Are you struggling with low back or hip pain, or just don't feel like you can do everything you want to? Hip immobility is a common root of these problems, so check out this stretch to help increase mobility and alleviate pain!

Happy Holidays from all of us at Northstar Fitness! This month we will be doing a food drive to help out those in need. All collections will go to the Rotary Lights. Help spread some Christmas Cheer this year by helping our community and donating to your local food drive!

The oblique muscles are another integral part of the core. They are responsible for keeping us stable and strong, especially when doing any movements requiring trunk rotation. Check out Jarrod's video to learn bicycle crunches, an exercise that will improve those obliques and increase your core strength and stability!

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone here at Northstar!

     The holiday season a common time to lose track of healthy habits. While we're spending time with family and friends this weekend, here are a few simple tips to make staying on track a little easier!

Slow-Cooked Chicken

Here’s a SUPER easy fitness dinner. It’s filled with muscle-building protein and dotted with fiber-rich veggies to keep you on track with your fitness goals.

Putting dinner in the slow cooker before you leave for work in the morning is one of the easiest ways to ensure that you’ll be eating a healthy dinner that night. This chicken breast comes out so tender that it literally falls apart—it’s delicious. Enjoy!

Courtesy of RealHealthyRecipes.com

What you need
Servings: 6

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 lbs organic, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
12 dried figs, chopped
1 cup butternut squash, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 Tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh sage, chopped

Instructions

1. In a large skillet place the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes.

 Which type of exercise endurance training vs. strength training best decreases the risk for coronary disease?

We've been taught to exercise daily through endurance training to best decreases the risk for coronary disease.   But when look at all the components of energy metabolism we see that strength training in fact is superior in decreasing the risk for coronary disease (McGuff & Little, 2009). 

When exercising at a low-intensity steady-state an individual is not able to achieve complete glucose depletion which results in a reduced ability of these muscles to store glucose.  Glucose storing capacity is reduced when glucose elimination is incomplete and leads to extra glucose in the bloodstream.  This extra glucose in the bloodstream will be diverted to fat cells which in turn increases the risk of developing coronary disease.  Endurance training such as running, for example, does not facilitate complete glucose depletion and thus decreases...

We've been taught that to get the best heart health, you need to go all out cardio to do so.  That's great when you are younger, but once life started getting in the way, the intensity slowly decreased.  Or you were injured trying to get back in shape. 

Now you yearn for the days when you were full of life, free to do what you liked, and wanting to break free of the chains of fad diets.  

Could it be that we were taught incorrectly, or that what you were taught didn't apply to your body type, capabilities, and fitness level?  Well, there's a new kid on the block, and it's making all the difference.  

The key is resistance training, but not just any.  It is resistance training that matches who you are, what you can do.  Safely.  And the results is a superior heart and physical health.  It's what will allow you to turn back that clock and allow you to live decades younger, not worry about fad diets, and let you be...

Stubborn areas of fat are pesky, and it always seems to happen in the wrong places!  

You may have wanted to diet to lose those pesky pounds to tone up, but unfortunately, that dieting may be what's causing it.  When your body goes on a diet, it gets into starvation mode.  This causes a couple things to occur.  1) Your body will more readily consume lean muscle to provide the energy before it burns the fat.  2) As that lean muscle is what burns those calories, your metabolism starts to slow. 3) As it slows, the food you do eat more easily turns to fat.   

Additionally, other factors like stress are contributors to keeping the fat on.  I recently sat down with Anna Slaback from Essential Habits for Wellness, and she states, "One of the biggest reasons why we see fat stored more readily in the gut is because of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that is released when we are in a state of stress. "   When that stress is prolonged, the body...

Feeling stressed? Most people are these days.

The past couple of months have been filled with new levels of stress as we’ve all dealt with the coronavirus pandemic.

But you don’t have to let stress get the best of you.

When stress is getting you down, you need something that makes you feel good and is good for you.

I’m talking about exercise!

Every time you exercise you increase your body’s production of endorphins.  But not just any exercise will do.   Often walking and other forms of cardio aren't sufficient to take off the edge.  And if you are stressed, trying to get out to exercise alone is often a one way street to not doing it at all.

In case you have forgotten, endorphins are responsible for those good moods you get into after a race and the pleasure you feel while chomping down on a piece of chocolate.

However, before you grab a piece of chocolate and skip your workout, remember the end result of each and choose which one will...

This recipe for Turkey Meatballs with Pine Nuts is great to make on the weekend, to fill your fridge with healthy snacking options for the week. You could also make a batch of hardboiled eggs and slice some cucumbers while the meatballs bake. These healthy snacks are all low in carbs and sugar – the two things that your snacks should never contain.

Taking control of your snack foods is key to getting on track with your fitness results.

Courtesy of Real Healthy Recipes

What you need
Servings: 12

1 cup blanched almond flour
½ cup nutritional yeast, or Parmesan cheese
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
¼ cup coconut cream, or half and half
1 Tablespoon ketchup
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ cup yellow onion, finely chopped
½ cup pine nuts
2 lbs ground turkey
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a...