Movie Recommendation

Organic Milk

Organic, pasture-fed milk does the body better. Check out the full article here: http://blogs.webmd.com/health-ehome/2009/02/organic-milk-does-body-better.html

Higher Protein Diet for Athletes

The protein needs of athletes is a common point of disagreement among nutrition professionals. In response, many established researchers have investigated this question in controlled clinical trials. Check out the following protein recommendations according to the results of this study: http://issnblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/national-dairy-council-endorses-higher.html. As you'll read, both competitive and recreational exercises may benefit from greater levels of protein than that of the RDA.

Incredible Story

The 2009 recipient of the Jimmy V. Award went to Coach Don Meyer, during the 2009 ESPY's on ESPN. He's another hero of mine and his speech was incredibly moving. Let me know what you think. A couple of my fav. portions:

-Don't whine
-Don't complain
-Don't make excuses

The "F words" Coach Meyer and his team use regularly: faith, family, and friends.

Precision Nutrition Video Clips

As you may be aware, I recently affiliated with the top international nutrition company, Precision Nutrition. Their president, Dr. John Berardi, was a guest on a Canadian call-in show recently. Click the link below to see the video clips of that show and let me know what you think: http://precisionnutrition.com/cmd.php?pageid=987117&u=www.precisionnutrition.com/on-the-line-tv

Are Supplements a Substitute for Real Food?

I was reviewing some articles in my "to read" pile and came across this one from one of my mentors, nutritionist Debra Wein. In this article (http://www.nsca-lift.org/Perform/articles/080305.pdf), Debra not only discusses supplements, but provides a well-written chart on those who could benefit from certain supplements.

Eating like a pro athlete is simple!

Steve Nash is my 2nd favorite player in the NBA- Ray Allen is my favorite. That being said, Nash remains one of the top conditioned players in the world. While work ethic and proper training play considerate roles, proper nutritional habits and adequate rest are the key reasons why Nash stays in top shape. You may surprised to learn that there are no fancy ways getting around eating healthy.

The core of his diet consists of fruits, vegetables, raw nuts, chicken and fish. He also supplements by taking vitamins that you can find at any supermarket. Several of Nash's teammates have mirrored his successful habits and they are seeing great results as well. Check out the full article here: http://www.nba.com/suns/news/feature_nashdiet_090709.html

Irish Under-18 National Team @ Saltonstall Park

As part of their inaugural two-week tour of America, the Irish Under-18 national basketball team participated in a double-header at Saltonstall Park last night. The agenda went as follows:
Irish National Team vs. Donohue's Kaos Club: 8:30
Irish National Team vs. Papas Elite All Stars: 9:30

There were tons of people there and my Dad was DJing the event. Good times.

ACSM 2009 Position Stand Revealed

The latest report from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has recently been published. It adds to the previous 2002 position stand. While the full article is available here (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/137328.php) the section I took away was this: "...the 2009 ACSM position stand encourages the use of concentric, eccentric, and isometric actions in the resistance training program design.

Change Your Environment

I just read an excellent article on the Precision Nutrition titled, "Change Your Environment." Check it out here: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/change-your-environment

As you'll recall, Precision Nutrition is the company I have recently affiliated with as I find their products quite helpful. Here is the link to check out their products: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cmd.php?pageid=987117

Lutein-rich Produce

According to Bausch & Lomb, Lutein is an antioxidant carotenoid a pigmented nutrient that is responsible for the yellow colors of fruits and vegetables and is present in the highest quantities in dark, leafy green vegetables. You're born with a certain amount of lutein in your eye, but your body doesn't reproduce it. Long story short, we know it's important to implement sources of lutein in your diet. That being said, here are some of my the top choices for lutein (recall that a serving is 1/2 cup cooked):

• Kale


• Spinach


• Collard greens


• Swiss chard

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

How Many Servings of Fruits & Veggies to Consume Each Day

I get asked a lot how many servings of produce one should consumer daily. Too many recommendations set forth by the various professional organizations are vague. Specifically, they target a range of numbers, but don't make it relative to one's activity level, goals, body weight, etc... That being said, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has put together a web site where you can plug in your age and acitity level and it calculates the exact number of servings you need each day. Check it out here: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/index.html

Losing Weight AND Improving Strength Simultaneously

It IS possible to lose weight AND induce strength gains at the same time. One of my mentors, Alwyn Cosgrove, recently wrote a mini article for Core Performance and spoke on this matter. Check it out here: http://www.coreperformance.com/daily/live-better/q-a-lose-weight-stay-strong.html

Your iPhone as a HR Monitor

If you're like me, you think your iPhone may be the best gadget ever invented. That being said, New Zealand-based developer Bluespark has come up with a very simple and great idea - a heart rate monitor for the iPhone. Chceck out the full story here: http://www.appcraver.com/heart-monitor/.