I came to know bout the recipe from Rob Ritches a professional fitness model, who has a video which i will include at the bottom of the post with step by step instructions. I will also post my version and any variations that i have changed. Please remember before taking the time to make these, that they are a healthy nutritious, high fibre, low glycemic quinoa bar. They are not going to taste the same as your typical store bought quinoa bars or cereal bars as they are filled with excess sugars and preservatives.

Ingredients

1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup organic flaxseeds
2 cups organic oats
1/2 cup buckwheat flakes
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup unsweetned applesauce
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tsp baking powder

Above is Rob Riches giving a very detailed instructions along with the nutritional properties of each ingredient. You may pick up that sunflower seeds are included in the recipe but are not included in the final ingredients.

I have found that these are great either toasted or lighted fried in a pan with a little coconut oil and then topped with organic peanut butter.

Hope you enjoy !!

Andrew

The Below is a video demonstration of the Chin Up

Exercise Description

The chin up involves the muscles of the back ( latissimus dorsi) and biceps (biceps brachii). The hand position for this exercise is a supinated grip were the hand turns towards the face , also referred to as an underhand grip. To execute the exercise reach the hands overhead and take a firm grip on the bar, let the body hang for a second to stop any swinging motion, then pull up until the chest meets the bar or in turn the chin tucks over the top, lower under control and repeat.

The Below is a video demonstration of the Front Squat.

Exercise Description

The front squat involves the muscles of the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, lower back and core. To perform the exercise either the clean grip depending on flexibility or the crossed arm grip can be used. The bar must be placed across the shoulders close to the clavicles keeping the elbows high throughout the movement. Set the feet wider than hip width flaring the toes a little outwards, start the exercise by sitting back keeping the chest and elbows upwards, as you move down the knees flare outwards in line with toes, but also move forward to avoid excessive tilt through the torso. Once parallel has been reached drive hard and at midpoint thrust the hips forward engaging the glutes to finish the lift.

Below is video demonstration of the Incline Press

Exercise Description

The incline press involves the muscles of the pectorals, anterior deltoids and triceps, the 45 degree angle on the bench places the emphasis onto the top portion of the chest. To perform the exercise you need to set the bench at a 45 degree angle this will be mid point on most benches. Place the body directly underneath the bar making sure the bar is directly above eye line. Your hand position should be be a little wider than shoulder width, before pressing the bar out of the rack, retract the shoulder blades driving the chest up towards the bar. This is your starting position, lower the bar down to the upper portion of the chest keeping the elbows slightly tucked in by your sides. Once the bar has reached the chest, drive hard keeping the chest elevated until the arms are straight. (then repeat)

Below is a video demonstration on how to perform the Romanian Deadlift

Exercise Description

The romanian deadlift works the muscles of the hamstrings, glutes and lower back. To perform the exercise start by placing the feet hip width apart, stand in an upright position with the hands at either side of the hips, the shoulders are pulled back and the glutes are contracted. This is your starting position, from here lower the bar down the thighs and drive the hips back behind you. This action is performed simultaneously, lower the bar to just below the knees ensuring that the knees do not bend any further, you should feel a slight stretch down the back of the legs. Once you reach this point pull the bar back up the thighs driving the hips forward till you reach the starting point. (then repeat)

Bret Contreras

What i liked about the challenge was that the 5 exercises involved were all compound exercises using multiple joints and more than one muscle group would be involved, this would very quickly highlight any weak areas in the body, so to do well in the challenge you would have to have good flexibility and a balance of strength between the posterior and anterior chain.

Once you read through the exercises involved and the rules i gurantee just as i did you will start to forecast how home many repitions you envisage getting in each exercises LOL .If only it was that simple !!!

Here is The Sexy Challenge

You have one hour to complete the test, no straps or lifting aids may be used and all exercises must be completed with good form, a full range of movement must also be completed. All exercises are to be performed with your own bodyweight, so if you are a male weighing 80kg then this is the weight that you must perform all exercises with. You may round up in either direction by a Max of 5 lbs. Females get one concession on the incline press were the weight can be dropped to 50% of your bodyweight for this exercise only.

The Exercises Involved

Romanian deadlift with barbell – The romanian deadlift is great test of posterior strength especially through the muscles of the back, glutes and hamstrings. When performing this exercise the foot position should be hip width and the bar must travel to below the knee on each repetition as you execute the lift lock out at the top must be achieved by driving the hip forward and contracting the glutes.

Hip thrust with barbell – The barbell hip thrust is a great contender when it comes to glute strength, the exercise itself may not be as well known as the other four exercises, but is growing in popularity as its benefits can be clearly seen in glute developent. To execute the hip thrust place shoulders onto a bench at least 14 inches of the floor, at this stage the legs should be under the bar. Roll bar across the hips and you are in the starting postition. You must drive the hips as high as you can into lockout driving through the heels, when lowering the bar to start the next repetition the bar must not touch the floor until you have finished ie when you cannot physically complete another repetition.

Incline press with barbell – The incline press involves the muscle groups of the chest, shoulders and triceps and in turn is a great test of anterior strength. Generally most people perform the bench press on a flat bench so by performing an incline press takes you out of your comfort zone, remember the test is designed to challenge all areas and highlight any areas that you may need to work on. To perform the incline press the bench must be set up to a 45 degree angle, the hips must stay in contact with the seat at all times, once you have commenced the bar should touch the chest on each repetition, no bouncing of the chest is permitted and full extension of the arms is also required.

Front Squat with barbell – This is one i was dreading as i am sure a lot of people reading this will agree that the back squat would be so much easier to really get the repetitions up and set you up for a good score, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The front squat is a great strength exercise testing flexibility, quadricep strength and core strength. To perform the front squat any type of grip may be used as the olympic grip can be difficult at the best of times. The feet must be hip width or a little wider, you must drop to parallel and when rising the hips must come forward into full extension.

Chin up – The chin up is one tough exercise, a true test of back, bicep, forearm and grip strength, this may just be the straw that broke the camels back for some people. Don’t concern yourself if you cannot at this stage perform a chin up, everyone has to start somewhere, you may be you be excellent at the other four exercises bringing up your overall score that way. To perform the chin up an underhand grip must be used, hands facing you. You must hang at full extension (arms straight) then pull yourself up until the chest touches the bar, then repeat until no more repetitions can be completed.

Below is a video of myself Andrew Firth taking part in the challenge !!

As for the scoring system for the challenge if you score 100 reps or more you can officially call yourself DEAD SEXY !! You are aiming for are 15 reps + per exercise for males and 10 reps + per exercise for females. This will show that you have a good balance of strength between posterior and anterior muscle groups, but will also highlight any weak areas that you need to work on.

So there you have it, now what are you waiting for ? can you call yourself Dead Sexy !

GOOD LUCK

Andrew

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (diced)

3 tbsp of curry powder    

1 tbsp of coconut oil or alternatively you can use olive oil

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

2 medium potatoes

1 large chili

2 tbsp of garma masala

1 chicken stock cube in 500ml of boiling water

How to prepare

• Rub the diced chicken with curry powder until completely covered, place into a bowl cover with cling film and place into the fridge for a few hours.
• Heat the coconut oil in a pan and place the chicken from the fridge into the pan, cook chicken until brown and then remove from the heat and place to the side.
• Add more coconut oil to the pan and add the garlic, potatoes, chili and onion, reduce the heat and fry until the onions start to soften.
• Place the cooked chicken back into the pan along with the garlic, onions, chilli and potatoes, add the garma masla and stir well to combine all the ingredients.
• Add the chicken stock to the pan making sure that the chicken is covered and bring to the boil.
• Reduce heat cover and simmer for a further 30mins, after 30 mins skewer  the potatoes to check they are soft.
• Once cooked serve with either wholegrain or basmati rice.

Chicken coated in curry powder and cooked in the pan

All ingredients combined

After simmering for 30 min

Stage 1 – Ingredients

Stage 1 ingredients mixed

Stage 1 & 2 ingredients mixed

Ready to cook

Here’s the catch. You have just overlooked one of the most important parts of training because with good flexibility you will move with a lot more grace and your range of movement and form will flow as if you had been performing them for years. In additioning to you moving better,  your risk of injury will fall dramatically and your progress will soar !!

So are you now asking yourself why have you have not been performing;  Foam Rolling, Flexibility Drills and Myofascial Release Techniques. Why ? (apart from the above reasons) You probably haven’t been shown how. Lack of knowledge leads to ignorance and injury too.

There are various ways of increasing your flexibility. Below are the methods that i have found to be effective with myself and my clients.

Foam Rolling (SMR) Self Myofascial Release : Also referred to as a poor mans massage is very effective way in releasing and  lengthing tight muscle groups before performing exercise or as lead on to static stretching. Foam rolling consists of rolling the body at various angles across the roller until you find a tender point, at this point an even amount of pressure is placed directly onto the tender spot for between 30 - 60 secs  until the pain subsides and the muscle releases and lengthens. Muscles groups that can be targeted - Gastrocnemius, Latissimus Dorsi, Piriformis, Adductors, Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Hip Flexors, Thoracic Spine, Trapezius, Rhomboids and TFL /Iliotibial Band.

Below is a video by Eric Cressey

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8caF1Keg2XU

Flexibility -Is a joint’s ability to move through a full range of motion  : There are various types of stretching that can be done (Static, Ballistic, Dynamic, Passive, and PNF ) All of which have there place, but the three most commonly used in day to day training are Static, Dynamic and PNF. Below is a breakdown and description of each type of stretch so you have a better understanding on the various types of flexibility that can be performed before and after your workouts.

Static Stretching : Is were you perform a stretch and hold that stretch for a certain length of time, if you are looking to increase your range of movement which is exactly what we are looking to do, hold the stretch for a longer period of time 30 seconds during that time once you feel the initial stretch subside or become less intense then try to increase /lengthen the stretch again and continue holding.

Ballistic Stretching : Ballistic stretching  involves boucing and jerky movements to force ably  increase the range of movement. I personally would not perform this type of stretching until warm as there is a higher risk of injury especially to old injuries, which would negate the purpose of the stretching in the first place. Think of muscle and tendons as elastic bands when cold if you were to suddenly pull on either end of the band the risk of it breaking would be greater than if you were to distribute an even force gradually increasing the stretch the risk now of injury is far less.

Dynamic Stretching : Dynamic Stretching is used a lot in sports  and with athletes prior to a sporting event or before a training session, it may look similar in a way to ballistic stretching but without the bouncing and jerking. Typically you would perform arm swings, lunges, rotations, hip circles, leg kicks in a fast moving but gentle action gradually increasing you range of movement but with no hold at the end of the stretch.

Passive Stretching : Passive Stretching is similar to that of static in that you hold a stretch and then either use another body part, apparatus or partner to increase the length of the stretch, no bouncing, jerking is involved in this type of stretch it is gradually increased through external forces.

PNF Stretching (proprioceptive muscular facilitation) : PNF is probably one of the most effective ways of increasing your range of movement, but as most people do not no of PNF and how to perform it as it should be done. PNF stretching is the rolls royce when it come to stretching. I thought as PNF stretching can be a little confusing to descibe what better than a Demonstration.

Britt Bailey demonstrates this very well with good explanations on how to perform PNF stretching safely

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpatAJI0-pU

Below is a Dynamic Warm Up delivered my Todd Durkin from Fitness Quest 10

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S1q6abG4AI

Steve Cotter demonstrating several flexibility drills

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEA9tYhxmIc

Ankle flexibility

www.youtube.com/watch?v=016I9Kl7tsg

Steve Cotter (tutorial on squatting)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjQWBOOH6WE

I hope by the time you reach the end of this article you will start to realise the importance of being flexible  in the prevention of injury and for all round better performance.

If out of all the drills you were to pick just one to perfect, ” The Overhead Squat ” would be my recommendation.  If you can master an overhead squat with great form then you have great flexibility, period !!

Why Perform the Back Squat -The back squat has many benefits; it is referred to as the king of lower body exercises and if performed correctly, will help to strengthen the back (upper and lower), glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, knees, ankles and core. So as you can see there are a multitude of muscle groups coming in to play when performing the back squat.

Tips to Performing the Perfect Squat.

• Bar Position - when holding the bar across the shoulders the shoulder blades must retract giving the bar a “shelf” to sit on. To achieve this a narrow hand position just on the outside of the shoulders will help in retracting the shoulder blades. This contraction works the upper part of the back through isometric tension.
• Foot Position – the foot position is the next part of the set up, this can be a bit of trial and error depending on your hips everyone is slightly different, but as a general rule the feet are slightly wider than hip width apart and the toes are also flared out by ½. This will allow the knees to track out to the side in line with the toes opening the hips as you squat allowing the pelvis to sit down between the thighs.
• Hamstrings – if there is one area that will hold you back from getting down low into a deep squat will be the hamstrings. If the flexibility in this area is not adequate you will find it difficult to drop down low and if you force it you will end with a sore lower back as the hamstring will pull on the pelvis, which in turn pull on the lower back. I hear “back squats hurt my back” so often in the gym but, it is not the squat itself but the lack of flexibility that is likely the cause of this.
• Ankle Flexion : another area that can hold you back is poor ankle flexibility especially at the back of the ankle, the Achilles tendon. If the ankle is tight this will stop the lower part of the leg moving forward as you squat down causing an excess leaning motion to happen in the upper body placing additional pressure onto the lower back.

As you can see there is a lot more to performing the perfect squat than originally thought and, as you have read the above tips, one thing should stand out above all the rest - “Flexibility”.

Females are lucky, as genetically (with a little help from the female hormone estrogen, which helps to keep the joints and muscles supple), have great flexibility without having to work at it as much.  For guys this is not the case and is often a problem that needs to be addressed if they want to squat with good form and to proper depth.

The image to the right demonstrates how the body should fold down into a squat position.

As i have highlighted the importance of flexibilty I thought it best to include a few videos on flexibilty drills. Below are two excellent drills that you should perform prior to squatting and in between sets of squats.

I hope you have found this post useful.

Thanks

Andrew