattern at all.

With the example of a handstand, even if you’re flexible enough to get your arms overhead without compensation, you may have difficulty maintaining that position once load is added (your weight). When I say this, I am not referring to an individual who can kick up, but doesn’t have the skill to hold a challenging position like handstand yet. I am referring to the individual who attemps the kick up and their upper body cannot support their weight. Commonly, the elbows start to buckle or the chest starts to sink to the floor. This means the individual doesn't “own” their range of motion. Therefore, when it comes to restrictions to range of motion, it’s important that we not only open tighter areas, but also strengthen the newly found range of motion so that the body can maintain it.

Increase the Range of Motion (ROM) Movements:

• Foam roll thoracic spine
• Triggerpoint pectorals with tennis ball or lacrosse ball
• Archer Stretch (or Open Book Stretch) with a foam roller
• Doorway Stretch or Heart Bench
• W at the wall
• Shoulder CARS
• Praying Mantis using yoga blocks or an elevated surface
• Half-Kneeling Side Bend
• Half-Kneeling Overhead Rotation with dowel

Intro Weight-Bearing Exercises

• Wall Downward Facing Dog
• Overhead Hang with toes supported
• Cat/Cow
• Tabletop Bird/Dog
• Alternating Simple Twist

Weight-Bearing Exercises & Strengthening ROM:

• Unsupported Overhead Hang
• Downward Facing Dog
• High Plank
• Beast Hold
• Inchworm into an Extended Plank (modification: Plank)

Posterior Weakness

Weakness in the back tends to come from an overactive anterior chain (the front of your body). If you’re super tight in the front body, these muscles pull your shoulders forward and tuck your pelvis under, lengthening the muscles in your backside (posterior chain). So not only do we need to open the front of our body, we need to strengthen the back of our body in order to help keep our bodies in a more neutral position.

Strengthening Exercises:

• Locust with the feet down
• Banded or Cable Row
• Banded Rear-Fly
• Single-Arm Banded or Cable Row
• TRX Row (Variations)
• Banded or Cable Pulldown (*IF* the proper ROM is available)
• Glute Bridge
• Single-Leg Glute Bridge
• Hamstring Bridge
• Isometric Glute or Hamstring Bridge
• Clam Shells

Core Weakness

I am not talking about how many crunches or situps you can do here. I am talking about your ability to stabilize your body, which encompasses more than just flexing your pretty six-pack abs.

Strengthening Exercises:

• Dead Bug
• Tabletop Bird/Dog
• High Plank (especially if you’re targeting handstand or any arm balance poses)
• Forearm Plank
• Body saw
• Banded or Cable Stir the Pot
• Banded or Cable Palof Press
• Banded or Cable Chop

Precursor Movements

If you’re someone who hasn’t “earned the right” to do some of these movements discussed, that doesn’t mean you’ll never get there. If you’re working on gaining the pre-requisite strength and mobility and see progress, there are movements or exercises you can begin to practice that will help you get to your destination.

Handstand

• High Plank
• Shortened Downward Facing Dog
• Standing Forward Fold (or Straddle Forward Fold) Weight Shift into Hands & Back
• Modified L-Stand – Increase the elevation of your feet as you become stronger
• **Eventually** Handstand Walk-ups at the Wall

Arm Balances

• High Plank
• Beast Hold
• Plank Weight Shift into Hands & Back
• Beast Weight Shift into Hands & Back
• Tricep Pushups

Barbell Deadlift

• Glute Bridge
• Bodyweight Hip Thrust
• Bodyweight Good Morning
• Rear & Low Loaded Good Morning
• Kettlebell or Single Dumbbell Deadlift
• Romanian Deadlift
• Elevated Deadlift
• Trapbar Deadlift

Rear-Load Barbell Squat

• TRX-Assisted Squat
• Bodyweight Squat
• Goblet Squat
• Front-Loaded Kettlebell or Dumbbell Squat
• Front-Loaded Barbell Squat

Barbell Overhead Press

• Single Arm Neutral-Position Shoulder Press
• Neutral-Position Shoulder Press
• Alternating Neutral-Position Shoulder Press
• Single Arm Traditional-Position Overhead Press
• Alternating Traditional-Position Overhead Press

Aqua Fitness

Summertime provides access to many different types of activites that we wouldn't normally be able to participate in the colder months. Have you thought about that when it comes to your normal fitness routine? You don't have to restrict your fitness regiment to only workouts that can occur inside the gym or fitness studio. The warm weather offers the flexibility of being able to go outside the box for our exercise routines. Why not try a swimming pool?

Exercising in water has so many benefits and extends beyond just the run of the mill lap swimming (which is really good for you, by the way). Swimming (and other aquatic activities, which we'll cover a bit further down in the article) increases strength and flexibility, builds endurance, improves muscular balance, improves and strengthens cardiac health, increases circulation, rehabilitates muscles, and like other forms of physical activity, can assist in maintaining a healthy weight.

Why does exercising in the water do all of this for us?

• Buoyancy allows people to perform exercises that may be too challenging for them to do while on land. 90% of your body is buoyant when in water up to your neck so there isn't as high of an impact on your joints when you land or push off of the floor.
• There is constant resistance when you move through water. Water offers 12-14% more resistance than when you perform bodyweight exercises while on land. Resistance also does not allow for sudden movements, which makes you work harder.
• Water disperses heat so there's less chance of overheating. During these hot summer months, that can be a real concern.
• As silly as this may sound, exercising in water is vastly different than exercising in a gym or at home. A change of pace never hurt anyone and by this time of year, we may be getting a little stale in our workout routine. Changing our enviroment or mode of fitness can be just the thing to re-invigorate us.

As we mentioned earlier, swimming laps in a pool is the activity that most often pops into our mind when thinking of aquatic fitness. This is obviously a great option, but you can even spice up this type of workout by targeting specific muscle groups. Using a kickboard removes the ability to use your upper body to propel yourself through the water, giving you the opportunity to focus on the strength and stamina of your lower body, as well as fine tune your swim kicks. On the flip side, a swim pull buoy removes your lower body from the equation, allowing you to focus on the strength and stamina of your upper body, as well as fine tune your strokes. 

While great options, these are still not your only options for exercising in the pool!

Walking or running while in the pool adds resistance to your traditional walk or run while removing the high impact your joints undergo from hitting the pavement. Water aerobics also adds resistance while removing the high impact of traditional aerobics classes. 

Toning and strength training are also great in the pool. In addition to basic exercises in which the water functions as your resistance, you can purchase pool-centric workout equipment like foam dumbbells, barbells, leg weights, etc. Amazon sells several items at different price points, but all fairly reasonable. Hydro Revolution also sells equipment and bundles for pool use, but they are a little on the pricier side. The upside, however, is that they do sell equipment options that are higher quality than the foam options and equipment that has no foam counterpart. 

About UTrain Online

Jess and Serena want to help you maximize your health and wellness goals by providing you with tips on fitness and yoga, food, and lifestyle that you can access anywhere & anytime.

We hope you enjoy our blog! 

Easy Banana Muffins & Bread Recipes

Banana Muffins:

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 cup almond flour (alternative option: 1/2 cup almond flour + 1/8 cup teff flour)
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp natural raw honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp flaxseed

OPTIONAL: dark chocolate chips

What is teff flour?

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven 400 degrees
2. Mash bananas into a bowl
3. Mix all ingredients
4. Divide into 12 muffin tins
5. Bake for 15-17 minutes

Banana Bread:

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
3 eggs
3 cups almond flour (alternative option: 1 1/2 cups almond flour + 6 tbsp teff flour)
1/4 cup natural raw honey
1/4 cup avocado oil (or another mild oil)
2 tbsp flaxseed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

OPTIONAL: Dark chocolate chips

You will also need parchment paper and a 9×5 loaf pan

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking oil. I like to cut the paper into three strips first. One to line the middle and the other two to line the sides. I use chip clips to hold the paper in place for when I am ready to pour the battle into the pan.
3. In a bowl, mash the bananas.
4. Add eggs, honey, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda and powder, flaxseed, and salt (and chocolate chips if you’re adding them). Whisk until combined.
5. Add flour and mix with spatula.
6. Pour batter into loaf pan. I like to sprinkle cinnamon on top of the loaf as well.
7. Bake for 50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
8. Place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before serving.

Tips for Training at Home

The quarantine put quite a damper on a lot of people’s fitness goals when gyms worldwide were forced to shut their doors. As a result, many people turned their gym workouts into home workouts (or in some cases, just stopped working out). Many mobile apps, digital videos, YouTube channels, etc. promoting at home workouts with minimal to no equipment have flourished, which is great! At home workouts are great way to continue a fitness program when you can't get to a gym due to travel, desire, or monetary reasons. But you need to be smart about it.

1. If you can afford to do so, hire a personal trainer to train with you virtually or in your home in order to ensure that you are performing the exercises with correct form and that you’re doing a program that’s designed specifically for you, not the general public.
2. If a trainer is not something that’s in your budget right now, that’s okay. The fitness apps and other assorted options out there are for the most part, absolutely fine options. We do recommend researching the fitness professional designing and/or teaching these programs to make sure that you are getting a workout that’s actually created by a professional and not someone who just looks good or maybe likes fitness a whole lot. Or is just an actor/actress who has worked out a bunch for movie roles. 
3. Make sure your workouts include your entire body. Some of us may have been lucky enough to already have a full or quasi-full home gym prepared, but that's not everyone. The rest of us have to make do with what we have. Unfortunately, many of the bodyweight programs circulating out there focus on pushups as the predominant form of upper body training. Pushups are fantastic, but you need to balance that out with some kind of pulling exercises in order to maintain good posture. Too much emphasis on pushing exercises can lead to internal rotation of the shoulder and a hunched posture. A good general rule of thumb is that for every pushing exercise you do, do two pulling ones. Understandably, we don’t all have access to a pullup bar, cable machine, or even dumbbells, but time under tension exercises utilizing a towel or a t-shirt, supermans, and inverted rows using your kitchen/dining table are all effective alternatives. You can even get a great pulling workout using the jungle gym at a nearby park. “Heavier” items around the house can also be substituted for dumbbells – sauce jars, water bottles/jugs, liquor bottles/jugs, laundry detergent, canned goods, a duffle bag stuffed with laundry, etc.

These are some of our favorite items that we’ve picked up over the years to utilize when we're working out at home or traveling between clients. We chose these to share these items in particular because of pricing and ease of transport/storage (just to be clear, we are not sponsored by any of these brands or products – we just really like them):

Core Sliders – We like these because the dual sides allow for them to be used on hard floors and carpeting, which is great because most products similar to these can only be used on hard floors. Obviously, not everyone has hard flooring available or enough hard floor space to workout on. These can take basic upper body exercises (ex. pushups), lower body exercises (ex. lunges), and core exercises (ex. mountain climbers) and up the ante without having to add extra weight. Super helpful, especially when dumbbells seem to be hard to come by these days. If you do have hard floor space, a towel, wearing a pair of socks, or paper plate can also function as in the same capacity as these sliders.

Exercise Mini Bands – Exercise mini bands are great for upping the ante on a lot upper body and lower body exercises as well, but they’re also good for assisting our bodies into recruiting more muscle engagement. Particularly on movements like squats, bridges, and deadlifts/RDL’s. Some of us may not even be aware that we collapse inward (valgus) on a squat or maybe we don’t engage our outer glutes (glute medius) effectively. The bands help to not only expose these weaknesses, but can help correct them. We like this particular band because the fabric doesn’t roll or lose its resistance as quickly as the cheaper plastic ones do. If you need a little more range of motion for specific exercises with the plastic bands, we encourage you to spend the extra money on the Perform Better ones because we feel that they're the best quality. 

Resistance Bands – For those of us who do not have the space and/or the resources to invest in a dumbbell set or full cable machine, resistance bands are a affordable and space-conscious way to get a slew of pulling exercises (among other exercises) into your program. Plus, they're easy to pack up and transport with you, so you can take your workouts outdoors or on vacation with you!

TRX – If you can afford the price tag, a TRX is a great investment. You can get a very effective full body workout with a TRX and it’s extremely portable, which means when this shit show eventually calms down and you’re back to traveling, this bad boy can fit into a carry on suitcase. It also comes with a door anchor, which means you don’t have to worry about mounting it to a safe spot on your ceiling (you can if you want to though). All you need is a door. We all have a door. If $200 is a bit steep, these olympic rings are a great alternative for less than $50. You will have to hang them on something in order to use them though. Mine are on my pullup bar, but I’ve hung them on the fence in the backyard, the bleachers at a school track, and a set of monkey bars at a local park. So, they’re still pretty versatile.