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Whether you’re an athlete, exercise enthusiast or looking to get back into shape, it’s important to focus on some of the key muscles that make up your posterior chain. Comprised of your lower back, glutes, hamstrings and calves, your posterior chain can be categorized as the powerhouse that helps make your body move.

You’ll quickly discover that your gluteus muscles make up a significant portion of your posterior chain and for this reason it deserves our undivided attention when working out. Broken into three different categories, your Glutes include muscles known as the Maximus, Medius and Minimus. While each muscle has a distinct role, they all work together to accomplish a lot when it comes to body movement.

When examining the strength of your glutes, it can be easy to measure your progress based on your pant size or the reflection you see in the mirror. While it can be tempting to get caught up in the aesthetics, it’s important to recognize that having strong glutes has many benefits and can help improve hip functionality, prevent injuries, support fat loss and enhance overall athletic performance.

Due to the size and interconnectedness of your glutes, strengthening this group of muscles aids in stabilizing your pelvis and hip joints and can help minimize the amount of pressure placed on your knees ankles, and lower back. What’s more, by working your glutes, you’re simultaneously engaging your core and inevitabilty sneaking in an ab workout.

When considering the energy output that is required when building your glute muscles, you’ll be delighted to know that you’re also helping boost your resting metabolism – so your body will end up burning more calories.

When it comes to athletic performance, strong glutes are pinnacle for acceleration, changing directions, explosive jumping and deceleration. While different athletes must train to the demands of their sport, you’ll find that having strong glutes is a high priority no matter your craft.

Now that we understand the importance of this muscle group – it’s time to get to work! Check out these three equipment-free glute workouts that you can do no matter your location.

Sweat it out and be sure to let us know how it goes.

– David Freeman, National Brand Manager for Alpha 

This article is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations in this and other articles is at the choice and risk of the reader.

It’s December – which means the holidays are officially kicking into high gear (although I’ve secretly had my tree up since before Thanksgiving). And with the holidays comes tons of fun activities – cheerful reunions and extra time with loved ones, feelings of nostalgia, twinkling lights, and my favorite – lighting those winter-scented candles on a cold night.

But for many of us, the holidays also signal an uptick in stress – from time constraints, to tight wallets and the stress of finding the perfect gift (and wrapping it!), to trying to navigate the increase in unhealthy foods in every direction. I think we can all agree we’ve got a few more things on our to-do lists this time of the year than normal.

So let’s kill two birds with one stone with these healthy cookie recipes. They are all whole-food based and gluten-free, and take less than 30 minutes to whip up – so you can partake in the festivities while sticking to your goals and still have plenty of time left to wrap that last-minute present you picked up on your way house. 

Almond Flour Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup Almond flour

• 1 ½ Tbsp. butter, melted

• 2 Tbsp. applesauce

• 1 Tbsp. chia seeds

• ¼ cup maple syrup

• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon

• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

• Pinch sea salt

• Pinch baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Cut parchment paper to size on a small-medium sized cookie sheet.

2. Combine dry ingredients (flour, chia seeds, cinnamon, sea salt and baking soda) in a medium mixing bowl and stir to combine.

3. In a small mixing bowl, add butter and maple syrup. Heat in the microwave in 15 second increments until butter is melted and maple syrup is runny.

4. Add wet ingredients to the medium mixing bowl, along with the applesauce and vanilla extract. Knead with your hands until the mixture forms a sticky dough.

5. Scoop mixture into 1 inch balls and place on parchment paper, then flatten until about ¼ inch thick. You should have enough dough to make about 10 balls.

6. Place cookies in the oven and bake for 15-18 minute. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Makes 10 Servings | Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 20 min

Nutritional Info | Calories: 70 | Protein: 1 | Fat: 3 | Carbs: 8 | Sugar: 5 | Fiber: 1g

No-Bake Coconut Bites

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ cups shredded unsweetened coconut

• 5 dates

• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil

• 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Line a small cutting board with wax or parchment paper.

2. Combine coconut, dates and coconut oil in a food processor until slightly sticky, about 3 minutes.

3. Using a tablespoon, press the mixture into the spoon to shape into 12 equal-sized bites. Gently slide out of spoon and place on parchment paper.

4. If you prefer Mounds bars, leave as is. If you prefer Almond Joys, press one almond in the center of each coconut mound.

5. Freeze for 15 minutes.

6. While the bars are firming up, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave (20 seconds at a time to prevent burning).

7. Dip the coconut mixture into the chocolate to top them. Pop them back in the freezer for another 10 minutes to firm up.

 

Makes 12 Servings | Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 25 min

Nutritional Info | Calories: 125 | Protein: 1 | Fat: 8 | Carbs: 11 | Sugar: 9 | Fiber: 2

 

Nut Butter Buckeyes

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups nutbutter of choice (almond, peanut, cashew, sunflower seed, etc.)

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1 tsp. almond extract

• 2 scoops (1 serving) Vanilla VeganMax Protein Powder

• 1/8 cup dark chocolate

• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine almond butter and extract(s) in a small bowl. Add in protein powder, and mix well together. Place mixture in the freezer for 20 minutes.

2. Remove mixture from freezer and form into tablespoon-sized balls. Place the sunflower butter balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place back into freezer for about 1 hour or until hardened.

3. Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a saucepan over the stove. Using a double boiler or microwave is fine as well.

4. Remove the sunflower butter balls from the freezer. With a toothpick, dip the balls into the chocolate mixture. Use only one coat, and cover about ¾ of each ball. Repeat with each ball, and place each one back onto the parchment lined baking sheet.

5. Place baking sheet back into the freezer for about an hour to allow chocolate shell to harden completely.

6. Store in refrigerator or freezer. Serve chilled.

 

Makes 15 Servings | Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 5 minutes

Nutritional Info | Calories: 190 | Protein: 7 | Fat: 16 | Carbs: 8 | Sugar: 3 | Fiber: 2 

Written by Flourish Staff

This article is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations in this and other articles is at the choice and risk of the reader. 

Over the past 15 years, I’ve had my fair share of clients who get frustrated or hit plateaus with their exercise routine. What I’ve learned in this situation is that most of my clients weren’t overtraining, but rather they were under-recovering. While they were putting in the hard work and long (sweaty) hours, they weren’t putting in the intentional time to unplug and recover! And why would they? It’s not considered the fun or sexy part of exercising and it may not give you an endorphin rush like a good workout. However, it may give you better results.  

Believe it or not, my clients with weight-loss goals actually lose weight when they take a few days off to let their body recover. It’s all about balancing stress (from workouts) with the appropriate amount of recovery. It’s also important to understand that the volume of the stress of the workout dictates the volume of recovery necessary. Simply put, you can’t have one without the other. 

If you aren’t getting the workout results you’ve wanted, consider trying these simple techniques that will help optimize your recovery.

Rest Appropriately

• The majority or the body’s recovery takes place during effective sleep. No nutrition plan, supplement or fitness device will be able to replace the body’s natural means to restore homeostasis. During sleep there are hormones that are elevated while others are suppressed; all collaborating to create a perfect recovery cocktail. Just like a workout, it’s not just about showing up and getting “credit.” Think of it like a workout, using volume and intensity.  You need the right about of volume (hours of sleep) and intensity (quality of sleep). Sleep supports the muscles and brain significantly in their ability to recover and function optimally. Check out some of the common mistakes (and solutions to help) you might be making in your matress time routine here. The key is to focus on the quality and to do so it’s all about preparation. What’s your environment like? Is it conducive to good sleep (noise, temperature, light, distractions, etc.)? 

Increase Circulation

• Have you ever been really sore from a tough leg workout or a long run? Sometimes it seems like the last thing you want to do the next day is get up and workout. If you’re thatsore, you probably shouldn’t go and stress your body out with another strenuous workout. However, the reality is that movement can actually be the best thing for you! By moving more you’re helping increase circulation and mobilizing fluids in your body. You’re sending oxygen-rich red blood cells in and telling the metabolic waste to move on out. For clients who have soreness, I encourage them to walk, jog, foam roll, stretch and sauna. All of these low-intensity activities will help increase circulation and promote metabolic recovery. 

• There are also a few tools to help with increasing circulation. You might use a foam roller with vibration built into it (like the Vyperor Hypersphere). The pressure and friction that it creates helps break up tissue, while the vibration can dramatically increase blood flow and help promote recovery and decreased soreness. A massage device like the Hypervolt can target specific areas of the body that need the attention to help break up tissue while localizing a ton of nice circulation. Another nice recovery tool is the Normatec system. This technology was designed to help decrease soreness and downtime and to create an optimal recovery environment. Specific compression technology works to help move waste fluids out, and good fluids in. These tools all played a huge role in my recovery from a recent knee surgery. 

Nourish/Replenish Nutrients

• One way to have your nutrition help speed up your recovery is to avoid foods and drinks that may cause more stress or inflammation. When you exercise, you are typically sweating and losing water along with a few other nutrients. Dehydration is a stress that can slow down the body’s recovery process, so be sure to drink plenty of water. If you’re strength training (and everyone should be!), you certainly want to ensure that you’re consuming enough protein to help with repairing your muscles. We don’t have protein storage like we do for fats and carbohydrates, so it’s important that we can replenish protein at the best times (think post-workout for easily digested protein and 45-60+ minutes after workout for whole food protein since it takes longer to digest). In addition, there are some supplements that can help promote recovery by putting a few things together like a BCAA recovery drink. In addition to the key amino acids, they should also contain other key ingredients to help support your recovery strategy.

The most important recovery technique that you can incorporate into your routine is to give it as much time and energy as you do your workouts. It’s just as important as your workout, maybe more. By doing so, you’ll feel better and give yourself the best chance at optimal results! 

Written by Mitchell Keyes – Life Time Training, NASM-CES, NASM-PES, RTS-123, MAT Graduate 

This article is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations in this and other articles is at the choice and risk of the reader.