Something New for Cressey Performance – Already!

Yes, I know that it seems strange for a new business to already be shuffling things up already!  However, things have gone very smoothly in the first few months and demand for our services in the greater Boston area has surpassed what we can do in the Hudson location alone.  As such, just when it seemed that one facility in greater Boston was sufficient, an opportunity arose to open a second satellite location in Framingham, MA as part of Doug Carroll’s Baseball Academy.  We’ll be seeing our athletes in both Hudson and Framingham now, giving them the opportunity to train in whichever of the two locations is more geographically convenient.  Framingham will be an easier option for our athletes that come from the city – and presumably, where many of my one-time consultations will take place due to the ease of access to Logan Airport.

Just when things started to settle down, I decided to shake things up again.  It’s hard to believe that we’re already opening a second location before we’ve even completed the website for the first one!

We’ll be following up soon with photos of both locations and contact info for all interested parties.

A Quick Seminar Update

I’ll be speaking this Saturday at the NSCA Northeast Regional Clinic at Bryant University; if you’re in attendance, please stop by and introduce yourself.

Additionally, time is winding down for those interested in signing up for the Vinkofest in Montreal on October 20-21.  It’s shaping up to be a great event with just as many bright minds in the audience as there are on stage.  I hope to see you there.

Blog Updates

With many of our high school athletes back in school and my schedule a bit more “consolidated,” I’ve had a chance to devote more time to blog updates.  You can check them out at www.EricCressey.Blogspot.com.

Random Tips from Mike Roussell

Mike Roussell has rapidly established himself as one of the premier minds in the world of nutrition for health, aesthetics, and performance.  To say that I’ve been impressed with his knowledge and his ability to convey that knowledge to the lay population would be an understatement; this was readily apparent in his EXCELLENT new manual, Your Naked Nutrition Guide.  Here’s a small sampling of the quality information he brings to the table.

1. During times of really heavy training when your joints are under higher than normal stresses I recommend that people take 1-2 baby aspirin with their fish oil each day (2-3g EPA/DHA).  The combination of aspirin and fish oil causes the production of an extremely potent (and cutting edge) series of anti-inflammatory compounds called resolvins.  Resolvins don’t stop inflammation per se, but they accelerate the cleaning up of the damage caused by inflammation.  This is extremely important because normally NSAIDs like Advil or aspirin (w/o fish oil) actually slow down this resolution phase of inflammation.  The aspirin/fish oil combination will help clean up the inflammatory damage in your joints so you can keep lifting those heavy weights.”  Of course, you should always check with your doctor before taking any medications.

2.  Don’t be afraid to experiment in the kitchen!  Many people get bored with what they are eating because they eat the same thing day after day.  Step outside your nutritional comfort zone and start experimenting in the kitchen.

If you aren’t sure where to start then prepare some of your favorite meals in a different way.  If you have a favorite omelet then make it a scramble.  This can be done easily by adding eggs and omelet filling (minus the cheese) and scramble everything together.  Right before the eggs are fully cooked then mix in the cheese.  Sometimes even this simple change and reinvigorate your meal plan.

Sample Meal: Denver Omelet vs. Denver Scramble.

Use different vegetables.  There are so many vegetable blends available in the frozen food section you should never get bored.  If you usually eat peas and carrots with one meal then replace it with peas and perl onions or a sugar snap pea stir-fry blend (which includes carrots, sugar snap peas, onions and sliced mushroom)

Change up the herbs and spices.  You can take a simple meal cubed roasted chicken and broccoli and make it into 4 completely different tasting feasts!  Just mix together in a nonstick pan over medium high heat one of the following groups of ingredients:

Asian –Broccoli and chicken with peanut oil, minced ginger, soy sauce, and diced green onions

Italian –Chicken, olive oil, tomato paste, dried oregano, garlic, and fresh minced basil

Peanut Chicken –Chicken, broccoli, peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, and Thai garlic-chili sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)

Indian – Chicken, broccoli, butter, tahini, curry, cayenne pepper (be gentle with this if you don’t like it hot), and minced ginger.

3. Restaurant Recon – TGI Fridays: Eating out can be a problem but learning to make smart choices and substitutions can make eating out as healthy of a choice as eating at home.  I’ve scoured over the menu at TGI Friday’s and picked out menu item with and sometimes without modifications that when chosen won’t send your nutrition into the gutter.

JACK DANIEL’S® ROASTED PORK – Double the broccoli, hold the crispy onions, hold the mashed potatoes, add a side salad (dressing on the side).

JACK DANIEL’S® FLAT IRON STEAK – Ask for broccoli (or another vegetable) instead of mashed potatoes, add a side salad (dressing on the side)

JACK DANIEL’S® NEW YORK STRIP – Hold the mashed potatoes and double the vegetables.

JACK DANIEL’S® SALMON – Hold the mashed potatoes and double the vegetables.

JACK DANIEL’S® CHICKEN – Hold the mashed potatoes, double the vegetables, ask for olive oil on the side

Friday’s Steakhouse Selects – Choose any steak cut.  Skip the butter sauces (ask for A-1 instead).  Choose the broccoli.  If you are eating within three hours of a weight training session you can also choose mashed potatoes (hold the cheese), red potatoes wedges (make sure not fried) , or Cajun corn.

SIZZLING STEAK FAJITAS – Eat as is!!

SIZZLING FAJITA COMBO – Eat as is!!

BRUSCHETTA TILAPIA – Ask for the balsamic glaze on the side.  Hold the rice and double the broccoli

SHRIMP KEY WEST – Eat as is!! – SEE IF IN BUTTER

Skewers of seasoned chargrilled shrimp topped with a sparkling citrus splash and served with a side of vegetables.

DRAGONFIRE CHICKEN – Ask for the Kung Pow sauce on the side.  Hold the rice.  Double the broccoli.

SIZZLING CHICKEN & SHRIMP – Hold the cheese.  As for a side of vegetables instead of the mashed potatoes.  SEE IF GARLIC MARINATE IS BUTTER BASED.

SIZZLING CHICKEN FAJITAS – Eat as is!!

SANTA FE CHICKEN SALAD – Ask for olive oil and vinegar instead of the Chipotle Ranch dressing.  Hold the corn salsa.

LO-PHAT CHICKEN SALAD – Ask for the dressing on the side.

SIZZLING CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES – Hold the Cheese

4. The Ultimate Fatty Acid Cocktail: Recently, I wrote an article for Testosterone Nation extolling the benefits of increase levels of cAMP in the body.  One of the method’s I recommended to do this was combining 2-3g EPA/DHA with 50-100mg GLA.

“This combination leads to increased production of cAMP via Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1). As shown in the picture below, GLA can be converted to either Arachidonic Acid or PGE1. The fatty acids in fish oil compete for enzymes with arachidonic acid, allowing for more GLA to become PGE1.”

Here’s what I didn’t tell everyone: you can further benefit the effectiveness of this stack by adding 500mg of sesamin (extract from sesame seed oil).  Sesamin acts as an inhibitor and further increases the production of PGE1.

About Mike Roussell

Mike Roussell is a nutrition doctoral student at Pennsylvania State University. He graduated from Hobart & William Smith Colleges, where he received a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry. Mike is the founder and host of the web’s premier nutrition and fitness podcast, Max-Out Radio (www.MaxOutRadio.com). He can be contacted for nutrition and fitness consultations through his website, www.MuscleandCuts.com.

Recently, Mike published Your Naked Nutrition Guide, a dietary manual that has received fantastic reviews from some of the brightest minds in the health and human performance industries.  For more information, check out NakedNutritionGuide.com.

That’ll do it for this week, everyone.  We’ll be back soon with more exclusive content.

Go Red Sox!

EC