5 Tips to Help Performance: Spartan Beast

Written by, Coach Noah Grime

“It’s been a while, old friend! We missed you...until that first hill!” – All Spartan Big Bear Finishers

This year was my 3rd attempt at Big Bear. Each year is a great reminder about what hard work and grit can do, and what the human body is capable of.

Big Bear is generally a 13-mile mountain race, with a variety of obstacles in your path. This year held true to mileage, with 30+ obstacles and 5k feet of vertical gain. Once you take on the Big Bear challenge, you will never forget this race on Snow Summit mountain. This “Soul Crusher” of a race is one of the most popular for its unforgiving terrain, many long climbs, steep descents, and ruthless sandbag carries.

How does someone prepare for a race like this? Here are my thoughts:

A great athlete once said - “I don’t run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run towards it because the only...

Live Your Healthiest Life With These Two Habits

Written by, Coach Chris Wessels

How was your sleep last night?

You might be thinking to yourself “Coach Chris, I know sleep is important to my health, what else do I need to know”? You are absolutely right, and I am going to break down the best ways to improve your quality of sleep in order for you to feel more restful and energized while supporting your gains (Greater Quality of Sleep = More Muscle Growth and Recovery). Over the course of our lives we have different sleeping patterns; in the earlier years we are told when to go to bed...by our BODIES. How many times do you see a baby or small child sleeping in public? I am sure we have all wanted to fall asleep in our adult years though the circumstance does not always permit us to do so. Our bodies work so hard to keep us functioning throughout the day...even more so when you are crushing a workout… so we MUST thank our bodies and minds by...

Supplement Breakdown - Creatine

Written by, Coach Vanessa Panella

**A Quick Disclaimer**

Taking supplements can only help move the needle if you are already doing everything else to get results. 

• Good nutrition
• Good hydration
• A solid training program with clear SMART goals

If you haven't checked the boxes above creatine will not be a magical fix. Also, always consult a medical professional before consuming any new supplements. 

What is Creatine?

Creatine is the most studied supplement that is currently on the market. It is also found in your own body every day and is stored in your muscle tissue. Any creatine you consume through diet and/or supplements is stored for later use. Now, to really get into how, and why, creatine works we have to know the important role it plays in our bodies. To put it simply, your muscles use energy from a few different sources. When you are doing activities such as lifting weights, sprinting, and pretty much anything...

How Sports Continue to Save My Life

Written by Coach Angel Zaragoza

As the world around us continuously diversifies, so do our stories and backgrounds. Some grew up around people who pushed them to be the best version of themselves, others were not so lucky. Some of us grew up surrounded by people and things that were not very uplifting, but destructive in nature; such as gangs, drugs, alcohol, etc. As a kid, I learned from a very young age that one’s own actions can either make you or break you. This was the moment when I decided that sports would be my savior.

Since I could remember, I was always a playful and physically active child. Playing Freeze-Tag and Street-Ball with some of the kids around my neighborhood led to my love of the sport Football. Entering the scary and exciting new world of middle school, the opportunity to play for the school's small flag football team presented itself to me. This was the kickstart to my salvation. While some middle school...

 Written By, Coach Giordan Moloian

Roughly three years ago, I unearthed a pair of road shoes from my closet and went for a four mile run out at Whiting Ranch. It had been quite some time since I had plodded along hot pavement with my high school cross country team. It was in the low nineties; the cotton clothing I had on quickly became soaked and heavy. My left calf started going numb halfway in, and my right hip stopped doing its job the last quarter-mile. A few days later, I was back with a new pair of (heavy) trail shoes. 

 Trail running has done a lot for me. It’s taken me up and down just about every trail in Orange County, as well as several mountains. It’s built an awesome friendship with an extremely talented Spartan Racer. It’s brought me to Fitness on Fire and this amazing community. It’s provided me space and silence for important reflection. It’s also beaten me into the ground on several occasions, reminding me to stay...

Written By, Coach Vanesa Suazo

Doesn’t it seem like there’s always the new latest trend for the best diet that will help you lose those unwanted pounds in record time? New research showing that “this diet” is the one that will give you the results you want. Then there’s always all this conflicting information on whether to eat high or low carb; whether to eat plant based or carnivore ; whether calories matter or they don’t. We’re left conflicted, not really knowing what to do and jumping from one plan to the other, never really getting the results we want. The question is, what actually works? The answer is there isn’t one single diet plan that works, they can all work, it all depends on our lifestyles and what we’re trying to achieve. Oftentimes, I think we fail in reaching our goals, because we don’t posses the skills needed to get there - we’re lacking a good foundation. I believe any nutrition program can work for...

It’s becoming an exciting time, finally! After a long year, we are beginning to see some lasting changes. Restaurants are opening back up, activities are becoming more accessible, and the weather is getting better every day (here in SoCal at least). For some of us, it’s just about the Spartan Races showing up on the calendar!

Spring cleaning is something we are all familiar with, but I am shifting that perspective towards our health, fitness, and wellness. Wintertime starts to drift out of sight, and summer brings exciting new things and a new outlook.  How do we spring clean our lifestyle to help us achieve our health and fitness goals? We do that by cleaning up some old habits, setting goals, and maybe even toss out that old bag of crackers in the cupboard!

The area of opportunity for many people is to stay consistent with their nutrition, staying active daily, and the types of choices we make on the weekends! I’m going to give you some tips...

I feel like I should begin this by reminding everyone that I am far from a nutritionist. Or a Coach, for that matter. I’m just a person who wants to feel strong, look good, and eat the occasional slice of cake. So take everything I have to say with a grain of salt (or sugar).

So here’s the thing: we all have our vices. Mine is absolutely sugar--well, and wine, but that’s not what this is about! I used to think I needed to have a dessert after every single meal I ate in a day. Yes, even breakfast. What’s a peanut butter cup at 8am, right? With that mentality, it will probably come as no surprise to anybody that that 8am peanut butter cup became two, and then three, and then four, and so on. And of course, that was only breakfast. Every now and then I’d start feeling sick (both physically and emotionally) by how much sugar I was consuming and I’d have a great plan in place to give up desserts cold turkey. It would always work for a few days,...

Written By, Randi Fehser

There are many values of reading. One might say I am biased since I am an English major and all but there are so many perks to reading. In William G. Brozo’s article, Writing to Learn in the Disciplines, he mentions, “For most teachers and scholars, reading is considered the fundamental skill, the prior skill, the formative skill…” Reading allows us to build skills for many different areas in our lives. It helps us improve our job skills, our communication skills, helps our brains stay active, and to always be learning. 

When I was in high school and in my first two years of college, I did not know I wanted to be a high school English teacher yet. I was a liberal study major at first to be an elementary teacher, but realized I wanted to teach the older kids. When I was thinking on changing my major to English Education, one question from other teachers and other professors was if I read. I did not, I always used...

Written By, Jenny De Anda Fast

What if they find out I do not belong here? 

What if they realize I am not good enough?

 What if they come to me and say that they made a mistake bringing me on to the team?

 What if they discover I am a fraud?

These are the thoughts that run through my head everyday I walk into my jobs as a coach at Fitness on Fire and at the RowHouse. At 41 years old I am definitely one of the oldest coaches at both of my workplaces and compound that with having made the career change to being a coach in the last year I often feel a disconnect, a fear, as if I am a sheep in wolves clothing and that someone will eventually notice and yell out that “The Emperor has no clothes”.  This is commonly known as Imposter Syndrome, which is defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. People who see themselves as “imposters” suffer from chronic self-doubt and a sense of...