Organic Chicken...Really?

I eat a lot of chicken. At first, I bought organic chicken because “everyone” told me it was better for me and I just assumed “they knew.” Then, as I studied to become a nutrition consultant, I learned why it was better.  Recently, I found an even more compelling reason to eat only organic chicken:

Contaminated Chicken

The New York Times recently reported that two new studies suggest farmers may be feeding chickens with feed laced with drugs like Tylenol, Prozac, Benadryl and antibiotics.  Are the groups making these claims, attempting to create hysteria surrounding commercially raised chickens to further an agenda on behalf of organic poultry growers or is there something to this?  Is it true? If so, why is this happening?
 
Two new studies by Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of

Concrete Gymnastics

Gymnastics performed on concrete in urban jungles. No, you did not misread that.  What you just read was a description of a non-competitive French extreme sport called parkour, also known as “free running” and it is beginning to take hold here in the U.S. as well.

Originating in the suburbs of Paris, the word parkour has its roots in the word “route” and its practitioners are known as "traceurs" who trace the route…of Parkour founder David Belle.

Asked for their definition of parkour, American Parkour participants felt a need to ask the entire national community for their personal definition of the sport. The final version, by a committee of American Parkour employees and also by people outside of American Parkour, was truly a community effort (this sport really takes things seriously!):

“Parkour is the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment.” Below you’ll find an even more detailed description of what Parkour is-and is not.

Father’s Day Fitness

Since you won’t be getting your Dad a tie for Father’s Day, what will you get him? Dads are tough to buy for.  Beer-of-the-month club is also out of the question (too many carbs.)  Argyle sweater?  Go ahead; I dare you!

So what are some good Father’s Day gift ideas for a Dad that works out?  Here are 5 ideas that might help.  But you better hurry, you don’t have much shopping time left!

Demonbells- I wrote about these in a recent blog post.  They are the coolest thing ever!  If your dad is serious about training,

I Wish I Were...

Remember The Serenity Prayer?... “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to…”  AA or at least Al-Anon adopted this abbreviated (the entire prayer is actually about 14 lines long) version as their creed and I think it’s very powerful. I recently stumbled upon something that struck me as similar but it resonated with me more; probably, because it spoke so wisely of so many human strengths-and I’m all about strength:

 

I wish I were big enough honestly, to admit all my shortcomings;

brilliant enough to

Why Aren’t You Training with Kettlebells?

These are "demonbells" -aren't they cool!? www.demonbells.com

As you may already know, one of the keys to breaking through a fitness plateau often means approaching your workout from a fresh perspective.  What can you do differently to elicit a training response once again?  Over time, our bodies will attenuate (adapt) to any reasonable stress placed upon them-this is how we get stronger and fitter (if it doesn’t kill you…)  Thankfully, there are many strategies you can employ that will kick-start your metabolism, your muscle growth and the fire in your belly! 

 

Adjusting variables such as adhering to a stricter diet, manipulating training volume/ intensity and cross-training are all great ways to experiment with plateau busting.  Quite often, plateaus can come about simply through