Average Joe Fitness

Nutrition, Protein Shakes

Pumpkin Protein Shake

10/30/2019
Pumpkin Protein Shake

This protein shake has made its way into the regular rotation during the fall. It's a nice change of pace to keep things interesting. I'm not huge into the pumpkin spice frenzy that happens every fall, but an occasional pumpkin flavored protein shake scratches any itch that may pop up for pumpkin spiced...something.

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Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 1 shake
Calories 535 kcal

Equipment
Blender

Ingredients

1 Banana (fresh or frozen for thicker shake)
1/2 cup Canned Pumpkin (just pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup Skim Milk
1/4 cup Sliced Almonds
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (Cinnamon flavor works too)
1 Tbsp Stevia
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (No pumpkin pie spice? Just double the cinnamon)

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth
Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 shake

Servings Per Container 1

Amount Per Serving

Calories 535 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 16g 25%

Saturated Fat 2g 10%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 55mg 18%

Sodium 246mg 10%

Total Carbohydrate 65g 22%

Dietary Fiber 10g 40%

Sugars 39g

Protein 40g 80%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Workouts

I Like YOGA

10/26/2019

The main purpose of exercise for me at this point is to age well. Weightlifting helps build and maintain strength, while cardio contributes to healthy heart and lungs. Just being strong and lean doesn’t necessarily result in the functional fitness I’m striving for. Having the flexibility and balance to move well also seems important to everyday life. Stretching during workouts will help, but I prefer to dedicate at least one workout per week to a full blown Yoga session.

Now, I will admit that Yoga has been an acquired taste. I would never have even thought to include Yoga in my fitness routine if it wasn’t part of the P90X program that started me on my latest fitness journey. I was committed to following that program strictly, which meant regular Yoga days mixed in. At first it was not enjoyable and quite humbling, to say the least. I was instructed to stretch, bend, and balance in ways that seemed simple enough, but my body just wasn’t cooperating. It would have been real easy to just say “forget it” and decide Yoga isn’t for me. I chose to stick with it and at least try to accomplish some of the movements and poses. With time and persistence came improvement, which taught me there might be something to this whole Yoga thing.

I have come to appreciate how Yoga provides an opportunity to assess and improve flexibility and balance. I mean, how do you really know if you have good balance unless you try standing on one foot every once in a while. I also like that Yoga can progress from basic to advanced movements to continually challenge you no matter your experience level. While some of the poses may seem a bit extreme and impractical, I figure if you can do things like the pictures shown below then the movements we have to do in everyday life should be easy.

Yoga is a good activity for those active rest days between the higher intensity workouts. Since I’m not a teenager anymore I can’t lift weights everyday and regular rest days are important at this point in life to prevent overtraining, fatigue, and injury. I am pretty strict with myself to make sure I include a full Yoga session at least once a week. I have been using the P90X3 Yoga routine for years now, which seems to work well for me. It is only 30 minutes and runs through a good mix of flexibility and balance movements. I haven’t felt the need to find other Yoga programs, but I know there are many others out there if the need arises.

Another benefit from doing weekly Yoga is it provides a regular assessment of how your body feels. If you are doing some high intensity workouts as part of your fitness program, you are likely experiencing muscle soreness from time to time. Sometimes you may not notice any tightness, but once you’re in a certain extended or “bendy” Yoga pose you might identify a muscle or joint that needs a little TLC. It is for this reason that I often work in a full Yoga session on the weekend as sort of a reset to wrap up one week and prepare for the week ahead. I also include Yoga movements as part of my morning stretches as well as warm ups and cool downs during other workouts.

I’m not saying that Yoga is for everyone as there are certainly other flexibility and mobility routines out there. What I would suggest is that you try Yoga if you haven’t and give it more than a session or two before you make judgement. Yoga went from something I struggled through and put up with at the beginning to now being something that is a must have in any fitness program I follow.

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Strength Training, Workouts

DIPS

07/03/2019

#10 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

The last exercise in my Top 10 is the Dip. There are several reasons why this exercise finds it’s way into most of my lifting programs. It has a functional element since you are moving your body-weight as the primary resistance. The dip requires minimal equipment and can be modified based on what equipment is available to you. Also, it is a compound movement that works a couple different muscles. There are a few variations that can slightly change the focus & difficulty and weight can be added to allow progression beyond just your body-weight.

My preference is the parallel bar dip if there is a dip station available. Using dip bars allows you to use your full body-weight for the resistance and you can even add a little weight if that gets too easy. Adding weight can be done by using a dip belt, wearing a weighted vest, or just holding a dumbbell between your feet. If full body-weight is too challenging or a dip station isn’t available (like when traveling) bench dips are a good alternative. All that is needed for bench dips is a flat bench or even a couple of sturdy chairs.

I usually think of dips as a tricep exercise, but it definitely uses other muscles like the chest, shoulders, and core. The parallel bar dip tends to use the chest a little more based on body positioning as you lower yourself into the bottom of the movement. Try throwing a couple of sets of parallel bar dips at the end of a chest workout and I’m sure you will feel it in your chest muscles. Bench dips, on the other hand, seem to put more focus on the triceps. You will definitely notice a stretch in your chest and shoulder (be careful not to go too low) but you should feel the most muscle pump in your arms.

Similar to push-ups & pull-ups, getting stronger using the dip will make you better at moving your body-weight against gravity. There is confidence that comes from knowing you can support and move your entire body with just your arms. I will usually add dips in at the end of a chest workout or full-body workout. This exercise works well as a finisher that you can safely take to failure and push the muscles that are already fatigued.

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Nutrition

MAINTENANCE – FULL DAY OF EATING

05/22/2019
Most of the year I am just trying to maintain a healthy weight while working out to keep up my strength and conditioning. Workouts remain fairly intense with a blend of strength training and cardio/HIIT. This provides a significant calorie burn from exercise, which makes my maintenance nutrition level a bit higher and easier to manage. I have found that around 2,800 calories a day will provide enough energy to support my workouts and keep my weight pretty steady. Below is an example of what a normal day of eating looks like for me.

MEAL #1
1 cup – Warm Bone Broth
Blueberry Almond Protein Oatmeal
1 oz. Dark Chocolate
MEAL #1 TOTALS – 1,000kcal, 85g carbs, 45g fat, 65g protein

–

MEAL #2 – Post-Workout
Strawberry Banana Protein Shake
1 Tbsp Peanut Butter (added to shake)
MEAL #2 TOTALS – 550kcal, 72g carbs, 11g fat, 50g protein

–

MEAL #3
Lean Meatloaf
Garlic Parmesan Smashed Potatoes
MEAL #3 TOTALS – 800kcal, 81g carbs, 29g fat, 52g protein

–

MEAL #4
1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Apple – chopped
1/4 cup Chopped Walnuts
1 Tbsp Honey
MEAL #4 TOTALS – 450kcal, 52g carbs, 18g fat, 27g protein

DAILY TOTAL
- 2,800kcal
- 290g carbohydrates
- 103g fat
- 195g protein
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Nutrition, Recipes

Lean Meatloaf

05/18/2019
Lean Meatloaf

I wasn't a fan of meatloaf growing up. I wanted to try it again, but had reservations about standard meatloaf recipes. My goal was to make a meatloaf that wasn't swimming in it's own grease or loaded with onions. This recipe uses lean ground beef and substitutes grated carrots for some of the onion. Meatloaf has found its way back into regular dinner rotation with this recipe.

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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Course Main Course
Cuisine American

Servings 4 large servings
Calories 525 kcal

Ingredients

1.5 lbs. Lean Ground Beef (90%+ Lean)
1/2 cup Diced Onion (can be adjusted up or down)
1 cup Grated Carrot
1 cup Bread Crumbs
1 cup Skim Milk
1 Egg
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/3 cup Ketchup
2 Tbsp Mustard (condiment, not spice)
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F
Dice onion & peel and shred carrots using a grater
Add ground beef, onion, carrot, bread crumbs, milk, egg, salt & pepper into a large bowl and mix really well. (hands work best)
Form meat mixture into a ball and then press into a greased loaf pan (9x5)
Combine ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar in a small bowl and mix well
Spread ketchup mixture on top of meatloaf
Bake at 350F for 60 minutes
Slice and Serve

Notes
Nutritional information is for 90% lean ground beef. Changing the % fat will alter the nutrition slightly.
Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 serving

Servings Per Container 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories 525 Calories from Fat 189

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 21g 32%

Saturated Fat 7g 35%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 168mg 56%

Sodium 760mg 32%

Total Carbohydrate 38g 13%

Dietary Fiber 3g 12%

Sugars 17g

Protein 43g 86%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Cardio/HIIT, Strength Training, Workouts

KETTLEBELL SWINGS

05/15/2019

#9 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

This is a relatively new movement for me. I didn’t discover the Kettlebell Swing until after I had turned 40. I’m not even sure the kettlebell existed when I was a teenager, or if it did it wasn’t something you would find it in any mainstream gyms. However, when I got back into to shape starting in 2014 the kettlebell had apparently become VERY popular. This odd looking weight had gone from something I had never heard of to having entire workouts designed around it. While I haven’t gone “all in” on the kettlebell quite yet, I did decide to try the basic kettlebell swing. Once I figured out proper form I quickly understood why this exercise is so highly thought of. This movement provides multiple benefits that help it earn a spot in my Top 10 list, but how it works the hamstrings is the main reason I have made this one of my favorites.

For years I have been trying to find a good exercise for my hamstrings. While many of the heavy compound movements like dead-lift and squat will use the hamstrings, I’ve never felt like they were the primary focus. I’ve tried exercises like Romanian Dead-Lifts and Straight-Legged Dead-Lifts, and while they may put more focus on the hamstrings than other dead-lifts I feel the heavy nature of these moves makes it difficult to focus on targeting the hamstrings. It seems like my grip and/or lower back would always feel the fatigue with these movements before my legs would feel it. The kettlebell swing incorporates a lot of hamstring action and the manageable weight used allows for high rep sets to really fatigue the leg muscles. The muscle soreness I get in the back of my legs after a good session of kettlebell swings is like nothing I have experienced with any other leg exercise. It is a deep soreness more on the outside of my hamstring that usually lasts a couple of days.

While I would agree that form is very important when doing the kettlebell swing, I will admit I’m probably not the best person to give advice on proper technique since I’m sure my swings are far from perfect. There are plenty of videos and advice out there to help you correctly perform the kettlebell swing. There are a lot of things moving in this exercise, but I tend to focus on keeping a neutral spine and hinging the hips back and forth to keep me in the groove. When I first started doing the kettlebell swing I felt it more in my lower back, and not in a good way. After some education and practice on proper form, I have been able to make this a hamstring focused exercise that can be done for high reps providing additional cardiovascular benefits.

I tend to use this exercise a little differently than others on the Top 10 list. The kettlebell swing seems to work better for me when performing high repititions, which lends itself well to Cardio/HIIT workouts. If you include this as part of cardio day it might be best to space it out a couple of days away from any leg focused training day due the the potential fatigue/soreness you may get in the hamstrings. I have also used kettlebell swings to increase the intensity of some workouts, like arm day, by doing swings between lifting sets. This gets and keeps the heart rate going during a workout that would otherwise seems relatively easy. Regardless of how they are used, I try to include swings into my programs at least once a week.

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Strength Training, Workouts

PUSH-UPS

04/22/2019

#8 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

Drop and give me 20! A favorite of drill sargents and athletic coaches forever, the push-up also makes my Top 10. Not only does this fit nicely in the functional exercise category, but it gets high ratings for its anywhere/anytime flexibility. It can be a good foundational strength movement for those early in their strength development, or a high rep finisher for people who prefer to push heavier weights. Where the push-up really shines for me is when I’m traveling and dealing with equipment availability. No matter where you are there will always be a floor to knock out a few sets of push-ups.

As with many exercises, the push-up lends itself to variation on how you perform the movement to make it more/less challenging or shift which muscles get the most work. The standard width classic push-up is my go to, but I have incorporated many other versions over the years. Close Grip or Diamond (hands touching) are good for more of a challenge and they really work the triceps. Going with a wider hand position should make things a little easier as it puts more focus on the larger chest muscles. Putting your feet in an elevated position, like on a chair or bench, will enlist more of the muscles in the upper chest. If your goal is to hit as many muscles as possible, I would suggest the Dive Bomber Push-Up. If you think push-ups are too easy then you could try one handed push-ups, which could earn you some machismo points. To crank up the difficulty and intensity, I have become a fan of the clap or Plyometric Push-Up. The explosive push is a nice change of pace from the typical resistance training. I know there are many other flavors of push-up I’m not listing here, but these are just a few I have used.

Incorporating push-ups into a training program is fairly easy. If you want to make it your primary push movement for a workout, then pick one or more versions and perform multiple sets. Just make sure you do enough reps/set to take at least the last set to failure, or every set to failure if you really want to push it. I find that push-ups are a great high rep finisher for a chest focused workout, even if you can only do one set at the end it will provide a good final pump. If you like more of the fast paced circuit style workouts, push-ups are easy to work into the rotation as an upper body strength movement that keeps the heart pumping and also works your core. Being in my Top 10 you can find it in many of my programs and workouts, which you can view here.

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Strength Training, Workouts

LUNGES

04/12/2019

#7 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

I love/hate lunges! This is another functional exercise that I avoided for most of my younger years because they are hard, but now I get it. It wouldn’t seem like a difficult exercise since you are really just stepping funny, but do a few sets during a workout and tell me they don’t suck (in a good way). It is the awkward stepping motion that provides all the benefit and discomfort. Getting into and out of the bottom of a lunge using one leg requires some coordination and balance which enlists several small and uncommonly used muscles to keep you from falling over. The single leg deep knee bend at the bottom of the lunge will also require significant work from the larger thigh and glute muscles of the leading leg to get upright again. All of this will create some unique soreness and ultimately strength in the hips and thighs.

I’m not going to spend too much time explaining why this is such a good functional movement. Considering this is just taking steps with an exaggerated stride it should seem pretty clear how this benefits you in everyday life. Walking, running, and getting up off the ground or out of a chair are just a few things that will be easier if you get strong in the lunge. I also like including it in my resistance training programs as I feel it is a good assistance exercise for some of the heavier lower body movements such as the squat and dead-lift because it works some of the same muscles.

There are a lot of different lunge variations. I suggest you try a bunch and find the one(s) that are your favorite and add them to your program. A few I have tried are stepping forward, step-back lunge, alternating side-step, but there are many other versions out there you can try. My favorite and the one I typically include in my programs is the walking lunge. I like this one because it more closely resembles a walking motion making it very functional in my opinion. It is a lot like pacing back and forth and how many consecutive steps depends on available space. Starting out, my home gym only allowed for 2 steps forward and 2 steps back, but I eventually cleared more floor space and now I can fit in 4 strides before I have to turn around. More space might be nice, but really you just need to work with what you got…

Depending on the version of the lunge you are doing, you may or may not want to grab some weight to make things more difficult. You may also want to factor in timing and your fitness goals for how you perform this exercise. If you are adding lunges in at the end of a leg workout, just doing lunges with your body weight might be all you need. Looking at this as more of a functional exercise, I tend to keep the reps higher (10+ reps/set each leg), but you may want to load up with some extra weight and use this as a lower rep strength movement. You can hold a couple of dumbbells at your side or place a barbell across your shoulders to add some weight. I prefer dumbbells mostly for safety reasons, considering what happens if you would have to drop the weight in the middle of a lunge. Seems better to just drop the dumbbell a couple inches at each side vs. dropping the barbell and hoping it doesn’t catch part of your body on the way down.

I’ve read a lot of articles about being careful with lunges to keep from putting too much stress on your knees. As someone with a history of knee pain, I initially thought this might not be a good exercise for me. I have found that focusing on keeping my body upright and pushing off my heal to stand up tends to maintain a safe lunge position. I have never felt that lunges have caused me any specific knee pain, and I might argue that doing lunges has made my knees feel better. Initially lunges were difficult for me, but during my fitness journey I followed a program that performed a lot of lunge variations and they became easier over time. Now that lunges don’t scare me anymore and considering how my knees feel, I think lunges will continue to be in regular rotation in my fitness programs.

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Strength Training, Workouts

PULL-UPS

04/01/2019

#6 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

The second half of my Top 10 Exercise list really starts to get into personal preferences. The top five are old school weightlifting movements that have been around for a long time. They are the top five because they are great at developing full body strength and building more muscle. That is all very important to living healthy and fit, especially as we age. I believe it is also important to include resistance exercises that develop more functional strength to help us better move our bodies in everyday life. Pull-ups come in at #6 on the list and tops my list of functional exercises. Now, I will admit that I have not always been a fan of pull-ups. They are hard and I would guess that for more than half my life I wasn’t able to really do even one strict pull-up. This is something I have worked on in recent years and as I have gotten better at pull-ups, I have started to appreciate the benefits of doing this exercise.

My favorite version is the wide-grip pull-up, but there are many ways to pull your body up to the bar. Pull-ups (palms facing away from your body) can be done with wide, narrow, or shoulder width grip. Changing hand position will slightly shift which part of your back muscles get the most work. I typically go to the wide-grip because I usually include close-grip barbell rows within the same week. I figure the change in angle for these two exercises has to help provide complete back muscle development. Chin-ups (palms facing towards you) falls in this exercise group for me as well. While chin-ups allow your biceps to help more with the pull, it still uses the back and arms to pull your body up to the bar. I will sometimes use chin-ups as a substitute for a bicep exercise when I am doing arm work since the chin-up is a better functional movement than a barbell curl and I still get a good pump in the bicep muscles. Regardless of which variation is used, I try to include some form of pull-ups in my resistance training each week.

Why does the pull-up get the top spot in functional exercises? I feel it is the most difficult of the movements that we may use to move our bodies in space. Most people could push themselves up off of the ground, bend down to pick something up, and stand up from a seated position. What about pulling your full body weight using your arms? Now hopefully you never fall into a hole or pit, but wouldn’t it be good to know you could pull yourself out if you did?

If you already can do 5 or more pull ups, then you are at an advantageous starting point. However, you may be like me at the start of my fitness journey and attempting pull-ups seems like a waste of time & effort. I will say, that regardless of your starting point, to get better at pull-ups there needs to be a desire and focus to get there. Not only do you need to follow a resistance program that includes regular pull-up movements, but there should be a commitment to push yourself to do a little more every workout. When I started out, I was weak and heavy so body-weight pull-ups were a far way off. To start I used rubber resistance bands with handles that could be attached to a fixed object at home or anchored to a hotel door. This was more of a pull-down movement, but works the same muscles as pull-ups. Progression was possible by adding more reps and increasing resistance by using heavier and/or multiple bands. Once the bands increased to a significant level, I switched over to doing assisted pull-ups with rubber bands looped between my foot and the bar to provide the assistance. As strength continued to increase, the bands got thinner and weaker until I was ready to start working out using only my body and the bar. Even though I was only doing sets of around 5 to start, it was good to finally be doing legit pull-ups. That helped keep me motivated to continue improving to the point where I now am able to perform working sets of pull-ups in the 8-12 rep range.

The whole point of going through my pull-up progression is to show there is a path for going from zero pull-ups to being proficient and actually enjoying their inclusion in workouts. This type of progression won’t happen quickly and takes commitment. I would also say that it can be very rewarding and motivational. Having the ability to manipulate your body in any direction should give confidence that you have the physical skills to excel in life. You should also find pride in knowing that being good at pull-ups sets you apart from many who don’t have the strength to do this basic functional movement.

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Strength Training, Workouts

OVERHEAD PRESS

03/04/2019
#5 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

We are approaching the halfway point of my Top 10. After hitting The Big Three (Deadlift, Squat, & Bench) I added the bent-over row to throw in a pull to focus on the back muscles. Now is a good time to add in another heavy push movement. Early in my lifting days shoulder work was treated as accessory lifts to be tacked on at the end of workouts or done on off days. That approach lead to underdeveloped shoulders that hindered gains in other areas and made me more susceptible to injury. Getting back into lifting as an older & wiser gentleman, I spent a lot of time educating myself on what I SHOULD be doing instead of what I wanted to do. I noticed a lot of experts in the fitness world put the overhead press in their bucket of must-do exercises. The more I looked into it, the more sense it made to start prioritizing the heavy overhead press and include it as a core exercise in my lifting program. Since doing this I have noticed some significant changes. It now looks like I actually have muscles on my shoulders and they don’t feel like the weak link when I’m trying to use my arms to push or pull heavy weights.

Balancing push and pull exercises in your lifting routines is extremely important to improving overall strength and limit injury potential. It seems like most people go to the chest press for their push movements and just tend to come up with different variations of the chest press to add more push work. While flat bench, incline bench, & dumbbell bench are different exercises, they are all mostly horizontal presses that target the chest. Doing an overhead press switches it up and adds a vertical press that mainly targets the shoulders. I will admit this exercise provides a bit of an ego check. To do it correctly and safely you will be using significantly less weight than with the chest press. However, you can use the concept of progressive overload with the overhead press to steadily increase your strength. I would expect the progress to be slightly slower on this lift since you are using smaller muscles than other compound lifts. A slow and steady approach isn’t a bad thing on this movement considering you are lifting a heavy weight over your head.

As for technique, there are several ways you can do an overhead press.
- Standing or Seated
- Barbell or Dumbbells
- In Front of the Head or Behind the Head
I prefer standing over sitting to engage more of the core muscles to help stabilize the body. Standing also allows for a little bit of cheat with the legs (when needed) to help squeak out an extra rep or two. I try to start each set with strict and controlled form, but the end tends to look a little more like a push press. I also prefer barbell presses over dumbbells for my main shoulder exercise. I find I can lift heavier total weight using the barbell, which would seem to lend itself better to overall strength gains. I’m certainly not opposed to dumbbell presses, but I usually use them as a secondary movement when I’m doing multiple shoulder exercises in a single workout or routine. On barbell presses, I will keep the bar in front of my head lowering it to touch my chest which provides full range of motion. Lowering the bar behind the head seems unnatural and awkward to me, which makes me think that could be a risky way to move heavy weights.

The overhead press is not an exercise I feel comfortable loading up really heavy weights to do low reps. Other exercises have a better bailout option when you get stuck on a rep as compared to the overhead press where it can drop on your head. There is also some concern at the lockout position of the overhead press. When the weight starts to feel heavy at the end of a set it can get a little wobbly at the top. That can put your shoulders, elbows, and even your back at risk as things flex & bend to stabilize the weight. A “heavy” shoulder press for me is picking a weight I can do for about 8 reps. The way I use progressive overload here is to start with 3 sets of 8 with a specific weight and when I can complete 3 sets of 10 with that weight, it is time to increase the weight and go back to sets of 8. Working in that reps range provides some feedback during the set when you are starting to fatigue so you can prepare yourself for failure.

The overhead press has been good to me for building strong, stable shoulders. I have no doubt that has helped improve my other push and pull exercises. There have been fewer nagging shoulder aches and pains as my shoulders have gotten stronger, which has probably been my favorite benefit of making this area a key focus in my lifting programs.
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Nutrition, Supplements

Creatine

02/27/2019

I am not a doctor or scientist, so I will leave the detailed explanations of what creatine is and how it works to others. This supplement has been around for a long time so there is plenty of information out there if you want to do some in-depth research. I remember first reading about creatine back when I was a teenager reading Muscle & Fitness magazine, and it was a common supplement used by weightlifters back then. It has only seemed to get more commonplace over the last 30+ years.

There are a few specific reasons why I include creatine in my daily supplementation. While I have read some articles that talk about several potential benefits, I pretty much just take this for how it can help when exercising. In a nutshell, taking creatine is supposed to help your body quickly replenish energy during intense exercise (like weightlifting) to help complete another rep or two. Since lifting more weight is key in gaining strength this seems like a good idea to me. Of course there are other substances that could help someone get stronger, but creatine seems relatively safe to me compared to the other options out there. Creatine has been used by athletes for decades without ever being banned or shown to create health issues and is still a very popular supplement. Creatine is also something that is found naturally in foods that we eat on a regular basis including steak & fish. Also high on the list of pros for taking creatine is that it doesn’t break the bank. I take it every day, all year and that cost me about $15 every 4 months. While it is difficult to pinpoint the benefits I get from creatine, at $1/week it’s worth it to me.

I have been taking creatine just about every day for around 3 years at this point. There are some that suggest that you should take periodic breaks from creatine, but I personally haven’t seen the need for that. The idea of taking it as a supplement is to increase blood concentrations beyond what you would see through normal eating habits. This is why the “every day, all year” approach makes the most sense in my mind. You will see advice on loading up when you first start taking creatine by taking a large daily amount for the first 1-2 weeks and then backing off to a smaller amount. You will also see that you can get the same benefits by just taking the smaller amount for a longer period of time. My approach to fitness is that this is a journey and nothing happens over night, so I have never felt the urgency to load up to quickly get the benefits. Seems like a better approach to me to try and make it a habit to take a little creatine everyday.

The next question once I decided to start taking creatine was “What and How?”. Creatine is included as an ingredient in other fitness drinks like preworkouts and some protein blends. However, I find that those products tend to think they are “designer” blends and come at a high price. Also, sometimes they don’t even tell you how much creatine you are getting as part of their proprietary blend to even know if you are getting enough. I have also seen creatine in pill form, but that again can get pricey. You can just buy straight creatine in powder form for pretty cheap these days. There are also a few different forms of creatine powder and you will see arguments about how this form is superior because it binds better to…, or this one excels due to its rapid adsorption…, but in the end they all seem to charge more for how great they are which is debatable. Creatine Monohydrate is the one that’s been around from the beginning and that means it’s easy to find and inexpensive. In the end we are just trying to ingest more creatine, so let’s not get fancy here.

One thing about creatine is that it does not dissolve in water. While that doesn’t sound like a big deal at first, if you are going to take it everyday it can be a struggle to continue tolerating the daily ritual of choking down a gritty glass of water/juice. I have found that the best way for me is just to add my creatine powder into a protein shake. The thicker shakes that come out of a blender easily conceal the gritty powder and even just protein powder and milk/water is thick enough to make the creatine powder unnoticeable. It seems like every article I’ve read on the subject suggests 5g of creatine daily is a good maintenance amount, which works out to about 1 teaspoon of straight creatine powder. Most days I drink some type of protein shake after my workout so just adding a teaspoon of creatine into my shake is a good way to make this a daily habit. Even if a protein shake isn’t an option, I’m not opposed to mixing a teaspoon of creatine into a bowl of oatmeal to make sure I work it into my day.

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Strength Training, Workouts

BENT-OVER ROWS

02/15/2019

#4 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

Continuing with my Top 10 Exercises we now start to get a little more into my personal preferences. I know putting the dead-lift, squat, & bench press as #1, #2, and #3 on the list doesn’t raise any eyebrows or provide much unique insight beyond what is already out there. Once you’ve included the 3 keystone exercises in your lifting program you can then add lifts you like or ones that target areas you want to focus on improving. I have started prioritizing the Bent-Over Row and making it a prominent movement within my routines. This exercise is great for working the back muscles and building a thick and wide upper body. Rows will also work the bicep muscles in the arms and reduce the need to do a lot of other arm specific exercises like bicep curls.

There are a few reasons why the bent-over row is high on my list. As with all my favorites this is a compound, multi-joint movement that works several muscles at the same time. Back, shoulders, and arms are the primary muscles used to move the weight, but even the core and hamstrings kick in to hold your body in the proper rowing position. The back gets the bulk of the work, and depending on the grip you choose you can shift the focus to specific areas. A wider grip will hit the outer parts of the back more while a narrow grip will shift the focus to the muscles towards the center of your back. You can also choose a overhand or underhand grip. The overhand grip tends to work the muscles at the top of your back across the shoulders. Using an underhand grip will allow you use the lat muscles further down your back to pull the weight.

My personal preference is to use a shoulder-width, underhand grip when doing barbell bent-over rows. Including dead-lifts in my lifting routines provides quite a bit of stimulation for the muscles up and down the center of my back, especially my lower back and traps. Adding this horizontal row helps to develop the middle and outer parts of the the back. I have found that using the combination of dead-lifts and bent-over rows hit all the muscles in the back using just two exercises.

Another reason I emphasize the bent-over row is to make sure there is balance in my lifting programs. Every push movement should have an opposing pull exercise to make sure no muscle imbalances occur. Since the bench press is high on my list and in every program, I make sure the bent-over row is also included. This has not always been the case. While the bench press has forever been popular in gyms, you never really hear people say “how much ya row, bro?”. A couple years ago I read an article about performing supersets using opposing exercises and the bench press/bent-over row was included in the discussion. For convenience, the suggestion was to use the same weight for bench and row to keep down time to a minimum. There was a simple comment made that if you aren’t benching and rowing with the approximately the same weight, “Why not?”. This made me think long and hard about how I have been approaching back training, and since then I have worked diligently to get the weights used to row in line with what I use for the bench press. This gives me confidence that I am strong in both the push and pull, which seems to be a good metric of overall upper body strength.

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Nutrition

BULKING – FULL DAY OF EATING

02/05/2019
Occasionally I will switch up my workouts and eating in an attempt to add a little strength and muscle. Workouts typically get more intense and some of my more commonly used programs are covered here. When trying to add muscle, eating more calories than you are burning is VERY important. Just eating more junk food will provide the extra calories, but not the right protein, carbohydrates, & fats you need to gain mostly muscle instead of fat. This concept was difficult for me to embrace. After working hard to lose 75 lbs. of excess body weight, eating to gain weight was an uncomfortable adjustment. I have been able to convince myself that a slight calorie surplus and a little weight gain can be a good thing if it means you are adding muscle and getting stronger. Having previously lost a significant amount of weight also gives me confidence that any extra body weight can be shed with the right nutrition and exercise plan.

Below is a typical day of eating when I am tying to add muscle.

MEAL #1
1 cup – Warm Bone Broth
Blueberry Almond Protein Oatmeal
1 oz. Dark Chocolate
MEAL #1 TOTALS – 1,000kcal, 85g carbs, 45g fat, 65g protein

–

MEAL #2 – Post-workout
Mass Gainer Protein Shake
MEAL #2 TOTALS – 750kcal, 125g carbs, 5g fat, 45g protein

–

MEAL #3
8 oz. Salmon
12 oz. Baked Sweet Potato w/cinnamon
MEAL #3 TOTALS – 750kcals, 70g carbs, 30g fat, 50g protein

–

MEAL #4
3 Eggs
1/3 cup Egg Whites
1 slice Pepperjack Cheese
2 slices Toast
MEAL #4 TOTALS – 500kcals, 30g carbs, 25g fat, 40g protein

–

DAILY TOTALS
- 3,000kcals
- 310g carbohydrates
- 105g fat
- 200g protein
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Strength Training, Workouts

(INCLINE) BENCH PRESS

01/27/2019
#3 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

If you are keeping up with my Top 10 Exercises, you will notice that the top 2 are the dead-lift that is a pull exercise with upper & lower body impact and the squat that is a lower body push movement. To round things out #3 is the bench press to include an upper body push exercise. It’s become clear to me why the traditional Powerlifting “Big 3” exercises are the Dead-Lift, Squat, & Bench Press. These 3 exercises together will use just about every muscle in the body. The bench press brings in the major upper body pushing muscles, specifically the chest, shoulders, and triceps.

There isn’t need to convince most weight lifters to include the bench press into their lifting programs. It has long been the primary measurement of strength and source of pride within the weight room. What does warrant discussion is the different variations of this movement as well as some focus on proper form. How you perform your heavy chest press will have a significant impact on the risk of injury and ultimate success in increasing your pressing strength. Bench presses can be done with a barbell or dumbbells. Using dumbbells can have some advantages like equal loading on each side and no risk of getting pinned under a heavy bar, just to name a couple. However, I find it difficult using dumbbells to work with the heavy weights needed to maximize strength gains. Once you get to the point where you are benching with 200+ pounds of total weight, you might be hard pressed to find a gym with 100+ lb. dumbbells. I will typically use dumbbells for secondary movements such as flies or lighter presses once the heavy work is done and fatigue is coming into play. The barbell is my personal preference for heavy bench presses since it is easier to keep increasing the weights. The barbell also allows you to push maximum poundage by taking advantage of any right/left strength imbalance to let the dominant side assist the weaker half past sticking points.

The angle you set the bench is another variable you can play with on this move. You might be able to guess based on the title of this post that there is one variation that will receive more attention here. Flat, decline, and incline are your options. The idea is that as you lower the bench you place the focus further down within the chest muscle. The flat bench has been the longtime standard of the bench press. To be honest, I haven’t done a flat barbell bench press in over 10 years. I don’t have anything against the flat bench position. My choice to utilize only the incline bench for barbell pressing is strictly for safety reasons. Since I workout solo in my home gym I do not use a spotter, which means getting stuck under a heavy bar on a failed rep is a possibility. Using an incline bench within my power rack gives me a good bailout option. I have experimented with bench angle and safety bar positions to find a setup that keeps the incline minimal (about 30 degrees), which keeps the focus on the chest instead of shifting this to more of a shoulder press. With the right safety bar position, the bar doesn’t interfere with the normal range of motion during the lift, but if I get stuck I can slide the bar down just a few inches and it will rest on the safety bars so I am free to exit the bench.

One last point I’d like to make on the bench press is that I highly recommend researching proper form. I recently realized that I have been doing this exercise wrong for over 20 years! It seems like such a simple & straight forward movement, but there are some common mistakes most people make and a few tips that recently helped me make significant improvements. There are plenty of online resources that will give in-depth advice on how to properly perform the bench press, so I will keep my advice brief. There are 3 things that I have focused on recently that have helped the most.
1. On setup and throughout the exercise make sure you pull your shoulders back trying to squeeze your shoulder blades together and pushing out your chest. This really helps put the focus on the stronger chest muscles instead of the shoulders.
2. Concentrate on minimizing how much you flare out your elbows. Keeping your forearms as vertical as possible during the entire push will provide a more efficient use of energy.
3. If the goal is to push maximum weight, use your legs to help create the force. It shouldn’t feel unnatural or look like your doing some extreme yoga, but tense legs and a little leg push with back bend can assist moving the barbell away from you.
If my workout program only allows for one chest exercise, it will be the heavy incline barbell press. If I’m performing multiple chest exercises I will certainly switch up weights and angles. I’m not trying to say that the incline bench press is superior to all other chest presses. That’s just what works for me. If you have a different lifting environment and/or preferences then definitely pick the one that works for you, but make sure you include some form of chest press in your lifting program(s).
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Strength Training, Workouts

SQUAT

01/20/2019
#2 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

Ten years ago I would have told you “Squats are the devil!”. Having had multiple knee surgeries and frequent knee pain made me think grabbing weights and squatting with them was the last thing I should be doing. During my transition from fat to fit my workouts included some body-weight & lightweight squat variations that started to show me squats might not be as evil as I once thought. I also realized that losing 75 lbs. and taking that constant pressure off of my knees made them feel drastically better, even while squatting! All of this changed my opinion of this exercise and I have been able to work it back into my lifting programs. Now that I am squatting on a regular basis it is clear why this is considered “The King of All Exercises” and #2 on my Top 10 list.

So why the change of heart? First off, as mentioned above, I realized that carrying around excess weight all day every day put more stress on my knees than loading up for a few minutes a week. The push to work squats back into my lifting routine stemmed from a functional standpoint similar to the dead-lift. My thoughts here are if you can squat down and come back up with considerably more than your body-weight, then getting up and down during normal everyday activities should be a breeze. One of my focuses is to age well, and having strong legs will be key in doing this.

While just about every exercise has different variations, it seems like the squat has more options than most movements.
- How do you position your feet? Shoulder-width, wide, or narrow?
- Dumbbells or barbell?
- Weights high or low? In the back or in the front?
- How far down should you go?
- Do you stop at the bottom, sit on a box/bench, or just come back up?
- Go slow or make it an explosive movement where your feet leave the ground
I’m sure every variation has some merit and will slightly change the benefits you get from the exercise. In the end they all work the lower body in a way that will make your legs strong and highly functional. I would suggest trying a few different squat variations to see what feels good and works for you.

I incorporate a few different types of squats in my workouts. Dumbbell Goblet Squats and Body-weight Jump Squats are a good option if you have limited or no weights available or you want more of a cardio burn with a good leg pump. My favorite has become the Barbell Back Squat. This was the first squat I was introduced to as a teenager, but swore off for years after my knee surgeries. Wanting to get back into heavier lifting to build muscle & strength I decided to try heavy squats again, but I wanted to ease into it and be smart about it. Putting the weight across the back of my shoulders seems to work best for me. It shifts the center of gravity back a little, which puts less stress on the knees. I also started by setting the safety pins on the squat rack high enough to prevent me from going too deep at first. Over time I have been able to lower the pins and go deeper into the squat as I have become more comfortable and confident with the movement.

I rarely go heavy more than once a week, but adding in a second light-weight squat variation is always an option. Squatting on a regular basis gives me confidence that I am maintaining a strong lower body. I have also found that any workouts that include squats will be more intense overall due to the amount of effort it takes when you challenge yourself with this movement. Any exercise that has a functional component, has high muscle activation, and leaves you breathing hard and sweaty will always rank high in my book.
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Nutrition, Recipes

Roasted Cauliflower

01/17/2019
Roasted Cauliflower

It's becoming obvious that I like roasting vegetables using Parmesan Cheese. Oh well...here is another one. Roasting cauliflower is arguably the best way to prepare it. Simply add some olive oil, garlic, & parmesan and you have another simple side dish in about 30 minutes.

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American

Servings 4 servings
Calories 200 kcal

Ingredients

1 large head Cauliflower
2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
1/3 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450F
Cut up cauliflower into small to medium florets and place in 1 gallon Ziploc bag
Add garlic and olive oil to Ziploc bag with cauliflower
Close bag and shake/toss bag to mix
Empty contents of bag onto sheet pan lined with parchment paper and spread in even layer
Salt and pepper to taste and place in oven
Cook for 25 minutes @ 450F, possibly tossing once to brown evenly (don't be afraid of some dark edges on the florets)
Remove from oven and set oven to Broil
Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese evenly over the cauliflower and place back in the oven
Broil for about 5 minutes to melt cheese
Remove from oven and you're done
Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 serving

Servings Per Container 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories 200 Calories from Fat 117

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 13g 20%

Saturated Fat 3g 15%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 8mg 3%

Sodium 200mg 8%

Total Carbohydrate 15g 5%

Dietary Fiber 6g 24%

Sugars 6g

Protein 8g 16%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Strength Training, Workouts

DEAD-LIFT

01/13/2019
#1 – TOP 10 EXERCISES

I have come to appreciate the dead-lift as a true measure of functional strength. Really this boils down to “How much weight can you lift off the floor?”. While the concept is simple, there are a few options on how to perform this lift and you definitely need to focus on form to keep the lift safe and minimize the risk of injury. Done correctly on a regular basis, this exercise will make you strong and less prone to injury.

Usually you see this being done with a barbell loaded with weight, but there are other options as well. Dumbbells can be used for this movement and that might be a good place to start, but eventually you will outgrow dumbbells for this movement as your strength increases. I personally prefer to use a trap/hex bar for dead-lifts to reduce the risk for injury. I have seen reviews that say the trap bar dead-lift is more like a squat, but I will tell you this works my posterior chain as I will have muscle soreness in my back and butt for days after an intense dead-lift session.

With any variation of the dead-lift it is important to focus on form. With the trap bar dead-lift I find it even more important to concentrate on form, not only to keep it safe but to also ensure the lift targets the intended muscle groups (back, glutes, & hamstrings). My cues on setup and through the lift are as follows:
- Hips high
- Slight bend in the knees
- Butt out & back flat
- Push through the heals to start the lift
- Look ahead or slightly up throughout the lift
- Don’t over extend or arch the lower back
- Let gravity do most of the work to ease the weight back down to the ground before starting the next rep
Foot position is another area where you will see variation, whether it’s a narrow or wide/sumo stance. I’m sure there are people who will tout one stance over others, but it makes sense to me to just use whichever one is most comfortable for you and allows you lift the most weight. Using the trap bar will limit how wide you can spread your feet, but I feel comfortable with a shoulder width stance so that hasn’t been a problem for me. If you would like to try the sumo dead-lift then dumbbells or a standard straight bar would be the way to go.

Incorporating the dead-lift as a staple movement in my lifting programs has benefited my quest for functional strength in several ways. When done correctly this is a great exercise for strengthening the back from the heals all the way to the neck. Training your back muscles to safely lift a heavy barbell full of weights will leave you with a strong back that is highly functional in everyday activities. I’m not trying to set any dead-lift records so I choose not to use wrist straps to help lift heavier weights. I have found that as my dead-lift increases there are times that my grip on the bar is the limiting factor to how much I can lift. This approach helps develop my grip strength in additional to everything else going on. No other lift I do allows me to load more weight on the bar. Lifting heavier weights in the dead-lift gives confidence on other lifts, like the squat, to feel safe under heavier loads

I first started dead-lifting when I was a teenager playing football and shortly after abandoned it thinking it was a young man’s exercise. I rediscovered the dead-lift as an old man getting back into shape and this has become my favorite exercise. I hope to continue dead-lifting into my 50’s, 60’s, 70’s… If I am able to lift a heavy weight off the ground when I’m old and grey then functioning in the rest of life should be easy.
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Equipment, Nutrition, Workouts

Fitness Products That Changed My Life

12/29/2018
Years ago I was overweight and out of shape due to years of inactivity. You can find more details on my journey from fat to fit on the About Me page. The first step for me was to admit I was in bad shape and truly commit to making changes to improve my health. Step 2 was to figure out exactly how I was going to accomplish this not-so-easy task. I decided to get educated and look for some resources to help me get going. Initially there were two things that jumped to the head of the pack and became keystone pieces of my efforts to lose weight and get fit. The My Fitness Pal website/app helped me understand what I was eating and what I should be eating to accomplish my goals. The other side of the coin was how to get started and stick with an exercise program. For me, Beachbody’s P90X program was a great fit to get me working out again. I give these products a lot of credit for helping me get back into shape and I want to share my experiences and affinity for each.

My Fitness Pal

When I was 250+ pounds it was clear I was eating too much, but I had no idea how much I should be eating on a daily basis. Luckily there are many options for daily calorie requirement calculators if you search online for some guidance. Looking at several sources provided a starting point for how many calories I should try to eat each day. Knowing how much to eat would only be useful if I knew what I was eating. My Fitness Pal was an app that had positive reviews so I thought I would give it a try. Considering I still use it today, I would say it was a good choice. There are several things I have come to appreciate about the My Fitness Pal app:
- Extremely large food database with a seemingly endless list of foods with detailed nutritional information
- The database includes foods offered by restaurants for when you have to grab a meal on the go
- Ability to enter and save your own recipes and customized restaurant foods so you can easily enter your “usuals”
- The app will break down your daily macronutrients (carbs, proteins, fats) to help if you are trying to maintain a certain balance, like low carb, high protein, and/or low fat
- It will even provide a daily calorie target if you want to use the app to help with that as well
Using the My Fitness Pal app to track what I ate not only helped me understand how much I should be eating, it also helped educate me on which foods did and didn’t fit into a healthy day of eating. At the start of my quest to lose weight I had decided I wouldn’t follow any diets that restricted certain foods, just eat the correct amount of calories each day. Over the years as I have been able to identify “bad” foods and weed them out of my regular diet.

The My Fitness Pal app continues to be a useful tool for me even today. I find it helps me stay on track with my eating while away from home and eating out. It is also useful to help adjust when switching to a high calorie program like strength training or going to a lower calorie phase to lose fat and lean out

P90X

Dialing in the nutrition side of things was a good start to the weight loss process, but I was also looking for an exercise program I could stick with and would get the job done. The P90X program had already been out for several years and I knew a few people who had some success with it. When I did a little research on my own, there were several things that stood out as a good match to what I was looking for:
- The workouts included cardio and resistance training to burn calories and build strength
- Most workouts were less than 1 hr, which was a reasonable time commitment
- There was minimal equipment needed
  - Pull-up Bar (fixed or mobile)
  - Dumbbells and/or Set of Resistance Bands
- Workouts can be done at home or in a hotel room (resistance bands highly recommended)
Once I started, I was able to stick to the daily workout schedule mapped out by the program. Whether I was at home or on the road for work, there was a way to get the workouts in even if I was hopping around in my hotel room or strapping some resistance bands to the hotel door. I’m sure I had several of my neighbors in the hotels wondering what the hell was going on in my room, but I decided that didn’t matter and I would likely be done with my workout before anyone would get really annoyed and complain.

The workout schedules that come with this program last 90 days and there are a few different schedules depending on your fitness level and goals. This helps you customize a little to meet your needs and will keep things fresh if you want to use the program for more than just 90 days. I had good success after the first 90 days and decided to follow that up with a second 90 day cycle. This program can be challenging at any fitness level. When I first started I used lighter weights/bands and couldn’t do a single pull-up so I substituted resistance band pulls for any pull-up move. As I got stronger the weights and reps went up and by the end of those first 180 days I was doing a few unassisted pull-ups. They also provide some variation within the program to increase intensity, if needed.

After 180 days of P90X I had dropped 60 lbs. and felt that most of my excess weight was gone. While I wanted to continue improving my fitness, the intense 1 hour workouts seemed a bit much and I was looking to make a change. There are several other options, even within the Beachbody and P90X family. I was intrigued by the P90X3 program that touted results using 30 minute workouts. Knowing how the P90X workouts were structured, I thought I would give it a try to see if that would be a good option. The P90X3 program allowed me to maintain a high level of fitness and even increase performance in some areas, especially pull-ups (this program does A LOT of pull-ups).

Over the years I have used the workouts of both P90X & P90X3. I like to pick a few of these workouts to use while I’m on the road to make sure I can get a good week of exercise in regardless of what the hotel gyms might look like. Even when I am doing weightlifting programs, the P90X3 workouts can be a good option for non-lifting days. I like the 30 minute P90X3 yoga routine so much that I try to work this in at least once a week.
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Nutrition, Recipes

Garlic Parmesan Smashed Potatoes

12/25/2018
Garlic Parmesan Smashed Potatoes

No one complains in my house about leaving the skin on for "s"mashed potatoes, so that makes my life easier. Peel them if you want to. The garlic and parmesan cheese add some good flavor to take this beyond plain potatoes.

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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American

Servings 4
Calories 265 kcal

Ingredients

2 lbs Potatoes (I prefer Yukon Gold)
1 cup Skim Milk
2 Tbsp Butter
1 tsp Minced Garlic (about 2 cloves)
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

Wash potatoes and cut into chunks about 1" x 1"
Put all the cut up potatoes into a large pot (3+ quarts) and add enough water to cover by at least 1 inch
Bring potatoes to a boil and cook at a slow boil for about 20 minutes
While the potatoes are cooking add milk, butter, & garlic to a small sauce pan over low heat to melt butter and warm the entire mixture
Once potatoes have cooked, turn off the heat and drain the water using a strainer
Add the drained potatoes back into the pot they were cooked in and add the warm milk mixture and parmesan cheese
Mash and mix everything together using the tool of your choice (a masher works best if you have one)
Potatoes should thicken slightly when everything is thoroughly mixed

Notes
When boiling the potatoes, I give the surface of the water a quick shot of non-stick cooking spray. The oil helps break up the bubbles and keep the foam down.
Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 serving

Servings Per Container 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories 265 Calories from Fat 67.5

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7.5g 12%

Saturated Fat 5g 25%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 22mg 7%

Sodium 180mg 8%

Total Carbohydrate 43g 14%

Dietary Fiber 3g 12%

Sugars 4g

Protein 9g 18%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Nutrition, Recipes

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

12/24/2018
Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Parmesan cheese and garlic add some awesome flavor and roasting the potatoes for 45 minutes makes them nice and crusty. My kids request these potatoes over french fries and tater tots.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American

Servings 4
Calories 200 kcal

Ingredients

24 oz. Small Red Potatoes
1.5 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Minced Garlic (about 2 cloves)
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F
Wash potatoes, cut each one into 4 wedges
Combine potato wedges, olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and salt & pepper in a large bowl
Toss & stir to coat potatoes
Spread the potatoes onto a sheet pan in a single layer. Using parchment paper on the bottom of the sheet pan prevents sticking and makes cleanup easier
Cook in 400F oven for 40-45 minutes until potatoes are brown all over (a few dark spots are OK)
Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 serving

Servings Per Container 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories 200 Calories from Fat 63

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7g 11%

Saturated Fat 2g 10%

Trans Fat g

Cholesterol 6mg 2%

Sodium 305mg 13%

Total Carbohydrate 30g 10%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Sugars 1g

Protein 6g 12%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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