HEALTH

Crunch exercise tips with personal trainer Peter Morgese!

We all want to have that great toned and fit body especially with the summer season rapidly approaching. We all do the same routines at some point and they tend to get monotonous and ultimately not get the job done the way you want them to. Well if you are looking for that new workout that is guaranteed to get you in really great shape for the summer and beyond, fear no more! Because Crunch Gym personal trainer and all around nice guy Peter Morgese is here to show you some of his unique workouts that he has come up with. All of them involving none other than a towel or two. Take a look at these great routines he has come up with!

You’re lucky this workout is with towels, because you’ll sure need them after it’s over.

Exercise #1: 45 Seconds

Plank Oblique Crunch

Position the body in a plank, by planting the forearms firmly on the pad and the feet on two small towels spread 6 inches apart. Alternate each leg out and around towards the elbow and back to the original starting position.

Exercise #2: 45 Seconds

Plank to Crunch

Position the body in a plank, by planting the forearms firmly on the pad and the feet on two small towels spread 6 inches apart. Thrust the hips up by engaging the rectus abdominis, until the body is at a 45 degree angle. Push the body down by using and disengaging the rectus abdominis.

Exercise #3: 45 Seconds

Mountain Climbers

Position the body in a plank, by planting the forearms firmly on the pad and the feet on two small towels spread 6 inches apart. Alternate and pull each leg in towards the chest and back to it’s starting position.

How often should the client do each towel at- home exercise?

The workout should be done five times a week for 5 rounds, 45 seconds each exercise with a 20 second rest in between.

Targets the following muscles:

Oblique Crunches (Obliques)

Crunches (Rectus Abdominus)

Mountain Climbers (Rectus Abdominus)

What kind of surface should be used?

A smoother surface like wood or glazed cement

In terms of space, how big should the space be?

The space should give the person at least 10 inches of wiggle room from the left, right, front, and back or an 8X8 space)

Peter is an amazing trainer who is always coming up with innovative ways to keep you in shape and healthy for whatever goal weight or look you desire. If you are thinking of joining Crunch or already a member there, you should definitely reach out to him and try him out. He is beyond worth it. Here is some more info on him-

www.facebook.com/peter.morgese.9

www.twitter.com/petemorgese

And to follow all things Crunch Fitness related, don’t forget to check out their networking sites!

www.crunchgym.com

www.twitter.com/crunchgym

Citibike: The Bike Share of NYC

by Andrew Gutierrez

If you live in the New York chances are you probably use the subway or bus fairly often, unless you can afford to take a cab everywhere or you just don’t leave your house. Sometimes it can seem like half the time you spend traveling on the subway or bus system is spent waiting, and then when you finally get on it’s crowded and/or smells and the longer your commute is the more annoyed you get that you’re spending $112/month for this crap! The MTA surely knows how to provide excellent transportation service… especially on weekends, right?

The answer to this problem has been to keep your monthly coins and just get a bike and avoid the MTA altogether, but now there’s an alternative to that alternative— Citibike. Citibike is New York’s bike share program similar to that of DC, Boston, Paris, Tel Aviv, Milan, and the list goes on. For $95 +Tax you can use Citibike for a year, which is a damn good deal compared to the $1,344 per year people will be spending riding the subway/bus!! The deal is you sign up and pay online and you will get a key mailed to you approximately 2-3 weeks before the official launch of Citibike in May. When you receive the key you just log in at citibikenyc.com to activate and you’re ready to ride! Of course there are other options if you’re not down to commit to a yearly membership. There’s a 24 hour access pass priced at $9.95+Tax or a 7 day pass which costs $24.05+Tax. Financially, it seems like a better choice to get the yearly pass over the other options which seem to be geared to tourists and non-NYC dwellers.

With the 24 hour and 7 day passes riders get 30 minutes of time to ride to your destination, although if you ride longer you don’t get charged extra until you’re 30 minutes late returning a Citibike. Yearly membership holders get 45 minutes of riding and don’t get charged extra until you’re 45 minutes late returning a Citibike. You can use Citibike 24 hours a day all year long. Late fees are also different between the passes, but all that is sufficiently explained at citibikenyc.com.

Installment of Citibike stations around the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn began on April 6^th and will continue to be installed between the Downtown Brooklyn area and pretty much all of Manhattan below 59^th Street until the official launch in May. Stations all over the city will be installed in phases afterwards. Check out the screen shot from nyc.gov/bikeshare below to see where the Citibike stations will be.

Crunch Fitness’ in Chelsea- Why it’s the best

by Ryan Shea

We are all looking for ways to stay in shape, especially with bathing suit season coming up in a few short weeks (although mother nature seems to think differently). There are a bevy of different gyms you can go to in the New York City area, but which one is the best to go to? In my opinion, that one is Crunch Gym. They recently opened a brand new location in Chelsea, it’s third location in the big apple. The location is at 220 West 19th Street between 7th and 8th avenue, wedged in the heart of the Chelsea district. [Read more…] about Crunch Fitness’ in Chelsea- Why it’s the best

Big Ronnie Learns About Smoking Meat

by Ryan Shea

Hello ManhattanDigest.com readers! My name is Ronnie Parisella, I am a native NY’er (born in Brooklyn), and am a Professional and Entrepreneur in the IT industry. I am a fan of most things consumable, most notably; cigars, whiskey and food. I write for FineTobaccoNYC.com, a Cigar/Lifestyle blog and Power Consulting Group, the IT Consulting Firm where I work. I look forward to bringing you posts about topics that taste really good.

For my first topic, I’ve chosen to discuss food, specifically, BBQ, more specifically, Smoking.

When I was 19, I had a small basement apartment in Brooklyn. I loved the freedom my first apartment gave me, and I took advantage of it liberally. Every Thursday, I would host friends and co-workers over for poker, BBQ & beer. Friends would always bring over something interesting. Sausage, steaks, chops, marinades, rubs, etc. And I would supply the Bourbon/Scotch/Rye/Etc. I learned not only a ton about what to cook, but more importantly; what too cook with.

Then, I was using an inexpensive charcoal grill and Royal-Oak charcoal. The natural wood was the best flavor I’d tasted yet, much better than lighter fluid soaked charcoal briquettes.

This past January, when Erica and I moved from a small Ft. Greene studio to a big apartment in Bay Ridge with a deck and backyard, I knew I needed to purchase a grill that I could have my way with, frequently. After some research, I decided on the Char-Griller Duo, a very large, heavy grill that does not fit on my deck (Booooooooo).

Big Ronnie's New Baby, The Char-Griller Duo — Big Ronnie’s New Baby

The Char-Griller Duo is a dual zone grill with separate zones for gas (propane) and charcoal heat sources. The smaller, lower container on the right side of the grill is Char-Griller’s Texas Fire Box. I have smoked big cuts of meat, just about every weekend since we moved in (with a few weekends off for business trips), and have been blown away by the results. Now, I use the charcoal and wood chips/chunks from Cowboy Charcoal. They offer many different varieties of wood types and sizes, and are sold nationally at Lowe’s. I have tried their Mesquite and Hickory chunks, and their Apple, Pecan and Cherry wood chips. I also prefer their 100% natural Hardwood Lump Charcoal.

Proper smoking is all about time and temperature. Anything other than that is purely for flavor. I have been experimenting with several different cuts of meat and wood types to practice.

Essentially, all you need to know is the weight of the cut, the temperature your heat source should be, and the internal temperature you need for the meat to reach before it’s done. Large cuts of meat are done when their pre-determined internal temperature is reached.Smaller cuts (like ribs) aren’t held to a temperature standard to tell when they are done. You’ll need to know how long these smaller cuts will need to cook in advance.

As for the actual smoking process, it’s pretty simple; try not to open the grill too much, and make sure the temperature is in the correct range for what you are cooking.

I buy my meat from a local butcher/meat market called Frank & Eddie’s in Bay Ridge. Nice, friendly staff and they are very helpful with BBQ/smoking recommendations.

I leave you with pictures of my first 5 smoking sessions (Brisket, Bone-In Loin of Pork, Spare Ribs, Lobster Tail, Baby Back Ribs, Chicken, St. Loius Style Ribs, Prime Rib and T-Bones).

Dry rubbed with coarse sea salt, black pepper and rosemary

Pedro Zamora- Why his legacy remains important

by Ryan Shea

Credit to: Bunny's Victory — Credit to: Bunny’s Victory

Out of frustration that I was stuck home last night due to circumstances (babysitting my nephew. Cute yes, on a Saturday night not so much), I was flipping through my channels when I saw that MTV was doing a Real World marathon of their three biggest seasons (New York Season 1, San Fransisco Season 3 and Las Vegas Season 12). They hashtagged it with #retroMTV, and where as I don’t see Vegas being so retro the other two were and so much more. Vegas was on last night, and it was a great reminder of how great the show used to be yet somehow I see Vegas as the one that made that show “jump the shark” because they spent every season afterwards sexualizing the program as opposed to making it about 7 strangers who were trying to co-exist in one place. There is a difference there.

Today they are doing what is still considered by so many people as the best season of Real World- San Fransisco. The third season of this iconic show portrayed two of its most polarizing characters in Pedro Zamora, and David “Puck” Rainey. Two completely different men in so many ways yet made the show fascinating with their unique viewpoints and how they got to the life they had at that time in 1994. Puck was considered to be the zany outcast of the group, getting arrested on his way to going to the house and doing a number of unpredictable acts such as putting his fingers in the peanut butter as one. Something by that standards could be on Nick Junior today and no one would blink an eye, but twenty years ago this was considered ground breaking in a variety of ways.

Pedro Zamora on the other hand, couldn’t have been more of a stark opposite.

An avid educator on AIDS, he was shown throughout the show doing his lectures about his condition and how others can prevent it. Him and Sean Sasser also made headlines as one of the first gay couples to be seen on a national spotlight and in such a frank and open manner. They would up getting engaged and had a commitment ceremony in the loft that Zamora and his castmates were living in for the show.

Sadly, Zamora wound up passing away only a couple of months after filming ended on November 11th, 1994. Since his passing, he was acknowledged for his tireless efforts as an AIDS crusader by former President Bill Clinton and had several organizations named in his honor as well.

So why does he remain relevant today? It’s simple. To put it in terms only I can, Pedro stood up and spoke loud and clear about a disease that was killing millions when others cowarded and avoided the topic due to their own personal feelings about homosexuals and AIDS itself. He knew the uphill battle that he had to face and took it head on and instead of retreating and living out the rest of his life in silence he broke the mold and spoke his piece in a time where this disease was a major death sentence and viewed as globally in a terrible manner. He made people wake up and educate themselves, something that a lot of people are still having a hard time doing today.

Quite frankly, he should’ve been nominated and awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize that year. He brought a nation together and gave them an understanding of what he was going through so that each person themselves could get a better judgement on what the disease was and that beyond the disease there is a human being attached to that person. There is more to a person than HIV. He is and forever will be in people’s minds seen as a hero and he is one of mine as well for so many different reasons.

Sweat Sweet: Soffe.com

by Ryan Shea

Since putting on some extra pounds I’ve found my home away from home, these days, is the gym. And as much as everyone likes to say “it’s a gym, not a fashion show,” us ladies know better. Throwing on oversized sweat pants and an extra large T-shirt seems like the logical idea, until you pass the mirror and realize what a bum you look like. Not to mention, it is extremely hard to feel good when the exterior looks lousy. I’ve tried throwing on a pair of leggings and a cute tank top and all that leads to is wedgies and sweat stains, eww! But today I came across an awesome site that sells cute work out gear, www.soffe.com! So, if you’ve read my previous articles, you know how much I LOVE to shop online, and when I saw the fabulous fitness wear on Soffe.com I knew I had to spread the word. They have everything from shorts, to straight leg pants, tee shirts, and tank tops. Everything is so stylish and comfy. Best part, awesome deals! Now don’t get me wrong, the clothes are affordable regardless, but who doesn’t love a sweet deal (pardon the V-day pun)? So for Valentine’s Day they have 25% off some really cute clothes. SOme of my faves are;

The Printed Authentic Soffe Shorts (the prints I’m showing are just 2 of my tops but they have 37 choices!!)

Soffe Shorts Reptile — Printed Authentic Soffe Shorts – Painted Reptile

I am obsessed with these funky shorts and am having ADD trying to pick my favorite one!

Ok, so in the past, I don’t know, 4 years I have completely given up any kind of bell bottom. I love that straight legs are in and I really like how they look on me. That being said, I can never find straight leg sweats, not leggings, but FINALLY I’ve found them !

Soffe Nu-Wave Skinny Sweats

So these bad boys come in Gun Metal (as shown) or black and only $26 bucks…Love it!

And if you are into the legging thing they have them too … Only these are made for movement and won’t ride up when you are on the elliptical or treadmill.

Soffe.com has so many awesome items and the 25% off Valentines Day bunch are gorg! There is so much if I kept writing you’d be here till tomorrow, so I will start to wrap it up.

This site has everything from yoga pants to pool shorts, tennis skirts to tiny shorts, and tank tops to tee shirts. And don’t fret boys there is just as much options for you, but I’m not really an expert on men’s wear. But I will tell you this, I’m not mad at the selection. I could only hope some of the boys that I see at the gym grunting and grinning will see this article and step their gym gear up!

This site is an exercise junkie’s dream, a cheerleader’s heaven, and for those of us who have a love hate relationship with physical activity, a way to look sweet while sweating! Check them out and let me know what you think!

25% Off Valentine's Day Sale — 25% Off Valentine’s Day Sale

Not so bueno at Yerba Buena

by Jaime Kohl

What can I say, I just was not impressed. Its really seamed like dad wasn’t home so all the kids were at play. With Chef Julian Medina’s name and reputation I expected the food to be much better than it was, at least when I ate at Yerba Buena.

The service was warm and always with a smile, despite the number of requests my table, unfortunately had to make. Only two menus for three people, only 2 knives, having the request dinner sized plates for dinner. Things like that. But, no matter the request or question every person there was warm eyed and kind. Even when I walked out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to my shoe, my server noticed and discretely asked me if he could remove it. (how embarrassing…but thank you!)

I did a full tasting of the NYC Restaurant week menu, with the help of two friends and across the board none of us were impressed by what came out of the kitchen. There was a close competition for the worst dish between the Lechon (suckling pig carnitas) and the Causa de Tuna, but the tuna won.

The menu explains the dish as tuna tartar, potato salad, , crispy wanton. The tuna, oh I feel bad for the tuna. It just treated so poorly, it was grey, tough and not properly chopped. The knife skills show here were only adequate for a child. The pieces were uneven, not always cut the whole way through the membranes and the pieces were just way too large to begin with. The “potato salad” was more of a mashed potato. Which is just not what I would ever want with my tuna tartar. I don’t know why it was even on the plate. All it did was take away from the really nice aji Amarillo sauce that was drizzled across the plate. This bright and vibrant South American yellow chili sauce with the watercress was the best part of the dish.

The best dish also a fish dish, Parihuela. Which was explained as “Seafood stew, shrimp, fluke, clams, mussels, ginger, Peruvian corn, roccotto.” Here the shrimp was cooked to perfection, but the muscles and clams were overcooked and chewy and the fluke provided a nice contrast in texture against the other fish and the corn. I found myself searching through the soup for more bits of the unique oversized Peruvian corn pieces. I had a lot of fun eating the dish. The broth was aromatic and strongly flavored with corn, ginger and rocket (popular Peruvian salsa base).

All and all I would try another restaurant of Chef Medina but I will most likely be calling a head to see if he is in the kitchen. I am really hoping that he was not in the kitchen the night I ate at Yerba Buena, but any way you slice it the food was below my expectations and I was disappointed.

One area that I was very happy the Yerba Buena with was the fact that the portions were not huge, and the food was not heavy. I was completely satisfied when it came to all of those aspects of the meal. It was not overly fatty or seamed to be heavy in any sort of butter. There was very little as far as creams and caloric rich foods, yes some of the sauces were not light on calories, but the portions used were great so that I felt as if I could enjoy the whole portion with out the guilt. Who does not love a really great sauce? We can and should all have some wiggle room in our diets for enjoying the scrumptious drizzling, but we should not be be dousing our whole plates in the sauces, thats an easy way to kill a diet.

All and all the restaurant was so close to being great, there were hints of it. For instance, the bar was great. The bartender there really knows how to mix a great concoction. And I call some the drinks that with some love, because you didn’t have to know what you wanted to order, you could just tell him what you like, the flavors and liquor, and presto, a delicious unnamed drink will appear courtesy of the bartender. There were so many hints of great, but they were all muted out by the disappointing aspects of the same bit of the evening.

No, I don’t want to make any changes…The Exchange at the Setai Wall Street

by Jaime Kohl

There is nothing like a nice long lunch to break up the workday. With this years’ restaurant week off to a strong start on such a cold part of this winter, I always look towards some delicious rib sticking warm foods to kick off my first attempt at leisure during the day. The Exchange at the Setail Wall Street stole my heart with a perfectly balanced succulent sunchoke soup. I would go back and eat this soup every day, if they would let me. The soup was finished with a beautiful, herbaceous oil and thyme crème fraíche There were surprising pepper notes throughout bringing the whole bowl into balance. The earth flavors of the sunchoke melded perfectly with the freshness of the other components.

Second course was another root vegetable inspired dish, with beets, celery and horseradish. Oh, but did I forget, there was also a perfectly cut and seared piece of salmon. Only down fall was that I did not have a knife with an edge to pierce the decadent crusting, so that I could leave more of the fish intact when trying to devour it. The table presentation of this dish fit perfectly with the ambiance of the financial district sleek and sophisticated venue. With a simple pour, a vibrant deep red beet broth was poured over the celery and parsnips under the salmon fillet. The open kitchen and wine lined walls make me want to return for a dinner date. But, the lighting was perfect for a business lunch too. There was comfort and room for a closing lunch. (I will be back for one of those.) The lighting was perfect for so that reading could still be done without a strain of the eyes, but for me I would find it too hard to concentrate on the work on not the artfully prepared food.

The final course was a light and fresh citrus layer cake with candied lime zest and blood orange segments. Although there was not a ton of flavor in the cake its self, the texture and finish is what made it artful.

Chef Josh Capone and Pastry Chef Alise Ciucci earned a place in my stomach when I headed back up to my office with my head filled with flavors and stomach as happy and full as could be. The fresh ingredients really had the opportunity to sing on the plates that left the kitchen. Despite the use of ingredients like crème fraíche and butter throughout the meal I was light on my toes, and ready to head down to yoga after work. Which after a big lunch, I am just looking for an excuse to leave my gym bag at the office and head out of the office off to the next meal, no stop at the gym, but here I was energized and ready to go. Although, I did have to ask for a to-go box for the pastries that followed the meal (yes, there was more!), because I could not just abandon a key lime macaron and chocolate meringue star. I made sure these two final sweets found there way home to my stomach, and they were the perfect bite size pick me ups later that afternoon. Who needs coffee any ways?

This was balance at its finest. Clearly the kitchen cooks with the freshest ingredients they can get. Despite my original disappointment when I was handed the menu and the items that I chose for my meal were not there as show on the NYC restaurant week website. I could not have been happier with the food or experience. Between the healthy and not so much ingredients, the creamy and acidic flavor, the whole nine yards. It was just dam good and I cannot wait to eat there again. As the ingredients and cooking techniques evolve with the seasons I am excited to see where the chefs here take it.

HEALTH

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