Author: Alicia Bell
Why You Should Know Who @pattheroc Is
Q: Full Name/Nick Names (why)? Patrick Robinson. They call me “Pat The Roc” because I dribble the basketball so quick, it’s like I’m “Patting” the ball! Q: What is your sport and why did you choose to pursue it? Basketball is my passion! Been playing since I was 5. My mom taught my brother and I how to shoot, ever since then I loved the game. Q: Who inspired you? I was inspired by a guy that passed a message on to me which was 3 letters. “A.i.P.” which stands for Anything is Possible! That message changed my life. Q: What sets you apart from other athletes? On the court, my creativity. I can do just about anything with a basketball. Off the court my positive message. I take advantage of my platform and try to inspire kids as much as possible. I wish all athletes were that way. Q: Favorite memory from your sport? Playing in Africa in front of a sold out crowd. There were people watching the game hanging off the fence, from the trees, and literally surrounding the court. One of the most intense enviroments to hoop in! Q: How do you train for your sport? I have a regimen of running early in morning, usually 3 miles. Try to make atleast 1000 jumpshots a day, dribble drills 2 hours, weights/crossfit 1 hour, Hills/stairs, and one on one or 5 on 5. Q: Fav drill? Anything involving 2 basketballs! Dribbling one ball has become too easy! Q: What does your typical workout include? Does it vary each day? How many days a week? Everyday I train. I focus on different skills each day. One day may be legs, improving my hops. Another day might be lots of pushups in between basketball drills to increase my strength. Depends on what I’m working on. Q: Any upcoming projects? Ballup tv show this summer on mtv2, movie “Note To Self” coming to BET, Pat The Roc Skills Academy Tour coming to a city near you! Q: Where do you see yourself in the future? A guy that every basketball player in the world models theirselves after on and off the court. Q: Words of wisdom to others or favorite quote…. ”AiP” Anything is Possible” “Before success, is Failure.” www.PatTheRoc.com Facebook.com/PatTheRoc Twitter.com/PatTheRoc Instagram: PatTheRoc Follow Alicia Bell on Twitter
Lower Back Pain Solutions
A lot of the time lower back pain is caused by inflexibility. I cannot stress to you the importance of having good flexibility. This is because the muscles of he hamstrings and gluets are connected to your lower back. If they are tight they are going to pull on your lower back muscles and cause you pain! The muscles of the posterior thigh are called the Hamstrings. The hamstrings are actually made up of three different muscles. The semitendinosus, semimembranosus and the biceps femoris. Now when your hamstrings are tight they can limit your mobility and cause back pain as well. The reason is that tight hamstrings will tilt the pelvis backwards which flattens the lumbar curvature also known as the lordotic curve of the lower back. Back pain is also caused by weak abdominal muscles. If your core is weak then you are more likely to suffer from back pain because your back muscles will be over compensating for your weak core. This means you need to do ab work. I suggest these exercises to start with. They are all static to prevent from hurting your back more. Do these for 3 weeks to build up strength then you can move on to more abdominal work that requires movement. Static Abdominal Crunch. – Opposite arm to opposite leg – Try holding for 30s and slowly increase time for each side Static Opposite Arm/Leg Plank – Keep belly button pulled toward spine the entire time – Try holding for 30s and slowly increase time for each side Plank – Make sure that your elbows and shoulders are in line as well as your neck in line with your spine and hips – Keep belly button pulled toward spine the entire time – Make sure not to let your hips drop – Try holding for 30s and slowly increase time Static Crunch and Hold – This exercise is to be done in 2 segments. – Keep belly button pulled toward spine the entire time 1. Crunch and hold for – Try holding for 30s and slowly increase 2. After the 30s slightly go higher and hold for another 30s Static V-Sit – Keep belly button pulled toward spine the entire time – Creat a V with your body using your arms and legs – Try holding for 30s and slowly increase Static V-Sit on BOSU – Keep belly button pulled toward spine the entire time – Creat a V with your body using your arms and legs – Try holding for 30s and slowly increase Static One Legged V-Sit – Keep belly button pulled toward spine the entire time – Creat a V with your body using your arms and legs while one leg is held 1 inch above the ground – Try holding for 30s each leg and slowly increase the time each week.
Celebrity Abdominal Motivation
What better way to get motivated for your upcoming holidays or upcoming vacation then some photos of some of your favorite celebrities and their washboard stomachs. Above I am showing Mel B, Jillian Michaels, Rosa Acosta and some Victoria Secret models. Use this pics to motivate you into keeping up with your workout routines. For great ab results try using these quick tips: -Intervals as often as you can -Core Training -Drink lots of water (at least 2L a day) -Take fried foods out of your diet -Eat lots of veggies (the darker the better) -Load up on green tea (boosts your metabolism) -Eat lots of protein (lean meats like chicken and fish) -Try to stay away from sugar Follow Alicia on Twitter
Determine Your Daily Caloric Needs
Everyday I get asked the question: How much should I be eating daily. So here is the answer: This is a really easy 3 step program will help you to determine your Daily Caloric Needs. It is called “THE HARRIS BENEDICT EQUATION.” The formula calculates to determine basal energy requirements (to maintain current weight without exercise to survive). After completed then you can determine what you need to intake for WEIGHT LOSS. STEP 1 Women: 655 + (4.35 X WEIGHT IN POUNDS) + (4.7 X HEIGHT IN INCHES) – (4.7 X AGE IN YEARS) Men: 66 + (6.23 X WEIHT IN POUNDS) + (12.7 X HEIGHT IN INCHES) – (6.8 X AGE IN YEARS) STEP 2 Now take your number from step 1 and multiply it by the level listed below: Step 3 The number that you now have will tell you your calorie needs for weight maintenance. FOR WEIGHT LOSS subtract 500 calories per day from your number in step 2 FOR WEIGHT MAINTENANCE Just use the number from Step 2 FOR WEIGHT GAIN Add 250 to 300 calories per day from step number 2 ALSO WHEN TO EAT Meals should be had every few hours, for example: 1. Breakfast time 2. Mid Morning snack 3. Lunch time 4. Afternoon Snack 5. Dinner Follow Alicia Bell on Twitter
Who Is @followthelita ?
Huge congrats to a long time personal friend of mine Lita Lewis. Who recently won her class in her very first figure competition and took the overall win. Who is Lita you may ask. The follow is an interview I did with her prior to her competition when she was still considering competing in bikini before deciding on figure. Q: Full Name/Nick Names (why)? Lita Lewis, also called Xena but not because I am a princess but because I am a warrior ; lol Q: What is your favorite sport and why? To pick just one is difficult but if you had a knife to my throat I’d say Track & Field. Primarily because it was the first sport my parents introduced me to as a kid. I immediately grew a love for it that not only meant 12 years of competitive pursuit but a love, appreciation and respect that I still have for the sport & the athletes today. Q: Who inspired you to be fit? Earlier, my parents. My parents told me that as a toddler I had way too much energy they could handle so mum signed me up to the local Little Athletics team so I could burn all my energy running around a track. Because my involvement in sports became a passion it then essentially became a goal to maintain ultimate fitness and health so I was able to perform at my best and be fit. In more recent years, Alicia Marie, an IFBB Pro, Fitness Model, Multi-media personality, Health & Fitness Guru, Publisher Author. About 3 years ago I saw her picture in a magazine publication and said to myself, yup, I want to look like her! Ha! Q: Do you have a trainer? If so who? I don’t have a trainer but I am working with a specialist. He is a strength & conditioning coach, he specializes in literally everything I can think and under his guidance he has helped me shake things up. Since following his programs I’ve seen amazing results, increased my strength, endurance, flexibility and muscle definition. More recently I have joined Team Blade, a professional training & nutrition team that caters primarily to athletes currently in and pursuing various categories in the sport of Body Building. I look forward to starting specific training and a diet in preparation for my first Bikini competition. Q: Can you tell me about your diet? Do you have cheat days? If so what do you like to have? My diet is relatively clean, by that I mean I’m eating 85% healthy, which consists of a variety of fruits and vegetables, lean meats like fish, salmon, and chicken (red meat maybe once every 8 weeks). I typically start the day with a big breakfast; oatmeal, blueberries, cottage cheese, almonds, white eggs. Eat grilled chicken or salmon during lunch and again for dinner in a smaller portion. In between meals I snack consistently throughout the day on unsalted almonds, a berry mix of fruits, trail mix. I drink a green juice every day, and drink plenty of water. I also add in a protein shake in the late afternoon. Cheat days?! No such thing, I have a cheat meal 2-3 times a week – which for me is usually dark chocolate covered mints & truffle friend fries. Q: What does your typical workout include? Does it vary each day? How many days a week? My workouts vary each day, I currently work out at least 5 days a week alternating each day with a lower or upper body attack. Some weeks I’ll target 2 or 3 specific muscles and exhaust only those muscles solely during the one workout. Each workout starts with a core warm up, followed by 3-4 sets that make up 3-5 different movements that I will perform without rest. I conclude with 300 reps of any core exercises, stretch, take in some protein and pray I can make it down the stairs to the locker room without tripping from exhaustion, lol. Q: Top 3 exercises you like to do in the gym? Outdoors? Gym; Weighted Hip Thrusts, Kettle Bell deep seated squats and Bicep Drop sets. Outdoors; Hill/Bleacher Sprints, Pull Up-to-Burpee-to-Push-Up combo and Running/Workouts on the beach. Q: Where do you see yourself in the future with your health and fitness? The ultimate goal is to become a nationally recognized health & fitness icon. This goal sits on the very top of the golden list, however stepping stones towards achieving such status will involve many things, some being; becoming a true competitor in the sport of bodybuilding, fitness modeling, providing training & consulting services, motivational speaking, creating fitness DVDs, writing books and developing programs for our youth to encourage and promote healthy lifestyles. The latter being one I am very passionate about. Q: Words of wisdom to others or favorite quote…. One of my favorite quotes is a Japanese proverb – “Fall seven times, and stand up eight.” This speaks to having resilience and adopting a true warrior attitude. Many greats have fallen or failed at some point along the journey to success but it is the will to pick yourself up and continue on that separates good from great. I say, be consistent in your actions & your thoughts while in pursuit of your goals. Success is at the end, you will only meet defeat if you stop. Twitter: @FollowTheLita Instagram: FollowTheLita Blog: www.followthelita.wordpress.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/litalewis
This Aint No Lemon – Titika Activewear
When it comes to workout clothing we all want different things. I look for comfort, style and function. We all are subjected to the branding of big box companies like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour etc but have you heard of Titika? They are a canadian based company with outside the box thinking. Each piece has a unique style to it. Some sleeves fold into mittens, sexy mesh in fun places, and overall form fit and comfort. Below is a review of Titika: http://youtu.be/qMn2QVpFX54 You can find Titika on the web and can shop online HERE Follow Alicia Bell on Twitter
Proper Hydration
http://youtu.be/JAN-a9cy7jI Follow Alicia Bell on Twitter
Train It Right
My friend and Photographer, Katherine Kerr, had a question that many of you have, whist with a little twist. “How do I find time to go to the gym?” I’ll use this analogy to emphasize the necessity of having a Personal Trainer and not just any trainer. You really need an educated, knowledgeable trainer to help you get there. Kat, formally a varsity athlete, a martial artist and dancer moved into the work world, and far from her team and training masters. Now, trying to balance her career and love for fitness, she asked me her pertinent question about finding time for the gym. While this is a prevalent question for trainers, keep in mind this question was coming from a person who was still training Capoeira five times a week, grabbing conditioning and yoga classes, time permitting, and jogging for fun. This is where the familiar complaint of balancing work and health takes it twist. Kat just wanted a few extra days to build strength balance her other fitness activities. In the words of Confucius, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. You can probably see where this story is going. Herein, I told her ‘Kat, have you ever thought about being a trainer, because your life is what we do as a profession.’ She did, of course, need some fine tuning to take her fitness aptitude and turn it into an informed career. But don’t get excited and think I’m in any way suggesting that you become a trainer. The purpose of this story goes to show just how dedicated to health and fitness the life of a Personal Trainer is. There are two points I want to make. First, with a good trainer you can find direction to balance your goals and what you like to do for exercise. Second, get a good trainer. They will be the driving force, organization and motivation behind your success. I used Kat as an example of someone I took on to help train to be a trainer because she was already eating, living and breathing fitness. She spent her non-work hours conditioning and eating like a health guru and herein, I saw a bit of myself. Not all, but a bit. Myself, an Olympic qualifier, track and field participant and coach (including my plethora of hard earned certificates therein), Bachelor of Science major with a focus in Kinesiology and I was living the life of a trainer before I officially became a trainer. This also goes to show that even trainers need trainers. As I was a more advanced and qualified fitness professional at that stage of my training career when I met Kat, the solution seemed obvious. If Kat wants to live and breathe fitness similar to when she was on her university Rugby team and training martial arts she needs to be paid to be in a gym. Personal Training is not for everyone and getting a good trainer is the key element to success. I can’t stress this enough. Even Jackie Chan has a teacher, and if you’re not one of us, already living the disciplined life of no sugar, no alcohol, no white bread/rice, 6 day a week balanced fitness regime like my prototype here, with the mental calorie in calorie out counter and know how to exercise with form… then you need a good trainer. If you don’t also already have a periodization exercise plan catered to the functional output, balancing and grouping muscle groups from big to small, and I could go on, then you need the guidance of a trainer. If you’re not already doing a week of interval training to combat a weekend in Vegas then you need a trainer. The pressure of being a trainer is intense as you cannot only talk the talk you have to walk the walk. This can be as simple as being able to demonstrate exercise for a particular muscle group to as complicated as being a walking business card; the physical embodiment of what a fit person should look like. But let’s break this down a little, there is a reason trainers can keep up the image of being trainers. We love it! You don’t in anyway need to have the intense lifestyle Kat had when I met her. You need to leave all the worrying to the experts and know that those of us who can help you meet your goals no matter how big or how small are already living the dream, working, studying and practicing. All you need to know is the time you’re ready for us! Follow Alicia on Twitter