A blog to help you optimize your full-body and life performance

Increasing muscle mass does more than just alter your physical appearance. It’s actually crucial for sustaining your health in the long term. Sufficient muscle mass helps you manage your weight, build and maintain strong bones, increase your metabolism, and keep you active as you age.

So, have we convinced you it’s time to add some lean mass? The InsideTracker platform has you covered when you choose “Gain Muscle” as your goal. But here, we’ve broken down the science to provide you with some top recommendations for achieving serious #gains.

The liver is the main “chemist” in our body. It is the primary location for the conversion of one compound to another. Because of this, the liver can be thought of as the body’s detoxifier. If you have a liver, there is no need to “detox” through juice cleanses or lengthy fasts. Your liver does that for you every day.

Sleeping through your alarm. Showing up unprepared to a presentation. Forgetting an important birthday. Getting stressed out just reading? I can relate. But by making my InsideTracker goal ‘Reduce Stress,’ tracking certain biomarkers, and making some lifestyle changes, I’ve been able to find relaxation, mindfulness, and balance in my fast-paced daily life. 

It's that time of year. The days are getting shorter, the nights longer, and the temperatures are steadily dropping. Before you know it, fall will be here and the North American triathlon season will be coming to an end. Whether you've already accomplished your main race, or preparing for the end of season, recovery time is just around the corner! 

This past weekend, our very own, Ross and Ashley competed and crushed their goals of racing Ironman® Maine 70.3 (more on that to come). We selfishly want them back to the top of their game as quickly as possible, we've put together a few ways to help them recover post-race. So here you go, colleagues: a few quick, strain-free triathlon recovery nutrition tips...

Being stressed out is a 21st century trend. If you're not stressed, you must be doing something wrong, right? If you're sleep-deprived, over-trained, and constantly busy, then you are deemed “super(wo)man.” Right? Well, that's wrong. When did this become the norm, and why do we think we can keep charging full speed ahead?

While we may tell ourselves that more is better, it is important to check in and see if our bodies can tolerate the way we are living. Ever been tired, but once you hit the bed you're suddenly wired? What about having a full night’s rest and waking up exhausted? This is not normal, despite the fact that many people experience such feelings. And we shouldn't trudge through life this way. Our stress hormone, cortisol, is a key component in these patterns, and it's important to understand what we are looking for when it comes to stress.

One of the most common new fitness trends is eating a mysterious blue-green algae called “spirulina.” Trendy fitness magazines and celebrities hail it as a top-secret “superfood” you take as a supplement or powder. However, are any of these claims actually based on real, scientific evidence? Or is spirulina as dubious as a health product shamelessly advertised by the Kardashians on Instagram? Below we sort out the fact and fiction by delving into the high-quality that shows how spirulina might impact your body and your health.

The biomarker creatine kinase (CK) is a useful way to determine general body strain. Anyone who exercises, ranging from light fitness to elite athletes, can benefit from correctly interpreting its data. Unlike vitamin D, ferritin, and magnesium, CK is not a nutrient and thus requires a little extra analysis to take advantage of the information it provides. The average Joe recreational runner all the way to the sports scientist can use CK to improve workouts and unveil some training patterns. In this blog, we will look at CK in detail and offer an outline of how best to use it to gauge body strain so you can plan smarter workouts.

I believe in and practice a methodical approach to athletic performance. I control what I can control, and have faith in myself, my training, my body, and my craft. I believe in inspirational athletic feats and heightened states of athletic performance. I know these states exist and they are almost impossible to duplicate or explain. How do you explain what it means to be in “the zone”? It’s obvious to anyone watching when an athlete is in “the zone.” The athlete moves freely and effortlessly, transcending boundaries and defeating opponents. It’s a special thing to witness and a special thing to experience. 

While studies suggest that moderate alcohol consumption may be associated with improved cardiovascular-related biomarkers, we all know that our consumption (of everything!) tends to be a little more than “moderate” throughout the holiday season. So what happens in our bodies when we over-indulge?

Most of us consider sneakers to be an essential part of our workout gear, but one group of runners has decided to forgo this mainstream piece of exercise equipment entirely. Barefoot runners are quickly gaining in numbers, and this trend doesn’t show signs of slowing! Barefoot running, also known as natural running or minimalism, is simply running without shoes or running in thin-soled shoes. Barefoot runners claim that this is the most natural way of running, and that it can even correct an imperfect form, which may result in fewer running injuries than those who run with shoes. But is barefoot running all that it’s cracked up to be?