Do’s and Dont’s for Crossfit Beginners
- Build up slowly. When starting CrossFit you don‘t need nor want to be in the box five times a week.
- Listen to your body. …
- Eat sufficient protein. …
- Listen to the coaches. …
- Keep a log. …
- Create goals for yourself. …
- Wear the right clothes. …
- Take the correct supplementation
- Have fun!
Why is Nutrition so important for success in Crossfit?
Good nutrition is important to support muscle growth and a healthy body composition (percent body fat). Many crossfitters follow the Paleo Diet to get a balance of Protein, Carbohydrates, Fibre and Fats in their daily Nutritional plan. With the amount of stress and strain placed on the body, Muscle and Nerves systems, following a balanced diet is absolute key for success. This will ensure your body is able to go through the hard training and still be able to recover fully for the next training session you have planned. Adding Whey Protein, Carbs, BCAA, Fish oils, Beta-alanine, Creatine and vitamins will aid in the recovery process and make it easier to get in all the needed nutrition for muscle repair and full body recovery.
Why do so many get it wrong and QUIT!
Bad nutrition plays a vital failure point in most cases, and then it’s the fact that we human and want to sprint before we can even walk. So we jump in to the training side of things without correctly warming up and push our bodies past their limits and don’t supply the body with the correct supplements and nutrition for fuel and recovery. One days training and it takes five days to recover as we over trained and never fuel our body correctly. Not listening to the body and its limits can cause major setbacks and also aid in injury. Understanding of your body takes time and yes we do need to push our bodies, but we need to ensure it have the correct Nutrition for recovery.
Top 7 Supplements for Functional Fitness
1. Omega 3 Fish Oil
Omega 3 fats are one of the most popular supplements for athletes, often in the form of a fish oil supplement. The benefits of omega 3s are many, including:
- Improved brain health.
- Powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
- Exercise recovery.
- Muscle protein synthesis.
- Potentially positive effects on fat loss.
Recommended Dose: Take enough fish oil every day to get a combined total of 1.5-3.0 grams of EPA and DHA. To help with absorption, take the fish oil with a meal that contains some fat.
2. Whey Protein
When any athlete thinks of supplements, whey protein is often the first that comes to mind. A staple in every athlete’s gym bag should be a high-quality whey protein. Designed to digest quickly and aid muscle recovery, whey protein taken within 10 minutes of training reduces the amount of stress hormones and cortisol that is released.
But which kind of powder is right for you? Fast-digesting protein like whey is great to take post-workout, because it improves your muscles’ ability to recover and adapt after strenuous exercise. Combination proteins like whey/casein, on the other hand, enable your body to maintain high rates of building muscle and low rates of muscle breakdown, which is pretty nice too.
Go with egg or beef protein powders if you follow a paleo diet. These can be harder to find than the other powders, but they provide the same benefits as milk-based whey protein.
In general, avoid taking either soy or casein protein powder right after a workout. Neither will stimulate muscle protein synthesis as much as whey protein or whey/casein protein blends.
Recommended Dose: 20-30 grams immediately post-workout, or use between meals so your body can continue to build and repair your muscles.
Tip: Match your whey protein to your requirements. For post workout, look for a mix of carbohydrates and whey protein (Mass Gainers would be bested used, just ensure you choose the correct mass gainer for your goals) to help you refuel your energy and restore your muscles.
3. Magnesium
Magnesium is a key supplement for the athlete, although often overlooked. It’s the one mineral the athlete is likely deficient in which could improve with supplementation. Magnesium is key, as it helps regulate your heart, manages the contraction and relaxation of your muscles, reduces blood pressure, and plays an important role in the production of ATP, the main source of energy.
Tip: Avoid cheap forms of magnesium that are not as well absorbed by your body. Ideally, take magnesium post-workout on an empty stomach or before bed to aid your recovery process.
4. Vitamin D
With our lifestyles working in offices or indoors, we do not receive sufficient sunlight to produce the required levels of vitamin D. Overall, vitamin D is a key component to reduce inflammation, improve your mood, and better your respiratory health. We all know that as athletes, we could definitely benefit from those factors to improve our lifts and WOD times. Vitamin D also helps us sleep better, as it allows the brain to release melatonin, letting us know it’s time to rest after a big day.
Tip: Take vitamin D at night, approximately an hour before bedtime.
5. Creatine
Creatine is one of the most scientifically proven supplements available. Naturally produced in your body, creatine is often found in meat such as beef. Research studies have shown that additional supplementation with several grams of creatine supports strength, power, and explosiveness in athletes and helps to develop lean body mass. If you are strength training or looking to build muscle, creatine taken immediately before and/or after training with an energy source such as carbohydrates is proven to improve your maximal strength, muscular endurance, and increase your anaerobic power.When you first begin intense exercise, your body relies on phosphocreatine (PCr) to produce energy. Creatine supplements help to increase the amount of PCr your muscles store to make sure your body has the rapid energy source it needs to explode into high-intensity exercise, which describes just about every CrossFit workout.
Recommended dose: 20 grams of creatine per day for 5-7 days for a fast load, followed by the standard maintenance dose of 5 grams per day. If you’re not in a rush to load your creatine stores, stick with 5 grams a day. The slower route still builds the creatine stores you need while helping you avoid the weight gain that can come with fast-loading.
6. Beta-Alanine
Beta-alanine is an amino acid that supercharges your muscle tissue, applying more energy to your workout. Another important role of beta-alanine for the athlete is that it assists to delay the rise of lactic acid in your muscles, therefore preventing soreness mid-workout and allowing you to push harder for longer.
Recommended dose: 3-6 grams of beta-alanine per day for at least 28 days to maximize your ability to shed hydrogen ions. If you’re not a fan of the tingling feeling beta-alanine sometimes produces in some people, split your dose into smaller servings throughout the day.
Tip: Beta-alanine is to be taken pre-workout only. Test with low doses first below the recommend dosage for personal tolerance levels.
7 – BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acids) Whether you’re a CrossFit athlete or not, you’re wise to make branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) a part of your supplement stack. BCAAs taste damn good mixed with boring old water, which can make it easier for you to stay hydrated throughout the day. Sipping on BCAAs before or during workouts can also help speed up the recovery and repair processes after a tough session. Of the three BCAAs, leucine is the one doing the most muscle work. By promoting protein synthesis and suppressing protein breakdown, BCAAs help you recover from muscles damage as you train. Taking them before your workout can reduce soreness and fatigue.
Recommended Dose: 6-10 grams before or during your workout. Look for products that contain a 2:1:1 ratio of leucine:isoleucine:valine to make sure you’re getting the leucine you need to maximize muscle recovery.
