As we wrap up our Performance Optimized Series, we thought we’d dedicate this week to recapping all that we’ve learned over the past few months.

Often when people think of carbs they think of pizza, baked goods, and processed foods. But there are many sources of carbohydrates that are healthy and important for disease prevention and optimal performance. Today we’re going to discuss the third and final macronutrient, and how we can incorporate healthy sources of carbohydrates into our diet every day.

One of the most common pieces of feedback we get is that people love Q&A sessions. So this week we thought we’d compile all of the FAQs that we’ve received from our community over the past year - through emails, live events, and coaching sessions. Hopefully you find this information helpful and that there are some key takeaways that you can apply to your daily routine. Of course if you have any questions that we missed don't hesitate to reach out!

Last week we discussed flow, a state in which we are completely immersed in the task at hand. We become so engrossed in the activity we’re doing that the world seems to fade away. Athletes often refer to this state as being “in the zone”, however anyone can enter into this state - whether it be at work, while pursuing a passion, or having an engaging conversation with someone.

Flow is often described as a peak state of consciousness. It was first identified by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who described it as a highly focused state conducive to peak performance and productivity. During flow, people are completely immersed in the task at hand and are entirely in the present (no sense of past or future). People who experience flow say they feel a sense of timelessness, total body awareness, complete focus, and a sense of ease.

Post-workout nutrition is almost as important as the workout itself. Just like sleep, good nutrition is essential for recovery. Prioritizing post-workout nutrition will help you take advantage of the work you just did, help you feel good for the rest of the day, and help you recover faster for your next workout!

As mindfulness has been shown to improve focus, decrease physiological and psychological measures of stress, and reduce rumination, it’s no wonder that athletes are starting to incorporate mindfulness practices into their training!

I’m sure you’ve noticed on days you don't get a good sleep, you struggle to concentrate, are unable to recall facts, and find it difficult to solve problems. It’s also well established that students’ academic performance is correlated with sleep quantity and quality. But what exactly is happening at night that helps us think clearly the next day?

Having a good pre-exercise meal or snack will make a huge difference to your exercise performance and will help avoid gastrointestinal discomfort during exercise. But what about fuel during your workout?

This week, we’re going to dive into the fourth and final “F” of Fitness: Fit, or cardiovascular endurance. Endurance training is any sort of exercise in which you’re moving your body for an extended period of time. Typical endurance activities include jogging, cycling, hiking, swimming, rowing, etc. However, endurance activities also include household chores, cooking, walking a pet, or low-impact sports such as golf.

This week we’re going to focus on another incredibly important function of sleep: removing waste. For all metabolic processes that occur in your body, there is an associated waste. The lymphatic system works with the circulatory system to clear this waste. Lymphatic vessels collect waste from your cells and dump it into the blood to be disposed of to keep your body clean and healthy. But how does the brain dispose of the waste that it accumulates during the day?

A question that comes up a lot is ‘what and when should I eat before my workout?’ The timing and composition of your nutrition can make huge differences to your athletic performance. Understanding how to fuel your body is important for everyone - whether you are an elite athlete or if you just want to be healthy enough to run around with your kids.

Trying to make changes to your lifestyle isn’t easy. We often get caught up in a cycle of “bad habits” that are hard to break. This is because we are meant to conserve energy (remember Decision Fatigue!). The challenge is then to try to implement new habits that will improve your health and performance, and get away from habits that are damaging. In order to do this, we need to make our lifestyle changes as easy as possible and we need to be consistent.

Chronic inflammation is associated with almost all chronic diseases, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and obesity. Inflammation is also elevated in individuals suffering from mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. However, inflammation in itself isn’t bad. Inflammation is a normal process that, in small amounts, helps the body heal. But chronic inflammation can be damaging and lead to health problems.

Sprint interval training, speed work, high intensity interval training, and high intensity intermittent exercise are all considered “fast” workouts. Simply - any workout in which you are varying the pace of your workout session

If we’re exposed to high levels of stress repeatedly without sufficient time to recover, we become exhausted, burned out, stressed, and unable to make good decisions surrounding our health and wellbeing. But if we allow ourselves to have proper rest (both physically and mentally), we are able to amplify our performance - at work and at home.

One of the questions we asked in our recent survey was what your main barriers are when making a change to improve your health. “Lack of motivation” was the top answer...by a landslide. This is a HUGE increase from our survey at the beginning of the pandemic, and while not surprising, we wanted to dedicate a week to addressing this.

In previous newsletters, we’ve discussed the dangers of exposing your eyes to light before bed. Due to our circadian rhythm (our internal biological clock), we naturally feel sleepy at night as the pineal gland releases melatonin, the sleepy hormone. When we expose our eyes to light, a signal is sent from our retina to our brain telling it to stop producing melatonin. Basically, we’re telling our body that it’s daytime instead of nighttime. This can cause an increase in sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep), sleep inertia (drowsiness when you wake up), and an overall reduction in sleep quality. This is why it's incredibly important to dim lights at night and keep your bedroom as dark as possible.