Beary Strong

Stop Comparing Yourself To Others

A case for being ego-centered.

I got into the iron game through Crossfit training and I enjoyed the atmosphere of competition and community for a long time to come. However, I can remember many unpleasant situations where I would compare myself to others. In fact this is even encouraged in Crossfit as almost every box has a white board where members document the kilos they lifted or the time they needed to complete a workout. Nevertheless, staring at the white board and only wondering if you will ever be that strong, will not make you stronger.

Five Is The Magic Number

What makes a repetition stimulating?

Perhaps you have already heard something like “effective repetitions”, “stimulating reps” or “junk reps”. They all refer to the fact that not every repetition of a set is equally efficient to stimulate muscle hypertrophy. To force a muscle to grow, certain key factors have to be met.

What You Should Know About Nutrition

Common myths, misconceptions and frequently asked questions.

Fitness, health and nutrition media is notoriously full of misinformation, misinterpretation and outright lies. Too many interests collide, forming an asteroid field of poor guidelines, health myths and misunderstood science. With this article I want you to be able to filter out this noise and get a better picture of what really matters.

The Forgotten Skill of Waiting

Patience is a virtue. Especially in nutrition and training.

Have you ever experienced this? You get your new nutrition plan, jump right in, nail it every single day. You are motivated, the scale goes down and you are enthusiastic about the new plan. But after a week or two, everything comes to a halt. You are still putting in the work, but nothing changes, or even worse, you start gaining weight again! Suddenly you get unsecure or angry and start questioning the plan and what you are doing. But what is going on? You just can’t wait for good things to happen!

Bear-pleasing Quick Choc Pot

Your easy chocolate fix.

Originally the choc-pot was the filling of a Jamie Oliver no-bake chocolate tart: a very rich but quite calorie-friendly dessert which we’ll share with you soon. What if you do not want to/need to/can make a whole tart but you want to indulge in a chocolatey dessert? This recipe is the answer!

Your Training Plan – The Bare Bones

A minimalistic approach to training.

First of all, I hope you have at least some kind of training plan. If you go to the gym to just get onto some machines you like or that are unoccupied at the moment, that would not be training, that’s just “working out” and as efficient as eating soup with a fork. You need a plan that leads you to your goals and that plan doesn’t have to be fancy! So let’s take a closer look of what every good training plan should include.

Ground Beef Mapo Tofu Style

Szechuan inspired umami bomb.

I love Szechuan cuisine! There is a nice Szechuan restaurant in Vienna (Meister Xiao – go for it if you are in Vienna!) a couple of minutes away from us and they are serving gorgeous dishes. One of my favourites is mapo tofu: ground beef or pork, silky tofu, black beans and abundant spicy oil made from chili, szechuan pepper and broad bean paste. It’s served with fluffy, delicious, steamed rice. As we had similar ingredients at home, we developed the following cut-friendly recipe adding also some more veggies. Give it a try, if you love spicy flavours as we do!

Do You Even Need To Track Your Macros?

Two very different approaches to fat loss.

Restricting caloric intake is the main driver of fat loss, no matter what the newest diet fad wants you to believe. This goal can be achieved with two very different but not mutually exclusive approaches. Here is how they work.

Airplane Friendly Foods

Flying Fitfoodies Take Their Own Food On Board

Did you already read our blog post about how to nail your nutrition in vacation? One of my favourite tips is to bring your own food on the airplane because most of the time the food you get on board isn’t worth the calories. Sounds complicated but it’s much easier than you think. We compiled a small choice of groceries that are easy to handle and that you can carry unchilled for a while.

Your Masterpiece: The Perfect Steak

A basic cooking method to honour your steak.

Who doesn’t like a good steak? Letting your inner viking take over and sink your teeth into tender, juicy meat … I’m getting hungry only thinking about it! Most people are afraid to cook steak at home, as it is easy to completely ruin your beloved meat if you are not careful. But don’t give up, once you have mastered a few basics, you can have the perfect steak at home, anytime and in no time.