Skins 400 series

Lisa with Jason and Kim
who modelled the Skins

I'm not one to wear anything too tight. Too high cut. Or too low cut for that matter ha ha.

But when it comes to finding ways to improve my fitness or recovery, I'm willing to put myself beyond my carefree comfort zone and trial something new. Since Skins have been the innovators in compression wear technology which aims to enhance performance and recovery, I thought it about time to see what all the fuss is about.

Back in June 09 I went to a very secret squirrel pre launch of the Skins A400 series to retailers. So hush hush, I wasn't even allowed to take any photos as they wanted to keep their new technology super secret. Skins range has been designed for men and women incorporates long and short tights, long and short sleeve tops. Plus they are also bringing out a recovery range.

Now the secret is out. The new range will soon hit the stores but I have had a pre trial of the new skins for the past week and its been great. The immediate difference you'll see with skins is the colour. Gone is the blue with yellow trim. They've selected the slinkier black colour with discrete Skins signage.
	The A400 series was named because of the way they drew data to produce the new range. In a very thorough research programme, Skins took 3D bodyscans from 100s of men and women, and took data from 800 000 points on each person. From there they used 400 key points from each body to decide where the best points of compression are to enhance sports performance and recovery.
Skins is a very technical product and I wouldn't want to try and explain how it works and not do it so justice, so for further info check out: www.skins.co.nz
	What I am here to tell you is how it feels to wear the long tights. If you already wear skins, you'll already know that as soon as you put it on you feel tingly as you the blood flow through your legs. The thing about Skins is that you get to see all your curves (and er bulges.. yay!), so what better motivation to get going! I did biking the first day and it felt great, particularly around the knee area. As I have a bit of wonky left knee, I felt more support of the reinforced band which runs along the Illiotibial ban. This design not only give support to the Iliotibial band but also supports the natural rotation of the knee. During the bike I felt more streamlined, I guess from all the compression, and felt I had more energy. Perhaps its psychological. But if it works and helps me to feel better for longer then great!
I think the main benefit of the Skins for me is when I do leg training. I did quite a challenging leg day which included Leg extensions, hack squats, lunges and deadlifts. I found the extra support from the band kept my knee in place and I felt more cofident doing putting little bit more weight on the machines. Usually my legs would be feeling quite sluggish by the end of the day but after this day that I wore skins, my legs were still feeling relatively pain free and have energy for cardio later on. However, I did feel bit hot wearing the skins while training. I realize the aim of skins is to enhance bloodflow and enhance lactic acid movement out of muscles but I was feeling super hot and sweaty that day. Then again, it could've been the humid hot weather we're having.
	I know alot of people who swear by Skins. Tony Ligaliga always wears them during his leg training and cardio. Others I know wear them everyday underneath their clothes even on non training days. Some even wear them to bed! Not sure if I'll get that obsessive with them but I know Skins will certainly feature more in my training and cardio sessions. Lisa, Go Figure 15 Feb 2010

Fresh 2 Go Lite n Lean

My christmas came a week early in 2009 when I got some delicious samples of the New Lite n Lean Salad range from Fresh 2 Go.

So now that Christmas is over and many of you are in the right frame of mind to eat clean, and perhaps even going on a diet in the new year, I'll tell you about the new salad range for you to consider.

The 7 salads were neatly packed in their own containers and I must say each of them looked very cute as they all had their own compartments to keep the different foods separted. Each of the packets also had a plastic seal which helped keep everything fresh too.

My reviews of the salads are below. Generally I think the salads would be ideal for the corporate office worker who hasn't got the time to be making food themselves and find the convenience of ordering a week's worth of salad a timesaver for them. Personally I'd prefer the chicken options of these salads as I found the vegetarian options didn't quite fill me up or contained enough protein.

The salads and vegetables were very fresh and I enjoyed seeing the different colours in the containers. Some of the salads would probably just be a snack for me at morning or afternoon tea (does that mean I'm a guts?!!) as it wasn't filling enough.

{jcomments on}

Balance WPI, Tropical Fruit Punch

Balance's new tropical fruit punch was quite nice and refreshing. I mixed the WPI powder with water and it tasted similar to orange juice but not too tangy. Actually the taste had a base of orange but after a few sips you could taste the banana, and then a hint of pineapple in the shake. I'd probably have this more as an afternoon shake as it is a refreshing flavour and keep the chocolate for after workouts.

Eatsmart Meal Replacement

I felt very guilty trialling the New Eatsmart Choc Chip meal replacement because it just tasted too sinful to be good for me.

The powder shook up well and there no lumps. As for the shake itself, it shook up quite thick and it was like drinking chocolate mousse made with dark chocolate. To top it off there were little choc chips at the bottom of my shaker to satisfy my chocolate sweet tooth.

I did check the label that this was a meal replacement I was taking and not a choc drink from Nestle! Eatsmart is product by Isatori from Canada and their supplments are usually high quality and pure, and this is no exception.

Eatsmart contains all the whizz bang ingredients you want in a replacement and includes Whey Isolates, concentrates and calcium caseinates for that long lasting breakdown of protein. There's also flax seed for fatty acids, chromium to maintain blood sugar and pro biotics.

In total, Eatsmart contains 150 calories, 19 grams of protein, 7 grams of low-glycemic carbohydrates, less than five grams of "good" fats, and healthy fiber.

Overall I thought it was a good formula and it satisfied my afternoon protein requirements and that little bit of sweetness was great to have too.

My fave ofcourse was the choc chip but the vanilla ice cream wasn't too bad either, not too sweet. There's also a Chocolate peanut butter flavour which tasted more like a light choc flavour and not overwhelmingly peanuty.

I think these are available at Health 2000 stores.

Lisa, Go Figure
16 Jan 09

VPX Shotgun and Synthasize

The VPX NO Shotgun v.3 and Synthasize are pre and post workout drinks aimed to increase energy, focus and recovery for your workouts.

Synthasize is stimulant free while Shotgun v.3 has extra caffeine and 'redline energy meltdown fat burning technology' for those who like more kick in their workouts.

Both have the basic formula containing protein, BCAAs, taurine, creatine (and more) which aim to help energy and recovery.

New Stuff - Home

Skins 400 series

Fresh 2 Go Lite n Lean

Balance WPI, Tropical Fruit Punch

Eatsmart Meal Replacement

VPX Shotgun and Synthasize

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