RAQ Training

In continuation of the topic that I posted a couple of days ago about Celiac Disease and Gluten-free food, I decided to take upon myself to research if there were any restaurants that catered towards serving individuals with Celiac Disease.
Again, it was hard for me in the grocery store to find products that had the signature of Gluten-free on the product. Due to the frustration that was experience, I thought it would be a good idea to see where a person with Celiac Disease could eat in the local area that I live in. Likewise, what if a person was traveling in from another state or city and needed assistance where would they go? Now, you’ll know how and where to eat out gluten free, no matter where life takes you! Gluten-free restaurant dining doesn’t need to be challenging.

The following restaurants all have gluten-free menus. These restaurants are all in the Charlotte area; however, you will notice that many are national chains. Thus, you may look for these restaurants in your travels and know you can eat safely. Call ahead if you have any questions or concerns…

Aladdin’s Eatery
7900 Stevens Mill Rd.
Matthews, NC
(704) 882-3036

Harper’s Restaurant
across from South Park Mall
6518 Fairview Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28210
(704) 366-6688

Blue - Restaurant & Bar
Hearst Tower, Corner of College & 5th St
214 N. Tryon St., Ste. 100
Charlotte, NC
(704) 927-2583

Moe’s ~ Southwestern Grill
Charlotte Locations:
1500 East Blvd
(704) 377-6344
9330 Center Lake Dr. #100
(704) 714-2100
14825 John J. Delaney Dr.
(704) 369-5020
4724 Sharon Dr., Suite H
(704) 714-1117
2215 Ayrsley Town Blvd., Suite D
(704) 714-4566
440 E. McCullough Dr.
(704) 971-3380

Bonefish Grill at Carmel Rd. & 51
7520 Pineville Matthew Road
Charlotte, NC 28226
(704) 541-6659

Carino’s Italian Grill
2235 Roxie Street
Kannapolis, NC
(704) 782-9558

Outback Steakhouse near Carolina Place Mall
8338 Pineville-Matthews Rd. (51)
Charlotte, NC 28226
(704) 759-9575

Carrabba’s Italian Grill
Matthews
10400 E. Independence Blvd.
Matthews, NC 28105
(704) 844-0464

South End
1520 South Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28203
(704) 377-2458

Huntersville
16408 Northcross Drive
Huntersville, NC 28078
(704) 895-3080

P.F. Chang’s ~ an Asian Bistro
Philips Place (near South Park Mall)
6809 F. Philips Place Court
Charlotte, NC 28210
(704) 552-6644

Boston Market

Cheeseburger in Paradise
Take I-77 to exit 25 on Northcross Dr.
16203 Northcross Dr.,
Huntersville, NC 28078
(704) 892-2822

Pei Wei Asian Diner
Ballantyne
13855 Conlan Circle
Charlotte, NC
(704) 543-1121

Red Bowl - An Asian Bistro
~ not to far south of the NC border
845 Stockbridge Dr.
Fort Mill, SC 29708
(803) 802-5666

Chili’s ~ Grill & Bar
Near Carolinas Place Mall
8302 Pineville-Matthews Rd. (51)
Charlotte, NC 28226
(704) 543-6265

Sweet Pea Cafe
16 Union Street South
Concord, NC 28025
(704) 795-5500
Open: Tues. thru Sat.
for Lunch and Dinner
11 am until 9pm

Encore ~ bistro & bar
Blakeney Shopping Center
9824 Rea Road
Charlotte, NC 28277
(704) 342-3651

Firebirds ~ Rocky Mountain Grill
North Lake Mall
Located near entry #1 near Borders Books &
Music.
(704) 295-1919

Uno Chicago Grill
Uptown - Corner of College & 2nd St.

Uno Chicago Grill
401 South Tryon Street Suite 130
Charlotte, NC 28202-1937
704-373-0085

Wolfgang Puck Express
(allergy menu)
Promenade Shopping Center
@ Providence & Ballantyne
Commons Parkway
5349 Ballantyne Commons Parkway,
Suite 100
Charlotte, NC 28277
(704) 708-5802

Fast Food Restaurants with a Gluten-free Menu

Chick-fil-A

Wendy’s

Qdoba

Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC

Over the ten plus years that I have been in the sports performance training arena, I have had the pleasure of training a lot of athletes. What I have learned and continue to expound upon with my athletes and parents is that there is a difference between quickness and speed. An athlete can be really quick, but when timed in the 40 yard dash, it may appear that they are not as fast as they looked. Speed is the ability to maintain a constant velocity; whereas quickness is the ability to accelerate to that top speed or velocity. Most sports rarely have an athlete running for an extended distance or an extended period of time. Rarely in flag football do you see people breaking away from the line of scrimmage or catching a pass and running straight down the sidelines unless it was a pass play that was a 9 route. In most sports, quickness is more important than speed because of the continual change in direction and the small distances that the athlete has to cover over an extended period of time. To transition it over to flag football, when will a player ever run for over a distance of 40 yards? Heck in most leagues the field is only 80 yards long! Usually players need quick feet and quick movements to elude their opponent and make them miss grabbing their flag. In order to develop quickness, an athlete must have a quick first step and faster reaction time than his opponent. This allows him to be a split second faster which could mean being the highlight reel or being on the highlight reel.

A player’s First Step Quickness (FSQ) is described as his or her aptitude at acceleration. First step quickness makes the difference between winning and losing in flag football. It is the difference between going to the next round of the tournament and going home. It could mean the difference between catching the game winning pass or making the game winning interception; being a little late or a being little slow.

The key factors in FSQ are power and footwork in order to develop first step quickness.

One of the limitations I’ve seen with this concept is an athlete taking a long first step, which is not rewarded in flag football. Too long of a first step places the athlete’s base of support too far forward to their center of gravity. A long first step means a player is in the air for a long time and can’t change direction while in the air. The opposite would be the player that can stop and cut on a dime and change direction without losing a step (what I like to call Houdini’s “Now you see me Now you Don’t”). The most common error is the false step or miss-step away from the intended direction. This concept is best illustrated in the old cartoons where the characters would run in place before taking off. In order for a player to take a long first step, he must push back in the opposite direction before he can go forward. A good example would be someone who is backpedaling too high and trying to defend a quick receiver who comes of the line fast and stops abruptly for a hitch or a curl route. The defender if backpedaling too high will have all his momentum on his back foot when he/she tries to react, which causes separation from them and the receiver. Developing a quick forward first step can be trained just like throwing a football. Players need to work on the length and direction of their first step. The foot movement should be as low as possible and their foot should return back onto the ground as soon as possible. The first step must be in the intended direction to gain a step!

Quality over quickness!

The athlete’s main focus is to learn the correct technique before progressing to doing any drill with speed.

Another limitation I see in FSQ is an athlete’s lack of arm action, which can be a result of poor trunk strength. The arms and shoulders are important body parts when dealing with running and changing direction. The arms and hands should be positioned to aid in the first movement. Remember, the arms are huge drivers that can propel the body forward if sequenced correctly with the lower body and legs. If the trunk cannot stabilize and transfer the force effectively, the athlete will automatically decrease their arm swing to avoid being thrown off balance.

Once you get the concept of forward first step quickness, one must move on and take into consideration that flag football is a sport that requires multi-directional movement. As a result, flag athletes should train to move in the all directions and be able to develop first step quickness in all directions. To accomplish this, I like to use the analogy of a giant clock when training in for FSQ multi-directionally. Think of a large clock with the numbers 12, 3, 6 and 9 on it. From the center facing 12 o’clock, a player should apply the concepts used in forward first step quickness to accomplish multi-directional movement.

In closing, developing an explosive linear first step is all about loading the body quickly with an optimal posture. This can best be trained by getting the athlete to reflexive move into this position without conscious awareness. By using the suggestions discussed in this article, you should improve speed, power, and quickness, translating into a more improved and enhanced performance on the field.

Speed and Strength Coach for Rec Athletes in Charlotte, NC

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the pleasure to get to know some wonderful people that have given me the opportunity to work with them on their fitness goals and dreams with regard to becoming healthier individuals for this new year. As a result, I recently met a woman who wanted to hire me as her fitness professional through a program that I offer called the Virtual Trainer’s Program. This program is neat in which it is an online personal trainer service design specifically for the person’s needs that still gives them the benefits of having their own personal trainer. However, when we started to converse she told me of a condition that she had called Celiac Disease or commonly known as gluten intolerance. This was the first I had heard of such condition and so as we started to work alongside of each other and began building a good healthy working relationship, she started to educate me on this condition. There isn’t a lot out there about this condition that I knew of in comparison to such disease like cancer, diabetes, and hypertension (the 3 Amigos as I like to call them). Likewise, yesterday, I went into the store to get a couple of items and to see what products are out in the market to accommodate someone who has Celiac Disease. I was amazed at how painstaking it was to go on this safari, as it felt, and how frustrating a person must feel if they don’t already know what foods are out there that are gluten-free. Yesterday in the time that I spent at my local grocery store, I only found 4 foods that were marked “Gluten-Free”. They were two margarine products and two bread-type products (one muffin mix and another brownie mix).

As a result, this month in honor of my client, I will be doing my own research and education on this disease and how individuals with it cope and try to live a normal healthy life. So I guess this is the first of many in this series. I hope you that find it informative and as well enjoyable.

Today I wanted to just give some general information about the disease and a website that people can go to to read more about Celiac Disease.

Celiac Disease is also know as gluten intolerance and is a genetic disorder that affects 1 in 133 Americans. There is an estimated 2.18 million people in the United States with this condition.

Though the disease affects mostly people of European descent, there are cases of the disease seen in Hispanic, Black or African American, and Asian descent as well. Celiac Disease is cause by the damage of the villi in the intestines when a person eats specific food-grain antigens that are found in wheat, rye, and barley.

Celiac is difficult to diagnosis due to the broad range of symptoms that an individual may occur. Again these symptoms include chronic diarrhea, progressive weight loss, abdominal bloating, weakness, and bone pain. Studies show that if a person with Celiac Disease continues to consume products that have gluten in them, they will increase their chances of gastrointestinal cancer by 40 to 100 times.

Diagnosing someone with Celiac Disease includes blood testing for antigliadin (AGA) and endomysium antibodies (EmA) and/or performing a biopsy on the areas of the intestines.

Treatment for Celiac is pretty simple in theory, but can be hard and frustrating in application. They must adhere to a 100% strict gluten-free diet for life. Likewise, they must avoid any products with wheat, rye, and barley or any of their derivatives.

We will continue this series with helpful strategies (i.e. recipes, shopping, and other helpful information) to inform and educate you on how people with Celiac Disease should and can make their lives as normal as possible. Until then keep moving.

Here is a helpful website if you want more information on Celiac Disease and ways to deal with it.
www.Celiac.com

Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC