Elite athletes understand the importance of nutrition for optimal performance. Food, drink, vitamins, and supplements are fuels that energize the body to train and compete. Of course, some food sources are better than others. If you feed the body junk, your body won’t perform efficiently or optimally. For example, I wouldn’t recommend an athlete to eat a bucket of fried chicken and drink several litres of Coke before a competition for obvious reasons.
Have you ever found yourself thinking: “I’ll never get to do that.” “I can’t achieve this feat.” “I feel like a fraud. What if I mess it up?” If so, you’re not alone. We all have an inner voice that doesn’t always have the best intentions. Regardless of who you are, where you come from, or what goals you aspire to achieve, your inner critic will have a few things to say. The question is, can we do anything about it?
It’s no secret that gut health matters for longevity and quality of life. According to data, 70 to 80 percent of the body’s immune system resides in the gut. Further, the gut communicates with the brain through nerves and hormones, allowing us to maintain good health and feel well. A strong gut is also necessary for optimal food digestion and reduces the risk of conditions like acid reflux, Celiac disease, and more.
Snacking… is it a good thing, is it a bad thing?! There is a perfectly valid reason as to why you are so confused because the media makes it unbelievably confusing! “Avoid Snacking” “Snacking between meals isn’t good for you”… but then your hunger hormones are all over the place and you are suddenly craving the whole packet of biscuits and the share bag of chocolate that’s staring at you in the supermarket!!
“You’re not that good.” “You probably won’t be able to accomplish your goal.” “There is no way you can beat that team.” “You are too short…. Too slow… Not strong enough.” These are some of the negative comments spewed out by naysayers. A naysayer is a sceptic, criticizer, or pessimist that injects their unsolicited opinion about what others can and cannot accomplish. Naysayers specialize in creating doubt and are usually negative about EVERYTHING!
Most people focus on what they should do at the gym. While that is important for making progress and reaching milestones, you must also get familiar with things to avoid. Working out is relatively straightforward, but numerous errors can keep you stagnating and frustrated. Even worse, some mistakes can open up the doors for injuries that would keep you away from training for weeks, even months.
In recent years, the gut has received a lot of attention. Evidence has shown the critical role of the gut in maintaining overall good health in general. Evidence has shown that this is mainly due to the influence of the gut microbiota, which is the entire community of trillions of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi) found along the digestive tract.
Building lean muscle mass has health benefits that extend far beyond the aesthetic. Lean muscle boosts your metabolism—allowing you to burn more calories at rest—increases strength, reduces the risk of injury, helps combat obesity and disease, and contributes to strong bones.
Whether you want to advance your personal growth, become a better leader, do well in business, reach a new fitness level, improve your performance, or reach new heights in any aspect of life, you’ll need a coach. Coaches have more expertise, knowledge, and experience, so they can guide us and help us reach our goals without finding so many hurdles along the way.
In sports, paralysis by analysis is the state of overthinking or over-analyzing while competing. Of course, you need to take in information during a competition. However, too much data interferes with decision-making and taking quick, decisive action. At its worst, paralysis by analysis can lead to an athlete completely freezing under pressure.
Sports injuries are part of the game and on the rise, though statistics are unreliable due to the range in severity and unreported incidences. Injured athletes must manage their pain, discomfort, and rehab, but that’s only part of the battle. The physical component of being injured can be complex, but the mental challenges are much more daunting.
There may only be 20 Formula 1 drivers on track at any given time, but there are countless people behind the global racing spectacle. Michael Italiano holds the important position of a performance coach, tasked with putting drivers in the best physical and mental state possible to achieve success.
With more and more vegan and dairy-free options available, you may be led to believe that dairy is a poor food choice. However, we are going to bust that myth right here. Unless there is a specific reason for removing dairy, such as intolerance, dairy can be an extremely healthy addition to your diet.
Have you ever tried to improve your behaviours, only to give up a week or month later? For example, you would start eating better, eager to lose weight and improve your health. But before you know it, you’re disappointed and back to old behaviours.
This blog isn’t the first ‘Weights vs Cardio’ article on the internet, and it certainly won’t be the last. While a combination of strength and cardiovascular training can be ideal for an overall body transformation, I want to discuss why lifting weights should take precedence within our workout schedule.
Mindfulness might seem like a gimmick. These days, plenty of people use the term in different contexts, so it can be challenging to understand what it means or how it impacts us. But the fact is, mindfulness isn’t a gimmick. We simply need to understand it better. To that end, we’ve put together this piece for you.
How many times have you heard “Happy New Year” so far in 2023? As the new year revs up, people get excited about the prospect of a new beginning. But how many times does a new year bring you much of the same? The same degree of happiness, the same level of production, or the same level of accomplishment.
Starting his coaching career in Perth, Western Australia, Michael Italiano now resides in London, UK as a Formula 1 Performance Coach. Specialising in Strength and Conditioning, Michael’s elite-level coaching has risen him to the fitness industry’s forefront.
The visualization debate has been argued for years. Does it work? If so, how does it work? Elite, Olympic, and professional athletes have visualized performances for decades. However, just because successful athletes believe in visualization doesn’t prove its effectiveness. After all, in the 1920s, cyclists believed smoking cigarettes while racing opened up their lungs. Pretty crazy, huh?
Consistency is critical for building and maintaining fitness. What makes consistency easy? Convenience. Working out with our bodyweight is one of the most accommodating training methods. Our bodyweight is available to us regardless of time and place, all the while providing a challenging workout at any fitness level. And best of all, it’s free!
The holiday season is a time to relax and spend time with family. For many people, it is also the time to enjoy good food and not worry about calorie intake. Unfortunately, relaxing too much can lead to fat gain and erase some of the progress you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Between eggnog, Halloween candy, Christmas cookies, and Easter bunny chocolates, people often eat thousands of calories, mainly from sugar and unhealthy fats.
Would you rely on winning the EuroMillions Lottery jackpot for your retirement plan? Why work when you could just play the lottery and win £186M? Unfortunately, EuroMillions says the odds of correctly picking all seven numbers is one in 139,838,160. So, playing the lottery is not a sound retirement strategy because it relies on luck.
Reading and understanding the Label – It is very easy for me to say check the label before you purchase something but you need to be able to understand what to look out for on a nutrition label. Before diving into the nutritional value of the product, first, check the ingredients list. You want to avoid items with extensive ingredient lists and with a large number of additives and preservatives.
Affirmations are powerful tools to embed messages into your mind and body. Unfortunately, many times, the mental messages we send ourselves are negative, self-defeating, or self-destructive. You send yourself thousands of messages throughout the day, consciously and unconsciously. Those messages affirm or confirm a belief about yourself or your world.
Sports performance anxiety is not an uncommon experience. At one point or another, most athletes experience anxiety before or during a competitive event; however, many feel helpless to overcome it. Though you cannot prevent “nerves,” you can learn to manage your competitive anxiety. When you know you can manage or lessen anxiety, you will feel more confident about performing at your peak.
We all know that strength training is good for us. But have you ever stopped to think why? Sure, lifting weights improves our body composition and makes us more functional. But is that it, or is there more to it? Let’s go over eight fantastic reasons weight training is essential for your health, fitness, and vitality.
Successful and unsuccessful people often have the same goals. When asked, it’s doubtful that anyone would turn down financial success, good fitness, or more time spent with the family. Yet, some people persevere through hardship and achieve their goals, while others throw in the towel. But why is that? What makes some people successful and not others?
When asked, most people would prefer to discuss exciting things like the best exercises, intensity techniques, how to schedule their workouts, and similar. Rest and recovery often come as an afterthought, which is a huge mistake. But, as you’ll see in the following paragraphs, making your recovery a priority could be the one thing you need to accelerate your progress and reach your fitness goals.
We are all aware of the obvious strength training benefits: muscle growth and strength gain. But did you know that lifting weights a few times per week can set you up for success and long-lasting fulfilment? Most people coast through life, never realizing their full potential, not because of bad circumstances but because they lack initiative and never take action.
We can all agree that smartphones divide people like few other devices can. On the one hand, we have those who praise the smartphone, claiming it’s the best invention of our era. But, on the other hand, we also have the camp of people who ridicule the smartphone, claiming it does nothing more than turn us into zombies with no social lives.
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