Coach’s Corner: 10 Nutrients Proven to Make you Feel Awesome

nutrients

Hello Team! You may be thinking, “What’s up with all the nutrition articles?” Well, you may not know this, but nutrition is one of the most important aspects of losing weight and staying in shape. No matter how much you train, if you’re eating garbage you’re not going to optimize your results.

Here are 10 key nutrients that have been scientifically proven to improve your health and make you feel great!

Calcium

Did you know that calcium is the most abundant mineral in our bodies? It helps maintain strong bones and healthy blood vessels! Don’t like milk? Try adding collard greens, kale, or plain yogurt to your diet!

Chromium

There are only trace amounts of chromium in our bodies, but it’s important in metabolizing food. It also plays a huge role in helping the brain regulate emotions and your mood. Feeling depressed? Try adding broccoli, potatoes, and turkey breast into you weekly meals!

Folate

AKA B9, this nutrient is a key player in creating new cells and supports serotonin regulation. Not having enough folate in your diet can make you feel more fatigued than normal. Boost your folate levels by eating spinach, avocado, and brussels sprouts.

Iron

Responsible for moving oxygen, supporting energy levels, and aiding in muscle strength – iron is really important, especially for women who may suffer from anemia. Low levels of iron typically result in fatigue, apathy, ad mood swings. Keep the blues away by eating lentils, beef ribeye, and oatmeal.

Magnesium

With over 300 roles, this nutrient is one you don’t want to lack. Keep your Mg levels up by keeping ample amounts of almonds, spinach, edamame, and cashews in your diet.

Omega 3s

This essential fatty acid is critical for improved brain health and contributes up to 18% of the brain’s weight! Our bodies can’t naturally produce omega 3s so it’s really important you get them through your diet. You can take fish oil, or add chia seeds, Atlantic salmon, spinach or Chinese broccoli to your meals!

Vitamin B6

This essential vitamin helps produce and maintain the neurotransmitters that send messages from our brain to our bodies. A lack of B6 can result in short term anemia, a weakened immune system, confusion or depression. Get your fill by adding chickpeas, tuna, salmon, or chicken breast to your salads and sandwiches.

Vitamin B12

Feeling tired and paranoid? You might be B12 deficient! Give yourself a boost with Rainbow trout, swiss cheese, and Sockeye salmon!

Vitamin D

Known as the “happy” vitamin, vitamin D has been linked to helping ward off depression, especially during the winter months when its cold and gray. Give yourself a pick me up by adding D rich foods like eggs, salmon, milk, and Chanterelle mushrooms to your diet.

Zinc

Found in almost every cell in our bodies, it playing an important role in supporting a healthy immune system and helps the body protect our guts from damage. Get your zinc on by eating cashews, pork loin, and swiss cheese!

Well, there you have it! Your homework for this month is to review what you’re eating and make sure to get as many of these into your diet as possible.

One Minute Tip : 5 Step Armbar

Team Academy Japan 2013

Submission Hunt Highlights

Highlights of the Submission Hunt 2013

The Academy welcomes new purple and blue belts to the team.

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In March, four new purple belts and ten new blue belts were welcomed to Team Academy. We are extremely proud to have students who are so dedicated to their training. These students have been training tirelessly for many months, some even years. The road to becoming a black belt is not an easy one. However, the lessons learned, the skills gained, and the memories made, are worth more than the setbacks and obstacles. Black belts are not just masters at technique, but they are masters of their mind and body. Due to years and years of training, competing, failing, and winning – black belts have developed great mental fortitude and strong physical awareness of their bodies. As the saying goes, “Black belts are simply white belts that never quit”. So whether you are a new student to jiu jitsu, or you train in another form of martial arts, don’t give up. Don’t stop training when you feel discouraged, don’t let injuries scare you away from coming back to class once you’ve healed. Stay true to your path as a martial artist. In the end you will have more than just the honor of being a black belt, you will have all the memories and all the experience and insights that come from so many years of dedication. Once again, congratulations to those who tested in March and are continuing their journey towards becoming a black belt!

Purple Belts:
Coach Nat McIntyre
Coach Adam Ahern
Subash Seshadri
Shawn Woodhull

Blue Belts:
Brady Sheehan
Alex Wolter
Randal Rasmussen
Kirsten Magnuson
Megan Bugge
Joe Lahoud
Ron Winslow
Nick Pielert
Blake Vierling
Barry Nelson

Coaches Corner: Seven Qualities of a Champion

MN MMA News

The following 7 qualities we can improve to become Martial Arts champions. These same qualities can be related to our everyday pursuits. We all should keep this concept in mind when we are going about our everyday lives. Once we develop these 7 physical/human qualities we can improve the overall quality of our lives.

 

1. Quickness

As martial Artists we must be quick in kicking, punching, kneeing and elbowing, and in all of our defensive counters; this is essential for effective self-defense. In our lives we must be quick in thinking and making decisions, which means being alert so nothing passes you by. More over, in action, we need to get things done as soon as possible. It is important that we do not procrastinate by putting off til later what you should do today!

…be quick in thinking and
making decisions…being
alert…get things done…

2. Endurance

We must all be physically patient to continue our practice in the Martial Arts. The more we train the more our endurance and overall conditioning will climb. In life we, must be just as patient in pursuing our goals. We must develop a sense of perseverance and consistency in our pursuit of our martial art excellence and in every aspect of our lives. It is only with such discipline that we will succeed.

3. Timing

Good timing is crucial in executing our techniques and tools; it is necessary for all sports. In life, this translates into being punctual. Consistently being late is a bad habit that gets in the way of our true potential.

4. Power

Physical power and strength is a necessity in excelling as a Martial Artist. Understanding of power and how to apply it is the backbone of good self defense. In life, true power is found in knowledge and information. We have all heard that “Knowledge is power,” and this is for the most part true. However, just like power, understanding is not enough, you must be able to apply what you know. Without knowledge we are lost, with knowledge but no means to apply it we are still in a weak position. Only when we find out how to apply our knowledge do we have real power.

5. Balance

When we perform any movement we must be in good balance. This allows us to properly distribute our weight to ensure proper form and execution. In our everyday lives we must balance the wisdom and knowledge in our minds with the honesty in our hearts and the strength in our bodies. We must also balance our families, work, training, school,and personal lives. Power is found in knowledge and information.

6. Flexibility

We need to be flexible in order to perform more efficiently. We must also have flexibility of character. This means having tolerance for other’s opinions, being compassionate and humble.

7. Form

A technique with good form is a thing of beauty. In life, this is equal to having a good attitude and an upright and good heart. Strong in every area of life.

“A good man who is in the right and a keeps on a coming is a hard man to bring down”
     Unknown Texas Ranger

Student Spotlight: Jim Vang & Ben Lor

Jiu Jitsu Minneapolis

Jim Vang & Ben Lor Earn Blue Belts

Congratulations to Jim Vang (left) and Ben Lor (right) on receiving their Blue Belts.

Jim and Ben are two of The Academy’s most dedicated students. They are always the ones that stay past the end of class to keep training and are never shy to ask questions to make sure they’re executing techniques correctly. They both have a deep passion for mastering jiu jitsu and we are so proud to have them training at The Academy. We look forward to watching them march forward on their journey to Black Belt!

Tips Of The Month

Muay Thai

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VISUALIZATION

The use of visualization is a critical training tool that will give you a strong competitive edge over your opponents. When you visualize the strikes, evasions, and blocks of an opponent while shadow-boxing, you are conditioning your mind and body to react appropriately to future real life situations.  Whether you’re sparring someone in class, or defending yourself outside The Academy – this tool is essential for becoming a strong, disciplined, and talented martial artist.

 

Jiu Jitsu

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RELAXATION

One commonly made mistake in jiu jitsu is forgetting to breathe and relax. While you’re drilling or rolling with a teammate, pay attention to the parts of your body that feel tense and think about relaxing those muscles. Remember, jiu jitsu is not about how strong you are (although it helps), it is about using proper technique and leverage to pit your opponent’s own strength against themselves. Don’t make a habit of trying to muscle your way through or out of a move. Instead, focus on being able to execute smooth but powerful moves, which only come with persistent practice.

MMA

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TECHNIQUE

Whether your goal is to lose weight or to become a professional fighter, you cannot achieve either goal without focusing first on your technique. Proper technique is essential for executing moves effectively and correctly. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, without good technique you will find yourself getting beat by smaller, weaker opponents if you have poor technique. Develop your skills by dedicating yourself to your training (coming to class regularly), by setting goals and achieving them (see June’s issue), and asking your coaches for advice (we are here to help you).

Coaches Corner: Age Is Nothing But A Number

coachdick

 

Hey Team!

As mentioned in the previous issue, this month’s focus will be on the importance of fitness and martial arts in your life regardless of age. As coaches, we often hear, “I’m too old to do that.” Or, “I’m too out of shape to do that.” You are never too old to start taking care of your mind and body. Not matter what season of life you’re in, you can reap unthinkable benefits from working out, eating healthy, and achieving your goals.

Children:

Here at The Academy, we have students as young as 4 years old training in our Tiny Ninjas program. Children who get involved in martial arts at a young age learn important skills in discipline, respect, and team work that carry on into their adolescent and adult lives, while simultaneously burning off some of that energy that never seems to end. (Parents, you know what we’re talking about.)

Teens and Young Adults: While we don’t have a teen specific program, most of the teenagers and young adults that train here attend adult classes. Just like the Tiny Ninjas and Little Dragons programs, our adult program also emphasizes discipline, respect, and team work. By allowing this age group to train with adults, we expose them a variety of mature and hard working training partners that they can look up to and learn from. This is also a great age to start learning self defense skills that can be used to protect themselves in the event they find themselves in a situation where it is necessary to do so.

Adults:

If you’re between the ages of 25 and 50 then martial arts is a fantastic way to lose weight, become stronger and leaner, and to build mental fortitude. Training in the martial arts as an adult will give you a renewed sense of confidence that maybe you’ve never experienced before, or once experienced but lost it because of stress, work, family issues, etc. While its true that maybe at 50 you don’t feel as energetic or as flexible as a 25 year old, but training at your own pace and with good partners that are patient, will help you succeed in your training. The key to training safely is learning the balance between pushing yourself and knowing when to back off and take breaks. Don’t be discouraged if you have to start slow, or if you have to take breaks. This is normal if you haven’t worked out in a while. As you train more, the workouts will become easier as your body gets more used to training.

50 and over:

As people get into their fifties and into their sixties they write off exercise completely using the common excuse of, “I’m just too old,” or, “My joints hurt too much.” We’re here to tell you that this excuse is unacceptable. We are fortunate to have Coach Dick Kotasek, our Monday and Wednesday night Foundations BJJ coach, who is in his early seventies and a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Professor Pedro Sauer. He is living proof that no matter how old you are, training in martial arts is not just for the young and spry. Choosing to be active at this stage in life is key to potentially prolonging your life. We have a number of students in our programs that are in their late forties and early fifties and they’ve all said that their training has been extremely beneficial to not only their physical health, but their mental and emotional health as well. It’s never too late to start, better late than never, right? Just remember, start slow and take your time!
Coach Dick Kotasek 70 Years Old Still Competing in BJJ!