Weekly Food for Thought, 11/13/23

Why don’t we see more Strength AND Metcon days? Depending on how long you have been doing CrossFit, or where you have trained before Blue House- you might be wondering why so many metcons, and why don’t we see more strength AND metcon days? It is in fact very common for affiliates to cram classes with a strength piece and a metcon piece in one short hour. Typically, this is not done because it is effective or a favorable form of training, it is done because that is what the people want…and we get it! Lifting weights is fun, and lifting before a metcon gives the feeling that you got a really good workout in. We love to do it from time to time- but not everyday, or even multiple times a week. So why don’t we program more strength and metcon days? We’d love to share: Theoretical Development of an Athlete aka The Pyramid We’re bringing it back to the pyramid. Take a look below and notice where conditioning lies and where weightlifting lies. Conditioning is close to the base- lifting is almost at the peak. Does that mean lifting isn’t important? Not at all. However, it does show us where our priority and focus should lie. Metabolic Conditioning is the base because it has the greatest crossover and impact on our health and our fitness. It is the form of training that moves us along the “Sickness-Wellness-Fitness” continuum, and the form that has the most positive impact on our health biomarkers. It is also the form of training that gives us the greatest adaptation in our General Physical Preparedness (GPP). As Coach Glassman stated in the “ What is Fitness ” Article, “We don’t deliberately order these components but nature will. If you have a deficiency at any level of ‘the pyramid’ the components above will suffer.”  More volume is not always better For the general population, the CrossFit prescription is to train once a day, 5-6 times per week. Our goal with CrossFit is to improve work capacity across broad time and modal domains with a single daily dose of constantly varied functional movements executed at high intensity. When we begin the slippery slope of adding in strength pieces before metcons every day, we are chipping away at the most important piece of our training, INTENSITY. Therefore, we need to be selective about when/where we program strength and metcon days- and on those days, understand the priority is exactly that, to create an adaptation in that specific form of training. However, we recognize that this form of training is not ideal for maximizing intensity and therefore, does not fit within the CrossFit prescription on a daily basis. We want to do what we do best, Coach! We are constantly-varied believers and that means training all the things. As shared in Fitness in 100 words we “Practice and train major lifts: deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc., hard and fast. Five or six days per week, mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.“As Coaches, we are laser focused on improving form, technique and mechanics. When we cram class, we lose the ability to do our most important work- to coach! We believe that the community will be better served improving one small aspect of their training every day, instead of overworking athletes and losing focus on the task at hand. Because we have more time to teach and practice drills, you have the ability to hone in on those skills and master the basics. We love working with clients who take every moment of class, from the warm-up, to the cool-down, as an opportunity to learn and improve their movement and mechanics. This will serve you in the long run and create an increase in your strength and performance. To wrap things up, we do want to reiterate that we firmly believe strength training is an extremely important part of our programming That is why we strength train on an almost daily basis. It just looks a little different than hitting a 5×5 snatch before the WOD. Do we enjoy doing that from time to time? Hell yes! Just not every day

Protein: How to hit your targets and prioritize whole foods We’ve been diving into one of our favorite nutrition topics the past few weeks- protein consumption. This week we want to wrap it up with some tips on hitting your targets and how to select the best sources of protein. As a reminder, we recommend a target of .7 grams of protein per pound of body weight. If you weigh 150 pounds, your target would be roughly 105 grams/day. While this may seem like a large number, if you plan your day right, you can easily hit your targets. The biggest shift we see most of our new nutrition clients make is learning to prioritize protein in every meal . We see a lot of clients who are surprised to see how low their protein consumption is, but when we look at their meals, it’s quite often that a true serving of protein isn’t consumed until dinner time. This is the downfall of skipping breakfast and snacking throughout the day. For this reason, the best place to start and our biggest tip to hitting your targets is…. Prioritize protein with breakfast. If you can start your day with a serving of protein (20-30g) you are setting yourself up for massive success. Not only have you hacked away at your daily target, you are also fueling your body for the day ahead. Remember, protein helps satiate appetites and rebuild muscle. If you have had the experience of eating a carb centric breakfast only to be starving before lunch, adding a serving of protein to your plate may have made a big difference in keeping you fuller, longer and more focused on the task at hand. Tip: to easily measure a serving of protein, you can use the palm of your hand. Develop an understanding of optimal protein sources. So breakfast and protein go hand in hand, now what? Does slathering peanut butter on a waffle count? What if I add a couple eggs to that plate? Well, it’s a start. But it’s important to understand that not all protein sources are created equally. Food groups like nuts are mistakingly often thought to be high in protein, but are much higher in fats than protein itself, making it not a supportive option. Even food items like eggs are lower in protein than many people think (7g/egg). Choosing lean sources of protein are the best way to go. Foods like chicken, lean beef, white fish, egg whites, cottage cheese, tofu, plain greek yogurt and bean/legumes for our plant based friends are primarily protein based. Here are some quick examples of typical serving sizes: 1 cup greek yogurt- 17g 4 oz chicken breast- 35 g 4 oz lean beef (85/15)- 29 g 4 oz tofu- 9g 4 oz tilapia- 30g 1/2 cup cottage cheese- 13g We recommend a serving of protein (20-30g) with every meal. Ideally, we want to see people consuming 30-50g with every meal, but we understand this can be difficult for some people to do. This is where adding a high-quality protein powder will help cover the gap. We want to make it clear that whole foods over protein powder is always preferred. If you are consuming more than one protein shake per day, we would recommend adjusting your meals to prioritize more whole foods. Shakes are more of a supplement. They can be a wonderful tool to upping your intake, but stay focused on healthier ways to sneak more whole foods in your daily meals. Your body will thank you for it.  We love talking about protein, and we love working with nutrition clients! We see a lot of stigma around nutrition coaching in general, and while we recognize the harm that has been created from diet-culture, we believe equipping people with knowledge is the best way to empower them to break free from these harmful cycles. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out! We have some low-cost options designed to help you towards your long-term goals of health and longevity.