By Chris Carmichael “What the hell is cashew cream?” I have to admit that was my first thought when I first saw it listed as an ingredient in the Corn Chowder Recipe described below from Tal Ronnen’s cookbook, “The Conscious Cook”. It’s a vegan cookbook, and although I’m neither a vegan nor a vegetarian, I …
“Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” I always loved that line from Animal House. And when it comes to being an athlete, fat and slow is no way to go through life, either. But the truth is, fat happens. I know very few people who have stayed consistently lean and …
This has been a very special week. We brought the entire coaching staff of CTS to Colorado Springs for a coaching education summit and to celebrate the company’s 15th Anniversary. We concluded on Tuesday night with a party and invited a lot of the people who played significant roles in the company’s history. …
Although I ventured out to walk the dog on Black Friday, I was holed up indoors most of the day because it was about 10 degrees outside and snowing. My hunch is that staying motivated to train through December is going to be pretty rough, so I’m issuing a challenge to myself and everyone …
One of the best parts about being a coach is the opportunity to compare notes with other coaches. While all coaches are charged with optimally preparing athletes for competition, how you do that varies widely as you go from sport to sport. As a result, I have always found it enlightening to learn from coaches …
Normally I use this space to provide training tips or a recipe or something I think you will find useful in your pursuit of performance. I had an article ready to go for this morning, but the reports of another large-scale terrorist attack made it seem pretty trivial. I tend to “stay in my lane” …
Having a healthy ego is a good thing. You take pride in your abilities, have a solid sense of who you are and your place in the world, and generally positive self-esteem. Ego plays a role in an athlete’s level of confidence. It can be a factor in helping you sign up for …
Coaching is almost entirely about motivating and inspiring athletes, and there are a number of ways to accomplish that. Personally, we prefer to emphasize the positive by inspiring athletes to achieve lofty goals. Sometimes, however, athletes respond better to the desire to avoid negative consequences, like losing power, gaining weight, and getting slower. So, …
We all have certain triggers for food cravings. For me the sound of dry leaves crunching under my feet and crisp, cold fall evenings get me thinking about sweet potatoes. Thankfully there are a ton of ways to enjoy sweet potatoes other than drowned in butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows in a casserole. Over …
I generally try to be diplomatic when I talk about training and weight management, but perhaps it’s time to stop being polite and start getting real (sorry, I couldn’t resist the MTV reference…). We can talk about incremental increases in power at lactate threshold or optimizing pedal stroke, but if you really want to …