Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
Glute activation is waking up your glutes. It makes the connection from your brain to your muscle and gets the muscle fired up and ready to do some work.
Glute activation should be done prior to your workout, but it can also be done as an active rest between sets. And trust me when I say that doing some glute activation prior to your squats, lunges, and deadlifts will result in an excellent glute workout!
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
So, you signed up with the latest cool app that claims to deliver personalized workouts and promises results. You have been diligently following along for two months but are growing bored and skeptical because you do not see the expected results.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
How is strength defined and who defines it? Kinesiologists study muscles and have various ways to gauge muscle contraction, length, tension, and force. Therefore, kinesiologists typically measure strength by these primary factors and neglect individual variations of strength as a subjective concept.
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Every home cook should have a no-fail recipe for oven-roasted chicken, one you can count on to always deliver golden skin and juicy, flavorful meat. A whole chicken provides the basis for a great soup, protein for your salads, a main ingredient for lettuce-wrapped sandwiches, or a delicious main course on its own. If you cook your chicken spatchcock style, it will cook much faster and more evenly than it would if you left it whole.
Here’s how to make an incredible roasted chicken in the oven, every time.
Spatchcock your chicken by removing the backbone with a boning knife or kitchen shears, or ask your butcher to do it for you. Gently press the breasts down to flatten the chicken.
Season your chicken on all sides with salt and pepper. Don’t be shy with the salt, it will help your skin crisp up. If you have time, you can place your chicken on a pan with a rack and place it in the fridge uncovered overnight before cooking. This will help give you extra crispy skin. Otherwise, preheat your oven to 415 degrees.
Cut the butter into 3 pieces. Wrap 2-3 pieces of sage around the tablespoon of butter. Carefully loosen the skin covering each breast to make a pouch between the meat and skin. Place the sage and butter packet under the skin. Repeat with the other breast.
Place your chicken in a braising pan, stainless pan, or other oven-safe baking dish. Surround the chicken with butter, chopped onion, and a few more pieces of sage.
Place the chicken in the oven undisturbed for about 50-60 minutes. At that time, check the temperature with a meat thermometer at the thickest part of the breast and thigh. Once the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit, remove the the chicken from the oven. If the chicken hasn’t reached the proper temperature yet, place the pan back in the oven until it does.
Allow the chicken to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with your favorite salad or side dish. Leftovers are delicious in chicken salads, stews, or on top of salads.
Prep Time: 10 Cook Time: 60 Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes 
Yield: 6 servings Roasted spatchcock chicken recipe cooked in an oven.
1 3.5-4.5 lb. chicken
Salt and pepper
Small bunch of sage leaves
3 tbsp. Butter
½ roughly chopped onion
Spatchcock your chicken by removing the backbone with a boning knife, or ask your butcher to do it for you. Gently press the breasts down to flatten the chicken.
Season your chicken on all sides with salt and pepper. Be pretty liberal with the salt. If you have time, you can place your chicken on a pan with a rack and place it in the fridge uncovered overnight before cooking. This will help give you extra crispy skin. Otherwise, preheat your oven to 415 degrees.
Cut the butter into 3 pieces. Wrap 2-3 pieces of sage around the tablespoon of butter. Carefully loosen the skin covering each breast to make a pouch between the meat and skin. Place the sage and butter packet under the skin. Repeat with the other breast.
Place your chicken in a braising pan, stainless pan, or other oven-safe baking dish. Surround the chicken with the butter, chopped onion, and a few more pieces of sage.
Place the chicken in the oven undisturbed for about 50-60 minutes. At that time, check the temperature with a meat thermometer at the thickest part of the breast and thigh. Once the chicken reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit, remove the the chicken from the oven. If the chicken hasn’t reached the proper temperature yet, place the pan back in the oven until it does.
Allow the chicken to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with your favorite salad or side dish. Leftovers are delicious in chicken salads, stews, or on top of salads.
Category: Lunch, Dinner
Method: Baking
Cuisine: AmericanKeywords: chicken in the oven, spatchcock chicken, roasted chicken
Time in the oven depends on the size of your chicken and the temperature of your oven. At 475 degrees F, a 3.5-4.5 lb chicken will take 50-60 minutes to cook through.
Roasting a bird in a 475 ºF (246 ºC) or 500 ºF (260 ºC) oven might seem crazy (and will create a little bit of smoke) but the results are reliably stunning. You’ll end up with crisp skin and moist meat. Roasting at lower temperatures just prolongs the cooking process, making dry or even undercooked meat more likely.
For roasting in high temperatures, use a cooking oil with a high smoke point, like avocado oil.
No matter what size of bird you have, salting a chicken in advance will make the meat (especially the white meat) more flavorful and tender. Ideally, salt the chicken 24 hours ahead of time, but even a few hours can make a difference. As a general guideline, use 1/2 (2.5 ml) to 3/4 teaspoon (4 ml) of kosher salt per pound. Don’t rub the salt directly onto the meat; only rub it on the skin and sprinkle some in the cavity. For extra flavor, add any of your favorite spices to the salt mix and/or tuck fresh herbs under the skin.
Smaller chickens – those weighing 4 1/2 pounds (2 kg) or less – cook fast and evenly, resulting in juicy meat. However, if you get stuck with a big chicken, pre-seasoning can help.
The first rule of cooking chicken is, dry skin equals crispy skin. Water is the enemy of crackling chicken skin.
According to the USDA, there is no need to rinse a chicken before cooking it. But, if the idea of an unwashed chicken makes you uneasy, give it a rinse and pat it dry thoroughly with paper towels. Consider keeping the chicken uncovered in a refrigerator overnight (after salting it) which helps dry the skin further, then pat the bird dry again before putting it in the oven.
According to the USDA, all chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Don’t guess. Use a meat thermometer and insert it into the thigh. You’ll always pull the bird out at the right time if you know exactly what the temperature is.
The post Perfect Spatchcock Whole Chicken Roasted in the Oven appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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Research of the Week
Older dancers have superior gait and balance. Great way for seniors to “train.”
Having elevated blood sugar levels “reprogram” your stem cells to increase your risk of atherosclerosis.
A piece of chocolate for breakfast is better for fighting jet lag than the same piece of chocolate at night.
Muscle relaxants don’t work that well and confer a risk of side effects.
Animal protein beats plant protein.
Episode 507: Marc Allen: Host Elle Russ chats with Marc Allen, renowned author, speaker, composer, and publisher.
Health Coach Radio: Tania Shah demystifies legal issues for health coaches.
Drug ODs spiked during the pandemic lockdowns.
I want to cook on this.
It might be better to eat protein for breakfast.
Dogs with a genetic mutation show what thiamine deficiency can do.
Cool anti-stress technique: The “double-sigh.”
Interesting older paper: Could Ancient Rome’s plunging birth rate be explained by too many hot baths?
Guess it depends on where you’re starting: Waking up an hour early linked to lower depression risk.
Interesting study: Cocoa for better vision.
New podcast: Featuring Gary Taubes.
Even though I tend to prefer low-tech options, this brain implant that allows you to turn thoughts into text could be very useful—not just for disabled people but for writers. Imagine walking through the forest “writing” as you go. I would be wary, however, of installing anything in my brain, particularly some bluetooth/wifi-enabled device. Would you use something like this?
One year ago (Jul 10 – Jul 16)
“One of the great travesties of modern America is the fact that we can no longer eat ruminant brain.
Every time I get a white-tail, I would love nothing more than to fry up that grey matter and serve it with a nice Chianti (not a big fan of fava beans). Yet, the dangers of mad cow far outweigh the benefits of eating brain. According to my own personal calculus, at least.
I settle for backstrap in a venison bordelaise.”
-Really is a shame, but that’s a good compromise.
The post New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 138 appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
If you have been benching 100-lb dumbbells like it was no big deal, obviously you are not a celebrity or a potential goldmine of search engine optimized websites. But, snark aside, we salute Clifford Smith Jr., aka Method Man, a member of the collective known as Wu-Tang Clan, the guy who played Cheese in The Wire, who starred in the movie How High, because he is now a bona fide fitfluencer.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
“Unless we keep the barbarian virtues, gaining the civilized ones will be of little avail.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
In 1914, World War 1 began. The glorious war that was to be over by Christmas turned into the bloodiest four years the world had ever seen (up until then, anyway).
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Summer parties, BBQs, a few adult beverages. Heck, it’s been forever since you’ve had a little fun — and this past year has been rough — so why not indulge? Why not pile on the treat foods and keep the sangria flowing? While you’re at it, go ahead and stay up way too late. There’s plenty of time to catch up on sleep later.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a hedonist at heart. I believe humans are driven by the pursuit of pleasure. The problem arises when we indulge mindlessly because we believe we deserve it and because it’s been 16 months since we’ve had the opportunity to let our hair down and interact with other human beings within a six-foot radius. Or, on the flip side, are so out of touch with our bodies’ sensations that even simple things like fatigue and hunger become totally overwhelming and unmanageable.
As a health coach, I’ve worked with hundreds of uber-disciplined, well-educated folks who have their macros completely dialed in, yet struggle to see results, as well as those who restrict like nobody’s business during the week or follow the health-fad-du-jour, then give in to a whole weekend’s worth of junk food (and all the guilt, shame, and judgement that comes with it). It’s one of the reasons I’ve become a staunch anti-diet advocate. And why I’m passionate about helping people re-learn how to listen to their bodies.
Everything about our culture encourages us to tune out our bodies’ signs, from advertising that insists we don’t need to put up with headaches, allergies, or indigestion to the glorification of cheat days, pushing through the pain of overexercising, abandoning our own gut feelings for the professional opinion of a healthcare provider, and convincing ourselves that we “might just be thirsty” when we feel hunger come on.
Our ancestors knew how to tune into those signals — they knew how important they were to their survival. And you do too, you’ve just been trained to dismiss the psychological effects of stress, the physiological effects of hunger, and the constant fatigue of sub-optimal sleep. Maybe you’ve ignored these signs for so long you don’t even remember what they feel like. If so, here’s a quick reminder…
Examples of ignoring your body:
Examples of listening to your body:
Your body is constantly giving you signs about your health. Like I mentioned, it’s not your fault that you’ve been trained to tune it out. It is, however, within your power to start tuning in.
Stuffy nose and dry eyes? Brain fog and bloating? Chronically sore muscles? Raging hunger? They’re all signs. Your job is to, at the very least, acknowledge them. And if you’re so inclined, do something about them. Your body is politely trying to get your attention. Start giving it the respect it deserves, and who knows, you might find that your anxiety mellows out, rest days make a more regular appearance, and your hanger-levels taper off.
Even the rheumatoid arthritis patients in this study noticed a difference when they started using techniques to tune into their symptoms. Researchers evaluated the day-to-day pain and stress-related symptoms of 143 participants using three methods: cognitive-behavioural therapy, mindful awareness, and education. After 30 consecutive days assessing their pain, fatigue, perceived control, and anxiety, the group using mindful awareness techniques, including journaling, reported fewer symptoms than those in the other two groups.
If you’ve spent a lifetime ignoring your body’s signs — or completely overreacting to them, it can be a hard habit to break. But teaching yourself to tune back in is possible. Here are five strategies I use with my own clients so that they can finally stop micromanaging, second-guessing, and overthinking, and really start listening to (and loving) themselves.
Diet culture may have taught you to ignore or micromanage your body’s signs, but you can learn to listen, trust, and respect your body again. Things like hunger, fatigue, stress, and soreness are trying to get your attention for a reason. Start tuning in and see what happens.
What about you? How do you deal with listening to or ignoring your body’s cues?
The post Learn to Listen to Your Body Again appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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The craziest thing happened to me once on a hike. It was a decent one—about 8 miles roundtrip, with plenty of elevation gain. I went up just fine, even picking up random logs and rocks to carry along the way to add to the experience (and intensity). But on the descent, about a mile in, my left quad started cramping. I changed how I walked, I took rests, I walked more slowly, I tried placing more emphasis on my hips and glutes, but nothing worked. The cramp was overwhelming and getting worse by the minute.
So I took my shoes off. When I say shoes, I mean my Vibram Fivefingers. If you don’t know, these are ultra-minimalist footwear with individual slots for each toe. They allow your toes to spread and your feet to feel the ground and everything on it. They’re about as “barefoot” as you can get without actually being barefoot. And yet, when I took my shoes off and put bare foot to ground, the cramp subsided. Within a minute, it was gone, never to return. I flew down the mountain, feeling faster, fresher, and lighter than ever. The fact that I was already in Vibram Fivefingers, which approximate the biomechanics of the barefoot experience about as well as anything out there, suggests that there was something else going on. It suggests there is something very special about being barefoot.
I have long advocated going barefoot as much as possible. I’ve written post after post on the topic. The simple fact is that the stiff shoes with pronounced heels and thick soles that don’t let you feel anything underneath you we wear today are evolutionary aberrations. They are totally novel inputs that our bodies haven’t adapted to. Barefoot is how we’re born and, for tens of thousands, how we spent our days. You aren’t weird for going barefoot. Everyone else is weird—on an evolutionary timescale—for wearing thick shoes.
For my money, it’s also the best way to train. Barefoot workouts provide a host of benefits:
Proprioception is our subconscious bodily awareness of our place in space. Proprioception allows us to move along a narrow path without touching the poison oak that threatens both flanks. It’s how we know where we are, where our body parts are and how they interact with our immediate surroundings. Someone with good proprioception will be able to move fluidly through the world and make the micro-adjustments necessary to avoid injuries and perform at a higher level.
Proprioception depends on sensory data coming in from all angles. We don’t consciously interpret it; our brains accept incoming info from nerves and eyes and other sensory organs, then interpret the data and relay relay that information to our periphery. It all happens in a blink of an eye. And we can handle a lot of data, so the more data, the better.
Removing your shoes and going barefoot provides another layer of proprioceptive information for our brains to process and utilize. The foot is covered with nerve endings—thousands of them—which can learn about the foot’s place on the ground, the texture of the ground, the slope, the slipperiness, as well as the condition of our musculature in the foot. All that data can make our proprioceptive awareness better. In fact, if you’re not barefoot, you’re cutting off an entire line of information.
Now, balancing. might feel harder at first because you actually have to activate the muscles in your feet and lower legs. Balancing on bare feet is different from balancing in a shoe. The shoe gives a little “shelf” on which to sit. And if you’ve been wearing shoes all your life, balancing in bare feet might feel weird. Many people find that balancing on bare feet makes your lower legs incredibly tired. Your calves, your ankles, your anterior tibialis all must work to keep you upright and balanced. You may be sore the next day. You may feel the burn right away.
But here’s the thing: This is training. It being hard is the entire point. Balancing becomes a whole body exercise, and, like all other exercises, eventually it stops feeling so hard and starts feeling much easier—which means you’re getting stronger. So just push through the discomfort and know that you’re progressing.
Barefoot balance transfers over to shod balance. Shod balance does not transfer as well to barefoot balance.
The foot contains dozens of muscles, most of which lie dormant inside shoes. They go slack, they get weak, they aren’t engaged, just like your arm atrophies when you wear a cast for a month. Lifting in a shoe is fine but you’re leaving a lot of potential on the table. Now, this isn’t about hypertrophy of the foot muscles. Don’t expect visible “gains” down there. But you can expect a stronger, more resilient foot that can handle long walks or even runs with regular barefoot exercise. You can also expect fewer foot problems, like plantar fasciitis, provided you ease into your barefoot workouts and don’t go too hard, too quickly.
There was an older study, done 20-30 years ago that looked at the optimal way to tape ankles for ankle stability in athletes. It had an ankle taping group and a high top group, and then there was the control group. The control group was used as the ideal. The optimum. The baseline for ankle stability. Could the ankle tape or the high tops compare to the industry standard?
The industry standard was, of course, bare feet. No shoes at all turned out to be the most stable of all. But, see, the researchers assumed that everyone has to wear shoes of some sort. Right? I mean, you can’t possibly exercise or exert yourself without foot protection.
Ha.
Even recently, a study found that barefoot athletes had the best ankle stability of all athletes. There’s simply no comparison.1
Planting bare feet to earth connects you to something deeper and larger than yourself. Something older. I don’t care if this sounds hokey to you. It’s true.
Wearing the fancy sneakers in the air conditioned gym with CNN playing on the TV and top 40 hits on the speakers can’t compare. Not even if it’s a hardcore place with iron clanging and bumper plates dropping and chalk dust clouds in the air and horsemats on the ground does the gym experience compare with planting foot to raw earth. Fusing with the source of all life, going back to the place where we all began. You can go home again if you just take off your shoes and move through space and time with great intent and precision.
You’ll feel it if you try it. And guess what: there’s even a study for this.2
10 experienced lifters deadlifted for 4 sets of 4 reps in both shod and unshod conditions. Although being barefoot made no difference when it came to some of the performance measures, barefoot lifting did improve the rate of force development. The difference wasn’t massive, but it was there. Barefoot lifters were able to develop more force more quickly than when they were wearing shoes, suggesting that there is a “disconnect” between the shod foot and the ground that must be surmounted before force can develop. Barefoot lifters didn’t have that disconnect; they were connected from the get-go.
This is still a theoretical effect, but proponents of the “grounding theory” say that connecting to the earth with bare feet (or through leather/animal skins/any other conductive material) helps fight inflammation by allowing our bodies to absorb electrons from the earth. Researchers in Poland conceptualize grounding as a “universal regulating factor in Nature,” the “normal” baseline condition of life on earth—connection to the ground and its supply of electrons—from which prolonged separation allows disease to manifest.
I’m not sure of all that. It sounds nice, and it sounds somewhat plausible in a wild, New Agey kind of way. But my experience on the hike with the cramps makes me give more credence to it. Maybe it’s not “grounding.” Maybe there’s something else going on. All I know is what happened to me was quite remarkable.
Barefoot workouts are one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. They make exercise feel more real. They make exercise safer and more effective. And they make exercise more of a way to connect with your surroundings, the world, the universe, and your place in it all.
Do you workout in bare feet? What’s your favorite part of barefoot workouts?
Let me know down below, and thanks for reading!
The post The Incredible Benefits of Barefoot Workouts appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
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