Form Fitness Blog

For thousands of years, coconut water has been used as an important source of nutrition. Coconut water comes from young, green coconuts when you crack them open.

Before I moved to the Virgin Islands, I had no idea of the benefits of this drink. The water couldn’t be any cleaner. Coconut water is naturally filtered through the tree and branches into the coconut itself.

I have replaced traditional sports drinks after or during high-intensity workouts or sport sessions with coconut water. It has a higher sodium content than sports drinks. This really helps me because I live in a warm and humid climate. Coconut water has natural carbohydrates in the form of sugar that gives the body what it needs during high intensity workouts and for recovery afterwards. What is big for me is that it doesn’t have factory-processed high fructose corn syrup. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3115/2

Here are some of the reported benefits of coconut water:

• Stress Reduction
• Heart Health
• Lower Blood Pressure
• Muscle Performance
• Energy
• Weight Loss
• Skin, Hair and Nail Health
• Kidney Cleansing
• Natural Hangover Cure

I spent the last 90 days drinking the bulk of my fluid intake as coconut water. I can report that I have lowered my percentage of body fat from 8% to 6%. This was done without a significant change to my diet.

So, what are you waiting for?  Drink up!

One of my favorite meals that I usually eat on busier days is Salsa Chicken. Chicken is an excellent source of protein.  (There are 35 calories and 5.3 grams in 1 ounce of boneless chicken breast.)  I accomplish this feat by using my crock pot. Here is  a very simple recipe for Salsa Chicken:

• One bag of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• One jar of medium salsa
• One can of black beans
• One can of corn
• One small can of tomatoes and diced green chilies

Combine these ingredients in your slow cooker. Plug it in and cook on low for 6-8 hours. This is something you can set up before going to work, and it will be ready to greet you with mouth-watering aromas when you return home. The chicken will be falling apart and loaded with flavor. Separate the chicken into pieces with two forks.

I usually cook a couple of servings of brown rice and put the Salsa Chicken on the rice. Voila!

This weekend, I was in Boston for a Bruce Springsteen concert. Like most people, when I am away from home, making the right food choices becomes challenging. For this reason, getting my workout in becomes a priority. The hotel where I stayed had a decent fitness center. It had a few cardio machines, dumbbells, medicine balls and a stretching area.

To make the workout easy for me, I chose a few short and varied exercises. This was my workout:

10 min jog on the treadmill at a speed of 4.5

1 set of single-leg dumbbell shoulder presses, 10 per leg

1 set of single-leg dumbbell front raises, 10 per leg

1 set of reverse lunges with a bicep curl, 10 per side

3 sets of stability ball crunches, 20 reps each

2 sets of prone iso ab (front planks), 1 min each

I finished with about 10 min of flexibility and yoga poses. This included:

2x lying hamstring stretches, 30 sec each

2x single knee to chest, 30 sec each

2x piriformis stretch, 30 sec each

2x child’s pose, 30 sec

2x cat cow, 30 sec each

This was everything I needed to accomplish a decent workout while traveling.

We are excited to announce the creation and launch of the Form Fitness Blog.

David Wentz

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