Your body is about 70% water. Water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, with the hydrogen being super-important in maintaining optimum acidity levels within the body. Approximately 60 percent of the global population is dehydrated on a regular basis with about 40% lacking the brain’s ability to properly signal it. You should be consuming about half your body weight in ounces daily (a 100lb person=50oz) Adding a pinch of unprocessed sea salt will help you drink the adequate amount of water necessary-you shouldn’t taste it, but it will give the water a nice feel in the mouth, as well reduce your trips to “la toilette”.

Here’s some food for thought: dehydration actually results in many things, but one of the biggest side effects it has is tricking us into thing we are hungry, when we are really just thirty. Water helps suppress the appetite naturally and helps metabolize stored fats. Why? The kidneys can’t function properly without water, if they aren’t working well, then the liver is taxed. The liver metabolizes stored fats for energy, but if it’s doing the kidney’s work, then it can’t function at its optimum, resulting in more fat being stored and remaining in the body-halting weight loss. Drinking water is also the best remedy for water weight/retention.

Water helps maintain muscle tone, skin tone and healthy, plump, clear skin. It also helps relieve constipation and improves endocrine gland function. It helps your natural signal for thirst to return and also helps regulate our body temperature through perspiration, which dissipates excess heat & cools our bodies.

Adults lose nearly 12 cups of water every day. 1/2 cup to 1 cup a day from the soles of our feet, 2 to 4 cups from breathing, and perspiration accounts for another 2 cups. Another 6 cups are lost in urine. The body’s signals of dehydration are frequently joint pain, stomach pain & ulcers, back pain, low energy, mental confusion & disorientation. Numerous disease symptoms respond to increased water intake.

Brain tissue is 85% water. Depression & chronic fatigue syndrome are frequently results of dehydration. Migraine headaches may also be an indicator of critical body temperature regulation at times of “heat stress.” Dehydration plays a major role in bringing on migraines, causing stress, which also causes further dehydration.

And just for the record, caffeinated beverages such as COFFEE, tea, soda, etc are not water! They actually have a reverse effect since caffeine is a diuretic pulling water from the cells.

Our body is essentially an electrical system, but it won’t work properly if the cells don’t have enough water, as they will loose their conductivity. Water does several things that benefit our body: cleanses our cells of acid waste, our blood and lymphatic systems. All-important for remaining healthy and disease-free!

Now, keep in mind, you will also benefit in other ways by consuming water! Your grocery bill will be less. You’ll be amazed how much money you save each month on drinks alone! Americans drink an average of 11.2 cans of soda pop each week or 582 cans each year. That could cost you anywhere from $200 a year or more, depending on how bad your habit is and where you are buying it! If you are a Starbucks junkie (I know a few myself!), did you know if you’re buying a latte three times a week, you’re probably spending about $600 per year? That’s a small vacation! Seems silly, right? And people think eating healthy is expensive…it costs a lot less to eat healthy and preventively than it does to fight a disease, so stay hydrated and healthy!

Quality proteins are important because protein and Amino Acids are the building blocks of your body. Qualityproteins areessentially a long strand of Amino Acids. Amino acidssupport growth and development within the body, but some of theAminosthat we require are not readily produced within our body.These are called Essential Amino Acidsand we need these in a good assortment from both animal and plant sources alike.

There are several types of quality proteins but not all are created equal, some are better quality than others. For instance in the meat category, there arecattle, bison, buffalo, deer, elk, chicken, turkey and wild caught fish such as halibut and salmon.

Look for Meats that are Hormone and Antibiotic Free, Grass Fed, and Free Range.

No hormones + grass fed= higher nutrient counts, good fats and proteins, abundant omega 3’s and vitamins A & D

You can also attain these quality proteins from beans, legumes, nuts, grains (quinoa is a great high protein grain) and even some vegetables. If you are a vegetarian, these should be your main sources of protein.

The good news is, the higher the intake of quality protein, the more fat burning your body does, which equals a leaner, meaner body and smaller waist size! When people talk about fats, there is a huge misconception about fat consumption. You must remember that there are good fats and bad fats. Essential fatty acids are necessary however our bodies do not manufacture them.

Good sources of healthy fats are found in olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, raw butter, organic grass fed meats, fish oil, seeds, avocados and nuts. Always use heat stable fats and oils to cook with. Try to choose organic foods for safe fats and consume Omega 3’s-especially for children. Good Fats help lower cholesterol and are vital components of development and repair of the brain and nervous system. Lack of omega 3 and 6’s are associated with several disorders including: Heart Attack, Stroke, Cancer, Obesity, Insulin Resistance, Diabetes, Lupus, Depression, Alzheimer’s, Chronic inflammatory disorders, ADHD, Asthma, Arthritis and more.

Just like there are good fats there are also bad fats and these are why fat is such a bad word! Bad fats are trans-fatty acids found in items such as margarine, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, vegetables oils and conventionally raised animals and fish. These Man Made animals and fish are raised and fed the worst foods, hormones etc; they are of very low nutritional value and often toxic with pesticides).

Avoid the following: Roasting/roasted nuts (oils become rancid upon heating increasing free radical damage in the body), non-organic dairy sources, fried foods unless prepared with palm, coconut oil or lard-but keep at a minimum!

Keep your trips to fast food restaurants to a minimum or avoid them all together. Fast Food restaurants use low quality foods and fats, most of which are highly processed. Follow these and you are heading in the right direction.

Most people, including athletes, suffer from muscle imbalances, which can distort your posture, causing problems with your balance, coordination, agility, movement, and athleticism. This can lead to injuries and chronic pain for many if left untreated.

Several things in our everyday actions can create imbalance, such as lifting groceries, sitting at a computer or even lugging around a suitcase along with several sports and activities. Muscle tightness, poor posture and abnormal spinal curvature can also lead to imbalances in the body. The single most disproportionate imbalance is between the abs and back.

Motocross can also be huge a factor leading to imbalance due to the rounded backs and poor body positioning; all of which lead to poor posture on and off the bike. These imbalances can be created even faster if the rider does this activity with great frequency.

The goal is to enable the body to work together seamlessly on and off the bike. We will do this by training and stretching the body to work through some of these imbalances. You will notice Ryan performs several exercises on one side of the body at a time. In doing this, you will find that almost always, we are weaker on one side than the other. The intention is to strengthen that weaker side to “even our body out”. If a muscle on one side of the “teeter totter” is pulling harder than the other side, you are going to feel that imbalance, usually in the form of a backache and weakness in your athletic and day-to-day activities.

We will also help correct these imbalances through stretching the tight areas we generally see in MX. You will definitely feel the tight areas where that imbalance lies in your body when you stretch. Namely, these areas tend to be the hamstrings, quads, hips, and chest and lower back. When any of these are tight, you will often feel the imbalance all the way up the back, through the neck and shoulders. It can even result in tension headaches, muscle fatigue, weakness and low energy; which tells you just how important it is to become balanced. Your MX and athletic performance will become better by strengthening and stretching these areas.

Let’s talk about sleep. Everyone does it, just not everyone does it optimally! Sleep is part of the foundation to achieving an optimally healthy lifestyle. Lack of sleep has devastating effects on the health that no one would want, ranging from impacting your immune system and increasing your risk of heart disease to raising your blood pressure, worsening constipation, contributing to a pre-diabetic state and premature aging, as well as halting new cell production in the brain and increasing your risk of dying from any cause. Furthermore, it can make diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, MS, kidney disease, behavioral problems and gastrointestinal disorders worse.

Ideally, uninterrupted sleep should be between 10pm and 6am. This is when your body is using it’s energy for cleaning and repairing. On the contrary, if you “miss out” on a good nights sleep, take a 20 minute nap, rather than sleep “in”. You don’t want to throw your circadian body rhythm off anymore than you already have. Your body naturally would like to nap between 1-3pm, so if you can, by all means do! I am sure you have felt that dip in your body’s energy at that time…several cultures abide by the “siesta”, but Americans are always on the go. If you have the luxury of being able to nap, than take advantage of it.

Ideally, you should get in the habit of sleeping and waking around the same time everyday, as this is most beneficial for your body and your mind. Just remember; when sleep is shortened, your body doesn’t have enough time to complete muscle repair, memory enhancement, the release of hormones, regulation of metabolism and so forth. In short, it doesn’t make you feel or look good inside or out, so try to relish your beauty sleep! It’s called that for a reason!

For optimal results, here are a few tips for sleeping well so you will be thoroughly rested and repaired.

1. Avoid watching TV or using your computer at night. These devices can have a huge impact on your sleep. TV’s and computers emit a blue light that is similar to the light you are exposed to outdoors, which tricks your brain into thinking it’s still daytime, thus shutting off your melatonin production. Yes, this includes your Smart Phone, laptops and those cool iPads and similar items. They are NO BUENO at bedtime. Normally, your brain should start secreting melatonin between 9-10pm which would mean you should start feeling those sleepy eyes about that time. If your melatonin secretion is interrupted by light exposure, insomnia can be a side affect that no one wants.
2. Avoid Stimulants. This means coffee, chocolate, tobacco, sugar…and even exercise. Anything that makes you have energy during the day will keep you up at night.
3. For the ultimate in relaxation, take a hot bath 90-120 minutes before bedtime. This raises your core temperature and when it drops, your body knows it is ready for sleep.
4. Create a room that is comfortable and dark. Even the slightest bit of light in the room can disrupt your internal clock and your pineal gland’s production of melatonin and serotonin. We are talking even the teensiest, tiniest glow from your clock radio. It could be interfering with your sleep. So close your bedroom door and get rid of night-lights. Refrain from turning on any light at all at night, even if you have to head to the bathroom. Cover up your clock radio or better yet, completely move it about 3 feet away from your bed area. Cell phones, charging stations, etc. should be in the other room-not at your bedside in order to avoid the harmful EMF’s that they emit. If you can’t hang without your cell being close to you-put it into airplane mode at least and set it 3 feet away, flipped over so you can’t see the shining light. Cover your windows and turn down the temperature to be between 60-70 degrees. Keeping your room too hot or cold will interrupt and create restless sleep. Keep your room nice and tidy which=stress free, purchase a pair of good sheets (they will last forever and you will sleep like a baby) and add some plants to you room, as they are nature’s air purifiers. Your room should be your sanctuary! You spend half your life sleeping, so this is super import-tant-tay!
5. Avoid using loud alarm clocks. It is very stressful on your body to be suddenly jolted awake. If you are regularly getting enough sleep, an alarm may even be unnecessary. If you must use something, look for an alarm clock that uses music or light to wake you slowly and softly. Many are available these days, even on your trusty iPhones, which of course will be 3 feet away.

We provide a collection of juicing recipes for several different needs and ailments on our recipes page. Of course, you should always wash everything thoroughly with a mixture of vinegar and water (these veggie washes are also available at your local market) to remove any pesticide residue before you juice.  You can virtually juice just about anything, so just keep it healthy and start with a mix that is more taste-bud pleasing at first.

My favorite choices of juicers are as follows: The Omega 4000, Champion Juicer and the Green Star Juice Extractor. They are each a different type of juicer, but are my favorites in each category.  You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on one, but I do believe you get what you pay for when it comes to juicers!

Most importantly, you want a juicer that will not heat the juice, or at least that will do it very minimally during the actual juicing process. Be prepared to do some cleaning each time you juice. It seriously is more than half of the process and takes patience, but remember juicing is doing something wonderfully healthy for your body so it is totally worth the effort.  You will get better at it and become quicker as you go, I promise!

Here are just a few little tips for those of you new to the juicing world:  It is best to drink your juice on an empty stomach and to wait about half an hour before consuming food because adding juice with solids slows the digestive process down.  The cleaner your body gets from juicing, the more you will notice your taste buds coming back to life! Juicing balances your pH and gives you a direct shot of vitamins, enzymes, mineral, protein and oxygen.

Sweet tasting fruits and veggies that are good for you start juicing with are: cucumber (very tasty and sweet!), celery, romaine lettuce, pea sprouts, broccoli, carrots, beets, apples, pears and lemon (use half…this also cuts anything with a “tart” or “bitter” taste). Once you’ve established your juicing taste buds, you can step it up to the stronger tasting veggies such as: kale, chard, fennel, cabbage, beet greens, spinach, garlic, parsley and ginger (in little bits of course! A little goes along way with ginger).  In making your own concoctions, a good rule of thumb is juicing 3:1, veggies to fruit.

Click here to see all our juicing recipes!  Enjoy!

Sugar has only become available in the last 400 years. I guarantee most of us would not have any idea what to do with a piece of sugar cane, other than whack someone with it! You would never know there was sweet stuff in there!  Due to the processing necessary to make what we know as sugar today, it is a very expensive and was once only afforded by the rich.  In the “olden days”, if someone was overweight, you knew they were wealthy!

Today, Americans consume an average of 150-170 pounds of sugar each year! This in part explains the obesity problem in the United States, with over 60% of the population being overweight at epidemic proportions.  We are actually seeing 6-month-old babies at the level of obesity in the U.S. and evidence has shown that sugar is a major factor in this as well as in most disease.

First off, it’s true that your body converts all foods to glucose.  However, there is an important difference between sugar and those other foods…meat, fruits, and vegetables all have vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and amino acids.  Sugar does not have any of these to assist in its digestion and absorption.  As a result, metabolizing refined sugar puts the body at a severe nutritional disadvantage.

Sugar depletes minerals in the body, lowers your pH, causes cavities, stresses your adrenals and your nervous system, increases inflammation, has been linked to cancer, osteoporosis and diabetes, as well as many other diseases, interferes with normal hormonal function, taxes the immune system, leads to insulin resistance (that mean’s your ability to actually loose pounds becomes HARDER!) and is highly addictive.

It has been argued whether sugar can be classified as an actual drug, like tobacco or prescription drugs like Vicodin, in part due to the fact that it is so highly addictive. Sugar “is a depressant and, consumed in large amounts, it affects the opiate receptor sites in the central nervous system” (Mumey and Hatcher, 1987, p. 104).  There is also physiological and psychological evidence that sugar acts on the brain much like licit and illicit drugs do. Alcoholics might spend most of their day thinking about alcohol, planning elaborate schemes to get their hands on a drink. They may also not be capable of having only a few drinks, but rather need to ingest massive quantities of the drug in order to feel good.  Sugar junkies, similarly, will often have plans as to how to get their next fix and once they start eating cookies or doughnuts, they are often compelled to eat more of these foods than the average person in order to satisfy their appetites (Mumey and Hatcher, 1987, p. 106). “Addiction is characterized by a pattern of compulsive, uncontrollable behaviors that occur at the expense of most other activities and intensify with repeated cycles” (Avena and Lone, 2005, p. 359).

Consuming sugar daily leads to the beginning of degenerative disease.  The body is in a constant state of acidity and minerals are depleted from the body’s tissues (the bones and teeth) in order to lessen the acidic environment.  Eventually so much calcium is depleted that tooth and bone decay is certain. The excess sugar is stored in the liver as glucose, but eventually it fills to capacity and the excess glycogen returns to the blood as fatty acids, where they are taken and stored throughout the body as fat in the belly, buttocks, breasts and thighs. Once these areas are full, these fatty acids are then stored around the organs, causing them to slow down and leading to dangerously high blood pressure.

The worst culprit in the sugar category is High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). This is used today to sweeten soda, juice and almost any processed food you can find on the shelf today, including most baby formulas.

High fructose corn syrup is a liver toxin.  It is metabolized in the body the same way alcohol is metabolized.  The brain metabolizes alcohol, so you get effects that you can recognize almost immediately and we call it intoxication. Effects like impaired judgment, slowed response time impaired motor function, etc.  But fructose is not metabolized by the brain, so you don’t notice that is affecting your body the same way alcohol is.  Drinking a can of soda does the same thing to your liver that drinking a can of beer does, only the affects take longer to see and are highly detrimental.  You may be a person who doesn’t believe in drinking alcohol because it destroys your body, but fructose will destroy your body in the very same way, with no obvious affects at first.  And to think most people have no problem giving their children juice or soda!  That’s food for thought, especially since most of us would never let our 5 year old have a beer!

When your body breaks down fructose, it can cause fatty liver disease, which raises your cholesterol, and fructose actually deactivates a substance in your body that prevents high blood pressure, leading to hypertension and high blood pressure.  Insulin resistant isn’t far off after that, which in turn develops into diabetes.  As long as you are ingesting HFCS or sucrose (table sugar) you will be unable to cure yourself of high blood pressure, heart disease or diabetes.

So, I certainly hope you will take all this information into account.  However, this doesn’t mean you should turn to drinking diet sodas either…ASPARTAME is a NEUROLOGICAL TOXIN.  So you have the choice of using a liver toxin (sugar) or a neurotoxin (aspartame)…or you could just give up soda and juices altogether and opt for herbal teas, sparking water with a squeeze of lemon or orange or just get used to drinking good ol’ H20!  You are made up of about 90% water, so it seems to be the best choice anyway.

So to clarify about fruits…Eating whole fruits do not cause the same problem as HFCS or table sugar because fruits contain vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants that help metabolize the fructose.

Some effects of sugar on the body are:
-Increases overgrowth of Candida yeast organism.
-Increases chronic fatigue.
-Can trigger binge eating in those with bulimia.
-Increases PMS symptoms.
-Increases hyperactivity in about 50% of children.
-Increases tooth decay.
-Increases anxiety and irritability.
-Can increase or intensify symptoms of anxiety and panic in susceptible women.
-Can make it difficult to lose weight because of constantly high insulin levels, which causes the body to store excess carbs as fat.

The chances of acquiring one of these side effects or diseases increase ten-fold with regular sugar consumption:

• Colon cancer
• ADD/ADHD
• Food intolerance
• Bone loss
• Violent tendencies
• Behavioral problems
• Cancer (tumors grow from sugar)
• Heart disease
• Liver disease
• Kidney disease
• Atherosclerosis
• Neurologic disorders
• Diseases of malnutrition

So, if you can’t eat sugar, what can you eat?  Trust me, you won’t crave it as badly once you wean yourself off it.  It’s not easy, but once you do it, you will feel SOOOOOO much better! Here are a few alternatives to sugar:

• Honey

Unprocessed, unfiltered honey-has chunks of beeswax and you can not see through it…do not buy pasteurized honey, it is depleted of all the good stuff!

• Stevia

An herb 1000 times sweeter than sugar.

• Turbinado Sugar/Succinat

Minimally processed and raw.

• Fruit

You can use in season or dried fruits to sweeten foods…don’t use sulfured fruits though.  No bueno!

• Raw Organics Agave

If you are really needing or craving a little chocolate (trust me, I get it!) a great alternative is 70% or more cocoa, dark chocolate.  It is full of antioxidants and a little now and then won’t kill you.

What to look for in foods:  Food companies are sneaky with getting this stuff in…take a look at this list and memorize it before your next grocery store trip!

• Brown sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Corn syrup solids
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Glucose
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Malt
• Malt syrup
• Maple sugar
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Sucrose (table sugar)
• Sweetened carob powder
• Turbinado

The key is “MODERATION” to everything…day to day, limit your intake of sweets to fruit and healthy sweeteners if needed.  You are going to have a day here and there that you will want to eat something sweet, that’s normal.  Just moderate it!

Supplements are important because they provide nutrients not readily available in normal eating. The Ryno Power Sports Supplement line offers six different supplements designed to address the six needs of your body when competing or training. To begin a workout your body will need to be mentally focused, properly hydrated, cardiovascularly prepared and properly fueled. For this you would take Motivation for mental focus, Electrolytes to help hydrate properly, Endurance to raise the oxygen level in your blood stream and Carbo Fuel to burn while you work out.

After your workout or competition you will need to rebuild your muscles and your body. You can do this by combining the Protein Powder with the Recovery capsules. Amino Acids (Recovery Capsules) are required to blend the Proteins together and rebuild the muscles that have broken down as well as build new muscle to prepare for your next event.

Supplements are the best way to make sure your body receives all it will need to perform at its greatest possible ability. We recommend that you enhance your healthy eating habits with these supplements designed to target your physical needs. Most of our supplements are derived naturally from foods but they are concentrated down to the most important components of the food. Taking Ryno Power Supplements will allow you to train harder and recover faster, making you a better athlete.

It is best to eat small meals thorough out the day. Start your day with a glass of lukewarm water and a squeeze of lemon to get your digestive tract moving along. You can have our breakfast first (remember breakfast means to “break fast” in which fasting is what you've just done over the last 8 hours. It is an important meal, so even if you can only get a protein shake or an apple down, it is better than nothing. You should ideally be eating small meals through out the day, including breakfast, lunch and dinner and healthy snacks in between. Keeping portion sizes within guidelines for your weight and activity level helps keep the waistline trim and muscles growing!