Almond Butter vs. Peanut Butter, Best Exercise For Boulder Shoulders, How To Track Your Progress
“If you don’t know where you are going you could wind up someplace else.”
I’ve been churning out content on my Instagram page and through my weekly newsletter. However, many of you don’t follow me and aren’t subscribed to my newsletter. You should totally do that (just click here for Instagram and here for the newsletter).
Regardless, if you only check the site and don’t keep up with me on other mediums, I don’t want you to miss out on all the fun. So, here is a conglomeration of the fitness facts, tips, and stories I’ve shared this past week. Enjoy.
Q: “Is almond butter healthier than peanut butter?”
A: It depends what you mean by “healthier.”
Your entire life is a lie. You know your precious peanut butter? It’s not even made of nuts. It’s beans.
I hate to break it to you, but you’ve been eating bean and jelly sandwiches your entire life.
A peanut is actually a legume (aka, a bean). A more appropriate and fun name would be a pea-bean. That’s beside the point.
This past week, a friend mentioned to me, “I really love PB+J’s, but I try to make it healthier by choosing almond butter.”
This got me thinking about a question that used to keep me up at night - is almond butter really better for you than peanut butter?
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When it comes to peanut vs. almond, it’s the great duel of the nut. A modern day Mohammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, if you will.
Here’s a head-to-head comparison:
Calories - about equal.
Nicest nut - tie
Protein - about equal (6-8g/serving)
Nicest nut- tie
Quality of fat - almond is higher in monounsaturated (one of the “healthiest” fats) while peanut is slightly higher in saturated (generally regarded as a “less healthy” fat)
Nicest nut - almond
Vitamins and minerals - both have a good amount of magnesium, zinc, and potassium. Almond butter contains more vitamin E and calcium (3x and 7x more, respectively).
Nicest nut - almond
Fiber - both are high in fiber, but almond butter has about twice as much (3.3g to 1.6g)
Nicest nut- almond
By all accounts, almond butter is more nutrient dense than peanut butter. However, that does not mean it’s healthier.
The healthiest choice for you will be the one you can enjoy in moderation as part of an overall healthy and varied diet. If you significantly prefer peanut butter, the nutritional difference between the two is not enough to switch to almond.
More important than the almond vs. peanut debate is what else is in your butter.
To make the healthiest choice, make sure your’s does not contain hydrogenated vegetable oils (soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil) or high amounts of added sugar. They make a nutritious food unhealthy faster than you can say peabean.
Both peanuts and almonds are healthy and nutritious. For a lot of healthy fats and a bit of protein, you can’t go wrong with either.
I have all of my clients do this one exercise.
Women consistently rate shoulder width as one of the most attractive parts of the male body, according to multiple studies.
This is because a favorable shoulder to waist hip ratio - you know, the width of your shoulders compared to the size of your waist - conveys health and vitality.
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Most importantly, it assures the opposite sex that your genes are worthy of sharing through reproduction.
Don’t worry. If you weren’t naturally born with the shoulders of a Tarzan-esque Adonis, I’m going to share the MOST important exercise for developing nice looking shoulders.
Here’s how to do a proper SIDE RAISE.
The most crucial mistakes to avoid include:
❌Bending your elbows too much
❌Letting your upper traps do all the work
❌Not controlling the weight on the way down
❌Using your legs too much
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The pivotal tips to remember:
✅Slow down and control on the way down (this is the part of the rep that is most important for building muscle!)
✅Keep your elbows slightly bent
✅Relaxed neck
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Now, this is not the most important or highest bang for your buck movement.
If you can only do one exercise for the rest of your life, you’d be better off picking the squat, deadlift, pull up, or a number of other compound movements.
But for an isolation exercise that will put the cherry on top of your shoulder strength and physique, you can’t beat the side raise.
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Plus, this exercise is the only one that trains the lateral part of the delt.
Bench press, shoulder press, and nearly every other “push” exercise will train your front delt, but the side raise is the only that works the lateral part - the #1 part to train for WIDE shoulders.
Track your progress in multiple ways.
It’s not the end of the world. If your weight doesn’t go down or your strength doesn’t go up today, there is no need to freak out.
Not everything will move in the right direction every day. Don’t let this discourage you.
The key to staying resilient is focusing on multiple markers of progress.
If you go one day, week, or month without losing weight and that’s the only metric you’re focusing on, you’ll be bummed. However, if you also pay attention to…
Energy levels
Performance
Sleep
Mood
Food choices
How your clothes are fitting
Perceived effort during workouts
…you’ll find some wins to celebrate.
You know when your progress is stalled and you feel like the world is ending? It’s probably not and it’s definitely not.
Even when it’s not obvious, your efforts are paying off. Try to find the positives and carry on.
Wrap Up
Thanks for stopping by. If you enjoy my weekly updates, I’d love for you to share the website with your friends and family.
As always, please give me feedback. What do you want more of? Any other suggestions? (Really, let me know - I love it!) Just let me know at solokasfocus@gmail.com.
Thanks,
John
