Happy Friday and welcome to this week’s Just another Friday at ABG Capital! I want to start this week’s updates by talking about some blog posts we have coming up next week. The first one will be all about small business and the different health care options that are available for them. You should never have to feel like your small business isn’t capable of competing with the big guys so by providing a great health insurance plan, you are on your way to playing at their level.

Up next we have a post on whether or not you should be sending your employees to an online university. Starbucks is one of the companies that is talked about this post since they offer students free tuition at an online university. Make sure to check this article out so you can see if this is something your company should be looking into.

In other exciting news for the week, one of our portfolio companies, Inspira, has launched a brand new website. Inspira has a few other sites (such as Payday IRA, Pinnacle IRA, and Total IRA) that have already undergone and complete transformation. The main Inspira site was the last one and believe us when we tell you that it looks AMAZING! You should take a look for yourselves and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Now it’s time to chat about week 6 of our ABG Capital Biggest Losers Challenge! The mini challenge for this week was to track your Non-Scale Victories (NSV). The number that shows up on the scale isn’t the only thing you should be concerned about. Some examples of NSVs are walking further without getting out of breath, wearing a pair of jeans you haven’t been able to in a while, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol or even more energy. If you’ve been doing your own challenge at home, what NSVs have you noticed?

Here’s a great exercise and recipe that were provided to us by Sara Warhold, the fantastic person who’s been running the challenge and motivating everyone to do their best. For the exercise you will need an exercise mat, a set of dumbbells or hand weights, and a timer. 30 minutes is needed for beginners and 45 minutes will be needed for those who are more advanced.

Warm up:

Breathing exercise – lay on your back, knees bent, feet flat on floor. Place a hand over your lower abdomen. Take a very deep breath in, filling your lower belly with air and NOT moving your chest or shoulders. The point is to get the breath in deep, not shallow. Do not breath with your shoulders or shrug them. Feel your stomach rise and fall. Take 10 deep breaths here.

Crawling – Repeat 5 to 10 times – On hands and knees, crawl forward 5 times and backwards 5 times. If you can, do this on your hands and feet with your knees up off the ground. Keep your hips low, don’t rock side to side.

Pogo Jumps – For 30 seconds jump in place using the momentum from the ankle, not the knee. Add some air for the last 10 seconds if you can. Beginners – march or jog

Workout:

Alternate 45 seconds on/15 seconds recover for advanced and 30 seconds on/20 seconds recover for beginner

Exercise 1:

Hard Plank – Plank position, engaged core muscles, “push the ground away” and create space in your armpits, hips neutral

Exercise 2:

Crossover Squat – This is also called a “Curtsey Squat” but Crossover Squat sounds cooler. Stand with feet hips width apart, check that your toes are facing forward. Put your left foot behind you, and across the center line of your body and sink down into the squat, aiming to get your knee just a couple inches from the ground. Push back up to parallel feet. Alternate with the other leg. Advanced: Hold a dumb bell in your hands at chest level. Beginner – Either eliminate weight, or eliminate the crossover and just do a split squat.

Exercise 3:

Rows – Holding a dumbbell in each hand, tip from the hip with a natural bend in your knees. Let the weights hang straight toward the floor without pulling your shoulders down (engaged your shoulder blades to keep them neutral, not hunched). Pull your belly up and in, engage that core. Row UP with the weights, pulling your shoulder blades in towards your spine, then lower the weights down again using resistance not gravity. Repeat.

Exercise 4:

High Knees – Jog in place as fast as you can while pulling your knee up as high as you can. This is tougher than it sounds. Use the first 10 seconds of your interval to “warm up” into it before hitting the high knee. Beginners – Jog but eliminate the high knee

*Cool down with some side-to-side stepping then STRETCH!

*Drink water throughout this workout, stay hydrated!

Sesame and Garlic Flank Steak with Grilled Asparagus

Makes 6 Servings

Prep time: 10 minutes plus 4 hour marinate and 15 minute cook time

Ingredients

2   large cloves garlic, finely chopped

2   pinches salt plus additional for seasoning

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 1/4 pounds lean flank steak, patted dry

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

Directions

1. Using the flat side of a knife or a mortar and pestle, mash together the garlic and pinch of salt until the mixture forms a paste; transfer to a small bowl. Mix in the honey, lemon juice and soy sauce; slowly whisk in 1 teaspoon oil.

2. Place the steak in a shallow dish or bowl. Pour the marinade over steak and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

3. Heat the grill to high. Remove steak from marinade and season lightly with salt and black pepper. Transfer to grill; close the cover and cook to desired doneness, about 5 minutes a side for medium rare. Let meat rest on a cutting board 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, toss the asparagus with remaining oil and sprinkle with pinch of salt. Place in a grill basket; close cover and cook 2 to 3 minutes a side, until tender. Slice meat thinly and serve with asparagus.

Thanks for reading this week’s Just another Friday at ABG Capital!