Lynbrook | New Hyde Park | NY

News

Recipe of the Week: Fish Tacos with Corn & Tomato Salsa

Serves: 4
Serving Size: 2 tacos + 1/4 of salsa, divided

Ingredients:

Mahi Mahi Tacos

  • 1 pound Mahi Mahi (you can also use Tilapia)
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 8 small 100% corn tortillas
  • Optional toppings: 1 avocado, sliced; a squeeze fresh lime juice

Corn and Tomato Salsa

  • 1 bulb shallots, diced
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 2 cups frozen corn, defrosted
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Toss together salsa ingredients (corn, shallots, tomatoes, and cilantro with paprika and red wine vinegar) and set aside.
  3. Rinse and dry the Mahi Mahi. Slice into 3/4” thick pieces. Brush or spray a sheet pan with some cooking oil. Mix together coriander, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and oil. Toss sliced mahi mahi in spice mixture and spread out into 1 layer on a sheet pan. Roast for 8 to 12 minutes, until fish is golden on the outside and opaque in the middle.
  4. Warm up tortillas according to package instructions and assemble your tacos. Fill with fish, salsa, and top with avocado and a squeeze of lime juice if desired.

Nutrition Information:
Per serving:  Calories: 312
Fat: 7g; Carbohydrate: 31g; Fiber: 4g; Sugars: 7g; Protein: 31g

 

Original recipe can be found here!

Sports Spotlight: Improving Your Sprint Performance

Here is the second part of our Summer Sports Spotlight! This is a three part series on how to increase your sprinting mechanics and get faster.

Improve your sprinting technique

Without ever lifting a weight, it is possible to get faster just be learning to be more efficient! Here are some common aspects of running that get overlooked, along with some techniques to improve them!

  • Strike the ground at the mid foot. By making a heel-to-toe contact as you run you aren’t optimally utilizing your ground striking mechanics!
  • Keep your shoulders relaxed and avoid from shrugging
  • Keep a symmetrical rhythm between your arms and legs and be sure your arms aren’t crossing over your body.

Increase your overall strength

  • The stronger you are, the more force you’ll be able to produce into the ground. This force will be generated from your type two muscle fibers rather than your type one fibers and understanding the differences between these two fibers is the key to ensure you’re training properly.
  • Type one muscle fibers are used to maintain exercise and activity for a long duration of time, which means their ability to generate short term maximal power is limited while type two fibers are explosive and meant to generate a high amount of power for a single rep or a short duration.
  • The best way to grow these type two fibers are to make sure they’re being trained against resistance. Look at the picture to the right and ask yourself, “Which of these two athletes lift in their program?” The answer should be obvious. By using weights at a high enough resistance to build strength (thus leading to increased type II fiber size) he is placing his muscles under the similar demands of generating maximal force into the ground.
  • Although it may seem counter-intuitive to hit the weight room instead of the track to get better at running, you need to have a balance of both. Adding in weight training to your running program could be the key to breaking out of your plateau!

 

Improve your triple extension

  • Triple extension is the simultaneous extension of your ankles, knees, and hips.
  • Improving your explosiveness through this position will let you move faster by improving your stride frequency, this is the amount of times you complete a full stride cycle during your run. The main difference between sub-elite and elite athletes is stride frequency, meaning it’s more beneficial to take frequent steps rather than taking just longer steps.
  • Olympic lifts are exercises that are specific to improving triple extension and are designed to improve explosiveness. These exercises involve total body movement performed as quickly as possible. Note that in frame one and two of the picture (featured left) the athlete has performed a hang clean by moving into triple extension to drive to bar off the floor.

 

Talk to one of our certified strength and conditioning specialists if you feel incorporating Olympic lifts and improving triple extension would take your game to the next level.

 

By Dave Albaranes

Recipe of the Week: California Turkey Burgers

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup minced scallions
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
  • 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
  • 6 whole wheat hamburger buns, split
  • 2 firm, ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
  • 1 just-ripe avocado, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

  1. In a small skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the scallions until just softened, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl, season with the salt and black pepper and let cool. Stir in the sour cream and Worcestershire sauce; add the turkey and mix gently until just combined. Form into 6 patties.
  2. Heat a grill to medium-high. Mist grill with cooking spray and cook burgers 5 minutes. Turn and grill until almost cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Top each burger with some of the blue cheese; cook 1 to 2 minutes more or until burgers are just cooked through and cheese is melted.
  3. Arrange burgers on buns and top with sliced tomato, avocado, and red onion.

 

Nutrition facts per serving: 370 calories, 35g protein, 29g carbohydrate, 13g fat, 5g fiber

 

Original recipe can be found here

 

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