VANILLA-PEAR VINAIGRETTE Ingredients:
 1 pear, halved
 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
 1/2 cup water
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 Salt and pepper
Directions:
 Place of the all ingredients in a blender; process until smooth

Its an easy, quick breakfast idea for those who MUST have their oatmeal, but would like to get a little more protein in the morning.

Almond Butter Cup Oatmeal

INGREDIENTS
RECIPE MAKES 1 SERVING
• ½ cup rolled oats, measured
dry
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 tablespoon natural almond
butter
• ½ cup almond milk

DIRECTIONS
1. Cook oats in almond milk, add water if needed.
2. Once oats are cooked, add in protein powder
and natural almond butter. Enjoy!

“Fried” Chicken Fingers

INGREDIENTS
RECIPE MAKES 4 SERVINGS
(16 FINGERS)
• 4 cooked chicken breasts
(4oz each)
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• ½ cup bran buds
• ½ cup oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375oF. Prepare baking sheet by coating with coconut
oil. Cut chicken breasts into 4 equal strips (you should have 16 strips
total). Set aside. Grind oatmeal and bran buds in a food processor
(or blender). Next, combine all dry ingredients in a large container
with a tightly fitting lid. Shake well. This is your coating mixture.
2. Add egg whites in a medium bowl. Dip each strip in the egg whites.
Then dip each strip (finger) in the coating mixture. Make sure each
piece is well coated.
3. Place on the baking sheet. When all of your chicken has been coated
and your baking sheet is full, place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes
or until golden. Then turn the fingers
and bake for an additional 5-6 minutes.

CALORIES: 215
PROTEIN : 30g
CARBS : 17g
FAT : 3g

Aprilworkoutofthemonth

sir mix-a-lot

A well-defined and powerful set of glutes is the calling card of both swimsuit models and Olympic track and field athletes alike.  On the other end of the spectrum, sitting in an office all day or plodding on the treadmill will hasten your need for suspenders to keep your pants from falling down.  So if better glutes are your goal, here are 3 tips for buns of steel before beach season.

1.  Stretch Better

Writing about stretching in an article about better glutes is a little like talking about greek history at a toga party. However, to get your butt in gear, you may need to work on your posture first, especially if you tend to stand something like this:

Notice how the line of my pelvis slopes downward and my back is severely arched.  One of the functions of your glutes is maintaining a balance with your hip flexors (on the front) to keep that line more or less level.  If your hip flexors are tight from sitting, running, etc… your glutes aren’t going to work effectively (and your back will probably hurt).  More importantly, they aren’t going to look very good either.

Now, many of you have probably been told to stretch your hip flexors.  However, the traditional stretch typically ends up looking more like this.

This isn’t an effective hip flexor stretch because the motion occurs primarily at the lower back, which only reinforces the excessively arched posture described earlier.

Here’s a better solution.

By elevating the front leg and squeezing my glute on the stretch side, I get a true hip flexor stretch without all the lower back motion that we are trying to avoid.  Do this before your lower body training and you’re on your way to J. Lo booty (the 1998 version).

2.  Switch your game up

Everyone acknowledges (including me) that traditional exercises like deadlifts, squats, and lunges are fantastic for building a great backside.  These exercises are the cornerstone of any good lower body program, but to round out (too easy) a program to attack the glutes, we’ll use a set of exercises that challenges them in a different direction.  Enter the shoulder-elevated hip lift:

These exercises can be done on a bench or box, or even around the house.  Progress from two legs to one leg; then add weight via chains, sand bags, or even a barbell.   Focus on squeezing the glutes tight to raise the hips, not extending the lower back.

3. Single out your squats

Want more glute strength and less back pain?  Switch to the Rear-Foot Elevated Split Squat.  It can be done on a bench or if you have access to one, a split-squat stand.  Add load by holding a dumbbell in front (goblet-style).  Expect a lot more glute and hamstring soreness along with the usual quad soreness caused by traditional squatting.

Start using these three steps and you’ll be on your way to the derriere of your dreams.  Want to try out these tips and more with the help of our team?  Glute Camp, our exclusive workshop, is coming in April.  Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more updates!