Tasty Almond Flour Pancakes - Paleo Friendly!

Here is a great Paleo friendly version of pancakes for you to try out for a little sweet treat.

1 cup almond flour

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 Tbs dessicated coconut

2 eggs

1/4 cup water (consider soda water for slightly fluffier pancakes)

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp sea salt

coconut oil

fresh berries

Combine almond flour, applesauce, coconut flour, eggs, water, nut meg and sea salt in a bowl, and mix together completely with a fork. The batter will appear a little thicker than normal mix. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat with 1 tsp coconut oil. Drop 1/4 cup of batter onto the pan once it is fully heated. Spread out batter slightly if desired. Flip like a normal pancake when the bubbles start showing up on the top, and cook for another minute or two. Add more oil to the pan and repeat with remaining batter. Top with fresh berries.

Note: If the pan is too hot, the cakes will stick, burn on the outside, and/or not cook entirely through.

Stay Strong

Ben

Stronger

So I have been doing my strength training 5-3-1 programme for about 3 months now and this week I will be finishing my third cycle of the programme. To that end I will be testing next week to see what my new 1RM is for Deadlift, Squat, Bench and Press. I really think that I have made some good progress and hope to smash my old personal bests in all of the lifts.

Stay Strong

Ben

SAW your Soreness!

Muscle soreness is all part of the fun of intense physical training and is something that reduces over time as you become more accustomed to the demands you are placing on your body. To help reduce the time and intensity of your soreness you should use the SAW!

Stretching - gently stretch the affected muscles, holding the stretch for 30 - 40 seconds. You should feel the stretch easing the discomfort of the muscle although it will be tender when you first stretch.

A ctive recovery - whilst you may wish to cease all physical movement, one of the best things you can do is to do some gentle exercise. The best thing for sore legs is a gentle walk, cycle or swim to get the blood flowing and speed up the process of healing.

Water - drinking lots will help flush out all of the nasty toxins and will also help to keep your whole body hydrated and working at its most efficient.

Finally, you should be eating quite a lot of protein - especially if you are a Trilogy PT or Bootcamp member and this will help massively when recovery post exercise is concerned. If you are really lucky you could ask somebody for a relaxing massage on the sore areas to help recovery even more!

Stay Strong

Ben

Sleep is an often overlooked, but critical factor in maintaining a healthy mind and body at an optimal weight. Here I am going to give you some practical tips and advice for improving the quality of your sleep every night.

Blackout: Your room needs to be dark, not just a bit dark, but dark enough that you can't see your hand in front of your face. IKEA do some really good, cheap blackout blinds that I use behind my curtains to give 2 layers of protection from the street lighting outside. Turn off and get rid of the bright LCD alarm clock and all other small sources of light that are in your room.

Beds are for Sleeping: Not checking email, working or reading notes for tomorrow's meeting. You need to separate the bedroom from that work mindset so that you can totally relax when you get into your bed. If you work in bed then how can you expect to ever relax there?

Chill Winston! Preferably you should relax for an hour or 2 before bed to let your mind and body unwind and deal with the day's issues. You should not eat, work, exercise or do anything stressful in this time, just switch off and try and put your daily grind behind you so you can have a clear head when you go to bed.

Booze: Whilst you may feel comatose after 6 pints of Stella, you are not actually getting good quality sleep and won't reach the deepest phases of your sleep cycle leaving you tired and sleepy the next day - AKA Hungover!

Caffeine: High, daily caffeine intake can increase feelings of anxiety in stressed people which often manifest themselves at bed time making it hard to get off to sleep. Any residual caffeine in the system will obviously stimulate you mentally and make sleep harder.

Stay Cool: We sleep better and deeper in cool, airy rooms rather than warm stuffy ones, so open a window and turn off the heating and try a thinner duvet for extra tough-points.

How Much: Aim for 7-8 hours per night most nights. If you get organised and prioritise then this is achievable for most people most of the time.

Sleep Strong

Ben