I took two bachata dance classes in the Dominican Republic. It was also my first time dancing merengue. Thanks to the teacher, my friend Paula, and all the peeps in the DR who danced with me and forgave me for not knowing what in the fizzle I was doing.

(pic from here)

My interest in the human flag:

ok, peeps, I don’t *really* care but it’s a kind-of-goal, an it-would-be-nice thing, as it stands right now. I’m not set on making it an I-am-fucking-doing-this type of goal, where accomplishment is imminent. Mostly because this past year has been fucking horrible with regards to injury (one day the whole story will come out, but for right now let’s keep it short and say it sucked balls), and so I am not going to be imposing on myself demands that will potentially lead to more injury, and am currently taking it easy on myself, and am only going to be doing exercises that don’t create more pain.

Seeing as how I have never in my life DONE a human flag and honestly don’t exactly know what it will involve, I can’t say if for sure I will conquer this or not. What I can say, though, is that this is a movement of interest for me, and that I will be looking more into executing this, as my body is healing (hail Jesus! I am feeling soooo much better).

Ok, so I was googling around and this is what the interwebs instructs as strength training movements to prep for the human flag.

To do a human flag:

Here is what this article “So You Want To Do a Human Flag?” from Onnit has to say:

Prerequisites:

• single arm hang for 30 sec
• 4 sets of 10 pull ups
• side plank 45 seconds

Strength training:

• 15 sets each of side plank variations, holding as long as you can each set
• etc

…I’m not even listing all the other stuff… because YOU GUYS… DID YOU SEE IT SAID *FIFTEEN SETS EACH SIDE*…

I need to put my eyeballs back in my sockets now..

Ok, I’m just gonna leave it at that.

So here is what I did today…(slightly laughable compared to the above “prerequisites” BUT WE ALL HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE):

After my regular workout today, I tried some of that shit.

The first thing was the one arm hang.

I held the right arm hang a few seconds. Then the left arm hang for like one to two seconds. I did several sets of that. Then got up to a 4 second hang on the right side. And like a 2 second hold on the left side.

So… a 30 second hold? I have a long way to go… Ok, but I like goals, so…

Pull ups was next on the list.

I used to be a pull up MASTER. I would knock out multiple sets of 15-20 pullups with a 45 pound PLATE wrapped around my waist. I’m not shitting you. There are some YouTubes vids of me doing weighted pull ups, in case you wanna see evidence (youtube.com/freestylefitnessvids). But nowadays, in my old, fragile, decrepit state, I can do maybe like one set of 4 pull ups, then 3, then 2, then 1. So, I did some pull ups. (I know I will get better at these.)

Next up was the side planks. Ok, friends, instead of doing 15 sets of side planks as long as I can (insert laughing face with tears emoji here), I did like 3 sets of 30 seconds each.

So, that’s where I started today. A few seconds of single arm hangs as my max; some pull ups; and a few sets of 30 sec each side planks.

I’m not saying this to gloat or to complain. More like, this is documenting evidence of my journey. After a year of injury, I’m finally getting back into athletics and feeling capable. Now, I am in the incipient stages of going for a human flag. I will keep you posted on my progress!

Love, licks, laughter, lettuce, learning, literacy, and luxurious lunges,

Kristina

I just wanted to share this kimchi recipe that I made cuz I’m pretty frikkin impressed with myself!

I had been trying to get in my fermented food intake and was spending $$$ on kimchi. Also, lots of the kimchi available, even in places like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, etc… have a lot of sugar in it! So I decided to save money, spare myself the sugar, and make my own! I had no idea how it would turn out. I gotta say tho.. it’s damn good! It’s just as good as store bought. I mean, kimchi in general kind of tastes like ass. So my ass-kimchi is just as good as store-bought ass!!!!

I didn’t take pics of the process, hopefully you don’t hate me. Maybe later I’ll do another blog entry with pics. But for now, here is the steps that led to this legit and super healthy kimchi!!

Buy a big napa cabbage and other necessary ingredients below
Cut Napa Cabbage into about 1.5 inch strips
Put it in a big ass bowl

Soak all the cabbage pieces in 1/2 cup sea salt and water for two hours
Drain

Make paste from
1/2 cup gochugaru (Korean Red chili pepper flakes from Asian store)
Paprika (I added sweet paprika, just because the option was in the house and seemed like a nice touch)
Approximately 8 Garlic cloves
The white parts of the green onion
1/2 apple (or pineapple or pear)
1/4 cup Water

Basically, put all the paste ingredients in your Vitamix and give it a whirl!!

I wanted to put this in my kimchi, so I had ready to go:

Korean radish that I randomly chopped up in small pieces
The chopped Napa Cabbage
2 stalks Green onion in one inch pieces- use green part only
One Shredded Carrot

Ladies and gent, PUT ON LATEX GLOVES and scoop the kimchi chili paste out of your vitamix and massage it into your cabbage/kimchi veggie mix.

I massaged the paste into the cabbage leaves, radish pieces, green onion, and carrot pieces, until all of it was coated in that paste.

I stuffed it all super tight in a glass jar.

Everyday for at least 3 days, unscrew the jar and press down firmly in the jar to let out any air. Leave 2 inches of room in the jar. I did this everyday for 7 days because I’m an overachiever/anal/a worrywart.

Let it ferment for 7 days, then put it in the fridge. There you go!

Bone broth is sometimes referred to “liquid gold” because of the host of nutrients and benefits it bestows.

Bone broth benefits include:

• improves joint paint and arthritis
• heals leaky gut and IBS
• improves skin, teeth, hair, and nails
• boosts your immune system

I’m all over it, yo. So, here is what I’ve been doing and I tell you it is dang tasty!

1. Roast bones in oven at 400 degrees with salt and pepper for about 30 min, flipping halfway. This gives the bones some great flavor

before the oven

after the oven

2. Throw into the crockpot:

• The bones (doy, that’s obvi). Use 3-5 pounds organic bones, with at least two different types of bones…hopefully bones with marrow in them are in the mix
• two carrots without peeling or cutting
• two cloves garlic no peeling
• one crushed eggshell, washed
• one onion, unpeeled, cut into 4 pieces
• two stalks celery, split in half (or the whole damn thing. fuck it, we get crazy!)
• two asparagus stalks as a detoxifier (not necessary)
• hella peppercorn
• pink himalyan sea salt
• one bay leaf
• parsley and oregano and curry powders
• at least 2 tbsp Bragg’s apple cider vinegar (you won’t taste it at all. It’s important to include it because it draws all the good shizzle out of the bones we are cooking!)

all ready to go (minus the water)

• cold water to cover the bones by 1 inch (only 1 inch, because you don’t want too much water in proportion to bones, to ensure your bone broth gels [gelatin is the tell tale sign of a nutrient-rich broth. Ahem. Mine is super gelatin-y!…And the water should be cold, because slow heating helps bring out the flavors)

all set in the crock pot!

Note regarding including the onion skins, ends of the carrot, little ends and bits of random veggies, whatever you want to throw in: don’t bother with chopping and peeling, because these pieces are actually super nutritious! They give color and flavor to the broth AND it will all be discarded later anyway. Regarding the eggshell (if you’re like wtf), that’s a good add-in because it’s a great bio-available form of calcium, that is pulled when you’re heating it with vinegar as we are doing in our awesome broth.

3. Cook in crock pot on low for 24 hours, but anywhere between 18-72 hours is fine.

4. Let it cool off so you don’t burn yourself when you strain the broth and discard everything but the broth.

5. Store it in a glass container. Once cooled, chill in fridge and you’ll notice a thick-ass later of accumulated fat on top. Discard it (or use it for cooking later) and keep for a week in your fridge or a few months in the freezer.

Each day with my breakfast, I’ve been scooping out a cup of this gelatinous cup-o-healing, popping it in the microwave for 40 seconds, and drinking it like the sweet elixir it is. I use a lot of pepper when making my broth so when i drink it, it’s this nice, warm, rich, spicy, pepper-y goodness. I give my recipe the thumbs up!

delicious and nutritious

Today I’m gonna share my impressions and some learning points from the past three weeks, in which I took three separate seminars.

RMT Club Certification

Sat, April 17th, I took the RMT Club certification via Weck Method.

pic from http://emspeedtraining.com/product/6lb-rmt-club-by-weck/

David Weck in the creator of the BOSU ball, and has created some other equipment/tools, such as the Pulsers, which he asserts increase running speed. I was very intrigued to meet him, see his laboratory (gym), and learn more about the RMT clubs, and his method in general. He did not disappoint. He is a total mad scientist, and has some pretty out-there ideas, but I totally respect that. I first discovered his existence from his appearance on the Ben Greenfield podcast…He was pretty out there. But obviously incredibly intelligent and an expert on movement and locomotion on another level. He even stated in the workshop that if he was offered a free cruise or trip around the world, he wouldn’t give a shit, because he is happy where he is now, doing what he is doing… which is optimizing athletic performance and functional strength.

His methods/ideas are stuff I was not extremely familiar with. Yes, as a trainer, I’ve been exposed to lots of ideas, but this was something I was like hmmm. kind of get it. A few things I didn’t get, but for the most part, I was getting the gist of his ideas. I certainly could pick up the movements of the RMT club (and David Weck told me I am very coordinated! :::fan girl glee!:::) and understand its applications, including training and reinforcing coiling patterns.

winding up. elegance before the fury.

One of the biggest takeaways I gleened from the RMT cert was that optimized athletic movement is based upon coiling and asymmetrical yet balanced patterns. The fasted running, throwing, hitting, etc is done with, for example, one shoulder dropped and one shoulder elevated at a time. Therefore, Weck Method promotes these coiling movements, especially during transverse plane drills/exercises. A lot of the stuff David was saying really flew in the face of a lot of mainstream fitness doctrines. For example, he doesn’t like Pallof Presses, because he would rather see diagonal and free rotation, to allow for optimal athletic movement.

Animal Flow Certification

Animal Flow I took the following Saturday and Sunday, in Woodland Hills. I was impressed! I was kind of just expecting it to be trendy (sorry if I was a hater). But…I was impressed. The creator of Animal Flow, Mike Fitch, is an awesome guy who was not only passionate, extremely articulate in his rationale for the exercises, and a legit movement expert (see the video below), but was also chill as fuck and made everyone feel comfortable doing what they could in the certification (cough cough like me).

He tried to balance anterior- chain dominant poses like beast with posterior-chain dominant poses like crab. He wanted us to learn a certain vocabulary of basic poses to string together into “flows.” I was expecting my ankle and wrists to hurt a lot, but surprisingly it was my quads and lats that got sore. Cool!

The class was pretty large, and I didn’t talk to everyone (shy gal that I can be, I swear!) and I was sour when later I saw tagged peeps and found out there were people off Instagram that I was following who were there and I wished I had the opportunity to connect with them in person.

Muscle, Strength, and Fat Loss Seminar 

Last weekend, I attended the Muscle, Strength, and Fat Loss seminar with Bret Contreras, Brad Schoenfeld, and Alan Aragon (hereafter called Bret’s seminar since it took place in his gym). People came from far and wide, including Canada, Mexico, Texas, Philly, etc…In a packed room of 100 people, I actually only met one other person from San Diego (granted, remember I can be shy, mkay? so I didn’t meet everyoneee).

Unlike the Weck Method cert, the material covered in Bret’s seminar felt familiar like the back of my hand. This was my bread and butter. Stuff I’ve been studying, doing, and breathing for a long time. Glute training for women? Program design for hypertrophy? Protein consumption guidelines? I got this, girl.

There was a lot of review of the past, present, and even soon-to-be-published research regarding nutrition, hypertrophy, etc. I loved it all. Everything felt very familiar, and I enjoyed listening to it all. Bret was hilarious as shit, which I wasn’t expecting, so that was awesome to see how his personality is so crazy. I also enjoyed how laid-back he was with regards to exercise frequency and form. But he doesn’t come to it from a place of ignorance– he considers all the evidence and makes his own informed opinion. For example, even through Brad’s research demonstrated optimal hypertrophy when you hit a muscle approx twice a week, Bret still acknowledges that some women have amazing results training them almost daily. He chalks this up to genetic differences. Also, he allows his clients to use some pads that will elevate their heels during squats. He believes that if it helps in form, and doesn’t hurt them, let them enjoy using the assist. While staunch mobility advocates might shit on this “cheat,” his attitude really allows for an ease in training and can de-pathologize a client. He thinks that it can really help a client improve her fitness if she feels confident, feels good in their training, feels accomplished, and that there is nothing wrong with her. So many chiropractors, physical therapists, and other practitioners make a buck off of telling their clients how fucked up they are and how limited they should be. Bret’s attitude is kind of refreshing, to encourage his clients to explore all they can do.

In conclusion, I had a great time working on mah edumacation, learning all the thingz, surrounding myself with buff people in workout wear, and staying current. I stay hungry for new knowledge and look forward to continually learning more and more about fitness and nutrition.

XOXO,

Kristina

On their website, they state “Fresh N Lean was created with the purpose of delivering a product that focuses on people’s overall health and well-being. It’s not meant to be a quick fix or a fad diet that comes and goes and does more damage in the end than when you started. We do not eliminate carbs or restrict and count calories, what we provide is healthy nutrition to keep you healthy and strong. We pride ourselves in providing real food made by real people, not something pumped out of a machine.”

So.. there it is.

I had requested some meals on the paleo/lower carb side, specifically the cauliflower frittata, broccolini with beef, and Brussels sprouts shrimp bowl. However, I received cauliflower frittata, salmon, minestrone with shrimp, potato dum aloo with beef patty, and a potato cake. (I assume that paying customers receive the meals they requested. It would make sense that bloggers receive the meals they requested as well, but umm :::shrugs:::)

I didn’t eat most of it. The cauliflower fritatta was fine. The salmon was awesome. The beef patty was ok. The shrimp was tasty. thats all i ate of it. My mom ate some of the other stuff and she said it tasted a bit too “healthy” lol…

On their website, Fresh N Lean seems to offer a lot of different options, even customized options. This is not a meal prep company designed for competitive figure competitors or bodybuilders, but moreso a service that delivers healthy-ish meals to regular people who may not have time or energy or ability to prepare their own meals.

Although I can’t say I had a great experience with this company, I am probably not their ideal customer, and I believe they have potential, and that they are just growing and learning.

I don’t remember how cryotherapy entered into my consciousness, but perhaps it was through various podcasts I was listening to. I was vaguely interested in it, but didn’t pull the trigger until I was talking with my soft tissue specialist/injury recovery specialist (it sounds stupid, but I don’t know how else to say it). His name is Scott.

Back story here, I mentioned I sprained my ankle in early September, and it’s been a big mystery what’s going on, I’ve been in a lot of pain, I’d tried tons of things, TONS OF THINGS. Like, all the things. I dare you. Ask me if I’ve done something. Acupuncture? Yes. Reiki? Yes. Cold laser. Big Yup. Chinese herbs. Chiropractic. Physical Therapy. Supplements. Meditation. Activity. Rest. Seriously. We could go on and on. Anyway, my birthday was approaching and I asked Scott if he had any ideas on what I could get that might help me toe over the line to recovery. He suggested cryotherapy. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where it began.

Alleged benefits are: reducing inflammation, enhancing recovery, improved sleep, endorphin release, fat burning, hangover relief, mood elevation, etc.

I went to the spot in La Jolla and that was cool, but I liked Chill N Out better because the price was nicer, the vibe was chill, and I like the full body immersion chamber that they have versus the kind where your head is sticking out, that they have in La Jolla (and at most spots). Plus, at Chill N Out they have other biohacking shiz like a vibration plate, infrared sauna, and soon a red light bed. So, I chose Chill N Out and at first I went dailyyyyy to see if it would help my ankle.

Approaching the chamber…bwahaha!

right before hopping in… you take off your robe, put on the ear muffs and the gloves (pictured) and some shoes they provide (unpictured)

I didn’t notice a difference in my ankle, honestly. But I did notice more energy immediately after the session. And perhaps there were other benefits that were imperceivable. (I mean if you sleep a bit better, how would you know if that night you would have slept a bit worse if it wasn’t for the cryo?) I did enjoy going into cryo as part of my daily routine, and I used it also to build mental strength. I mean, this shit is cold. yeah, it’s not deathly, DESPITE BEING -124 DEGREES OR WHATEVER THE FUCK IT IS. IM SERIOUS!!! It’s not that bad, though. But I do have to steel myself, and many times I’ve done breathing exercises to get through it.

Observe: Kristina is not lying…….It is C-O-L-D. oh yeah!

But then when one of my physical therapists had told me to avoid cold and just stick with heat, I’ve been reducing my visits per week and now just go like once a week instead of everyday.

It’s fascinating to see, the place I go to is very busy! It’s right across the street from a fight gym so a lot of professional fighters go to this spot (hello, handsome) and there are actually a lot of gyms in the area so lots of other random people just pop in too. It’s a cool little “recovery haven.”

I have heard that cold water immersion beats cryotherapy though, so I actually went to the ocean a few days ago and jumped in the ocean when it was cold but the funny thing is that it didn’t feel that cold because of my experience with cryo. But yeah, there was not another swimmer to be found. That’s fine. More ocean for me.

In conclusion, my friends, cryotherapy is an interesting technology that has taken off. I can’t say I’ve seen a drastic change in my ankle, but I don’t regret my participation in this trend.

Love,

Kristina

Here is what I did:
Movement prep:
Banded right hip distraction 1 min
Dynamic lower body warmup
Band walking for glute activation
Left calf raise with voodoo floss around calf (emphasizing pushing through big toe)
Left foot- Standing toe pumps x30 (enhancing mobility through big toe)
Bodyweight step ups (lubricating dorsiflexion)

Cardio:
Went outside and walked for like 12 min, to soak up the amazing sun
Jog outside 7 min (slowly ramping up my time jogging, to be easy on my ankle)
went back inside- 13 min stepmill, going slowly, working to land with my heel and push through the hamstring/glute, in a sliding/pulling fashion
(my OCD doesn’t like that I did in total 32 minutes instead of 30 or 35, but I’ll have to live with it)

Resistance training:
1. Weighted Barbell Hip Thrust  95 x 15, 145 x 10, 165 x 8, 215 x 8, 235 x 8

2. Walking Lunges with 10 kilo Bulgarian bag on shoulders – 2 sets down the turf and back

3. Barbell Back Squat  55 x 10, 95 x 8, 115 x 6, 135 x 5, 155 x 3, 185 x 1 (This is pathetic for me in general but not bad considering I’ve hardly done shit in 5 months.)

2 sets of this circuit:
4a. Multi planar toe reach with dowels and slider x10 reaches per leg
4b. Sumo Deadlift (light) x 8
4c. Bunkies- side (like this) and supine (like this)
4d. Cable abduction x15

Stretch

So, I was so curious when I had heard about DNA Fit. It’s a saliva swab test that will “interpret your genetic data into meaningful fitness or nutrition insights, to help you discover more about yourself and make better informed decisions about your wellness,” and to create “genetically personalized training and eating plans.” Okay, I was sold. I paid somewhere around the ungodly price of $250 (on sale) for this data I was sure to be fascinating.

However, I was really disappointed. What I received was vague and pretty generic IMO. Here is what they told me:

I’m not sensitive to carbs and don’t do well with saturated fats, so I should do a reduced fat diet. Interestingly, I actually am preferring a high fat, low carb diet so…. yeah. Hm.

I’m lactose intolerant. I’ve never noticed that, and actually recently had a food sensitivity test and it didn’t find me lactose intolerant. So…

I shouldn’t have too much caffeine. Note: I am a caffeine whore, I love caffeine. Ummm…

I’m not sensitive to alcohol, so I can consume alcohol moderately. Well, I don’t drink.

I have a high anti-oxidant need. That I can agree with.

I have a normal need for Omega 3’s. Okay.

I have a raised need for B vitamins.

I have a normal need for vitamin D.

I have a raised need for cruciferous vegetables. That’s fine, because I love vegetables.

I am suited for more endurance activities/sports. Well, fucking kill me. I hate endurance sports and really suck at them. I’ve always been a strength and power athlete. So I guess that just shows the power of environment/epi-genetics.

I have a high injury risk. Fuck my life. I’m here now with a jacked ankle.

My recovery speed is low. Fuck my life again. Cuz I like to train a lot. And my ankle has been slow to heal. Let this not be true ugh

So…. given this information. Well… I can’t say I am going to change anything? I will still eat high fat/low carb, I will still have caffeine, I will still refrain from alcohol, I will still do strength and power sports, etc… I guess, I dunno, that I was expecting something different? I don’t know what I was expecting, but it just seemed generic to me. It didn’t delve into detail about things.

I guess I don’t even know if what I would be looking for even EXISTS because the reality of the situation is that we are finding that despite genetics, we are able to rise above what would otherwise be “mandated” by our genes through epi-genetics, which literally means rising above (epi = above) our genetics. We are discovering that environment and other factors play a significant role in how things play out. This would explain how some of the genetic results that were listed for me don’t pan out. So, just because your genes say something, it doesn’t mean that it’s true.

From this interwebs source: “Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression (active versus inactive genes) that do not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence — a change in phenotype without a change in genotype — which in turn affects how cells read the genes. Epigenetic change is a regular and natural occurrence but can also be influenced by several factors including age, the environment/lifestyle, and disease state.” Bam.

Another beef I had with DNA Fit, beyond the theoretical conflict (insert laughing/crying emoji [one of my favorite emojis]), was that they didn’t give me the ancestral data. I couldn’t see my heritage. I want to compare and contrast how much Lithuanian Jew I am, with other sites I’ve signed up for. (It’s true, my ancestry is significantly Lithuanian Jew, I never knew! What a shock.) Anyway, so I couldn’t see my ancestry data, and I tried to export the raw data files to a friend to do some further testing, and she couldn’t work with those files, or the files weren’t available. I can’t remember. In any case, it’s a boo. Boooooo.

In summary, if you have $300 that you don’t care about, feel free to buy the DNA Fit test. Otherwise, consider me the guinea pig that so selflessly wasted her money to tell you that DNA Fit is not the jam, and to save your money.