Partnering with CuoreI am very excited to have Yann Kai Oh with me today from Cuore. She has been helping me immensely the last few months as we have worked on strategy and design for the BOOST Health Performance Apparel line that is now live at the website shop. She is also one heck of an athlete, well known around Hong Kong as one of the best cyclists and runners on the road and owns many Queen of the Mountain and Course Record titles on Strava! I like that Yann Kai is not only is great at her role in helping businesses build amazing custom fitness gear but also is an ambassador for health, fitness, and using proper gear out in the “field”. This way no assumptions have to be made on how the pieces fit, feel, or perform. Let me tell you a bit more about Yann Kai – She studied Mathematics in university in Cambridge and was not super athletic in those days. With that educational background, she spent 10 years in consultancy and banking, in the field of risk management, which is also what brought her to Hong Kong 7 years ago. Just before moving to Hong Kong, she started running – just to get out, and picked up cycling when she moved and this is where running and cycling became part of her lifestyle. Hong Kong is wild place to start cycling! About 18 months ago, she came across the opportunity to join CUORE to oversee and grow the Asia Business – an entirely different industry and nature of work but something she is truly passionate about and enjoys!She has some amazing race results. For cycling, in 2014 she was the overall winner at Tour de Tayabas (yellow, sprint and polka jersey), and Tour of Matabungkay 2014 (yellow and polka).  These were both in the Philippines which resulted in her being the overall winner of the 4 race Philippines national series. I can say in riding with Yann Kai she has no weakness on hill or flat so no surprise on these jerseys. She also took part in the 2014 Taiwan KOM and came 6th woman overall there.  For those of you who are not privy, this is an amazing challenge of climbing for hours and hours on end. Her running achievements are just as impressive. She has been first overall woman in China Coast Half Marathon race in Hong Kong 2 times and first overall woman in the Clearwater Bay Chase 10km 2 times, and first overall woman in the Victoria to Peak 10km race in Hong Kong one time.Yann Kai can you tell us a bit more about your role at Cuore?
Thanks Paul for your very kind words and for having me on your show. I’m really honoured and excited to be a guest. I oversee the Asia business at CUORE.Can you tell us about the Cuore mission statement or key objectives?
CUORE was established 29 years ago by former professional cyclist and national level coach, Mr. Hugo Gibel, a Swiss Italian. Not to sound clichéd but essentially not satisfied with the quality of cycling apparel at the time, Hugo set about to produce kit that was functional and comfortable. The focus was (and still is) to produce kit that reflects our mission of achieving Swiss Precision meeting Italian Passion.Very interesting thank you for sharing. I am very familiar with the Cuore gear as I have been wearing kits for the South Island Road Cyclcing (SIRs) club and the Dragons Triathlon Club for over 1 year now which are both made by Cuore. I can say the kits are among the best quality training gear I ...

It has been almost exactly one year since I put my foam rollers in the corner of my home gym to collect dust.  In March of 2017 I listened to an episode of the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast and Jacob Schoen, of SHIFT Sport and Wellness, was a guest.  They discussed spinal health, ELDOA methodology, importance of understanding fascia, foam rolling, and more.  One of the key takeaways from their discussion for me was that I needed to try ELDOA stretching and also my foam roller may be doing me more harm than good.  Jacob mentioned that there is a possibility that aggressive foam rolling could actually be putting too much pressure on the fascia, arteries, veins, and nerves, and also pushing water out the areas being worked.  He also mentioned that, while rolling or smashing an injured area may provide some pain relief and improved range of motion, the quality of tissue that is repairing in that area may be poor.  I was intrigued.  Had I been doing something that was potentially more harmful than helpful? I had been suffering for a couple of years with a chronic hamstring injury.  I injured it on a run and was continuing to have trouble with it, despite a bout of physical therapy.  I told the physical therapist I was foam rolling and was told to “keep it up”.  Also foam rollers have been a hot item in the fitness industry for many years, touted for their benefits found in studies to decrease soreness, increase range of motion, and improve performance.   As many of you know, I am a protocol junkie, and the evidence seemed to point to smashing and rolling as a “no brainer” for any workout program.  As such, I dutifully did smashing and foam rolling on the injured area and everywhere else fairly regularly. I would smash and foam roll pre-workout and post-workout on most days, and fairly aggressively mind you. I never got any better.  I would go out for a run and feel that nagging, pulling, twinge feeling almost immediately and throughout the run.  I have trained through, and recovered from, a million injuries but this one just wouldn’t let go.  When I listened to the aforementioned show with Ben and Jacob I started to wonder if the foam rolling and smashing was harming me.  Maybe I was squishing water out and building up yucky scar tissue in the injured area.  If so, I wasn’t doing myself any favors and not allowing it to heal properly.I will share my personal science experiment with you.  It is an n=1 experiment so I will admit it isn’t super scientific, but perhaps some of you have been trying to smash an injury into oblivion like I was.  Maybe you are wishing for a miracle with the roller but it hasn’t come true, as was I.  Maybe you just need to try a different approach and take a break from rolling and smashing, like I did.  Maybe leaving the tissue alone to heal is a good idea.  On March 21, 2017, I decided to set aside the foam roller.  I was nervous that I would fall apart without it though!  I had been using it almost daily for years.  But my fears subsided quickly because I started to feel better almost right away. I looked back at my journal and on March 23, 2017, 2 days after I ditched the foam roller, I see I wrote “Did bike/run brick with no foam rolling and was fine.  Performance was ok”.  It was almost like I was surprised that my leg didn’t fall off!  Then later in the year on May 20, 2017,

It has been almost exactly one year since I put my foam rollers in the corner of my home gym to collect dust.  In March of 2017 I listened to an episode of the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast and Jacob Schoen, of SHIFT Sport and Wellness, was a guest.  They discussed spinal health, ELDOA methodology, importance of understanding fascia, foam rolling, and more.  One of the key takeaways from their discussion for me was that I needed to try ELDOA stretching and also my foam roller may be doing me more harm than good.  Jacob mentioned that there is a possibility that aggressive foam rolling could actually be putting too much pressure on the fascia, arteries, veins, and nerves, and also pushing water out the areas being worked.  He also mentioned that, while rolling or smashing an injured area may provide some pain relief and improved range of motion, the quality of tissue that is repairing in that area may be poor.  I was intrigued.  Had I been doing something that was potentially more harmful than helpful? I had been suffering for a couple of years with a chronic hamstring injury.  I injured it on a run and was continuing to have trouble with it, despite a bout of physical therapy.  I told the physical therapist I was foam rolling and was told to “keep it up”.  Also foam rollers have been a hot item in the fitness industry for many years, touted for their benefits found in studies to decrease soreness, increase range of motion, and improve performance.   As many of you know, I am a protocol junkie, and the evidence seemed to point to smashing and rolling as a “no brainer” for any workout program.  As such, I dutifully did smashing and foam rolling on the injured area and everywhere else fairly regularly. I would smash and foam roll pre-workout and post-workout on most days, and fairly aggressively mind you. I never got any better.  I would go out for a run and feel that nagging, pulling, twinge feeling almost immediately and throughout the run.  I have trained through, and recovered from, a million injuries but this one just wouldn’t let go.  When I listened to the aforementioned show with Ben and Jacob I started to wonder if the foam rolling and smashing was harming me.  Maybe I was squishing water out and building up yucky scar tissue in the injured area.  If so, I wasn’t doing myself any favors and not allowing it to heal properly.I will share my personal science experiment with you.  It is an n=1 experiment so I will admit it isn’t super scientific, but perhaps some of you have been trying to smash an injury into oblivion like I was.  Maybe you are wishing for a miracle with the roller but it hasn’t come true, as was I.  Maybe you just need to try a different approach and take a break from rolling and smashing, like I did.  Maybe leaving the tissue alone to heal is a good idea.  On March 21, 2017, I decided to set aside the foam roller.  I was nervous that I would fall apart without it though!  I had been using it almost daily for years.  But my fears subsided quickly because I started to feel better almost right away. I looked back at my journal and on March 23, 2017, 2 days after I ditched the foam roller, I see I wrote “Did bike/run brick with no foam rolling and was fine.  Performance was ok”.  It was almost like I was surprised that my leg didn’t fall off!  Then later in the year on May 20, 2017, I wrote “Did the Dragons triple triathlon and didn’t notice hamst...

I will admit I get excited about lots of “P words”. Processes, procedures, protocols, project management, and productivity are all wonderful! I like spreadsheets, organization, order, and systems.  I like things I can control and improve with knowledge and practice.  I get a little restless when things are out of my control.  I wondered if this is a product of nature or nurture. Then I thought through my genetic background and realized it was probably both! My dad was an officer in the Air Force and he shared his love of protocols with his us including how to load a dishwasher, how to pack a car with suitcases, and how, if you were not early to an appointment, you were late.  Was he wired this way or did being in the military shape him?  I asked my mom if he was into systems and procedures when she met him.  They were 19 and at university so she got to know him before he was in the Air Force, and she said he was already process based.  My sister definitely seems to have a similar wiring to me.  Also my dad’s father, my grandfather, was career Navy, and also loved systems and protocols.  It seems we didn’t have a chance to be any other way!  I mention all of this because I think it explains why I am so passionate about a morning routine and why having one is essential to my sanity.  But even if you are not a crazy process based enthusiast like me, there are still a lot of reasons to build yourself a good morning routine and stick to it. Below I share 10 morning routine tips that will set you up for the best day ever, every day.1. Be an Early BirdI haven’t always gotten up early. I remember at university that I would thoughtfully and purposefully set my class schedule to allow the most time to sleep in. I did some personal training while at KU but always set my schedule for evening clients. In fact it wasn’t until after university that I started getting up fairly early. I worked as a personal trainer and wellness program manager in Southern California, and I quickly learned that many folks wanted to get their workouts done for the day early and I needed to become a morning person fast! Then after getting into a somewhat “forced” routine of getting up early, I realized what I was missing all those years. I began doing some workouts before for my first client or my first fitness class of the day. I noticed how it made me feel great for the rest of the day and how much more productive I was. It is an amazing sense of satisfaction to know that you have your workout done for the day and you don’t have it hanging over your head to try to squeeze in later. The kids are still sleeping, there are no unexpected work meetings, and the roads are quiet. A study done by researchers at the University of Leipzig found that morning people (those who wake up early) are more productive than night owls. This makes sense as it is just a lot easier to get things done at this time. You start your day off with positive production instead of a stressful scramble.2. Check Your HRVI go into detail about the benefits of consistently tracking your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) first thing in the morning in episode 4 of the blog and podcast titled

I will admit I get excited about lots of “P words”. Processes, procedures, protocols, project management, and productivity are all wonderful! I like spreadsheets, organization, order, and systems.  I like things I can control and improve with knowledge and practice.  I get a little restless when things are out of my control.  I wondered if this is a product of nature or nurture. Then I thought through my genetic background and realized it was probably both! My dad was an officer in the Air Force and he shared his love of protocols with his us including how to load a dishwasher, how to pack a car with suitcases, and how, if you were not early to an appointment, you were late.  Was he wired this way or did being in the military shape him?  I asked my mom if he was into systems and procedures when she met him.  They were 19 and at university so she got to know him before he was in the Air Force, and she said he was already process based.  My sister definitely seems to have a similar wiring to me.  Also my dad’s father, my grandfather, was career Navy, and also loved systems and protocols.  It seems we didn’t have a chance to be any other way!  I mention all of this because I think it explains why I am so passionate about a morning routine and why having one is essential to my sanity.  But even if you are not a crazy process based enthusiast like me, there are still a lot of reasons to build yourself a good morning routine and stick to it. Below I share 10 morning routine tips that will set you up for the best day ever, every day.1. Be an Early BirdI haven’t always gotten up early. I remember at university that I would thoughtfully and purposefully set my class schedule to allow the most time to sleep in. I did some personal training while at KU but always set my schedule for evening clients. In fact it wasn’t until after university that I started getting up fairly early. I worked as a personal trainer and wellness program manager in Southern California, and I quickly learned that many folks wanted to get their workouts done for the day early and I needed to become a morning person fast! Then after getting into a somewhat “forced” routine of getting up early, I realized what I was missing all those years. I began doing some workouts before for my first client or my first fitness class of the day. I noticed how it made me feel great for the rest of the day and how much more productive I was. It is an amazing sense of satisfaction to know that you have your workout done for the day and you don’t have it hanging over your head to try to squeeze in later. The kids are still sleeping, there are no unexpected work meetings, and the roads are quiet. A study done by researchers at the University of Leipzig found that morning people (those who wake up early) are more productive than night owls. This makes sense as it is just a lot easier to get things done at this time. You start your day off with positive production instead of a stressful scramble.2. Check Your HRVI go into detail about the benefits of consistently tracking your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) first thing in the morning in episode 4 of the blog and podcast titled

Defining the Wellness DimensionsFinding wellness balance is something I talk about a lot here at Boost Health.  It is certainly somewhat intangible and most definitely very individualistic.  Since it is so individualistic you can’t really put hard numbers in areas of wellness for folks to achieve, but we can look at research that shows the importance to have wellness balance and also the different areas of our lives to focus on.What are these areas of wellness balance you may ask?  Well you probably could guess several key areas including physical and work balance.  Those are the 2 areas that I observe are talked about the most.  You always hear people say that you should attempt to have “work/life balance”.  The big one that needs a bit more drilling down is the “life” component.  The man credited with creating different dimensions of wellness for us to focus on balancing is Dr. Bill Kettler of the National Wellness Institute.  According to a 2012 study in the Journal of Holistic Nursing  Dr. Kettler created 6 dimensions of wellness including occupational, social, intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual back in 1976.I like this 6 dimension model because it really helps people dig a little deeper on holistic balance.  Perhaps you are like most folks where you feel over-worked and over-stressed, don’t get enough exercise, and want to spend more time with your family. Maybe taking a closer look at some of these less talked about dimensions, such as social and intellectual, will help with an overall strategy in achieving more wellness balance.  The Seventh DimensionBefore we dig into what each of these dimensions mean and how to prosper in each area, let’s add one additional dimension.  According to a 2009 study in the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, a seventh dimension of environmental wellness is sometimes added to wellness balance models, and has to do with being satisfied with your surrounding environment, preservation of the environment overall, and acknowledgement your environment.I think this is a good addition to the dimensions as our surrounding environment can make a huge difference in our overall wellness balance.  Think about the office space you work in, the pollution levels outside, access to parks in your area, etc. A Closer Look I break down each of the 7 dimensions in the graphic and table below with as adapted from “The Six Dimensions of Wellness Model,” by W. Hettler (1976) and Horton & Snyder “Wellness: Its Impact on Student Grades and Implications for Business” (2009).

Wellness Balance ResearchNow we know what the 7 different wellness balance dimensions are and what they mean.  So you may be wondering – does it really make a difference if you have good wellness balance?  Very interesting conclusions were found in the aforeme...

Defining the Wellness DimensionsFinding wellness balance is something I talk about a lot here at Boost Health.  It is certainly somewhat intangible and most definitely very individualistic.  Since it is so individualistic you can’t really put hard numbers in areas of wellness for folks to achieve, but we can look at research that shows the importance to have wellness balance and also the different areas of our lives to focus on.What are these areas of wellness balance you may ask?  Well you probably could guess several key areas including physical and work balance.  Those are the 2 areas that I observe are talked about the most.  You always hear people say that you should attempt to have “work/life balance”.  The big one that needs a bit more drilling down is the “life” component.  The man credited with creating different dimensions of wellness for us to focus on balancing is Dr. Bill Kettler of the National Wellness Institute.  According to a 2012 study in the Journal of Holistic Nursing, Dr. Kettler created 6 dimensions of wellness including occupational, social, intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual back in 1976.I like this 6 dimension model because it really helps people dig a little deeper on holistic balance.  Perhaps you are like most folks where you feel over-worked and over-stressed, don’t get enough exercise, and want to spend more time with your family. Maybe taking a closer look at some of these less talked about dimensions, such as social and intellectual, will help with an overall strategy in achieving more wellness balance. The Seventh DimensionBefore we dig into what each of these dimensions mean and how to prosper in each area, let’s add one additional dimension.  According to a 2009 study in the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, a seventh dimension of environmental wellness is sometimes added to wellness balance models, and has to do with being satisfied with your surrounding environment, preservation of the environment overall, and acknowledgement your environment.I think this is a good addition to the dimensions as our surrounding environment can make a huge difference in our overall wellness balance.  Think about the office space you work in, the pollution levels outside, access to parks in your area, etc. A Closer Look  I break down each of the 7 dimensions in the graphic and table below with as adapted from “The Six Dimensions of Wellness Model,” by W. Hettler (1976) and Horton & Snyder “Wellness: Its Impact on Student Grades and Implications for Business” (2009).

Wellness Balance ResearchNow we know what the 7 different wellness balance dimensions are and what they mean.  So you may be wondering – does it really make a difference if you have good wellness balance?  Very interesting conclusions were found in the aforementioned study in the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism where it appears there is a correlation between wellness balance ...

* Food JournalingKeeping a food journal is one of the simplest, yet most powerful, methods of gaining insight to your overall health.  If done properly, it can uncover nutrition habits that may be negatively affecting your health, or possibly point to a particular food or tactic that is working in your favor.  There are lots of different methods and tools for food journaling.  You can be very extreme and measure out every gram of food, count each calorie, and log everything into a journal or app.  This is a tedious, yet effective method, to understand exactly what you are taking in and whether or not you are creating a calorie deficit, based on your activity level and basal metabolic rate.  If you have never looked closely at your nutrition intake, this type of quantitative analysis can be very helpful, even if you just do it for a few days to get rough idea.  A 2008 study done by Kaiser Permanente found that individuals who keep a food journal lose 2 times as much weight as those who don’t.Another method to keeping a food journal is tracking more of the qualitative data that you note with you nutrition intake.  This would include how you feel before and after you eat, duration of the meal, whether or not you were hungry when you ate, if your food habits are different based on who you are with, picture of the food, time of day, how long before or after exercise your meal was, etc.  I would recommend using a cloud app to house your journal entries as it will allow you to make updates anytime and anywhere as well as add pictures of your meal and add other data points such as heart rate variability score, workout performance, etc.  My personal preference is Evernote.  Evernote is a well-known productivity app that allows you to make lists, add images, scan documents, etc. and organize everything in a meaningful way.  Since you can log in from your smartphone or desktop computer you can easily update on the fly as you eat a meal, get a new idea, or check something off your list.  I personally use it for tons of stuff like journaling, lists for grocery store and to-do’s, new ideas I want to capture, recipes, random stuff I want to remember, etc.  It is nice not to waste brain space on things that you can quickly access in the palm of your hand.  You can download Evernote here for free.A food journal was imperative to my success when I first switched to a plant-based diet.  Here is the link to the post with that full story if you are interested. Basically I was really struggling with stomach discomfort, pain, and bloating.  I basically went into elimination mode, getting rid of animal products, soy, gluten, and even FODMAPs.  FODMAPs, if you are not familiar, are basically types of carbs that pull water into your digestive system when passing through and can also ferment in your gut which can cause pain and bloating as you might imagine.  A study done in the Gastroenterology Journal in 2014 showed that individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome had relief when they removed FODMAPs from their diet.When you do an elimination nutrition plan like this, keeping an accurate and detailed food journal is critical.  The idea is to be extreme and eliminate any possible foods that might be of some sort of intolerance.  Once your gut calms down you can start reintroduc...

1.      Food JournalingKeeping a food journal is one of the simplest, yet most powerful, methods of gaining insight to your overall health.  If done properly, it can uncover nutrition habits that may be negatively affecting your health, or possibly point to a particular food or tactic that is working in your favor.  There are lots of different methods and tools for food journaling.  You can be very extreme and measure out every gram of food, count each calorie, and log everything into a journal or app.  This is a tedious, yet effective method, to understand exactly what you are taking in and whether or not you are creating a calorie deficit, based on your activity level and basal metabolic rate.  If you have never looked closely at your nutrition intake, this type of quantitative analysis can be very helpful, even if you just do it for a few days to get rough idea.  A 2008 study done by Kaiser Permanente found that individuals who keep a food journal lose 2 times as much weight as those who don’t.Another method to keeping a food journal is tracking more of the qualitative data that you note with you nutrition intake.  This would include how you feel before and after you eat, duration of the meal, whether or not you were hungry when you ate, if your food habits are different based on who you are with, picture of the food, time of day, how long before or after exercise your meal was, etc.  I would recommend using a cloud app to house your journal entries as it will allow you to make updates anytime and anywhere as well as add pictures of your meal and add other data points such as heart rate variability score, workout performance, etc.  My personal preference is Evernote.  Evernote is a well-known productivity app that allows you to make lists, add images, scan documents, etc. and organize everything in a meaningful way.  Since you can log in from your smartphone or desktop computer you can easily update on the fly as you eat a meal, get a new idea, or check something off your list.  I personally use it for tons of stuff like journaling, lists for grocery store and to-do’s, new ideas I want to capture, recipes, random stuff I want to remember, etc.  It is nice not to waste brain space on things that you can quickly access in the palm of your hand.  You can download Evernote here for free.A food journal was imperative to my success when I first switched to a plant-based diet.  Here is the link to the post with that full story if you are interested. Basically I was really struggling with stomach discomfort, pain, and bloating.  I basically went into elimination mode, getting rid of animal products, soy, gluten, and even FODMAPs.  FODMAPs, if you are not familiar, are basically types of carbs that pull water into your digestive system when passing through and can also ferment in your gut which can cause pain and bloating as you might imagine.  A study done in the Gastroenterology Journal in 2014 showed that individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome had relief when they removed FODMAPs from their diet.When you do an elimination nutrition plan like this, keeping an accurate and detailed food journal is critical.

Maybe Just A Little PassionateThose who have taken my fitness classes, done personal training with me, or attended some of my wellness presentations, are already aware how passionate I am about proper warm up.  The passion comes from my desire to rid society of the incorrect assumption that static stretching is the appropriate way to prep the body for movement in exercise or sport.  If you are an old timer, like me, then you probably grew up with your kiddie sports league coaches getting you ready for practice or a game with a mixture of static stretching and drills.  The drills are, and were, great because they prepare the body for activity by practicing similar movement patterns.  Drills are basically sport specific versions of dynamic warm up.  In essence, a dynamic warm up is a series of movement patterns that prepare the full body for the activity it is about take on.  Leg Swings, Jumping Jacks, High Knees, and Burpees are good examples of dynamic warm up movements.  You can see my dynamic warm up video here as an example.The static stretching, on the other hand, really isn’t the best way to prep the body for movement.  When you think about it, it makes sense.  Unless your activity requires you to hold a stretch in position for 20 – 30 seconds, it doesn’t seem that you are preparing your body with similar movement patterns to your exercise or sport.  Think about a runner.  Running is an explosive, full body, dynamic movement.  Think about how many repetitions of explosive power have to occur to drive the body up and forward to carry on running, even just for 1 mile.  If a runner goes through a sequence of static stretches before they start pounding pavement are they really setting themselves up for their best performance?  The answer is vehemently “No!” You may say that you have been doing your good old static stretching routine for years and it works great and keeps you injury free.  I would agree that is great but there are other factors to consider when choosing your warm up: performance, agility, force production, and even flexibility.The ResearchOne well known study that was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, compared dynamic warm up versus static stretching warm up by looking at 30 cadets (14 female and 16 male) at the US Military Academy.  The cadets would perform 1 of 3 options of warm up: dynamic warm up, static stretching warm up, or no warm up.  The warm up would take approximately 10 minutes, then they would have a quick rest of 1 – 2 minutes before completing 3 different performance tests.  The performance tests included the famous T-Shuttle run, medicine ball throws as far as possible, and 5-step jump.  If you are familiar with these 3 movements then I think you would agree these require the athlete to perform with both power and agility.  The study found that the best performance scores for all 3 tests were seen after athletes completed the dynamic warm up versus static stretching warm up or no warm up.Still not convinced?  Another study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research looked at 45 volunteers to see if warm up could affect their flexibility, peak torque, and force production.  As was done in the previous study, there were 3 types of warm up that were evaluated: dynamic warm up, static stretching warm up, and no warm up.