We turn up in the gym, we train hard and we see results, but do we know why? Crossfit is based around high-intensity movement put together in a Workout or Met-con.
A Met-con stands for metabolic conditioning which literally means how well we can convert food into energy to supply our different energy systems. This fundamental fact tends to be missed.
People try to use exercise to fix their nutrition, they overeat in the hope that the exercise they do will hide this or even allow them to eat more and then on the flip side they may under eat hoping that they can still exercise at high intensity potentially speeding up their results.Both are unfortunately not true and will have huge impact on helping or hindering your goals.
This table outlines the fundamental CrossFit pyramid of what the sport is based on. The foundation as you can see to achieve the best results is nutrition and this needs to be in place first before we move up the pyramid. So many of us put all our efforts into the workouts and skills (gymnastics and/or weightlifting) but tend to forget the nutrition aspect. We need look at the steps involved to make this a success and it all starts with getting your nutrition right
Take a minute and reflect on what you do, where do you focus all your efforts, are you jumping stages before you’re ready?
High intensity exercise (WODs or lifting heavy weights) puts a huge amount of stress through the body, forcing muscles to work harder than they have done before, the heart to pump blood faster to ensure everything has oxygen and the nutrients they need to keep working out. After you have trained your body is in a state of shock and recovery, with it now looking for energy to replace what it has used up. Your body will now use more energy to repair itself and then for the next few hours it will be burning even more as it tries to return to its normal state again.
Make sure you are supplying your body with fuel (calories) to do what you want to do. If you eat too much fuel your body will potentially store it on your body in case it needs it later, if you eat too little you force your body to use what it has stored as fuel to get you through.
Sounds simple – eat too many calories put on weight – eat fewer calories and lose weight. Unfortunately, the body is a more complex machine than this and so sticking to these rules can have severe side effects.
The most important aspect of nutrition is to fuel your body for what you need it to do. If you are training in the evening eat more food during the day, if your training in the morning eat the night before or the morning of your session to fuel yourself appropriately so that you can maximise your training.
A few golden rules to follow –
- Make sure you eat enough food to fuel your training, before, during and after.
- Drink at least 3 liters of water a day PLUS another 500ml per hour you train.
- Don’t be scared of carbs – this is the energy source that will fuel high-intensity exercise – EAT THEM.
If you want to know more about your nutrition get in touch with Lowden Coaching and we can see how we can get your nutrition right to match your goals.
Contact us: team@lowdencoaching.co.uk or via our Facebook page ‘Lowden Coaching’
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