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

No one can deny that the feeling of fall can’t be beat. With temperatures finally going down and the prospect of apple picking right around the corner, it’s hard not to love the season. For some, though, the winding down of summer can also be a stressful time. Whether it be going back to school, the end of vacation, or changes at work as everyone returns from break and buckles down, fall introduces disruptions for most people that can throw off even the most resolute nutrition and wellness routines, and trigger weight gain.

A great way to decrease stress and control your weight and eating during times of transition is through mindful meditation. Although we at InsideTracker have found the research on weight loss to be too limited to make mindful meditation an official recommendation, we believe that it has great potential to help, and we are keeping a close eye on this exciting, developing field.

Nine hours, twenty-eight minutes, and twenty-nine seconds. When is the last time you did anything for that long? No, really. Have you even slept that long lately? Well, that's how long it took InsideTracker athlete, Kevin Portmann, to cross the finish line of Ironman Coeur d'Alene.

By crossing the finish line in personal record time and nearly 10 minutes faster than the runner up, he not only punched his ticket the Ironman World Championship in Kailua Kona, he also grabbed his Pro Card - a feat by any measure.

After this triumphant win, our colleague, Mariah Bridges, caught up with Kevin to talk about his training, nutrition, and the role InsideTracker plays in all of it. View the video below, or read the Q&A instead!

Just breathe. Chances are, you've heard that advice before. Chances also are, you're not doing it correctly. Whether you're involved in competitive sports and looking to maximize your performance, or just looking to feel better and more focused throughout your workday, breathing properly can help.

Joe DI, Director of Sport at Spartan Race, returns as our guest blogger for the third installment in a series of posts featuring his training expertise. This time, Joe discusses why breathing has become a focus of the performance world, why he ensures his athletes and coaches practice it, and how he integrates proper approaches to breathing into their routines in a practical way. In fact, studies have shown that diaphragmatic breathing can help workplace stress by reducing cortisol levels¹. 

Challenge yourself to follow Joe's guidance and focus on breathing the right way to improve your life, both on the field and off...

Did you know that until their loss against Fiji yesterday, Team USA was the defending Olympic Rugby Champion? That’s right, back in 1924—the last time rugby was played in the Olympics—Team USA took home the Gold. And though they weren't able to defend their title, they played hard hitting rugby, and were just narrowly edged out by the (best in the world) competition.

As a long-time rugby player, I’ve received my fair share of questions: “people play rugby in the US? There’s more than just one team? How did you get into it in the first place?” And perhaps most commonly, some iteration of: “Aren’t you afraid you’re going to get hurt?!”

The short answer to the common question: no. I’m not afraid of getting hurt, I’m afraid that if I get hurt, I may not be able to continue playing the sport I love so much. But, no matter your sport, you can relate to rugby. From sprints to tackles, and from kicks to throws, if you play a field sport, or are interested in increasing your endurance, train like a rugby player and you'll be built to impress in no time. Here, I'll not only provide a few tips on recovery and how to be rugby-ready for your upcoming season, I'll also give you a quick glimpse into the history of the sport, and a bit of “Rugby 101" so that you can join the conversation.

The professional tennis season is 11 months long, and physical demand forces players to push their body to the limit for an entire year. Consequently, headlines announcing players pulling out of tournaments often cite fatigue as the culprit. Some players have opted to withdraw from tournaments leading up to the Rio Olympic games on August 6th in order to give their bodies some much needed rest. However, those participating in the Olympics may then experience fatigue leading into the U.S. Open, which follows just a few weeks after.

Pro tennis players' fatigue, for the most part, results from the season’s demands of training, matches, and traveling – with minimal recovery time. But, you don't have to be a pro to feel the effects of fatigue in sport; some InsideTracker users lament feeling a "lack of energy" during their own tennis matches.

With the Olympics drawing near and summer athletics in full swing, we're excited to welcome back a guest blogger who keeps his finger on the pulse of peak performance, Joe DiStefano, better known as “Joe DI.” Not only is he the Director of Sport at Spartan Race, he's also a longtime friend and user of InsideTracker. Last we heard from him, he shared his personal “unplugged” approach to sleeping soundly through the night, and provided the methodology for how you can do it too. In this edition, he focuses on a problem faced by many athletes, mobility.

To kick things off, Carl Valle, InsideTracker's Director of Innovation and USATF II Coach, asked Joe why he focused so heavily on the joint mobility of the foot at the Spartan Combine, and how self-care can reduce injury and keep athletes in tune with their bodies. Finally, he asked Joe to share some low-technology solutions to help address these issues for Olympians and weekend (Spartan) warriors alike.

By following his four simple tips, whether there’s a medal on the line or not, you’ll be pushing past your personal records and going for gold. Here’s what he had to say…

With the 2016 CrossFit Games in full swing, we wanted to share our excitement with you, our readers. Not only are we looking forward to watching the athletes fight for the title of “The Fittest,” but we are also excited to have members of the InsideTracker team at The Games this year in Vendor Village. If you are going to be there, be sure to stop by to learn how you can improve your health and fitness!

For the 10^th anniversary of the Games, Games Director, Dave Castro, promised the athletes that “this year’s competition is going to push you to limits you have never pushed yourself to before. This will be the most difficult CrossFit Games, mentally and physically, we have ever done.” For the sake of good sport and competition, we hope he keeps his promise!

It’s Olympic season, so that means it’s time for a few sports to grab a bit more of the spotlight than usual. In particular, swimming seems to be the defining example. As a sport, swimming comes to the forefront every four years, peaks in popularity, and slowly treads its way back into the deep. But if you're a swimmer like me, whether you were an age-group swimmer, club swimmer, college swimmer or even a Masters swimmer, a certain sense of pride and awe comes over you as you watch the world's best swimmers go stroke-for-stroke in the Olympics. Though, perhaps more people should ride this wave and jump in. Swimming might just be the sport you've been looking for.

Joshua Quarles is on the move. As an avid cyclist and downhill skier, he has never been at a loss for athletic pursuits. Even though he constantly monitors his diet, Quarles, who is the CFO of a community bank in Montana, was still worried about his health. With a family history of high cholesterol and elevated blood pressure, Quarles wanted to make sure that his diet was as rigorous as his cycling regimen.

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?