Tuesday 130219- CrossFit and Diet

Front Squat 5-5-3-3-2-2-1-1-1

AMRAP in 15 mins of:
Run 250 m
20 Box Jumps, 24"
15 Pull-ups
10 Hang Power Snatches, 75#

When most of us think of Crossfit, we think of the hardest, craziest, most mentally challenging exercise program we have ever encountered. Some of us might think of our first wod, when we wanted to puke, pass out or even quit. While all of those things are true, Crossfit is so much more than that. It's a community, shared camaraderie, our family, and closest friends. It is a lifestyle... For some of you, its just a great workout. While that is fine, you will not get the results you are really looking for if you just come in, exercise and go home and eat pizza and ice cream. While Crossfit is by far the best workout program I have ever encountered, if you truly want to look good naked, it is not the ONLY thing you need to do. You can come to Crossfit, eat whatever you want and still get good results. You'll get stronger, a little faster and might even lose a few pounds. If those things are good enough for you, that's great, you can stop reading this right now! But if you're looking for a little bit more, this is what I'd like to talk about.

I'd like to use myself as an example. When I started Crossfit, I was working harder than I'd ever worked in my whole life. My appetite went through the roof and I thought that I "should" be able to eat whatever I wanted with no concept of portion control. I was, after all, working out so hard those pounds were just going to melt off, right? Wrong! I noticed I was getting stronger and getting results but my workouts still felt horrible. I was gaining muscle but wasn't really losing any fat. There were some days when I felt so weak and out of breath that it seemed like I was resting more than working during the wods. I didn't understand since I had been eating my face off. I should have amazing energy, shouldn't I? Then I experienced my first "Paleo Challenge." After the first 2 weeks of my body adjusting and detoxing from sugar and processed "health foods", I started to feel great. I remember doing the hero workout "Michael"- 3 rounds of run 800m, 50 back extension, 50 sit-ups. If any of you know me, you know that running is one of my least favorite modalities, mostly because my legs feel like they weigh a thousand pounds each and my feet feel like they are made of cement! Needless to say, I was dreading running a total of 1 1/2 miles, but I knew I had to do it because I didn't want to. Gene had just done the same wod the day before and I knew there was no way in hell I would even be close to his time. I had NEVER beaten him in a wod, and was especially far behind him when it came to anything with running. But I set off anyway.. 3-2-1 GO! Then a magical thing happened. I started running and all of the sudden I felt light on my feet, I could actually BREATHE, I almost felt invincible! I blew through that workout with what felt like unlimited energy. And when I finished I looked at the clock and had beat Gene's time!!! That was my first "WOW" moment. I have studied nutrition practically my whole life and thought I knew almost everything. What I hadn't researched was sport specific nutrition. What we put in our body is either medicine or poison. It is the basis for everything our bodies do. Crossfit is the best test out there for letting us know what is or isn't working for us. We've all had those days where we barely made it through the wod, when it felt a lot harder than it should have. My first question to people when they ask me what went wrong is: "What have you been eating?" "Did you skip dinner last night? Breakfast this morning?" Almost always the answer is food related.

I want to do everything in my power to help you succeed. I want to see you reach your goals. If you don't make nutrition first and foremost, those goals are going to get harder to reach. I'm going to be posting a series on nutrition in the next month and what it looks like for you. If you have any questions, talk to me at the gym, email me, call me. I'm always available to help you in any way i can.
-Coach Tiff
Crossfit is more than just a workout, the base of this pyramid says it all..