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Recipe of the Week: Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 3 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced into
    bite-size pieces
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha
  • 1 tablespoon chili paste
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic, divided
  • 24 ounces fresh green beans, ends trimmed
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • Optional garnish: crushed peanuts or cashews

  Directions:

  1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  2. Prep stir-fry sauce by mixing together soy sauce, Sriracha, chili paste and honey in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Place 1 tablespoon sesame oil and 1 tablespoon minced garlic in a large skillet or wok on medium-high heat.
  4. Add chicken, and sauté for about 5 minutes. Remove chicken (it will only be partially cooked), and set aside.
  5. Place the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil and garlic in the pan and turn to high heat. Add green beans, and sauté for 5–7 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Add chicken, and continue to cook for 5 more minutes, or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
  6. Add stir-fry sauce, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for a few more minutes, until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. Add sesame seeds, and let sit for at least 5 minutes, so the sauce can thicken a bit more. Serve hot.
  7. Garnish with peanuts or cashews as desired.

Nutrition Information:
Serves: 4
Serving Size: 1/4 recipe
Calories: 375; Total Fat: 20g; Sodium: 495mg; Carbohydrate: 14g; Dietary Fiber: 3g; Sugar: 8g; Protein: 30g

 

Original recipe from MyFitnessPal.com

 

Summer Food Swaps

Synonymous with summer are long days, warmer temps, and barbecues. Our social calendars become packed with events that often times mean unlimited food and alcohol. Suddenly our fitness goals seem out of reach- but your nutrition can still stay on track. Look for healthier options when attending a backyard party, or cook some of our swap options at your own barbecue.

It is important to shift your dietary intake with the seasons. So the next few months are all about light, cooling foods as the temperature rises. Fill your diets with more raw fruits and vegetables. Be sure to include things like watermelon, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash, and peaches.

Here are some of our favorite summertime swaps!

Typical Foods: hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, potato chips, brownies, chips, margaritas, lemonade, condiments

Swap Options: turkey burgers, veggie burgers, cauliflower salad, summer corn salad, bean salad, watermelon feta salad, black bean brownies, spritzers, cocktails, guacamole, hummus, salsa

Recipe of the Week: Apple Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients

  • 1 cup oat flour
  • 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 medium apple, diced
  • 1/2 cup naturally sweetened apple butter

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with coconut oil or cooking spray.
  2. Combine oats, oat flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda in a large bowl.
  3. Add applesauce, maple syrup, coconut oil and apple. Stir until combined.
  4. Set aside a heaping half-cup of the oat mixture, then press the rest evenly into the prepared pan. Top with apple butter, spreading evenly with a spoon or spatula.
  5. Sprinkle the rest of the oat mixture on top.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into 12–16 bars.
  7. Store in the refrigerator.

Nutrition Information
Serves: 12
Serving Size: 1 bar
Per serving: Calories: 160; Total Fat: 6g; Carbohydrate: 24g; Sugar: 10g; Protein: 3g

 

Original recipe from MyFitnessPal.com

Sports Spotlight: Warm Up Drills for Sprinting

With the summer upon us, many athletes are taking the advantage of the weather to train outside. For athletes working on improving their linear speed, this is the best time of the year to get out on the track. This is a three part series on how to increase your sprinting mechanics and get faster!

We’ll start with technique! Before you even work on your explosiveness or lift a weight, lets ensure you’re correctly doing everything you can to get the most out of your mechanics. Here are 3 warm-up drills to help improve efficiency in your speed workouts.

Warm-up Drills

A-skips

 

  • A-skips are high knee kicks with reciprocal arm movement.
  • They get your hip flexors warmed up so they will be prepared to fire fast when you need them too.
  • It helps teach how to coordinate raising the opposite arm to your lead leg.
  • Moving through this position quickly will help improve your explosiveness. (More on this in my next article on triple extension)

 

B-skips

  • B skips are A-skips followed with a full knee extension out.
  • B skips emphasize keeping the foot strike in the proper position.
  • Accelerating your feet to the ground helps ensure you can translate the drill into your actual sprint.

 

 

Wall Sprints

  • By keeping yourself at a 45 degree angle (what’s called your power line) against the wall, you put yourself in the best position for acceleration.
  • By holding power line and working different marching techniques you can train your sprinting mechanics without going anywhere!
  • Be sure to keep your hip drive high, your shin at a 45 degree angle, and your toes up!

 

 

Check in with Peak’s strength and conditioning specialists to learn these warm-up drills and have your sprinting form critiqued! Throwing these in your warm-up will help you fire your running specific muscles and keep you injury free by improving your technique. To help you further cut your sprint times down, check out my next upcoming article on improving your explosiveness by increasing your triple extension!

 

By Dave Albaranes

Happy Father’s Day from Peak!

This Father’s Day we wanted to celebrate the dads of Peak Performance. We have a lot of amazing families that come to Peak together! So we asked a few of our members to tell us why their dads inspire them.. see what they had to say!

regina des

My dad Des McCarthy has always been an inspiration for our family. He leads by example, married to mom for 65 years, always there for anything we needed and starts each day with his workout, Mass, and breakfast with Mom.
Love you Dad,
Reginalarissa gary

Of all the blessings I’ve been given, one of the greatest is my father. He dedicated himself to raising me to become the woman I am today, setting examples with his strength and unwavering love and support. I never have met, nor will I ever meet, a man who has a bigger heart than my dad. He is my best friend and I am truly the luckiest.
Happy Father’s Day!
Love, Larissamarc aj

Happy Father’s Day to one of the most inspirational nice unique people I’ve ever met. You’re an awesome Dad!
Love, AJ

 

Happy Father’s Day from the Peak Performance Family!

Recipe of the Week: Mushroom Burger

Total Time: 40 minutes
4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 large Portobello mushrooms caps, wiped cleaned
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek-style yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 lime, zested and juiced
  • 4 large slices whole-grain bread, each cut in half
  • 1 cup baby arugula
  • 1 large tomato, cut into 8 slices
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup roasted red pepper strips, drained

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
  2. Place the mushrooms in a baking dish or pie plate. Whisk together the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper until blended. Brush the mushrooms with the vinegar mixture; let stand for up to 15 minutes.
  3. Place the mushrooms on the grill rack and grill until tender, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
  4. Meanwhile, combine the yogurt, rosemary and zest and juice of the lime in a small bowl until blended. Brush the bread slices with the yogurt mixture. Layer half the slices with the mushrooms, arugula, tomatoes, onions and red pepper strips. Top with the remaining bread slices. Serve immediately.

 

Why the Crunch is Going Out of Style

Low back pain affects up to 80% of adults at some point during their life. Exercise can be used to help alleviate and cure the pain by making improving our core strength, however, not all core exercises were created equal. The crunch is often a common solution people arrive at to gain strength through their midsection. Unfortunately the crunch can be ineffective or even exacerbate your problem.

The core was meant to resist motion, not produce it. That also means the core was meant to be trained resisting motion! This brings us to neutral spine exercises. Flexing and extending the spine under load puts a lot of pressure against your discs and can produce shear forces that compromise your spine’s integrity. These exercises don’t put your back into the difficult ranges of motion that can cause aggravation . If you’ve been feeling back pain or want to prevent it from occurring, try throwing these moves into your core workouts.

Pallof Press

The Pallof Press exercise involves pressing a cable or resistance band away from you while keeping the handle at the center of your chest. The goal of the exercise is to keep your arms in line with the center of your body and resist turning in towards the direction of the weight. This makes the Pallof Press an anti-rotation exercise. As you move the weight further from the mid-line of your body, the exercise becomes increasingly difficult. Holding the exercise when the arms are at full extension will force you to brace your core! Be sure to switch sides to get the same effect on both sides of your core.

The Plank & Plank Variations

The plank is an exercise that works through the front of your core to resist extension. Keeping your body in line is the key to ensuring your back stays in a neutral position while you work to hold yourself up against gravity. There are many variations of this move as well to target different muscles! If you’re working on your plank already, try mixing up your routine with side planks and BOSU planks!
The Suitcase Carry

The suitcase carry is performed simply by holding a kettle bell (or any weight) in one arm while you keep your torso upright. This exercise works each side of your core by having you resist flexing to the side of the weight. This exercise is the ultimate trunk stability workout. As you walk with the weight your midsection is simultaneously bracing and coordinating to stay stabilized. Find an appropriate weight that challenges your posture and get walking!

 

By Dave Albaranes

 

Recipe of the Week: Triple-Berry Summer Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 9oz baby spinach, torn
  • 1 cup sliced strawberries
  • 1 cup raspberries
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
  • 1/3 cup chopped basil
  • 1 avocado, chopped
  • 4oz goat cheese

Directions

  1. Divide baby spinach between plates
  2. Top with berries, almonds, basil and chopped avocado.
  3. Crumble goat cheese on top then dress with salad dressing. Try a strawberry balsamic vinegar, but any olive-oil based vinaigrette will be great!

Original recipe from Iowa Girl Eats can be found here!