FoodRxD

You can't out-train a crappy diet

The video above shows three nutters doing a workout called "In-N-Out Fran"

21-15-9 reps of thrusters and pullups, with an In-N-Out triple beef patty burger eaten at the start, a double before the 2nd round and a single before the last round.  I feel sick just writing this........

But I think the video highlights perfectly one of the biggest myths in exercise.  How many of you exercise in order to justify eating unhealthy food, or just more food in general?  How many of you decide after a long run, cycle or gym workout, that you can eat what ever you want straight after?

Well I'm afraid you are misinformed.  YOU CAN'T OUT TRAIN CRAPPY NUTRITION.

As you can see in CrossFit's Heirachy of Fitness, nutrition is the base upon which everything else is built.

Do you exercise every day, maybe twice a day, but still aren't losing weight?  What's your nutrition like?

Trying to gain muscle, but can't shake the scrawy? Are you using functional, full body exercises like deadlifts, squats, pullups and presses?  Then your nutrition needs work.

Can't seem to improve on your Fran time?  Even your burger free Fran time?  In fact your last attempt was SLOWER?!  Then you've got to sort out your nutrition quick smart.

If we look at the In-N-Out Fran, the fastest guy took 12 minutes to finish his Fran, which will burn around 200 calories (820kJ) at the most, maybe 400 if we are really generous with the increased metabolism post intense exercise.  But the calories from the burgers are about 1800 cals (or around 7500kJ), pretty much 2/3's of an average males entire daily food intake.

The guys in the vid have consumed 4-9 times more energy than they have burned.  How is that going to help them achieve optimal body composition? 

What do you think would happen if the In-N-Out guys did 3 or 4 more Frans to balance out the food they ate?  Maybe a poor example, as the Frans would probably kill them before the junk food.....

Now the above mathematical equation was simply to make a point, no matter what kind of food you are eating, no matter how healthy, you will always consume more energy than you burn during exercise.  Most of the energy in our food goes to the myriad of cellular processes happening to keep our bodies alive and functioning.  Even if you just lay in bed all day, you are burning a reasonable amount of energy.

Exercising to offset your diet does not work.  An intelligently designed workout will allow you to create the body you want, as long as you provide the right materials to build it with. 

Those materials come from the food you eat.

 After the 2010 CrossFit Games, a bunch of us really wanted to try In-N-Out after driving past outlets all week prior.  Not being able to remember where any were in the maze that is Los Angeles streets, we punched In-N-Out into our faithful GPS.  After 30 mins of driving, we rounded the last corner to arrive at our destination.......... Rick's In-N-Out Auto Mechanics..........

Supplements - Are you using them as a crutch?

New clients often ask about what supplements they should be taking to ensure they are making the best possible progress.  That desire to be better than average is obviously something we value, but we can't help but wonder if there is an bit of 'looking for the easy ride' going on. 

Supplements are just that - a SUPPLEMENT to what should be an already good diet, not something you take to try and offset your crappy nutrition habits.  One of the most common supplements taken by people is the good ol Executive Stress Formula Berocca.  I'm pretty sure 90% of Aucklanders start their day off with one of those big fizzy tablets......and then pee the majority of the unnecessary Vitamin B and C down the drain.......

Hey all you lawyers, ad people and accountants, eat some frickin spinach why don't you!!?? :)

Sort out your diet and you will FEEL like you are on something illegal, trust us.

However, there are a couple of things we would recommend, we're not completely anti-supplement, just anti -wasting money.

The Essentials

Fish Oil

Yep, that's it for that list.  Sorry if you thought you were going to get any secrets off us. Honestly, fish oil is amazing for so many things, it is compulsory.  By now most of you have heard about the benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids, whether you know what they actually do or not.

The short version is that processed food and grain fed meat provide us with lots of Omega 6 fatty acids.   O6 causes inflammation and O3 is anti-inflammatory, or, O6 = bad, O3 = good. 

Google any modern disease and fish oil and you will find a study that has shown promise in preventing it or reducing symptoms.  Alzheimers, MS, arthritis, cancer, heart disease you name it.  Take your fish oil. 

Supps you COULD take

Whey Protein - there's nothing special about taking extra protein, but it can be great as convenience food.  And after a hard, nausea inducing workout, it's often the only kind of protein you can stomach.  When reading the label, stick to good ol whey concentrate, the isolate is more expensive and not as flash as it makes out, however if you are super sensitive to lactose, you may find the isolate agrees with you better.  Stay away from soy protein (it's cheap, chalky tasting and not good for you).  Watch for the words Proprietary Blend (it may mean there is soy in there).

Creatine - the only PROVEN performance enhancing supplement apart from steroids and EPO.  So actually the only legal performance enhancing supplement.  Creatine is a natural compoment of muscle that plays a role in energy production. Increased stores of it in our muscles allow us to do more high intensity work before fatiguing.  You can get more from eating more meat, or you can supplement.  Give it a try in the month leading up to a CrossFit comp and see what happens.

That's about it really

Sorry but there really isn't a lot of research to support anything else.  Sure you can take a multivitamin, but there's nothing to support their benefit.  Watch out for mega-doses of any vitamin, particularly Vitamin C, A and E, as there is some info coming to light lately that suggests this is uncool.