Flax Seeds

I recently researched flax seeds when I was trying to look up a healthy eating diet in order to put weigh on and get cut up and came across flax seeds. One person pretty much put flax seeds in everything he ate and this person ate a great deal. I never even heard of flax seeds until I researched. Turns out they have a very high abundance of protein and fibers and if used correctly in your foods they are can be very good for you. Flax seeds are either brown, yellow, or golden. Flax seeds basically has the same nutritional value as omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are very good for you and they are pretty much in any type of protein you take or supplement. With that in hand flax seeds are very good when compared to the omega 3 fatty acids or even fish oils. If you were to look at 100g of flax seeds that would be equivalent to 450 kilo calories, 28 grams of fiber, and 20 grams of protein. another example is a tbls of flax seeds and 3 tbls of water are equivalent to 1 egg.

Healthy Cooking Tips

Speaking for myself and most people fried foods are the best tasting however fried foods are probably the worst ways to cook food and eat. Fried foods add a lot of extra calories and fats, which isn't good if you're worried about eating healthy and staying in great shape. There are different ways to prepare foods other than frying your foods. For instance you can Broil, grill, stir fry, or even use a pressure cooker. These four different types are all great and health ways of cooking and preparing your foods.
If you were too grill your food the best idea for grilling your meats, fish, or poultry, would be to find these foods with low fats due to prevent charring or flaring. A good example of an indoor grill that is great for easy grilling would be the George Foreman Grill.
When stir frying your meat, fishes, or poultry this can be very convenient compared to the other ways of eating healthy. The reason behind this convenience is that stir frying is very quick and easy to do. The only thing you really need is a large pan that you could use, and also stir frying doesn't really contain any fats.
Broiling in my perspective is best for cooking your meats and fishes due to the heat comes from the top when broiled compared to grilling when the heat comes from the bottom. Also broiling is a lot quicker than grilling and most ovens come with broiling. Also a toaster can contain a broiling stage, and similar to grilling you want your meats, fishes, and poultry to have little fat to prevent charring or flaring.
Personally I never really use a pressure cooker, because I dont have one and can't really afford one due to being in college, however this is very convenient as well and not only is it great for cooking your meats, fishes, and poultry however it is also good for cooking your stews and soups. Probably the best aspect to the pressure cooker is that it is probably the fastest way to cook your foods and with that in hand this preserves the amount of nutrients that are in the foods. The longer you heat your foods the less the amounts of nutrients will be preserved. Also the pressure cooker is great with hard cut meats and poultry.

Hyponatremia- Water Intoxication

Even though water is very good for you, is there a possibility of too much water. If you drink too much water than necessary this will result in low concentration of sodium in the blood. This type of situation has ocurred a couple times during sporting events in the past however you tend to see these occurences in high endurance sports. An example of this type of endurance event would be the iron man or even the Boston Marathon. For instance there was a study done that showed that 13% of the runners in the marathon acquired Hyponatremia.
some symptoms that occur when Hyponatremia would be very similar to dehydration, however they would be naussea, muscle cramps, confussion, and even slurred speech. If any of these symptoms are prevailant then this could mean either not enough water, or too much water meaning not enough sodium. So with that in mind an example of prevention would be drinking energy drinks with high sodium amounts. Also you should try not to drink as much as you sweat. If you are involved in a high endurance race, try to add a decent amount of salt to your foods.

Concussion Prevention

Recently a Green Bay Packer linebacker named Aaron Kampman suffered a concussion in the fourth play of the game and stayed in. The coaches asked Kampman if he was okay and he said he was fine. Players shouldn't be allowed to diagnose their own concussions, simply because thats the medical workers for the team. It wasn't until later in the fourth quarter that Kampman came out of the game due to the Packers coaches feeling that the game was in their hands and out of reach. Kampman didn't practice this week so far and probably won't practice till Friday if neccessary.
When concussions occur most symptoms have to do with:

• anxiety
• dizziness
• fatigue
• headaches
• memory loss
• sleep problems

Definition of Concussion: Injury to brain or spinal cord due to jarring from a blow, fall, or the like.

Concussion Prevention: Basically if you play a physical sport you're required to wear a helmet. There are all types of new innovations for the helmets in football and hockey that have changed over the years. Not only in sports however whenever riding a bike you should wear a helmet, or always wear a seat belt when in a car.

The Factors of NO-Xplode

No-Xplode is a supplement that is primarily used pre-workouts and the objective of this supplement is to produce immediate energy, size, strength, pumps, performance, mental focus, and training intensity. No-Xplode is supposed to work in minutes, and basically help you focus and become dialed in on your workout. This supplement is supposed to contain nitric-oxide, creatine, and have body-mind stimulating surge. Most body builders use NO-Xplode in order to get a better workout however there are some dangers or side effects that can result from using to much NO-Xplode.

• Caffeine addiction- About 100mg of caffeine is in one scoop of NO-Xplode
• The amount of unique ingredients that are unheard of
• Some people get extreme bowel movements
• Enzymes being off the chart in the liver
• Most of NO-Xplodes claims are completely unproven
• Said to be a temporary product that works for three weeks until your body adapts to it

Due to some of these dangers and side effects NO-Xplode has suffered from law suits. However the supplement is still selling off the walls at most nutrition stores. There are many other supplements out there that are very similar to NO-Xplode, however some aren't as dangerous like the supplement SuperPump.

Pre-Game Meals

Every athlete has his or her own pre-game meals whether it's chicken, pasta, steak, or in Chad Ocho Cinco's perspective McDonalds. Most believe that you should eat three to four hours before a game and only eat between 500-1,000 calories. From my perspective I didn't really see a difference of eating an two hours before a game compared to eating four hours before a game. Obviously it wouldn't be smart to eat twenty minutes before the game. You should definately eat something that has tons of starch in the form of complex carb's so that they can be digested quickly and turned into energy.

Some Smart Things To Eat Pre-Game

• Lean Meat
• Bread
• Pasta
• Fruit/Vegetables
• Baked Potato

Like I said before every athlete has their own pre-game meal, however these are just some examples of things to look into. You want to stay away from high sugared foods, because they take longer to digest and they will have a decrease in energy. You can always eat the foods you enjoy before a game however just be smart about the consequences such as fatigue and dehydration. Stay away from the fats and sugars and stay hydrated with plenty of water.

Ways to build confidence as an athlete

Every athlete hits a slump in his/her career, because simply no one is perfect. Some people can bounce right back from a slump however there are some athletes that stay in a slump for a long time. There are all types of ways to build confidence as an athlete if things aren't going right. Most professional players and especially baseball players are very superstitious and if anyone follows baseball they know what I mean. For example if a hitter is in a bad slump they might change the way they wear their baseball pants, and another example that I'm not going to get into would be Jason Giambi that was pretty much all over sportscenter last year.
Some ways you could try to build confidence would be trying to focus on yourself and your team rather your opponent, and only thinking positive. Some professional athletes even fall back to seeing a sports psychologist using a technique called visualization or mental rehearsal which is a type of imagery(looking at pictures).
All athletes are different and have their own way to build confidence. Take Michael Jordan for example. He chewed a piece of gum before every game and sometimes during games, because he felt it built confidence. Another example would be Jaromir Jagr for people who follow hockey. Before the game he would visualize every play that he was going to make and for the most part it worked.
Another way to build confidence could be to look at the situation as starting with the glass half full. Think positively and be optimistic that you will play great next time you get on the field, court, ice, etc... And throughout the day just build that glass to full telling yourself you can "do it"