It’s no secret I eat oatmeal. I have already written why oatmeal is the perfect breakfast for a long day, and in my opinion, it’s the #1 high-energy food for endurance athletes. But what I never had was oatmeal made from freshly milled, hand-blended oats.

That changed when I tried Sammz Oats, a product from a very small company out in Morro Bay, California.

“SammzOats is a one-of-a-kind specialty blend of organic, freshly-milled gourmet oatmeal, like no other oatmeal you’ve tried.”

Looking at them, they’re neither quick oats, rolled oats, steel cut oats, nor Irish oats. I can see at least three different shapes of flakes and chunks in the mix! These can only be classified as “Sammz Oats.”

And the paper bag they come in is pretty nice; it gives you that small town farm market feel.

Sammz Oats Ingredients and Nutrition Facts

The ingredients list:

Ingredients: 100% organic oat textures, including extra organic bran.

I notice two things here because of this sparse ingredients list:

• Sammz Oats contain only the good stuff.
• Sammz Oats aren’t full of junk like added salt and sugar.

OK, so that’s just the same thing put in different words, but I wanted to get the point across! These are probably the most natural, unprocessed oats you can get (if you don’t have your own farm.)

Nutrition Facts

Serving size 1/3 cup
Calories 120
Total Fat 2.5g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 0mg
Potassium 160mg
Total Carbs 23g
  Dietary Fiber 6g
    Soluble fiber 3g
    Insoluble fiber 3g
  Sugars 0g
Protein 8g

That’s 50% more fiber and 60% more protein than in a serving of Arrowhead Mills organic steel cut oats!!

Remember in my article where I compared rolled oats to steel cut oats and said they technically have the same nutritional value? Well right here is the case to best illustrate that!

At first glance, these Sammz Oats appear to be as processed as instant oats, but they are fresh and hand-processed, not sent through a factory. They aren’t steamed and rolled and left to sit and go stale like most rolled oats in the store. This means they retain their nutritional value, not to mention the true oat flavor most people have never tasted.

Sammz Oats Taste Test

Finally, time to cook this up and enjoy it!

What’s really awesome is that this cooks in 2-4 minutes. It still takes 5 minutes to get the water boiling beforehand, but overall, these are a lot easier to prepare than steel cut oats.

All I did to cook these was get 3 cups of liquid boiling (1 1/2 cups almond milk, 1 1/2 cups water) and added in 4 servings (1 1/3 cups) of oats. And sprinkled some cinnamon in, of course. Then I cooked the oats for 4 minutes. After that I removed them from the heat and added some raisins (the oats were still hot enough to “cook” the raisins.)

The oats were perfect fresh off the stove as well as reheated in the microwave the next morning. On my second batch I added a little Nature’s Way coconut oil for an ever more delicious taste!

Specifically about the oats, they have a very hearty taste and texture you wouldn’t expect. They taste fresh and real. They don’t taste exactly like steel cut oats, but I find they remind me more of steel cut than rolled oats.

They do soak up water and expand almost as much as the steel cut, yet they cook much faster!

Sammz Oatmeal Granola Supreme

Shifting gears now, I also got a bag of granola to try, so I’m going to talk about that for a moment!

Ingredients: Sammz organic oats, organic oat bran, organic honey, brown sugar, raw coconut chips, almonds, pecans, raw sunflower seeds, craisins, dried blueberries, spices, citrus.

Wow, dried blueberries!!!

I don’t think I’ve ever met a granola I didn’t like, but still, this bag from Sammz is superb. It blows me away that there are dried blueberries in it!

I like the ingredients overall. I wouldn’t call this a healthy meal, but it’s a good high-carb energy food that’s not full of too much extra sugar.

The first half of the bag, I just dug in and ate it with a spoon. The second half I mixed with plain yogurt.

This granola is very, very good for mixing with yogurt! Some granolas are too hard and need to sit in the yogurt for an hour to soften up, but the Sammz granola was a perfect complement to the yogurt right away.

This stuff is so good! Don’t tell any of my friends or family I had this fancy granola, because I ate it all myself and didn’t offer to share!

My final verdict is…

I give Sammz Oats an A+ on taste, texture, and nutritional value. I may even prefer them to steel cut oats! (I certainly like how fast they cook!)

The only problem is, being priced at about $5-9 per pound, coupled with the way I go through bags of oats, I’d go broke if I ate these everyday!

Official website: SammzOats.com

I’m focusing on their whey protein concentrate because that is probably the most popular protein supplement available. It’s also the most economical – around $6-7 per pound.

So let’s see what TrueProtein.com is all about…

First, you can get the protein in bulk in food grade bags:

You can get the protein in actual containers, but if you are ordering in bulk and really want to save money, the bags are the way to go.

Each bag is labeled:

I suggest transferring the powder into food containers as soon as you get it. The bags are held shut by cable ties, so they aren’t air tight. Plus, if you leave the bags sitting around, the bag openings can fill with dust and dead bugs that might later fall into your protein powder when you cut the cable tie off!

Just a word of warning there!

Health and Nutrition

Well, there’s not much to say about this. It is whey protein concentrate sold in bulk. Nothing more.

The protein is completely natural until they add flavors and sweeteners at your request. I think the Premium flavors are sweetened with sucralose, and the Natural Premium flavors are sweetened with stevia. But you don’t have to add flavors or sweeteners if you don’t want to.

So health-wise, this stuff should be on par with Optimum Nutrition 100% Natural Whey Gold powder. But you can customize this stuff to make it into whatever kind of supplement you want. (To learn more about that, see my TrueProtein.com review.)

True Protein Taste Test

There are so many flavors available I don’t know if I’ll ever get to try them all! Here are my thoughts on the flavors I tried…

Natural Premium Bananas ‘n Cream – Delicious! This one has a good banana and cream flavor, so it tastes like a dessert – think banana cream pie.

I’ve had banana flavored whey protein before, and I can’t remember the brand, but it definitely wasn’t this good.

Premium Coconut Cream Pie – A pretty good coconut flavor. Not very strong, but noticeable.

It’s more like a creamy vanilla flavor, and if you’re lucky, you’ll taste a hint of coconut at the end of each sip. But then sometimes I did notice a really strong coconut cream pie flavor, which was awesome!

Premium Dutch Chocolate Fudge – This one tastes like plain old chocolate. It also has a hint of artificial flavor which I didn’t care for. It really wasn’t as good as I had hoped, especially because this flavor is rumored to be the best.

Premium Java Mocha – This one smells good and tastes great! It’s a perfect mix of coffee and chocolate flavors. Tastes kind of like the bottles of Starbucks frappacino. I’m really liking this one!!

Natural Premium Strawberries n Cream – This one is bright pink! It looks, smells, and tastes just like the strawberry Nesquik powder I had when I was a kid. So it’s pretty good, but not the most “natural” flavor.

This one is great if you like typical strawberry milk, but if not, I’d stick with the other flavors.

Natural Premium Orange Cream – Well to start with, it has the scent of an orange creamsicle. So that’s awesome!

That’s what it tastes like, too! It’s like a dessert. That’s just plain awesome. No need to go into greater detail. If you like orange creamsicles, you have to try this flavor.

Premium Citrus Limeade – A fancy way of saying “lemon lime.” This has to be the weirdest protein flavor ever! Think of eating a lemon lime milkshake and that’s kind of what this is. Really, it’s a creamy drink with a lemon lime flavor.

The flavor is alright; nothing special, not too terrible. But it’s just so weird!! Taste-wise, I think it’s better than lemon lime Accelerade. And actually, the second week of taking it, I found it oddly refreshing! I guess the taste grows on you.

It got old really fast though! Right after I got used to it, I didn’t feel like drinking it anymore! And I realized the only reason I bought it was because I was thinking I was buying a “cherry limeade” flavor.

I’d avoid this one unless you really like weird flavors.

Your Own Flavor Combinations?

TrueProtein offers quite a few flavors. For example, I think they have coconut, chocolate, and chocolate coconut. Similarly, you could get chocolate, strawberry, and chocolate-covered strawberry.

I chose to buy plain flavors so I could mix and match my own. Like so:

Orange Banana: 1/2 scoop orange, 1/2 scoop banana

Chocolate Covered Strawberries: 2/3 scoop strawberry, 1/3 scoop chocolate

Banana Split: 1 scoop banana, 1/2 scoop chocolate, 1/2 scoop strawberry

This way you aren’t committed to any flavor combos that might not taste as good as they sound.

My final verdict is…

Most of the flavors I tried tasted awesome, and I love how you get to pick the sweeteners and flavorings that are added. True Protein is going to be my #1 source of protein powder from now on.

If you take your protein powder seriously, I highly recommend ordering custom protein powder in bulk from True Protein.

Official website: www.TrueNutrition.com

(Use discount code LEO100 to get 5-10% off your order.)

Winter training is generally going to be tough. You’re either going to be riding inside and bored, or you’ll be outside in the cold, harsh conditions. If you will be outside in the cold, along with your warm clothing, you’ll need a beater bike.

A winter “beater” bike is generally heavier, slower, cheaper, and tougher than your road racing bike. That’s good. Here’s why:

1. Slower speeds are safer.

You don’t want to hit a patch of ice at high speeds and go flying.

2. Slower speeds are warmer.

As if the cold air and wind chill aren’t bad enough, you create your own windchill when you ride. But the slower you go, the less windchill you generate.

3. You won’t overshoot your headlight.

With such short days, you’ll be riding in the dark before and after work, so you’ll probably be using a headlight. A headlight will only reach so far, so you want to be riding slow enough that you still have a good stopping distance just in case a road hazard appears out of nowhere.

4. You don’t have to worry about weather damage.

If I was riding my race bike in sloppy conditions, I’d be paranoid about all the salt and gravel getting thrown at it. Then I’d spend hours cleaning it after each ride. With a cheap beater bike, you can put your mind at ease knowing your race bike is tucked in safely at home!

5. Meatier tires for fewer flats.

A mountain bike or at least a cyclocross bike is nice for winter weather. These bikes have wider, tougher tires, so you should experience fewer flats. And changing flats really, really sucks in the winter!

6. You still accomplish a tough workout.

On a heavier bike, you can still put out the same number of watts (power) as your workout calls for, but you’ll go much slower thanks to the extra weight and rolling resistance. And as I mentioned, slower speeds are warmer and safer! It’s a win-win.

Do you have a beater bike for your winter rides? Let me know in the comments!

Photo: tandemracer

P90X has nothing to do with cycling or endurance sports, but it’s extremely popular (perhaps due to the Saturday morning infomercials?) and comes in a 13-DVD set, so I figured there must be something to glean from it. I mean, everywhere you look people are posting their before and after photos, so people are either getting into great shape or greatly improving their Photoshop skills!

I picked up a set of P90X DVDs on eBay (only about $80 that way, instead of $140) back in 2010 and got to work. Here’s what I think…

What is P90X?

P90X is a workout program aimed at the general fitness enthusiast. It’s meant for someone who wants to develop a good looking, lean, and toned body in a short amount of time (90 days.)

That means it’s not meant specifically for athletes who need to do sport-specific training. Sure, even athletes need to shed fat and increase strength, but sport-specific training is usually a better way to do that in the limited training time you have.

The package includes 13 DVDs, a workout chart, and a nutrition guide.

The DVDs are set up in a fitness studio and hosted by Tony Horton, a very charismatic trainer. The videos are a “follow along” style, making it feel like you are part of the class.

The program is based on the concept of “muscle confusion,” which basically means that you are always varying your workouts. The goal is to avoid plateaus (and boredom.)

Why P90X Works for Endurance Athletes

At first glance, P90X looks like a general fitness routine, perhaps with a bodybuilding focus. And it is! But if you actually look into the specifics, you can see there are some benefits for cyclists, triathletes, and other endurance athletes.

Big Focus on Core Strength

The best thing about P90X is that there is a big focus on core strength throughout the program. Core strength is of the utmost importance for all athletes, but endurance athletes seem to ignore this type of training all the time!

Having a core workout program like this laid out for you is a huge benefit, because it means it’s more likely you will actually do the training.

Improve Flexibility and Range of Motion

The better your flexibility and range of motion, the better bike fit you will be able to get. What I mean is, you’ll be able to get into a more aerodynamic position on the bike before noticing any loss of power from your pedaling. And you’ll be a lot more comfortable, even if you get into what looks like an “extreme” position.

That is all “free speed,” kind of like losing body fat.

So definitely check out the P90X Yoga X DVD and try to do it year-round, preferably once a week.

Develop Explosiveness

In cycling, you need explosive power to launch your attacks and put the hurt on the competition. You also need to be able to do this repeatedly over the course of a race. My favorite way to develop this type of power is through plyometrics, and P90X offers a killer plyometrics workout DVD called Plyo X.

You might hate this workout because it’s so tough, but you’ll love it once you see the benefits!

Improve Mental Toughness

Stepping out of your comfort zone is a great way to improve mental toughness, and P90X is probably waaaayy out of your comfort zone!

That yoga workout I mentioned? It’s not time to relax! That is 90 minutes of power yoga! You need serious stamina and mental toughness to complete it!

Same with plyometrics – the workout is probably going to break you down. Keep at it and your mental toughness will shoot through the roof.

Have Some Fun

Most likely, you’re not a pro rider making enough money to live on. So why subject yourself to constant on-bike workouts, never doing anything fun? Especially in the winter when it’s always cold and dark outside?

Face it, pretty much any P90X workout is going to be more fun than riding your trainer alone in the basement!

You Don’t Have to Follow The Program Exactly

This is the real secret to P90X for endurance athletes. You can take the 90 day plan and throw it out the window!

This allows you to get the type of workout you want in the amount of time you have. Skip the bodybuilding-type resistance workouts if you want, and you’re left with an excellent follow-along core training routine. And like I said, the yoga and plyometrics workouts are awesome.

Why P90X Sucks for Endurance Athletes

That all sounds great, but you have to be very careful if you try to add P90X into your current training plan. Here’s what to watch out for if you’re an endurance athlete.

High Volume Plans Require Lots of Time

P90X is a high-volume training plan. They have to pack a lot of training time into 90 days to make sure you’ll see results at the end.

If you follow their plan, it’s just too much to fit in with your cycling or running (not to mention work and family duties.) You won’t have time for it on top of your already scheduled cycling workouts.

You always have to ask yourself, “is this the most efficient way I could be spending my time?” If you want to win bike races, 90 days of off-bike training is probably not the way to go.

High Intensity Plans Require Extra Recovery

P90X is both a high-volume and a high-intensity program. Like I said, they promise results in 90 days, so they hit you with high volume, high intensity, and to top things off, a restricted diet.

These high intensity workouts require lots of extra recovery, which means more time between workouts, less stress in your life, more sleep, more supplements, and/or more professional massages.

Either make room for the added recovery or watch your cycling performance suffer.

My final verdict is…

P90X is not a cycling training program, and you should not buy it in hopes that it alone will improve your cycling performance.

But – it can be adapted into a great off-bike training program! You can use some of the DVDs (especially Yoga X and Plyo X) to supplement your cycling and improve your fitness, flexibility, explosiveness, and range of motion, which then improves your cycling indirectly.

It’s also an easy way to add variety to your off-season training – the follow-along format is a lot more fun and motivating than spending an hour alone in your basement lifting weights!

Official website: www.P90X.com

Unless you are blessed with genetics that let you eat fast food and drink soda for every meal and still look and feel great, nutrition will play a vital role in your success in endurance sports. But you have to choose the right nutrition plan to fit your needs.

I would say that Precision Nutrition and The Paleo Diet are the two hottest diet and nutrition plans in sports today. Precision Nutrition is widely known in strength training, MMA, and some other sports, while the Paleo Diet is all but a contractual obligation for anyone doing Crossfit.

The question is, what is the best choice for the endurance athlete?

In this article, I will compare both diets from this perspective and give you my opinion…

Precision Nutrition Pros and Cons

Precision Nutrition is a full-out eating system meant for everyone, but especially athletes. It was created by Dr. John Berardi, a former competitive bodybuilder. He knows his stuff and looks the part.

He refers to PN as a complete system for body transformation through nutrition. PN starts by covering everything you need to know about nutrition, then follows that with teaching you how to develop a custom nutrition plan unique to your physiology.

If you want to see proof that it works, just check out the before and after pictures from Precision Nutrition’s “Lean Eating” and “Scrawny to Brawny” coaching clients. It’s mind-blowing the body transformations I’ve been seeing year after year (I’m on the PN email list.)

I should point out, Precision Nutrition does have endurance athlete support. Chandra Crawford, 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist in XC skiing, and Eddie Hilger, US Masters National Champion cyclist, both provided their testimonials (and you can read their full stories at precisionnutrition.com.)

Precision Nutrition Pros:

Precision Nutrition is not restricting – it allows you to eat all types of foods. Your suggested food choices will vary depending on your current condition and your goals, and certain foods are only allowed at certain times of the day, but overall, PN doesn’t throw out entire groups of foods.

I really like that method, because it allows you some leeway in your own choices. PN is very customizable. It doesn’t matter what your body type is, what your preferred sports are, or if you’re a vegetarian – Precision Nutrition is still going to work for you.

But at the same time, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any sort of food ideas or preferences. The course contains tons of recipes, everything from Super Shakes (i.e. smoothies) to Pecan-Crusted Seared Salmon. Surely something in there will inspire you.

What could be better? If Precision Nutrition gave you an entire cookbook! Well, they do! It is called Gourmet Nutrition and it comes free in the PN package. It is packed with about 200 recipes over as many pages. I’m a very picky eater and I still found plenty of meals I’d eat! Full pictures and instructions are included.

Worried that it is too complicated? Don’t be. The PN course guides you step-by-step like if you hired a nutritionist. The whole point is that you follow along and make their guidelines into a personalized plan for yourself.

It’s pretty simple – pick out the foods you want and then put them in your calendar, based on what you want to eat each day. Then just track your results (just like you would with your training plan) and adapt the program as necessary. (Yes, they give you advice for that, too.)

Precision Nutrition Cons:

There are going to be two barriers for anyone to get started on Precision Nutrition.

First, it costs $97. If you compare that to a normal diet book that costs about $9.32, PN is going to seem way too expensive.

Second, the huge binder can be intimidating. PN is easy to follow, but there is a lot to it. You can’t just memorize it in one afternoon and then be set to go. You have to put in the time to get the results.

Paleo Diet Pros and Cons

The Paleolithic diet is a modern diet, but it focuses on the diet of our ancestors, back in the Paleolithic era, before agriculture changed everything. It is part diet, part lifestyle.

Centered on commonly available modern foods, the “contemporary” Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.

You most likely know this Paleolithic diet as The Paleo Diet, the book by Dr. Loren Cordain. Or perhaps The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. Or even The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson.

For purposes of this comparison, I’ll generalize everything under the “paleolithic diet” umbrella.

Paleo Diet Pros:

My #1 diet philosophy has always been to eat natural foods, and the Paleo diet works great with this. It is based on healthy, natural, unrefined and unprocessed foods. This is a very simple change anyone can make to their diet, and it provides almost instant results. Seriously, switch from processed foods to natural foods, and you’ll probably feel better that same day!

Also, a Paleo approach can provide quick weight loss. I believe this is mainly due to the “low carb” aspect of the diet, but it could also be due to the lower caloric intake that usually occurs when you start eating more nutritionally-dense foods. Either way, many people (although not every single person) see quick, sometimes dramatic, results.

Believe it or not, some of these people are endurance athletes. Yep, some pro endurance athletes eat a Paleo diet. Take Jacob Fisher (pro triathlete,) Jonas Colting (Ultraman World Champion,) and Allison Mann (pro mountain biker,) for example. Most of these athletes blog about their diet if you want to see more from them.

Finally, if you want to get started on your own Paleo diet, the books are inexpensive. The books are around $9 and $15 at Amazon.com.

Paleo Diet Cons:

The Paleo diet isn’t perfect. It doesn’t work for everyone. The problem I see is that everyone is different, and using the same diet simply doesn’t work for everyone. For every pro triathlete that eats Paleo, I bet there are many who tried it and didn’t like it.

It’s too restricting – entire food groups are totally disallowed. All dairy, grains, and legumes (beans, peas and lentils) are forbidden. Fruit is sometimes frowned upon. I perform better without wheat or dairy, but I do like my oatmeal and legumes. Some people might be the opposite. Don’t restrict yourself blindly.

Did you notice most carbohydrate sources are disallowed? Well, “low carb” is not part of a cyclist’s vocabulary! I refuse to believe that a low-carb diet is the best choice for all endurance athletes.

Also considering food options, certain foods can be really expensive. If you can get high-quality meat, eggs, fresh fruits, and vegetables from a local farm, great. But if you go to a store like Whole Foods or a farmer’s market in the city, you might be spending your entire paycheck!

Last but not least, the whole “Paleo” idea is trendy right now. If something works, I don’t care if it’s trendy or a fad – but it can get annoying sometimes! Some people treat this diet like their religion. You say one thing about Paleo not being the best idea in the history of the world and you might be attacked as an anti-Paleo bigot!

My Recommendation: Precision Nutrition

While I actually like the Paleo Diet a lot, and we have The Paleo Diet for Athletes book created just for us, I have to give the nod to Precision Nutrition.

The Paleo Diet is kind of a one size fits all diet book for living a long, healthy life. It’s great for what it is, but when we’re talking individual sports performance, nothing beats Precision Nutrition. It goes into detail about what to eat and when, and it is based on the premise that different people will eat differently.

Add up the cost of the cookbooks and PN isn’t so much more expensive anymore.

To find out how Precision Nutrition can change your life and improve your performance, check out PrecisionNutrition.com.

The Vague Request

I want to do a race this summer, how do I train for it? Can you give me a training plan?

How do you train for a race? It depends. It depends on the type of race, race distance, your previous experience, your existing fitness levels, history of injury, time available, short and long-term goals, and much more.

So, to prepare a training plan, I would need to know all of that information I just listed. It’s very difficult to give you any sort of training plan without that data. And even if you had sent me all that data, designing a training plan is a long, detailed process.

Much like a doctor isn’t going to diagnose you through email, I’m not going to send out a training plan based on email. I simply cannot give out free, customized training plans to everyone that asks.

If you write in with a vague question, I will probably just tell you to read The Cyclist’s Training Bible by Joe Friel.

The Race-Specific Request:

I am new to road racing, Crits particularly. Can you give me a training plan for preparing for a Crit.

If you’re new to racing, just about any training is going to help you improve. You don’t need to get into anything too fancy. So go out and ride. Ride slow, ride fast, and ride moderately. Then ride fast some more, like you would in a race.

You will also benefit greatly from going out and practicing cornering!

If you are really interested in learning the principles behind a good training plan, as a new racer, it is very worthwhile to pick up of a copy of The Cyclist’s Training Bible. It will take a while to read, but the result is worth it!

The Last Minute Request:

I am new to mountain bike raceing and I have a mountain bike race in two weeks. What do you suggest I do over the next two weeks. I would like to come up with a 4 week and 2 week pre-race training plan.

Umm… it really depends on what your current training plan is, your fitness level, and the actual race you have coming up. If you’re serious about racing, I’d suggest getting more serious about your planning – a 2 week training plan isn’t going to change much and would probably leave you worn out on race day.

So, if you want to come up with a good 4 month training plan and know how to adapt it to the days right before a race, take a look at Joe Friel’s The Cyclist’s Training Bible. It’s pretty cheap and the time spent reading it is a great investment in your cycling career.

As you can see, writing in asking for a training plan won’t get you any further than if you just did a search for “training” on my website. I try to provide as much advice as I can on my website, 100% free. Please take a look at that!

For example, I have an analysis of a generalized training week: An Example Training Week.

You probably won’t find a book called “The Female Cyclist’s Training Bible” anytime soon.

And no one really questions this.

But when it comes to getting in shape, losing weight, strength training, lifting weights, or whatever you want to call your off-season training, it’s a completely different story! 90% of what you find when it comes to women’s training is going to say either “women should never train like men” or “don’t train like a man or you’ll get big and bulky and ugly.”

This type of advice is so prevalent that most women are scared to lift anything heavier than a 5lb dumbbell (or worse, a can of soup.)

It makes no sense. Men and women are looking for the same results, but for some reason, their training is not based on the same principles. My only explanation for this is that the general fitness enthusiast is not as smart or determined as you, the endurance athlete.

This is why I was pleased to read the book Visual Impact for Women by Rusty Moore. This training program provides “a workout for the slim, feminine physique.” In other words, it’s about getting hot and toned, not bulky. (I’m pretty that’s what all women outside of bodybuilding competitions are aiming for!)

If you’re not familiar with Rusty, take a look at his website FitnessBlackBook.com, which is great for men and women who want to get a slim and toned physique. (In other words, it covers the stuff you don’t often see here on CoachLevi.com.)

You may remember the name Visual Impact – I reviewed the original Visual Impact course (for men) a few weeks ago. I really liked the program because it was well-written, easy to follow, and most importantly, was based on sound training principles. Naturally, I wanted to take a look at the women’s specific course to see what it was all about.

What Rusty did with the course was genius. The book is based on the same principles and theories behind the men’s version (which is how it should be since we’re all human,) but the actual training program is changed to better suit the specifics of a woman’s training goals.

This book also contains useful chapters addressing unique diet needs of women and other details not covered in the men’s program. I’d say the most important chapter is the first one, which dispels popular myths aimed at women, such as “women can’t get bulky from training.” There is A LOT of misinformation aimed at women going around and this book debunks it.

Let’s go ahead and take a closer look inside the book…

Visual Impact for Women

I can’t possibly talk about all 20 chapters right here, but I’ll review what I feel are the most important parts in the book.

Clueless Personal Trainers

The introduction is pretty funny – it is what Rusty has observed in public gyms with clueless personal trainers working with women, getting it all wrong. You’ve probably seen this yourself!

Myth Busting

Chapter 1 is all about myth busting. Rusty dispels myths like “women can’t get bulky from training” which is common, yet misguided thinking. That might be relatively correct if the women are being compared to guys gaining lots more muscle, but girls do put on muscle, especially in certain areas they might not want it.

Other myths cover topics like meal frequency, cardio workouts, and more. It’s good info, unlike most garbage you find in the mainstream media, and quite possibly the most useful chapter in the book because it will change your way of thinking.

Cardio

I have high standards when it comes to anything “cardio” related, considering that’s very similar to our endurance training, but Rusty has some cool insights on this topic. It’s nice to see a different perspective sometimes.

Rusty talks about how cardio has fallen out of favor to the more intense circuit training which doesn’t take as much time, but any endurance athlete will understand the value of cardio. It’s very important when used strategically, as Rusty points out.

There’s even a 12-week cardio plan included as a bonus. Experienced endurance athletes won’t need this, and would be better served by a sport-specific plan, but those are a lot more complex and can be intimidating if you’re new to the sport.

The Truth About High-Rep and Low-Rep Training

Chapters 3 and 4 cover everything you need to know about high vs low reps, and yes, this all goes against what you’ve heard in the maintream media.

For example, a lot of people equate low reps with getting bulky. But that’s not the whole story, as Rusty points out. He gives you the key to using low rep training to get toned, with virtually no chance of getting bulky. It’s simple and easy to follow advice.

The Importance of Exercise Equipment

Rusty covers your exercise equipment options and explains what you should actually be focusing on. Hint: the type of equipment you use isn’t a big deal.

Similarly, Rusty covers yoga, which he says is not the best way to get slim and lean, but it has other benefits. (And some of these benefits are very helpful to cyclists.)

Proper Diet for Women

The basics of dieting will be the same for men and women, but women do have some unique challenges that are discussed in here. Rusty lays out a formula for a base daily calorie intake and then goes into greater detail on the strategies.

It doesn’t get too detailed, but Rusty does throw in some more advanced concepts. It’s pretty easy to follow the advice, but you might not understand “why” if you aren’t already well-versed in diet and nutrition.

That said, the important concepts that you need to know and understand are well explained.

Determining Your Workout Plan

There are chapters dedicated to each part of your workout plan, including:

• Combining high and low-intensity cardio.
• “Fat-Burning Cardio”
• The Recommended “2 Day Split” Workout Routine
• Gym Routine for Time-Crunched Athletes
• How to Workout in a Home Gym
• Customizing Your Own Plan

By the way, a 229 page “how-to” exercise manual with photos is included to explain the exercises.

How to Lose Muscle Mass on Purpose

What?! I’ve never heard of a book about this before! But it does apply to endurance sports!

It’s not uncommon for men to come into cycling after spending years bulking up for sports like football, and then they want to lose some unneeded muscle mass from their upper body.

Women may have built up extra muscle on their butt, hips, and thighs (all common for some women,) so this strategy could be very useful info. It’s a better strategy than giving up training all together!

Then the book ends with a little summary, and it’s time for you to get started on your workouts. (Printable workout charts are included.)

My final verdict is…

If you’re an endurance athlete, you can pretty much ignore the cardio sections of this book, as you probably have that under control. But the other training advice could be very helpful with your off-season training.

Overall, Visual Impact for Women is filled with great info – stuff you rarely, if ever, see in print. If you are a woman looking to get in shape, do yourself a favor and quit reading Fitness magazine and get this book instead!

Official website: www.VisualImpactForWomen.com

I guess it was only a matter of time before FRS jumped onto the protein bandwagon! Earlier this year they released FRS Healthy Protein. It is virtually the same drink as the FRS Healthy Energy in bottles, but this one contains whey protein.

It’s not that a carb/protein drink is bad, but these days, everyone just has to offer one. I didn’t expect FRS to come out with one, but since they did, I had to see if it was any good. (And at $2.99 for a 12oz bottle, I sure hope it’s good!)

Continue reading to see what’s new and different with FRS Healthy Protein…

Health and Nutrition

The first thing I want to point out is that the FRS Healthy Energy in bottles is a new formula compared to the FRS in cans I reviewed back in 2008. This formula cuts down on the sugar content and uses stevia as a sweetener, replacing the sucralose of old. So that gets a thumbs up from me.

The Healthy Protein formula looks to be about the same basic formula as the Healthy Energy but with the addition of 25g whey protein. This means 190 calories instead of 90, but hey, if you want protein, you have to take in the extra calories.

The one thing that stood out was the carb and sugar content. In the Healthy Protein, there are only 11g carbs and 9g sugar. Yet in the Healthy Energy, you get about 23g carbs and 19g sugar! It makes sense though, because it’s called “energy” and you need carbs for energy.

So to sum that up, FRS Healthy Protein contains more protein and less sugar than FRS Healthy Energy.

Makes sense to me.

FRS Healthy Protein Taste Test

The new Healthy Protein is available in two flavors, Blackberry Acai and Orange Cream.

Here are my thoughts:

Blackberry Acai – This one starts off with a great smell, followed up with an alright taste. Don’t you just hate it when the taste doesn’t live up to the scent? (I’m used to the older FRS that always tasted better than it smelled!)

Taste-wise, I do think you can taste both blackberry and acai. It makes a good combo. Luckily it’s not sour like a lot of real blackberries are.

The thing is, the taste is overpowered by the texture. While it goes down smooth, it leaves a ‘thick’ aftertaste that seems to stick to your mouth and the back of your throat. I’m no stranger to starting my day with whey protein shakes, but I don’t have this texture problem with my Optimum Nutrition or True Protein powder and almond milk mix.

Orange Cream – Much like its Blackberry Acai counterpart, this Orange Cream flavor actually has a pleasant scent to it. It smells like orange juice rather than orange-colored energy drink!

The taste was also much like orange juice. It’s like your regular orange juice from concentrate, but thicker, thanks to the protein.

The texture was less obnoxious in this flavor, but I preferred the taste of the Blackberry Acai. I’ve had enough orange juice in my life and prefer something more exotic when given the chance!

The other comparison I wanted to make was to the “oranges and cream” flavor whey protein powder from True Protein. It turns out, it’s not much of a comparison – that flavor is amazing and totally blows this orange cream FRS out of the water!

Overall, neither of the two FRS flavors were pleasing to the palette.

The Energy Boost

Though “FRS Healthy Protein” makes no mention of “energy” in the name, it is still based on FRS’ energy blend with quercetin and whatnot.

True to its roots, this drink from FRS still provides a nice, all day energy boost. The difference for me is that I felt less of an initial boost. I mean, it’s still a good boost, but not a jittery boost. (I was never a huge caffeine drinker so even the ~38g caffeine in FRS was potent for me.)

I think some of the ‘energy’ is tempered by the protein so it doesn’t hit you as hard. Because even if you’re drinking it on an empty stomach, it’s a high calorie drink, like a small smoothie.

Either that or the reduced sugar content removes some of the initial rush.

My final verdict is…

The drink is OK, but it hasn’t convinced me to buy Healthy Protein rather than Healthy Energy. I can get my protein elsewhere, and I’d rather have the freedom to mix it how I want, rather than the convenience of having it premixed in a bottle. I still like FRS, but I’ll probably stick with the cans (or whatever costs less than $3 per serving) when I need it.

Official website: www.FRS.com

The chickpeas look a little like hazelnuts, so I figured they must make a good snack when roasted and coated in salt! This led to cooking up some Oven-Roasted Spiced Chickpeas.

This is a very tasty way to eat these legumes. It’s also a great way to get carbs, protein, and fiber without eating grains, if you so choose.

Ingredients

• 16oz bag of chickpeas (such as Arrowhead Mills)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Spices, such as:
  • Sea salt
  • Curry powder
  • Turmeric
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Chipotle pepper
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Cumin

Instructions

This is extremely easy. If you can operate an oven, you can do this.

Step 1: Soak and Boil.

Start by soaking your chickpeas overnight. Then when you are ready to cook, boil the chickpeas for approximately 10 minutes. (If you didn’t soak them overnight, you’d probably have to boil them for an hour!)

Drain and let dry. (Because you don’t want dripping wet chickpeas going in your oil and spice mixture later.)

Step 2: Preheat oven.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Step 3: Oil and spices.

Stir together the oil and spices in large bowl. Pour in chickpeas and toss until they are evenly coated with the spice mixture.

(For the spices, I usually just improvise and give the chickpeas a coating of whatever I have on the table!)

Step 4: Place on tray.

Spread chickpeas evenly on a baking tray.

Step 5: Bake.

Place the tray in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for approximately one hour. Stir or shake occasionally (every 15-20 minutes.)

*Other recipes call for baking at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, but I like to get them extra crispy without burning them, so I use the lower temperature and longer cooking time. It seems to work better for me.

Step 6: Let cool.

Remove the tray from the oven and let your chickpeas sit out on a cooling rack. Don’t burn your mouth trying to eat them immediately!

Step 7: Enjoy.

Once cooled to a moderate temperature, sit the chickpeas out in a bowl on the table. They are gone in a day or two (sometimes an hour or two) so I never end up storing them.

What do you think of chickpeas? What are your favorite spices for them?

Hi Coach Levi. I’m a father of two and an English teacher living in Shizuoka prefecture, Japan. I commute in the evenings by bicycle. I’m curious if you could recommend a reputable American company that produces very visible, waterproof and durable rainwear? I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Wet Willie

Hi Willie,

Thanks for the email. You’re actually not the first English teacher from Japan that has written in! Perhaps my website is popular there?

Anyway… I can’t give you all the answers to this question, because:

1. I’m usually out training or racing rather than commuting, so I don’t mind getting soaked.
2. I simply don’t keep up to date on every cycling clothing option that comes out every year.

But I’ll start by saying that as far as I know, no one beats Gore Tex when it comes to combining superb waterproof qualities and breathability. And that’s a big reason why a cycling jacket made with Gore Tex is typically going to cost $200-400.

Jackets with eVent fabric are supposed to be nice, too, with some people liking them more than Gore Tex. I have never worn eVent or seen it in action, but one of the products with it is this REI Shuksan jacket. It’s a hiking jacket but it might give you some ideas.

The one company that I never forget when it comes to rain wear is Showers Pass. They make quite a few jackets, and the one I always read about is their $120 Double Century jacket.

Speaking of Showers Pass, eVent, and REI, here is the Showers Pass Elite jacket. It uses eVent technology and is sold at REI.

Showers Pass is based in Portland, Oregon and I see they have one dealer listed in Japan. Considering the wet conditions in the Pacific Northwest, they should know what they’re doing!

Aside from those pointers, I’m not sure of any jackets that are extremely popular and well-regarded. Assos is probably a good example, but they’re not an American company. For further reading I suggest turning to the masses at RoadBikeReview in their jackets and vest review section.

Lastly, the good news is that most every waterproof cycling jacket today is going to be available in a high visibility color and will include reflective stripes somewhere.

Hope that helps you find something good, and hopefully you’re doing alright over there!