Blog | Gregg Cook Fitness Trainer

Raw Kale, Red Onion, Bacon, Mint & Grapefruit Salad

2012-05-26T01:45:11Z

Tonight we went to a potluck dinner party with really good old friends we haven't seen in a while. Our contribution was a delicious and healthy salad and a scrumptious, calorie-rich but healthy dessert. Below is the salad recipe. Both are perfect for any Memorial Day get together. Dessert recipe to follow...

Raw Kale, Red Onion, Bacon, Mint & Grapefruit Salad

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

6 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 red onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/4 pound bacon (turkey bacon works as well), cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)

1 large bunch kale, tough stems removed and leaves washed well, spun dry and cut into fine ribbons

2 tablespoons of fresh mint roughly chopped

1 1/2 grapefruits, peel and pith cut away and sections cut free from membranes

In a bowl whisk together vinegar, honey, and mustard and add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified.

In a large heavy skillet cook onion and bacon over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is pale golden and bacon is browned.

In a large serving bowl toss together kale, mint, grapefruit sections, and bacon mixture. Add the dressing and toss to combine. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Gluten-Free Soft Pretzels

2012-05-22T01:46:32Z

Today I came home to my wife and daughter covered in flour, giggling and pulling hearts, stars and circle shaped pretzels out of the oven. The apartment was filled with that delicious scent that wafts out of bakeries. They made the yummiest gluten-free soft pretzels I have ever tasted, using rice flour. I thought I'd share their recipe. Move over Auntie Annie's!

Gluten-Free Soft Pretzels

(Adapted from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef)

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one standard packet)

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 3/4 cups white rice flour

10 cups water
1 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon raw honey

Rising the yeast. Combine the warm water, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn on the mixer, briefly, until they are combined. Leave the bowl in a warm place in the kitchen
until the yeast has doubled in volume, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Making the dough. Put the white rice flour and softened butter into the bowl of the stand mixer. Run the mixer on medium speed until the dough has formed and whirls around the paddle stiffly, about 5 minutes.

Letting the dough rise. Grease a large bowl. Add the dough, which will not be quite as stiff as a typical gluten dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place in your kitchen until it has risen by at least half its volume, about 1 hour.

Forming the pretzels. Take the risen dough out of the bowl. Divide it into balls about 3 ounces each. Dust the countertop with white rice flour. Roll each clump of dough into a tight ball, form whatever shape you like.

Freezing the dough. Put the completed pretzel dough onto a plate. Repeat until the plate is full. Put the full plate in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before you work with it again. Continue filling plates until you have rolled the entire dough into pretzels.

Making the baking soda water. Combine the water and baking soda in a large saucepan, stirring them together as the water comes to a full boil. Reduce the water to a lower temperature until it keeps at a steady simmer.

Preparing to bake. Preheat the oven to 450°. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Dunking in the baking soda water. Take one plate of the pretzel doughs out of the freezer. One at a time, lower the pretzel dough into the baking soda water, on a slotted spoon, for about 30 seconds. This will give it the pretzel taste. Do not go longer than 1 minute or the dough will start to fall apart. Lift the dunked dough, still in its original shape, onto a waiting baking sheet. Continue until the baking sheet is full.

Baking the pretzels. Whisk together the egg and honey. Brush the egg-honey wash over each pretzel. Top with coarse sea salt. Continue until all the pretzels are washed. Bake until the pretzels are firm to the touch and are golden to dark brown, about 15 to 18 minutes, depending on your oven.

Remove the pretzels from the oven and cool them on a cooling rack.

Finish the remaining pretzels with the baking soda water and oven until you have baked them all.

Makes about 12 pretzels. Enjoy!

The Science of the Six-Pack

2012-05-02T23:21:18Z

Check it out! (By the way, that little girl is my daughter. Her first two-seconds in the spotlight).

Enjoy.

http://q.equinox.com/articles/2012/05/the-science-of-the-six-pack

My Neighbor Totoro

2012-04-14T23:14:46Z

This is my family's new favorite movie. My Neighbor Totoro, directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is funny and sweet and great for the whole family. Check it out. You won't be disappointed.

http://www.amazon.com/My-Neighbor-Totoro-Mark-Henley/dp/B002ZTQV8Y

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

2012-04-08T02:31:07Z

We tried this recipe for the first time tonight. Yum.

http://www.eat-drink-smile.com/2011/04/cauliflower-crust-pizza.html

It was an instant hit - even with the pizza aficionado in the family (my 3 1/2 year old daughter). I am not going to lie...the crust will not crisp up as much as a normal pizza crust, but it is a healthier, yummy alternative. If you are in the mood for attempting something simple, different, delicious, and healthy, give it a try!

a quick thought...

2012-04-08T02:20:37Z

When you get down to it if we ALL had more of a "beginners" mind set, the world would be a much different (and I believe much better) place. We would all be much happier for one

Happy 2012!

2012-01-01T03:04:22Z

To accepting the old and embracing the new with an open heart, steadfast determination and of course, a bit of humor.

Push.

2011-12-06T16:46:06Z

by Fatima Cook

What pushes you that extra mile (foot or even inch)? Just when you feel like you have given it your absolute all...I mean dug up mojo on a cellular level...a spark is ignited...a trigger is pulled, and you are able to persevere, even transcend. What is that “thing” that enkindles your brain to fire it up when you had, just a split second ago, felt like you had burned up every match in your matchbook...like you couldn’t possibly go any harder or any longer?

Gregg does this thing in his classes where in the last 10-30 seconds he asks you to consider doing more....going faster, harder, stronger. He gives you about 15 seconds to decide whether you will maintain your current level of exertion or elevate it. I have to say that in most cases, I feel like I am already struggling uncomfortably, on the brink of ceasing and desisting. Yet I make the split second decision to find more. Oftentimes I look around the room once the effort is over and see that many others have done the same. Where does that last burst come from? Before he says whatever it is he says, you were ready to kick it. Somehow you are able to launch yourself to the next level for those last 10 seconds. Again I ask, what is that? It works every single time. A great coach/trainer can do this for you. This is why we pay exuberant amounts of money for our trainers, classes and gym memberships. This is why we work out with others or compete in events. Motivation. I mean really good motivation. The kind that feels like we did it ourselves. The kind that feels unforced, not guilt-driven. Can we bottle that, please?

Anyway, the bottom line is that we have...we are, so much more then we first can see. Once we are able to get past that belief, or block, we can achieve so much more. There are ways we can do this for ourselves (ultimately, we must meet Gregg’s motivation with our own, but that is the topic for another day). Here are my humble few thoughts on the matter, most taken from Gregg.

Find a word that signifies something to you. It doesn’t even need to be one word. It can be a phrase. It can even be the name of someone you either love to death and would do anything for, or someone you are insanely competitive with. When you find yourself looking for an excuse to back off, repeat that word to yourself over and over again or see that person in front of you. Let it motivate you to go a bit further....3 seconds longer, 2 mph faster, 1% harder...

Timing is everything. As the saying goes, the enemy you know is much better then the one you don’t. You can’t push yourself harder endlessly. You just can’t. Can you most likely do it for 10 seconds, maybe 15, maybe even 30? Yes. Give yourself time slots to work within.

Timing is everything. Gregg only allows us 10-15 seconds to “decide” to go for it or not. He doesn’t go on and on about it for hours, even minutes. Don’t give yourself the time to back out of it. As Nike so succinctly puts it, “Just do it”.

Believe and let go. Change your mind into actually believing you can and “just do it”(great tagline, Nike). Your mind is your greatest friend and your biggest enemy, depending on how you use it. Don’t entertain the idea that you may not, cannot. Know that you are going to try and try. Just that, is already success.

The reality of it all is that this translates with perfection to all things in life. Your physical training can be life training. In anything you do, your work, your children, your husband/wife, family, etc...believe you are limitless, and you will break barriers you never thought possible.

What are we leaving out? Part 2

2011-11-14T12:20:46Z

I hope last month’s sleep protocol has helped you feel more rested and focused. The next topic of discussion in the “what are we leaving out” series is recovery. This is something I talk tirelessly about at the end of class...and with good reason. Many of us believe that the more we train, the greater the intensity, the better our results. Ask yourself this...have you ever felt that after 3 consecutive days of vigorous training you are feeling more listless then energtic? Or that how your body feels after your training hinders your every day activities? Has simply climbing the stairs become so draining that a very important meeting on the 3rd floor must be cancelled simply because the only elevator in the building is on the fritz? If so, is our training really working for us? May I suggest the preposterous notion of training to feel better...the idea of not to wear ourselves down to the bone. Sounds simple and logical, no? Well, it is.

It all boils down to your ultimate goals. Why are we doing what we are doing? Pretty simply, there is no need to do more then we need to do. After 1-2 intense training days, please. welcome yourself to an easy training day, or (you better sit down for this one) take a day off. The amount of rest really depends on exactly what you are doing. Of course, not challenging your body enough may result in nothing as well, so talk to a trainer about creating a balanced training schedule.

The body needs time to repair tissue damaged during training and replenish energy stores after a tough workout. Without it, the body will continue to break down, both physically and psychologically. Your risk for injury increases. You may experience lackluster feelings and even depression. With adequate recovery time, you allow your body to perform optimally.

So...sleep well and train hard with requisite recovery. Stay tuned for more...

My Favorites this Week

2011-11-11T12:36:55Z

I am off again this weekend. This time to Boston for a fitness convention. This is the second to last time I will be going away on a weekend for the year. While I am passionate about my work, I am even more passionate about my family and am thrilled just knowing I'll be home with them until 2012 (can you believe the new year is so close???). I suppose that is quite a fortunate situation to be in.

I got so many great responses to last week's post sharing some of the things I liked during the week, I decided to keep it up. Here is another quick list. Happy Weekend!

1. Fleisher's Grassfed and Organic Meats - They just opened a shop in Park Slope. Amazing Moroccan Chicken and Lamb Sausage. Check them out. They deliver to Manhattan.

http://www.fleishers.com/

2. A quick, effective and "anywhere" core exercise - L-Sit. So brutally good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PDWa9Wo6pA

3. New favorite cool down or sit-back-and-unwind song....a Joni Mitchell cover by James Blake of "A Case of You". Many of you probably heard it in my classes this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emnFcNP-ciY

4. Super simple workout recovery food: Smashed Acorn Squash with Butter and/or Olive Oil and Sea Salt. 1. Steam squash. 2. Smash. 3. Add butter/olive oil and sea salt to taste. Done. Delicious.

5. In high hopes for sunny days and for no more watch battery changes....solar powered G-Shock 9300GB.

http://www.barneys.com/G-9300GB/00505014883996,default,pd.html?cgid=BARNEYS

The Weekend

2011-11-04T10:40:38Z

It is finally the end of the week. I'll be heading out East to teach at B-East in Amagansett on Saturday morning. Come by and take a class if you are out there (www.eastfit.com).

If you happen to be sitting around with some extra time, check out some of the things I liked this week.

1. Grab - Great place I recently stumbled upon in my hood. Great cheese and charchuterie, plus a nice selection of craft beers on tap, beer tastings and growlers of beer. If you happen to be watching the marathon in Brooklyn this weekend (I'll be on 4th Ave), check them out.

2. Zee Avi, Ghostbird. A rare occurance....my daughter’s new favorite CD is also one of mine.

3. Robiola Rocchetta - (roh-bee-OH-lah row-KEH-tah) gooey, soft Italian goat, cow and sheep milk cheese recommended by a friend. It's not so easy to find. We (my wife, I should say) ultimately encountered it at the Park Slope Food Co-op. Must try, prefereably with a glass of red wine. Definitely as good as described.

4. New Balance Minimus Trail Shoe (http://www.newbalance.com/nb-minimus/)

5. A melting and simultaneously therapeutic massage with Maria at Equinox 17th Street.

Have a great weekend!

What are we leaving out?

2011-10-07T00:52:45Z

Get up early. Get your workout it. Workout as hard as your tired body can. Weigh your food. Count your calories. Work harder. Don’t forget, make money, raise a perfect family and recycle. When does it end? When are we doing too much and getting too little out of it?

We work tirelessly towards our self-defined wannabe-beings. When is less better? What are we not doing..what is missing that may actually help us move in the direction of our goals? I’d like to introduce a series of “blogicles”, if you will, addressing this. What are we not doing and should be doing to survive, thrive an live happier lives. Isn’t that exactly what it is all about in the end? If not, what else? That old saying, “Ignorance is bliss”, is really only half true, if that. If you have never experienced an outstanding glass of wine - a melting massage - blissful sex, mediocrity is just fine. It is a step above poor. If you knew that you could open the door to a happier existence, wouldn’t you? You may be afraid of the unknown...of trying something new, of rocking the proverbial boat because if you discover a better self, it becomes also true that you’ve been living a sub-par life. Well, get over it. Better is better. At least peak through that door. Whatever. You can always turn back around if you’re not satisfied.

So, in my own personal quest for this so-called happier existence, I’ve recently made some belated changes to my life. In the coming months, I’ll expand in detail...

First and foremost, SLEEP.

I’ve been mentioning this in my classes lately. Plan on getting AT LEAST 8 uninterrupted hours a night. I know, things happen. Sometimes the darn phone rings just as you feel the reigns of slumber pulling you in, or your kid wakes up screaming for you at 2am. It’s tough especially in a noisy, street-lit, rude-ass neighbor ridden city like NY - Brooklyn included. Here are my strategies.

1. Sleep in a completely dark room. As cave-like as possible. Invest in blackout window coverings. Turn off all cell phones to avoid blinking lights (and possible phone calls). Put watches, ticking every waking moment (quite literally), in drawers or other rooms.

2. Don’t drink too close to bed time. By this I mean any liquid. Inevitably, you will need to get up to pee in the middle of the night and that means sleep interrupted. Regarding alcohol, yes, a glass of wine with dinner, even two, is just fine if you fancy that. But, I’ve read that too much alcohol before bedtime leads to less overall sleep. Yes, your buzzing head may help you fall asleep upon pillow-impact, but your sleep may be shorter-lived then it could be otherwise.

3. Need some help? Try Natural Calm. This is a magnesium supplement in powder form. Mix it into some warm water and drink. See the shop section of my site.

4. Melatonin, a natural hormone that helps regulate sleep cycles and is found at any drugstore can be helpful. Usually 3mg is enough. I’ve read that increasing the dosage does not necessarily translate into increased effects. As a side note, beware if it is the first time taking this stuff. It may cause nightmares. It doesn't for me, but does for my wife. Needless to say, she sticks with the aforementioned Natural Calm.

5. Turn off computers, phones and all such electronics at least 30 minutes before bedtime. All such things will allegedly delay the onset of sleep.

6. Plan your sleep. Get to bed at a certain time so that you at least have a fighting chance at 8 hours. If you get to bed at midnight and have the alarm clock set to 6am, you’re basically planning self-sabotage.

Need a few extra tips? Chamomile tea, a hot bath, listening to calming music...

Having a 3 year old, my wife and I have read our fair share of sleep books. Though they all differ in technique and philosophy, they all say the same basic thing and that same truth exists for both children and adults. Sleep begets sleep. Once you learn to sleep, you’ll be better at it.

Happy Sleeping!

Welcome

2011-08-10T23:12:05Z

Welcome to my blog! Here I will share a bit more about me and my life. I’ll be posting training and eating tips, armor you with motivation and encouragement, divulge recipes, and share some general life inspirations (as I see it, if you will). Some of the posts will come directly from me, while others will be come from my wife, Fatima. She too, is a lifelong health connoisseur. Also be on the lookout for interviews with others that I admire and am influenced by. Check in often!

If you are looking for more frequent updates, follow me on Twitter and friend me on Facebook.