As someone who is always in the pursuit of getting the most out of my health, recovery, performance, I have used both the Whoop Band and Oura Ring. If you are on the market for either or looking to invest more into your health here are a few easy to maintain your health and recovery bio-markers. Resting Heart Rate (RHR) Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Body Temperature Exercise - While working out is helpful in burning calories, if you are overtraining you will see your RHR increase and HRV decrease. A sign that more recovery could be necessary. Protein - Eating too much protein close to bedtime will negatively affect your RHR and HRV Illness - Changes in your RHR, HRV, and Body Temperature are quick ways to assess your immune system at work. Alcohol - Even one drink within the last 2 hours of the day will affect your recovery. If you opt to drink, day drinking 6+ hours before bedtime will have less negative affects than night drinking...your body prioritizes metabolizing alcohol first. The more time you give yourself before bedtime, the more time you have to metabolize alcohol. Sleep Supplements - Being able to see trends in sleep quality, deep and REM sleep through moderating your supplement intake, is a good way to track what works best for you. Prestige Sleep Magnesium Glycinate Ashwaghanda Bryce's Amazon Page https://refer.prestigelabs.com/?af=bd0p8kqj Meditation and Breathwork - By regularly focusing on these you can increase your HRV, which is a good sign of improving mental and physical performance. 1. Have you/do you use a Whoop Band or Oura Ring? 2. Do you regularly track your RHR and HRV? 3. Are there any additional metrics you have tracked or noticed through your fitness tracker? From my personal experience. The Whoop Band is more beneficial for tracking workouts. The Oura Ring is more beneficial for sleep/recovery metrics.

Pre and Intra workout formulas may be looked at as a novelty training supplement. However if your goals are: More reps - more training volume Less required rest Better brain focus Less muscle fatigue Increased recovery Better muscular pump Faster strength and endurance development The only downside is making sure you’re taking a quality brand, there are a lot of brands that cut corners. If you are someone who takes training and recovery seriously, these can be a game changer to your workouts. This are my personal go to brand, because I know the quality and thoughtfulness went into the design. Prestige Energy Prestige Recovery https://refer.prestigelabs.com/?af=bd0p8kqj Action Items 1. Do you take any supplements currently for performance and recovery? 2. Have you organically progressed in weight selection and strength? 3. Have you seen noticeable changes in body composition and muscle size and/or definition in the last 6 months? *if you’ve never taken a pre-workout supplement, start with a half dose **beta-alanine will give you a tingly/itchy sensation in the beginning. Your body adapts to this very quickly.

Level Up Accountability Sheet - Google Sheets Your choice of meat matters a lot! My "guru" prior to getting into macros were very diligent about drilling how important it was to ONLY eat grass-fed, cage-free, wild-caught meats. Not only do these meat cost more, but they often are of a higher fat content. Which at that time was primarily 85/15. IF YOU ARE EATING GROUND BEEF, TURKEY, CHICKEN THE RATIOS MATTER. FYI NUMBERS FOR 4 OZ (113G) 80/20 = 287 calories (19g protein/23g fat) 85/15 = 243 calories (21g protein/17g fat) 92/8 = 171 calories (22g protein/8g fat) 96/4 = 142 calories (24g protein/4g fat) The ratio is based on the weight of the meat not the caloric load. So actually in 80/20 beef, 71% fat and 29% protein. Because 1 gram of fat = 9 calories and 1 gram of protein = 4 calories. This adds up quickly to extra calories. Remember that when you are dissecting a nutrition label, this is why I look at fat first, not carbs because that is going to play a much bigger role in the calories you are consuming. In comparison to their grain-fed, caged, farm-raised alternatives. The truth on this statement, not only because the animals are better ethically raised, but the more natural the animals eat to their natural diet, the fat actually has anti-inflammatory properties. The missing piece to this is, if the protein source is lean and/or fat free it doesn't make a difference in body composition. The protein from these sources is going to have an identical amino acid profile, which is what we are gaining from consuming protein. IF you have an ethical standard of how your meat is raised, by all means stick with the initial sources. If you are on a budget though, you can nearly cut your cost in half or less, sticking with lean options like: 96% or leaner ground meat chicken breast cod/shrimp/tilapia egg whites skim milk These will get the same aesthetic results as their alternative.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17J4BJk1pdA3ddVQfnSg8BLRrpa5PBAi87n2-RJJ19mw/edit As I scroll through social media friends, drinks, going out to dinner, football are a very common theme. This becomes challenging to navigate if you’re not intentional about it. Take a step back to be thoughtful about how you want to show up for your elevated self, and not how other people want you to show up. It’s a challenging endeavor to change gears and start behaving more in alignment for your best self self, not having that extra drink or 4. Not having the apps, the sides, and the dessert. Knowing the difference between special occasions and a regular night makes a difference. Remember to prioritize celebrating the time you spend with friends and family is usually more important that what you’re ingesting. 🙏🏻 1. Do I catch myself using nights out to eat and/or drink in excess? 2. What would it look like if I had healthier food options and limited or removed my alcohol? 3. Would I be happier tomorrow if I went that route?

Log your daily results: Level Up Accountability Sheet - Google Sheets Regardless of how well you let stress get to you or not get to you, having simple techniques to better manage your stress is also one of the biggest keys to improving your body composition. Stress doesn't just show up in the form of anxiety, depression, anger, rage. Stress also comes from exercise, low quality sleep, worrying for others. If you wake up the wrong way, you are setting your body into a stress cycle. Now you're late, the elevator took too long, your boss a _____, your co-workers suck, you didn't have time to make food, you're in a rush to get home to relax now because you had a shit day. Now we crave our "fill in the blank unhealthy cope." If this is the case, you have to realize that we are setting ourselves up to cope because it's the only thing that actually makes us happy. I survived a shit day, now I get to enjoy my cope. If we just take some time to rewrite our script, everything goes a little smoother, and why would I want to cope with something unhealthy? I just had a day full of wins! Here are 5 simple ways to manage stress better: 1. Wake up and get out of bed when your alarm goes off. 2. Spend 5-10 minutes in the morning in gratitude and reaffirm how much you love your life. 3. Have your meals prepared or meal delivery service ready to go so you don't have think about it. 4. Journal your thoughts as negativity appears, so you can shortcut why it's happening and what boundaries you want to work on. 5. Have an evening wind down routine that doesn't involve looking at your phone or watching tv. If you struggle with feeling stressed all the time, and it negatively affects your sleep patterns. Here are a few of my staple supplements I take at night to wind down so I feel energized when I get out of bed in the morning. Prestige Sleep https://refer.prestigelabs.com/?af=bd0p8kqj