Workout Nutrition
by Liz

“If your supplement budget is higher than your grocery bill, that’s a red flag. People love to talk about what supplements their on but rarely is that conversation started with first talking about diet. You can’t supplement a bad diet. You can’t overcompensate

having a crummy diet with supplements.”- Jason Rule of Driven Nutrition.

Before I even begin, if you want to see both the athletic improvements and physique alterations you desire your first priority should be eating a quality diet consisting mainly of whole foods.

With that said, our coaching staff is often approached with questions about what to take surrounding workouts. In this post, I will detail what has worked for me, but as always, note that each individual is different. Pre-workout nutrition allows for the most experimentation. Some prefer to work out in a fasted state while others do better with a small meal. Much

of this is largely-dependent on what activity you will be doing. For instance, the demands of ½ Ironman training (long, aerobic) is vastly different than that of an Olympic lifting session (glycolytic).

Here are my suggestions for general CrossFit and lifting workouts:

Pre-workout

Caffeine prior to a workout can give you a pick-me-up, improve endurance,

and blunt both fatigue and stress on the body. A simple option is coffee and another is a pre-workout supplement like Progenex Force or, my current choice, Nutrology’s Beet Natural (beet root is a vasodilator and I’ve felt the difference in my breathing and overall performance). There are many other pre-workout options available. Experiment and find one that works for you.

Intra-workout shake

Sipping on a combination of protein powder and a fast-digesting carbohydrates during your workout supplies the muscle cells with the nutrients they need to refuel and repair. I concoct 20 grams of whey protein with 25 grams of pure dextrose to sip on while working out. Now, on days where we program mostly strength work, it is easy to get those sips in. However, I

do not recommend taking breaks during a metcon to drink. On these days, just drink a few sips before the workout and then finish the rest afterwards.

Post workout meal

After you work out, your body is open and ready to receive nutrients for recovery and growth. Faster recovery transfers to improved capacity for work and performance. If you drink the above mentioned intra-workout drink

you do not need a post-workout drink. You should, however, consume a whole foods meal 30-45 minutes post workout in order to capitalize on your “window of gains.” This meal should consist mostly of lean protein and carbohydrates such as rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, or fruit.

Be sure to avoid foods with a high fat content surrounding your workouts since fat will slow the digestion of the protein and carbohydrates you are trying to absorb quickly.

With all of the information available via the internet it is easy to get confused about nutrition. I prefer to stick the the motto K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) when discussing nutrition. Hopefully, I have succeeded in doing this with the above information however, if you have any further

questions feel free to come up and ask me!

Chris & Liz

Workout of the Day
:05
Work up to a heavy 5 rep Thruster

:25 (heats of 10)
27-21-15-9 reps for time of:
Row (calories)
Thrusters
Rx: 95/65
Masters 55+ 65/45
Teens 65/45

Post your scores to the Whiteboard.