Ellen Stein

Fitness is the Fountain of Youth!

What is the Meaning of Life?

Easy, the meaning of life is survival! Stick you head in a bucket of water, in moments the only thing you will care about will be getting a breath of air. Luckily, most of us are not spending our days fighting for a breath of air, or fighting for survival for that matter. Most of us are surviving just fine. So, then what is the meaning of life? Happiness. No one wishes for a long, miserable life.

I was lucky enough to listen to an interview with Dr. Claudia Kawas and Dr. Ron Peterson on Public Radio. The discussion was mental acuity into old age.

Of course it was easy for me to see how kettlebell training and aging well have a strong connection. What are we all training for when we show up for KB class? Kettlebell training is proven to be beneficial for fat loss, strength gains, it will improve sports performance, and kettlebell training has certainly given me an edge in Powerlifting. Kettlebell training also prepares for happiness in old age and a good quality of life.

Here are some things discussed regarding mental acuity and aging...

• Exercise, of course. Exercise as you already know helps with coordination, balance, circulation, stress reduction, and stimulates elimination (better out than in, right?). Plus, kettlebell classes build a sense of community, being socially engaged is good for brain health.
• Everything in Moderation. Alcohol, in moderation. Caffeine, in moderation. Treats, in moderation. Getting shit-faced, eating candy, cookies, cakes, packaged foods and drinking a pot of coffee for breakfast is not a health benefit.
  
• Moving Well. People who have a quick walking pace, a good seance of balance, and who are coordinated tend to have better brain function. Kettlebell training certainly teaches us new movements, balance and better coordination.
• Breath! Of course we all breath. Studies show people who have higher levels of oxygen in their blood retain their memory better. Makes sense... our brains need oxygenated blood. The cardiovascular aspect of kettlebell training will cause new growth of capillaries all over our body, including our brain. If you are a shallow breather or tend to hold your breath, STOP! Teach yourself to take deep breaths, especially if you are stressed or fatigued.
• Chill Out! I think it is common knowledge that stress is extremely hard on our bodies. Long term stress damages our vital organs, and certainly does not increase happiness. Exercise is an excellent way to reduce stress. Swinging a kettlebell, well, that is even better.
  
• Diet. Eat food (not treats), mostly plants, and not too much. Good nutrition is important. If you are opening a package to get to your food, it probably isn't food, it is probably a treat. If you are getting digestive distress, you are eating something you shouldn't. This topic deserves it's own post. Diabetes and dementia are linked.
  
• Sleep Well. This is a big one... sleep time is when your body cleans and repairs itself. Stop cleaning and repairing your car, see how long it lasts. Exercise helps us to sleep better and more deeply. Usually one of the first things you will notice if you skip classes, you won't sleep as well.
  

Salad Dressing Recipe

As some of you might already know I am an ex professional cook. I cooked fine dinning at some of the Twin Cities best restaurants. I loved cooking, but my love for physical movement won over a few years ago and I made a career change. I am not as keen as I used to be in the kitchen, but I do have some foundational knowledge that will never go out of style.

Today I have a basic salad dressing recipe for you. Store bought salad dressings are usually made will cheap oils, preservatives, stabilizers and other unwanted ingredients. Dressings are super easy to make, and you can flavor them how ever you want. Here is a simple emulsified vinaigrette...


First you will need ingredients... Vinegar, Oil, Salt, Mustard (an emulsifier), Garlic, and maybe some honey (also an emulsifier).

Balsamic Vinegar is slightly sweet and a favorite by almost everyone. You can use any vinegar you want, such as; Cider, Red Wine, White Wine, Sherry, Rice, etc.

Oil is also up to you... Olive has a very "green" flavor, and is very good for you. Walnut oil will give your dressing an nutty flavor, Grape seed is very neutral and will let the other ingredients shine.

Avoid Corn, Vegetable and Canola oil.
















The classic ratio is 3-4 parts oil to 1 part vinegar.
In a blender add:

• 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
• 2 Cloves Garlic (according to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt (sea salt is best)
• 1 Tablespoon Honey (optional, skip with Balsamic Vinegar)
  

Next you will need to measure out one cup of oil. I like to use a combination of 50% Olive Oil and 50% Grape seed oil. This way I get all the health benefits of the olive oil with a mild flavor.

Fire up your blender with the Vinegar, Salt, Garlic, Mustard... SLOWLY pour in the oil.






If you've done everything right, your dressing will look something like this in your blender.

Something about Fat...

Fat Cells

My last blog entry for SPKC was about diet and losing fat. Mike Sampson (crossfitter, powerlifter and kettlebeller) sent me a great article explaning the effect of fat and carbs in the body. This link will explain much better than I did why Paulette's diet worked so well for her. Mathiew Lalonde talks about insulsin resistance, simple carbohydrates, fat and obesity.

Here is an excert of the link article above...

But even then, things aren’t that simple, right? Right. Treating the human body like a motor completely ignores all of endocrinology; the hormones involved in the mechanisms of energy storage and release. Therein lies the real flaw of the “calories in, calories out” hypothesis. When endocrinology is ignored, it is easy to think that fat people are fat because they don't exercise or they eat too much. For some folks, that is true. But for people with metabolic syndrome who suffer from chronically elevated insulin levels and insulin resistance, the opposite is true. Taubes' genius lies in the fact that he was able to properly identify the cause and the effect. If someone has chronically elevated insulin levels or insulin resistance, fat stores are not accessible for energy. In this case, fat people don't exercise because they are fat, or eat too much because they are fat. Obesity is the cause; lethargy and hunger are the effect. Everything gets turned on its head.

So what about “a calorie is a calorie”? "A calorie is a calorie" is simply incorrect because it also ignores endocrinology; in this case the food’s effect on human hormones. The source of the calories is just as important, if not more, than the total number of calories itself. A common cause of insulin resistance and elevated levels of insulin in the bloodstream is excess consumption of refined carbohydrates. If individuals with chronic insulin resistance try to lose weight by simply cutting calories or exercising without changing their diet, they will end up losing muscle mass as opposed to fat. On the other hand, if someone with a diet consisting mainly of insulin-spiking foods (sugar, starch, bread, dairy, etc..) switches to a diet consisting mainly of lean meat, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar, no grains, no dairy, no legumes ("Paleo"), then weight loss may occur even if the diets are isocaloric (i.e. have the same amount of calories). This becomes apparent when high-carbohydrate low-fat diets are compared to isocaloric high-fat low-carbohydrate diets. People on 1,500 calorie high-fat, low carbohydrate diets lose weight and feel better than people on the same calorie high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets. In fact, cases of severe dementia as the result of 1,500-calorie low-fat high-carbohydrate diets have been documented, while people on a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet have excellent biomarkers of mental and physical health.

Everyone should read the article in it's entirity... I would love to hear your feed back.

Get in the Best Shape of your Life!

Spring is here, and summer is right around the corner. This is an excellent time to take off your winter weight gain, lose that last 10 pounds or commit to getting in the shape you have always wanted to be in.

Aaron and Paulette

I just got back from spending 10 days in Hawaii with my in-laws. Eight months ago my mother-in-law (Paulette) reached her goal of losing 70lbs. She looks great! She even wore some of my clothes! Vacationing with her gave me an opportunity to find out how she was so successful with her fat loss. It was actually pretty simple. She found out she was addicted to simple carbs (most people are including me!) she had to change her diet. Simple carbs are things like; white flour, white rice, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc. She changed her diet to consist of mostly lean protein (chicken, turkey, fish, etc.) and GREEN veggies (corn is not a vegetable). She told me it takes about 3 days to kick the carb cravings, but after that, it is smooth sailing.

Some pit-falls to watch out for in this diet...

• Salads are not a vehicle for salad dressing! There is a ton of calories in salad dressing. Plus they usually have sugar or HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). Learn to make your own salad dressings! I will post some recipes. Check back here often.
  
• Cheese is not a vegetable! This is a sneaky way to add a ton of calories and sodium to an otherwise healthy meal.
• Watch the sauces! BBQ sauce, ketchup and other bottled sauces are another heavy duty sugar trap.
  

Summer is an excellent time to clean up your diet. Your body doesn't need a layer of fat to stay warm any more. July 4 is two months away... commit to eating clean and you can have a rockin' body by the time the fireworks blast off!

TSC April 2009

I just got home from hosting the Tactical Strength Challenge April 2009 at The Press Gym. The Tactical Strength Challenge is a world wide event driven by the RKC kettlebell community. The competition consists of your best deadlift of 3 attempts, pull-ups in a row and kettlebell snatches for 5 minutes. The TSC is held twice a year; once in the spring and again around September.

The Saint Paul Kettlebell Club made a pretty good showing this year. Here is how it all went down for our little group...


Amy Roberts - Amy placed first in our women's division. She started training kettlebells with me about 7 months ago in preparation for her up coming wedding. Amy pulled 280lbs. This is an outstanding deadlift, especially considering she only learned how to deadlift a week ago! Amy chose to compete in the Women's Novice Division, this means she got to use the 12kg kettlebell for snatches. Well, needless to say she pounded out 115 snatches in 5 minutes. There were zero pull-ups this year for Amy and I will take responsibility for that. Next year we get on the board.

Jennifer Cahill - Jen placed second out of our women competing at The Press. Jen had been training with kettlebells for a while before she decided to give my classes a shot. She has been a consistant memeber of our kettlebell club for about 8 months. Jennifer had an awesome deadlift, pulling 265lbs with ease! This is only her second time doing deadlifts with a barbell! Way to go! Jennifer also decided to compete in the Novice Division, snatching with a 12kg kettlebell. Jennifer punched out 141 snatches in the 5 minutes. She blasted out 20 reps before changing hands, and not once did she put the kettlebell down for the whole 5 minutes! Jen only got 1/2 way up on the pull-ups... and half doesn't count. Next time.

Rachael DeLorme - Rachael decided to enter the competition last minute. She attended my 9am class this morning with plans of watching the competition... Thanks to Amy Roberts for taking her into competing. I believe this was Rachael's first time deadlifting, she pulled 255lbs! Rachael joined the other ladies in competing in the Novice Division snatching the 12kg. After missing a month's worth of classes she managed to gut out 100 snatches. Very nice Rachael.




Russel Roque - This is Russ's second TSC, he competed last year for the first time. He and his wife Jesse are regulars at my Monday night class. Jesse tore up the snatches last fall using the 16kg with 127 reps! Jesse had to sit this TSC out because she is 8 months pregnant. I have a feeling we will see her again this fall. The Roques also train with us for the Friday Night Deadlifts. Russ crapped out on the deadlift today, but made up for it with pull-ups; 13 and snatches; 107. Don't worry about it Russ, even the best lifters bomb out. This should give fuel for next time!

Mike Sampson - CrossFit dude and powerlifter, joins us for class on occasion. Mike is a good sport who drags his friends to my class.

Brad Madvig - National level competitive powerlifter. Thanks to Brad for being a rallying force behind my little TSC.

Jim Cahill - National level competitive powerlifter. The other half of team Cahill.

Sean Schniederjan - RKC and snatch machine.

Check out my husband, Aaron Friday's Blog for more details!

More photos on FaceBook's Saint Paul Kettlebell Club.

Something about Competition

Last Year's TSC Participants from The Press Gym

I am counting down to competition day at the Arnold Sports Festival. As you all may know I am a competitive powerlifter. I haven't always been athletic and I am new to competition. In fact, my first competition was only about a year and a half ago. I competed in the Tactical Strength Competition, which is held world wide at different gyms across the planet. On April 4, I will be hosting a TSC at The Press Gym. I urge all my regular students to take part. I will tell you why.

For some people competition really brings out the best. They are energized by the competitive environment and they are allowed to shine. This is their opportunity to achieve Personal Records, and a cheering crowd is their reward.

For other people, like myself, competition is nerve wracking and unnatural. This is the opportunity to take part in another kind of training. As humans, we will all have an occasion where we need to be in the spotlight, whether it is by choice or not. If competition, public speaking, or having all eyes on you is a stressful event, learning how to control that stress is as important as physical fitness. Participating in a competition like the TSC is an excellent opportunity to learn how to combat the stress demon.

Both groups benefit a ton from competition. It give us a goal to work toward, and a record to beat. Check yourself, are you improving or coasting? Anyone can do well on a "good" day, but competition makes your numbers official. So join the fun! Here is the break down...

The Tactical Strength Competition consists of three events

• Deadlift, best of three attempts
• Pull-ups in a row (no kipping)
  
• Kettlebell Snatches done in 5 minutes.
  

I will be offering two special deadlifting and pull-up workshops. They will be on Friday March 13 and Friday March 27. The cost will be $15 for each.