If you can't stand the heat...

Help me, I'm melting....

Seriously, I just can no longer hack the heat here in Geneva. A mere leisurely stroll around my local park and I am literally drenched with sweat. Not pleasant. As you can imagine,  temperatures reaching the mid thirties do not make for the most enjoyable training experience. How anyone can run the Marathon Des Sables is a mystery to me...I struggle with 5k in this heat, nevermind a 6 stage race of 250k in the Sahara Desert.

Lucky then that with the gallons of sweat I appear to be losing I have found a delicious training aid to replace the valuable nutrients I am losing. I normally make my own sports drinks (see the post 'Drink Up') but with this unrelenting heat I felt I needed a helping hand, especially with training twice some days; it makes it even more important to be adequately hydrated.


Zero 7 is quite frankly, my new best friend. It has zero calories and zero sugar with no artificial nasties but is fully loaded with magnesium and electrolytes to replace those lost through sweat. It even claims that you can burn up to 41% more fat with every training mile instead of using a normal carbohydrate sports drink.


It comes in 3 flavours; citrus, berry and cherry-orange. My personal fav is citrus, it's nice and refreshing on a hot day. I often make the drink up the day before and pop it in the fridge overnight or the freezer for a few hours as I find nothing worse than a warm drink on a frazzling hot day.


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Get to the Core of it

What a Dish...

The core...That elusive set of muscles that we are told are pivotal to athletic performance. The core provides the stability, power and endurance an athlete needs, particularly runners. Having a strong core forms the foundation for all movement, no matter what level you are, be it beginner or professional.



Whilst flicking through a past issue of 220 Triathlon I found a new move. I was bored of my planks and sit ups and in want of a change-up to refresh my core routine. I believe I found what I was looking for in the so-called 'Dish'. I find it engages the full length of the abdominal muscles whereas sit ups only isolate certain parts and do not work the deep core muscles that provide the stability to run mile after mile. It is a great addition to any core workout or circuit and one I have certainly found to be effective. Remember that it is important to constantly change your routine in order to keep challenging your body to ensue it does not become a creature of habit.


Britney Spears (pre head shaving) famously performed 300 sit-ups a day to get her infamous washboard abs for her 'Baby One More Time' video...I reckon she could have saved herself a lot of time by incorporating the dish into her workout in substitution for a hundred or so crunches...

'The Dish'

Muscles Used: Abdominal muscles (transverse abdominus, rectus abdominus and internal obliques)
Benefit: Builds core strength
How: Lie on your back with your arms above your head. Engage your abdominal muscles so that your lumbar spine touches the floor. Lift legs and shoulders ensuring the lumbar spine is still in contact with the floor. Hold the position for a count of 10 and lower slowly to the ground. Make sure the movement is slow, therefore ensuring your core is working for a longer period of time.

Holy Guacamole Batman!

Guacamole Recipe


Apologies for my lack of posting activity recently, it has been a little hectic here in Geneva. I thought I thought I would share with you one of my very favourite snacks of all time....Guacamole. It is such a fantastic snack, often I have it as a light lunch with crudites, tortilla chips or pitta.


Avocado is such a fantastic fruit, I have extolled its virtues in the past with my Superfood Salad; I cannot sing its praises enough....And I am desperate to get my pal Louise on board with the health benefits of eating avocado and stop seeing is as a demon ball of calories! The below recipe is enough for 2 but I have been known to truck my way through the whole lot when the fancy takes me.

Nutrition Lowdown
Avocado
As dictated before; a true superfood. They are a great source of monounsaturated fat and are loaded with 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. They contain more protein than any other fruit and contain a large proportion of vitamin B6; essential for helping the body release energy from food.


Triffic Trivia - In Mexico, the average person consumes 12kg of avocados each year!


Top tip - do not store avocados with bananas as they will also ripen because of the ethylene gas the bananas release.


Chilli
Chilli health benefits are mainly due to the chemical Capsaicin. It helps control insulin levels, boost circulation and heart health, protect against strokes, anti-inflammatory, relieve congestion, lower the risk of stomach cancer and to top it all off it helps speed up the metabolism.....Therefore if for some reason you are feeling guilty for consuming the whole bowl, at least you will know that the chilli has sped up your metabolism.


Recipe
Avocado
1/2 Small Onion
1/4 Red Chilli - You can add more depending on how hot you like it
Juice of 1/2 Lime
Slug of Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper


1. Mash the avocado in a bowl
2. Dice the onion and add to the avocado
3. Deseed and chop the chilli, add to the mixture
4. Squeeze over the lime juice
5. Add a good splash of olive oil, salt & pepper and mix all the ingredients together
6. Nestle on the sofa and enjoy with tortilla chips, wholemeal pitta or crudites