20-Minute Total Body Rowing Workout

Torch 200 calories and firm up (all while sitting down!) with this quickie plan!

The Rowing machine will burn up to 50 percent more calories while strengthening nearly all the muscles from your shoulders to your calves. Never tried it? This routine from Anna Cummins, a master rowing instructor for Concept 2, will take you from rookie to pro in minutes. Simply set the damper (a device on the side of the flywheel that controls the drag) between 3 and 5, choose pace mode, and row (see form check, below, for tips), aiming for the recommended speeds. After 9 minutes, stand up and stretch—or to increase the burn, do walking lunges— then sit back down for the second half of your session. You’ll leave with an awesome workout under your belt while everyone else is still on their warm-up.

Form Check!

Follow these pointers to avoid injury and maximize results.

Antioxidant astaxanthin

What can an algae molecule do for you, and how can you get it without resorting to a diet of plankton? Read on to learn about the benefits of astaxanthin, from head to toe. Astaxanthin is one of the most powerful antioxidants on the planet. A bright red compound that comes from algae, it’s what gives wild salmon flesh it’s bright red-orange color.

It Keeps Skin Tight and Reduces Wrinkles: Astaxanthin helps you see like a young person and look like a young person. In human cell samples, astaxanthin put the brakes on a cascade of reactions caused by UVA rays, which suggests it keeps skin tight and reduces wrinkles. You can take it internally or you can get topical astaxanthin and put it exactly where you want it.

After just 8 weeks of supplementation, astaxanthin:

• Decreased the appearance of wrinkles
• Decreased the size of age spots
• Improved moisture retention
• Improved skin’s elasticity

Salmon turn pink because they get a ton of astaxanthin from plankton. When you consume astaxanthin, you become more resistant to turning pink – from the sun. It’s like an inside-out sunscreen, especially if you’re prone to sunburns. Astaxanthin accumulates in every layer of the skin to protect your skin from burns and sun damage.

It Protects Your Brain and Nervous System: Animal studies help us understand what brain cells do in highly controlled conditions, and researchers were able to isolate the effects of astaxanthin in several situations. Animal research on astaxanthin shows astaxanthin’s potential to:

• Slow cognitive decline from brain aging
• Increase BDNF, a growth factor that grows new brain cells and helps the existing ones survive
• Prevent brain swelling after head injury
• Protect brain cells from damage from toxins
• Prevent oxidative damage from drops in blood supply and oxygen to the brain
• Improve mental performance after stroke
• Improve brain blood flow and memory in dementia patients

It Supports Your Cardiovascular System: Your heart and lungs love antioxidants. Oxidative stress and inflammation contribute to plaque buildup in the arteries, and astaxanthin supplements decrease both problems.

For maintenance, astaxanthin:

• Improves blood flow
• Decreases blood pressure
• Protects against blood clotting
• Improves LDL cholesterol
• Improves lipid counts
• Decreases oxidative stress
• In animal studies, an astaxanthin-derived compound protected the heart from damage from heart attacks

Mitochondria: Anything that helps your mitochondria will boost your overall energy at a cellular level. Astaxanthin enhances overall mitochondrial energy production, which improves every function in your body. Astaxanthin protects and strengthens cell membranes, locking out harmful free radicals. If reactive oxygen species do cross the membrane, astaxanthin continues to protect mitochondria by reducing oxidative stress.

How to Get Astaxanthin Into Your Diet: Eat your salmon! Because wild salmon eat a lot of plankton, they get loads of astaxanthin from their natural diets. Sockeye salmon contains the most astaxanthin because they eat a diet that consists of almost all astaxanthin-rich plankton. Stay away from farmed salmon; among other issues, they eat a pellet diet that contains synthetic astaxanthin derived from petrochemicals.

Astaxanthin Supplements: Astaxanthin supplements come in several forms, and not all have the same potent properties. Here’s what to know before you pick up a supplement:

• Krill oil. Krill oil is marketed as an omega-3 source, but astaxanthin is an even better reason to take it. Get two for one with a high-quality krill oil supplement
• Astaxanthin tablets. Tablets can be krill-derived or from the astaxanthin-rich algae.
• Carotenoid complexes. Astaxanthin is often bundled with other carotenoids for a powerful antioxidant punch. Again, check the source of astaxanthin to make sure it’s not lab-created.
• Synthetic astaxanthin. DON’T TAKE FAKE ASTAXANTHIN. It’s made with petrochemicals and doesn’t have the same properties as natural astaxanthin.

Find a quality astaxanthin supplement like krill oil or a carotenoid complex with astaxanthin to give you a steady dose of amazing benefits. Study after study shows the safety of taking astaxanthin regularly. It’s one of the easiest ways to strengthen your eyes, skin, brain, and to energize every cell in your body.

eat this instead of that!

To get astaxanthin in your diet!

For the Garlic Cilantro Sauce

• 4 to 6 garlic cloves chopped
• Salt
• 1 whole bunch fresh cilantro, stems trimmed (only remove about 1 inch of the stems)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lime, juice of

For the Salmon

• 2 lb skinless salmon fillet
• Salt and pepper
• 1 large tomato sliced into rounds
• 1/2 lime sliced into rounds

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of a small food processor, add all the ingredients for the garlic cilantro sauce. Blend until everything is well combined into a sauce.
3. Place the salmon fillet in a lightly oiled baking pan. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Now spoon the garlic-cilantro sauce on top of the salmon fillet and spread evenly to coat the salmon. (You will have extra garlic-cilantro sauce, pour it into a small bowl to serve next to the salmon.)
4. Arrange the tomato and lime slices on top of the salmon fillet.
5. Bake in the 425 degrees F heated-oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover lightly with foil and let sit for another 8 minutes or so to finish cooking. Enjoy!