Eat more healthy food! Lunch recipe to energize your day.

There’s not much better to energize a evening workout more than a quality lunch. The food you take in 3-5 hours before your workout is going to play a large part in how good your workout could be. These foods can affect your energy levels or even your testosterone levels just to name a few. Your workouts could be so much more if you get a good quality meal in a few hours before.
There are many good recipes you can find out there to give you the right nutrients. Here is a great recipe that I like to use for a good meal that will help your workout.

Gourmet Chicken Sandwich

This sandwich has a bistro style which delivers on a good taste. We will combine sweet Dijon mustard, rosemary, and a seasoned chicken all on a herbed foccacia.

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
ground pepper
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise (this ingredient is optional, the mayonnaise adds too much fat but I use it if Im bulking. If Im
on a cut diet, I leave it out)
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
8 slices focaccia bread

Instructions
1. Add pepper on one side of the chicken. Heal the oil in a large skillet then brown the minced garlic. After this you can add the chicken with the pepper side down. Saute the chicken for 12 to 15 minutes. Make sure the chicken is cooked through.
2. Combine mustard, rosemary, and mayonnaise(optional) in a small bowl. Mix together and spread across focaccia bread. Make a sandwich with two slices of bread and a peice of chicken. Then enjoy.

Nutritional Facts
Per serving (serves 4)
Calories: 523
Total Fat: 16g(with mayonnaise), 11g(without mayonnaise)
Carbohydrates: 58g
Fiber: 3.1g
Protein: 35g
Cholesterol: 71mg
Sodium: 827mg

This tasty sandwich will boost your workouts. You can find many more healthy nutritious recipes in Go Healthy Fitness’ FREE Newsletter. Just enter your email in the form to the top right of the screen.

Healthy chicken recipe, grilled lemon chicken!

It's grilling season. Chicken is a very popular and common food in many different countries of the world. Chicken is very healthy, nutritious and it is also relatively cheap. Chicken is also extremely versatile. You can prepare chicken using so many different cooking methods such as baking, grilling, broiling, and stir-frying. There are countless chicken recipes out there. You can find a healthy chicken recipe using the whole chicken, only the chicken breasts, tights or wings. Here is a nice and healthy chicken recipe filled with protein and quality fats you can try next time you decide to light up the charcoal.

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 lemon thinly sliced
1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives

Preperation

For dressing, whisk together lemon juice, vinegar, dill, basil, honey, mustard, pepper, and salt. Slowly whisk in oil.

Place chicken in a large resealable bag. Add 1/2 cup of dressing and half the lemon slices. Seal the bag and refrigerate for 2 hours. Keep the rest of the dressing.
Grill the chicken over a medium to hot charcoal for 5-6 minutes per side.
Place chicken on a platter and drizzle with the remaining dressing.

This healthy chicken recipe will make 6 servings and takes about 15 minutes. I suggest allowing it to marinade for up to 2 hours.

Nutritional Facts 347 calories, 44g protein, 7g carbohydrates, 15g fats (2g saturated)
If you're looking for more healthy recipes, you should check out Go Healthy Fitness. You can try a great meal with our strawberry recipes.

Enjoy the benefits of quality strawberry recipes

It's hard to find someone who doesn't enjoy good strawberry recipes. Making them taste so good must be mother nature's way of letting us know we should be eating them. If you've ever tried a strict and clean diet, you know any leeway you can get on eating a tasty snack, you will take. Strawberries are just the choice for that.

Packed with phenols and phytonutrients, these little guys bring many health benefits along with their great taste. They are also high in vitamin C, maganese, and fiber. Strawberries have been found to protect the heart, fight cancer, and help with inflammation. The anti-inflammatory properties of strawberry lessen the activity of an enzyme whose overactivty has been shown to contribute to unwanted inflammation. Strawberries also contain antioxidants which has shown to protect cell structure and prevent oxygen damage to the body's organs.

As a child, I know my parent's told me to eat my carrots to keep my eyes strong bright. Research published in the Archives of Ophthalmology showed eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk ofage-related macular degeneration, the primary cause of vision loss in old adults. This was compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

If you're going to be eating strawberries, they should only be purchased a few days prior to use. Choose berries that are firm, plump, free of mold, and which have a shiny, deep red color and attached green caps. When you pick strawberries, they do not ripen further. Avoid those that are dull in color or have green or yellow patches since they are likely to be sour and poor quality. Medium-sized strawberries are more flavorful than those that are larger. When finding strawberry recipes look at what is added to the fruit. You don't want to ruin the healthy part of the dish.

Here is a tasty dish from EatingWell.com you can try next time you're feeling like using some strawberries:

Green Salad with Strawberries & Goat Cheese Ingredients:
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or brown sugar
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
3 cups baby spinach
3 cups watercress, tough stems removed
2 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries 1/3 cup fresh chives, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecan
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

First, whisk maple syrup (or brown sugar), vinegar, oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add spinach, watercress, strawberries and chives; toss to coat. Divide the salad among 4 plates and top with pecans and goat cheese.

Nutritional Information:

Per serving: 215 calories; 17 g fat (3 g sat, 9 g mono); 4 mg cholesterol; 15 g carbohydrate; 5 g protein; 4 g fiber; 209 mg sodium; 454 mg potassium.

This is only one of many strawberry recipes out there. Enjoy this dish which as you can see will be great to help get in those healthy monosaturated fats.

If you are looking for more great healthy recipes, try Go Healthy Fitness' article on a healthy chicken recipe.

Strengthening Ankle Exercises

The ankle in comparison to the rest of the body is a very weak point. Ankle injuries are one of the most common mishaps to happen during any sporting event. Even everyday activities like walking up and down stairs threaten your poor ankles. You can prevent these injuries though. With strengthening ankle exercises you help decrease the risk of a twisted or sprained ankles.
Actively stretching your ankles helps reduce the risk as well. Just by bending your ankle in different directions and holding will loosen the ligaments and tendons allowing less damage on impact. Stretch the ankle side to side and front to back.

These strengthening ankle exercises will help build stronger ankles:

Jump Rope This basic strengthening ankle exercise with low impact is great for building the ankle and knee joints as well as build cardiovascular endurance.

Body Weight Calf Raise Hold onto a chair or table. Flex your calf muscle, raising yourself onto your toes. Hold this position for 5 seconds. Slowly lower yourself to start position and repeat this 10 times.

Toe Pulls While standing, roll back onto your heels. Keep your toes pulled back as far as you can and hold this position for 5 seconds. Repeat this 10 times.

The Alphabet This can be done anywhere, at work, at home while watching TV, or even at the dinner table. Use your foot to write the alphabet in the air. Finish the whole alphabet and repeat with the other foot.

These exercises are both great for preventing ankle injury as well as recovering from one. Of course, take it at your own pace if you are suffering from an ankle injury.
To help increase ankle strength, there are a few pieces of equipment that come in handy. Exercise bands are great to add resistance to your light weight ankle exercises. The bosu ball comes in handy when wanting to improve balance and ankle stability.

Looking for more injury prevention exercises? Check out Go Healthy Fitness' article on a back pain cure.

Want those rocking ladies legs?

Are you wanting to get those hot ladies legs? With it almost being swimsuit season, it might be time to do a killer leg routine to get them ready. Throw this leg day into your routine for the next 6-8 weeks to walk with confidence.

Box Jumps

Start out with the box jumps to help your legs get warmed up. Perform 5 sets of 20. Keep the box height to right below knee level.

Elevated Reverse Lunges

For these reverse lunges, keep your box around 6 inches high. Start on top of the box and step backwards, lowering your knee as far as you can. Really stretch those hip flexors. Do 3 sets of 12. If you can, use dumbbells.

Body Weight Squats

Looks easy enough, right? Well don't be to happy yet. We are going to do something called Tabata Squats. Do the squats and in control. Perform 20 reps as quick as you can, rest 10 seconds and repeat. I want you to do this 3 times, so you will be doing 60 reps per set. Complete 3 sets and expect to transform your lower body into hot ladies legs.

Stiff Leg Deadlifts

This exercise is a form exercise. Keep your back straight, shoulders back, and head up. On the contracting movement, focus on pulling with your hamstring and butt. Do 3 sets of 12.

Calf Jumps No video for this one yet. It's a simple exercise though. With your feet side by side, jump as high as you can only using your calves. Don't allow your legs to bend other than on impact of landing. As soon as you hit the ground, explode back upward as high as you can. Perform 3 sets of 25. Finish it off with a set of quick explosive calf jumps, only coming off the ground a half inch. Something like a boxer does when jumping rope quickly. Do this for 30-60 seconds.

Give this workout a try for a while and watch those ladies legs shape up.

Combine this routine and some healthy foods to eat and you will see results in no time. You can find more nutrition and fitness articles from my blog, Go Healthy Fitness

Bad effects of energy drinks.

Everyday in your local gym you will find energy drinks being sold. These drinks are known to give the consumer an energy boost and help prolong a workout. Recent research has shown the effects of energy drinks may be worse than we have thought.

An Australian medical team did a study using 30 young adults. The experiment was designed to test the effects of stimulant drinks on a human's blood system. The subject's blood was tested before given 1 can of sugar free Red Bull. One hour later, they tested the blood again.

One of the researchers, Scott Willoughby, said "One hour after they drank Red Bull, their blood systems were no longer normal. They were abnormal like we would expect to see in a patient with cardiovascular disease?" Does this sound like a good effect of energy drinks? No way. Willoughby believes if you have high blood pressure or are under a lot of stress, the drink could be life threatening. Other studies have shown it increasing heart rate and blood pressure, which is a common effect of caffeine.

This isn't the first time stimulant drinks have been linked to health troubles. These drinks are banned in Norway, Uruguay, and Denmark. An Irish student drank 3 cans of Red Bull after strenuous exercise and died. After 3 more people died in Sweden in 2001 who drank it with alcohol, the product was under review. BBC Northern Ireland released a report about recommendations when consuming a stimulant drink. This report was created by the Food Safety Protection Board (FSPB).

The report recommends:

Children under the age of 16 should not be allowed these beverages

Take caution when combining stimulant drinks and alcohol

They should not be consumed during exercise or a sporting event

They should be classified with other beverages of high caffeine content

Next time you are looking for an energy booster, think about what you're doing to your body. Good substitutes for stimulant drinks are green tea or ginseng.

If your trying to get the motivation to lose weight, don't rely on energy drinks. It all depends on proper nutrition and exercise. You can read more fitness and nutrition articles at Go Healthy Fitness.

Rotator Cuff Anatamy explained

I thought I should do a short article of what exactly is the rotator cuff anatomy. Hopefully this will help people understand how to prevent common injuries to the shoulder.

There are four points in the shoulder where bone meets bone. Two of these cause most of the problems with exercisers. The A/C joint and the gleno-humeral joint..

A/C Joint
The A/C joint is where the shoulder blade meets the collarbone. These two bones are held together by only a ligament. With too much pressure or a large impact, you can stretch or tear this ligament allowing the bones to seperate. This is what happens when someone separates their shoulder.

Gleno-humeral Join
The Gleno-humeral joint on the other hand is where the shoulder blade meets the arm bone, the humerus. This joint is what most people think about when they think of the shoulder. It includes the glenoid fossa which is the depression into which the ball of the upper arm bone fits. This is a ball and socket joint. The muscles and tendons in this area are what keep the bones in the correct position.

There are many muscles that cause movement of the shoulder and make up the rotator cuff anatomy. Most of these muscles are responsible for more than one movement. An example of this is the bicep. It is used for flexing the arm, but it also assists in raising the arm forward. Other muscles involved in shoulder movements include the shoulders(duh), chest, triceps, and the lats.

To prevent injury or perform rotator cuff therapy, try my small exercise routine. You can find more exercise and nutrition tips at my blog, Go Healthy Fitness.