Saturday, 4/30/11

W.O.D. – 5 rounds for time:
5 Manmakers
400 m Run

Lets talk more nutrition!!!
First and foremost, you must eat five meals a day.  By planning ahead, scheduling your 5 meals (3 meals and 2 snacks) will make your day more structured and ensure that you are able to stay in the Zone by feeding your lean body mass the fuel it needs to run efficiently.  Relate this rule to starting a campfire and putting wood in the fire as needed (5x/day).  We’re not talking about a bonfire here, rather just a simple fire to keep the camp warm and occasionally cook with.

Second, don’t let more than 5 waking hours pass between meals.  To avoid becoming hungry or fatigued, you’ll need to fuel your body every 5 hours with a balanced meal of high-quality protein, vitamin and mineral rich carbohydrates, and hunger-quenching healthy fats.  Think of this as adding a log to the campfire.  Without adding wood from time to time, your fire will certainly go out.

Start your day off on the right foot by eating within an hour of waking.  It’s critically important to feed your muscles right away, as you’ve essentially been fasting for 8 hours (your are sleeping for 8 hours right?).  Before you take a shower or brush your teeth, put a pan on the stove and crack some eggs, slice some berries in a bowl and add some nuts.  Then, go about your day… fueled up!

Don’t forget the importance of a post-workout snack (snack #1).  I mean, this is why you’re reading this blog anyway right – you are a CrossFitter?!?  After torching your body with a sub-5minute Fran, you need to begin recovering right away.  A balanced meal of protein, carbs, and fats will satisfy not only your hunger, but also replenish glycogen stores, speed recovery of damaged muscle tissue, AND help maintain insulin sensitivity.  Without getting all caught up in the science of PWO insulin secretion – let’s just say that you need to eat within 30 minutes of completing a WOD.

Lastly, don’t forget to eat within an hour of bedtime.  Now, I don’t mean eat your last snack while starting 2001: A Space Odysseybecause that would mean that you’re not actually going to bed for like… an eternity.  Eat right before bed – your starving muscles depend on it.  Without adding a log to your fire before slipping into your sleeping bag, your fire will go out part-way through the night.

By the way… the campfire is your metabolism (in case you didn’t catch the analogy).  Stay tuned for more campfire analogies.  And to review… 5 meals a day, no more than 5 hours between meals, PWO meal within 30 minutes, breakfast within 1 hour of waking, and bedtime snack within 1 hour of bedtime.