Looking for more ways to boost your nutrition? Great article with ideas on how to add nutrients with Raw Foods http://www.fitsolutionsblog.com/best-raw-foods-to-have-in-your-nutrition-plan/#!60

Best Raw Foods to Have in Your Nutrition Plan

Best Raw Foods to Have in Your Nutrition Plan

Eating raw foods (vegetables, fruits, nuts, and more) have amazing health benefits. Raw foods are essentially living foods. When you eat living foods you are eating live enzymes, undamaged nutrients, and alkaline-forming compounds that help nourish and cleanse the body. You don’t have to eat completely raw diet to have the health benefits of raw foods. Simply adding the Best Raw Foods to Have in Your Nutrition Planwill create positive changes.

You also don’t need to eat raw foods with every meal or snack. Simply adding in the Best Raw Foods to Have in your Nutrition Plan once or twice a day can have a huge impact on your health.

Best Raw Foods to Have in Your Nutrition Plan

Coconut: Coconut is probably the greatest “superfood”. Raw coconut is a powerhouse of nutrients. Its natural water is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes, and is considered one of the best hydrators for the body. Raw coconut meat (the flesh), is equally beneficial. It contains high levels of lauric acid, a type of saturated fat that aids in resisting harmful viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

Other benefits from consuming coconut flesh and its natural water is that it promotes brain health, aids in weight loss, can help prevent heart disease, helps lower cholesterol, boosts energy, promote thyroid health and hormone levels, rejuvenates skin, and helps heal damage to the gut and digestive system.

Chia Seeds: The Chia Seed is the best when it comes to omega-3 fatty acids and disease-fighting antioxidants. They are rich in fiber, essential fatty acids, calcium, antioxidants, and protein. Chia seeds are easy to incorporate into any nutrition plan.

Chia seeds are helpful for maintaining strength, weight maintenance, healthy digestion, immune system support, and disease prevention.

Sprouted Nuts and Seeds: Yes, this is a general category, but any nut and Seed can come in a raw form. When you eat raw sprouted nuts and seeds they will provide a wealth of important vitamins, minerals, nutrients, enzymes, and proteins. Raw sprouted almonds are one of the healthiest foods you can consume because they contain healthy fats, complete protein, amino acids, and essential trace minerals.

Sprouted nuts and seeds help boost immunity, regulate cholesterol levels, support a healthy brain and heart, and provide lasting nourishment.

Cacao (natural chocolate): Healthy metabolisms are maintained by having a key component known as mineral magnesium. One of the best natural sources of this essential mineral compound is raw cacao. Raw Cacao is a bean from which cocoa and chocolate are derived, but cocoa and chocolate are processed versions with very few nutrients.

Raw cacao is unique because it contains well over 300 identifiable nutrient compounds. These compounds help feed the body’s systems and promotes a healthy brain chemistry, boosts energy levels, improves circulation, and can neutralize cancer-causing free radicals. Raw cacao also helps stimulate the production of digestive enzymes, which benefits digestive health.

Leafy Greens: Leafy green vegetables are so important and its nearly impossible to consume to many. Making these a part of your daily nutrition will bring many positive health benefits.

Leafy Greens such as Spinach, Kale, Swiss Chard, and others are rich in chlorophyll which is a key dietary component for boosting energy levels, detoxifies and cleanses the liver, digestive track, and other organs which will help keep you regular. Add these daily for maximum health benefits.

Fermented Vegetables: Raw organic fruits and vegetables are supremely healthy, but they can become even healthier when fermented. The fermentation process used to culture vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and cucumbers makes them easier to digest, which allows the body to unlock and access more of their nutrients.

Fermented vegetables also have digestion-enhancing enzymes and probiotic bacteria, which together build immunity and improve nutrient absorption.

Best Raw Foods to Have in Your Nutrition Plan

If you truly want to change and improve your health, having these foods and others should be a part of your nutrition plan. Starting with these Best Raw Foods to Have in Your Nutrition Plan is a good place to begin. Though for some of us adding all these raw foods to their daily nutrition can be difficult. So your alternative is to look for a nutritional supplement that has all these raw foods and more in their natural state. Either way, your health will benefit from having raw foods daily.

Man - this is MY truth at the end of every ski-season. Daily, repetitive , high-force activity resulting in some greatly overworked ( and some greatly neglected) muscle groups, imbalance and sore joints! Great article on the importance of getting balance back ! 
http://www.fitsolutionsblog.com/muscle-balance-matters/#!60

Muscle Balance Matters

Muscle Balance Matters

Muscle Balance Matters and it only comes when you have the right repetitions, number of sets, and your weights are used properly. This combination creates greater strength and will help you avoid injury. The secret to getting healthier and more fit, gaining strength, and avoiding injury (especially to the joints), is to balance the work you do on muscle groups. Remember muscles come in pairs and the majority of them are bi-lateral meaning on both sides of your body. So you want to have each side of your body balanced as well.

Balance comes when strength and flexibility of opposing muscle groups are equal. Some examples of opposing muscle groups are Biceps and Triceps, Deltoids and Lats, Pecs and Traps, Abs and Erector spinae (low and mid back), Quads and Hamstrings.

Muscle Balance Matters

Why does Muscle Balance Matter? The biggest reason is that when there is balance between muscle pairs, you are more apt to avoid injury. When muscles are unbalanced, your joints get used incorrectly and it can cause wear, tear, and damage over time. Unbalanced muscles can also cause unnecessary pain throughout your body.

Examples of muscular imbalance:
1. A person lifts weights and primarily focuses on their pectorals (Chest), and spends very little time on the traps and upper back. Over time when they stand or walk, they will begin to stoop forward because the pecs are stronger than their traps and upper back. The result is poor posture, as well as neck and back pain.

2. Knee damage and pain is a very common complaint among people. This can be avoided with proper hip abductor and adductor work. When these muscles are balanced and strong they pull and hold the tendons in place, which in turn holds the kneecap in its proper position. When one of these muscles is weaker, the kneecap gets pulled out of place, and the result is pain and possibly injury.

Muscle Balance Matters, so how do you make it happen?

Cross-training is always a must! It is the best way is to achieve total fitness and muscle balance. Cross training workouts are a balanced combination of cardiovascular exercise and weight training. The weight training offers specific movements to enhance and achieve balance.

Every person has one side of their body that will be weaker, and typically a weaker muscle within each of the pairs. To create true muscular balance and avoid injury, you start by strengthening the weaker muscle and maintain strength on the stronger muscles.

To find your imbalances you must choose a weight and lift it independently. When you find the size weight that one muscle can do that the opposing muscle cannot, you found the correct weight to begin the balancing process. Once you are aware of natural imbalances, focus more effort on the weaker muscles until they are balanced out with the others.

Once balanced is achieved you must begin training in a way that will maintain the muscular balance. To maintain the balance, you must work the muscle pairs and bilateral sides of the body in a formation that hits all sides and with the right weight, repetitions, and set. Again this is where Cross-Training can really be of the most benefit.

Most gym programs don’t provide a true Cross Training Experience, as they rely on machines to move you in one direction and most people don’t use them properly or in the correct order of necessity. Therefore, it is important to find programs that are true cross training programs that also allow you to use your body and weights in multiple directions, with multiple reps and duration. This is why having a Coach to guide you in the right direction can be the key to your success.

Muscle Balance Matters! By strengthening every part of each muscle and muscle group, you will be able to obtain the results of a sleek, stronger, and more balanced body, while developing muscles that will help you avoid injury and pain.