Pre-Workout Nutrition

Probably one of the the most frequent question I receive besides the topic of supplements is “What should I eat before a workout?”  My answer often infuriates people, as it comes down to “Well, it depends…”

Why such a gray area?  Lots of reasons and variables, such as:

• Time of day of training
• Previous nutrition intake the night before
• Type, duration, and intensity of training (very key)
• Individual gastric transit time and tolerance

If we take these into consideration, you can see it could really change things up.  If you are still saying “Ok, but WHAT do I eat??”, here are a few guidelines:

1. As a very broad generalization, there should be a 2-3hr buffer between whole food intake and training
2. Intensity & duration affect GI tolerance; the more intense, the less your stomach will like food.  Similar for duration, at intensity
3. Glycogen stores are affected by your previous training session, and more importantly, your meals the day BEFORE.
4. Morning sessions:  Fasted.  This is fine—be hydrated, but know you are fueled by the night before meal.
5. Anything under 60 minutes does NOT require intra-workout fueling via carbohydrates.
6. A small amount of whey works well for most people.
7. On that same note, BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids) work better.
8. Caffeine works well here, but can be a double-edged sword…
9. …and the same goes for “energy drinks” (Remember video above??  Classic!)

This is just the tip of the iceberg; it is very, very individualized, and I do no prescribe to the “one size fits all” protocol here.  Trial and error to find the right combo!

From Mike Kesthely at Dynamic Nutrition and Optimum Performance Training

Daily WOD
3×5 Pull-Ups BW, Assisted or Weighted, add 5lbs. If weighted is in excess of (45/30) then 3×5 false grip ring pull ups and ring dips or MU work.

5×3 Minute Running Intervals. 3 minutes walking rest between rounds.

Head south on the bike path, and run (5) 3 minute intervals for max speed/distance. After each round continue walking at a good clip for 3 minutes before beginning the next running interval. Turn around 1/2 way through and head back towards the gym.

Bring a stopwatch if you’ve got it today.

Beginner Class
Deadlift

OTMEM:
3 Deads
7 Ball Slams

In honor of Father’s Day, I created this recipe for my Pop. He’s a lifelong fan of breakfast sausage and eggs…and, um, English muffins. But who needs bread when the filling’s the best part?

To make this breakfast sandwich resemble those from a certain fast-food joint (you know: the one with the freaky clown mascot), you’ll need some special equipment—namely, stainless steel biscuit cutters—but if you’ve got ’em, this recipe’s a snap. Plus, you can totally eat these sammies with your hands.

Here’s what you’ll need to make one “McMuffin”:

• 2 tablespoons ghee, divided (plus more for greasing the biscuit cutters)
• ¼ pound bulk raw pork breakfast sausage
• 2 large eggs
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup water
• 1 heaping tablespoon guacamole (optional)

(If you don’t have bulk sausage handy, just cook up some bacon. I just Instagrammed a photo of a Bacon Egg “McMuffin” this morning—and if you’re not already food-stalking me on Instagram, you really should.)

Gently press the meat down to uniformly shape a sausage patty.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a tablespoon of ghee. When the fat is shimmering, add the patty to the pan. If you really want the patty to keep its perfectly round shape, you can keep the mold on until the cooked patty shrinks away from the sides.

Clean the biscuit cutter and grease it again.

Fry the sausage about 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until fully cooked.

If your patty’s thick, you may need to cover the pan to make sure it’s cooked through. Once the patty’s ready, transfer it to a plate.

Now, onward to the eggy “buns”…

Grab two small bowls and crack one egg into each.

Pierce the yolks with a fork.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining tablespoon of ghee. (Make sure you’ve got a tight-fitting lid for this skillet.)

When the ghee’s shimmering, place the two greased biscuit cutters in the pan…

…and pour an egg into each mold.

Season the eggs with salt and pepper to taste.

Add ¼ cup water to the skillet (outside of the egg molds), making sure not to splash the eggs.

Turn down the heat to low…

…and cover the pan.

Cook the eggs, covered, for about 3 minutes or until cooked through.

Transfer the eggs to a paper-towel lined plate. One easy way to do this is to slide a spatula under the mold as you tilt it up while wearing a heat-resistant glove.

Assemble the faux-“McMuffin” by sandwiching the sausage patty in between the two egg rounds.

If you’re feeling old-school, you can eat the sammie as-is…

…or wake up your palate with a squiggle of sriracha.

But my favorite addition to this breakfast burger? A big dollop of homemade guacamole.

Once you’ve gussied up your “McMuffin,” pick it up and chow down!

From NomNomPaleo.com

Daily WOD
3×10 Hollow Body to Superman Rolls

Complete 7 rounds:
Handstand Holds for Max Time
10 Supine Ring Row (feet on a box at parallel)

Post your total time holding the handstand position.

Scale 1:
Modified Handstand Position
(optional scaling of ring row angle)

Advanced Class
5x AMRAP Butterfly Pullups

Work to a Heavy Stone Shoulder

30s on 30s off Stone Shoulder for 8 mins, choose your weight.

Max Cals Airdyne in 3 mins.

Beginner Class
Front Squat
Back Squat

3 Rounds:
400M Run
10 Back Squat

Tuesday
Deadlift

Wednesday
Hang Power Clean

Thursday
Other Common Movements: Wall Ball, Rowing, Box Jumps

Friday
Overhead Squat

Daily WOD
15 minutes to hit a 1 RM Front Squat

then…

7 Rounds NFT:
3 Front Squats at 75%
Sprint the length of the gym, decelerate as you pass through the overhead door down the ramp.

Rest 2 Minutes btwn rounds.

Post your load.

then…

10 Rounds:
5 Pull-Ups
5 KB Swings (24/16)

Scale 1:
Hard Banded Dead Hangs

Scale 2:
Hard Banded Dead Hangs
Any reduction in the load

Only scale the pull-ups with dead hangs, no jumping.

“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” – Roger Staubach

Daily WOD
OTMEM for 10:
10 STS (70/24)
5 K2E’s

You may not choose a bar where your feet touch the floor at the bottom of the hang.

Scale 1:
(24/20)
(optional 3/4 K2E)

Scale 2:
(20/16)
(optional 3/4-1/2 K2E)

12×1 Min Rowing Intervals

Drag btwn 120-140. Max distance every time. Total your meters for your score at the end.

Work on your technique. Get rid of the “hunch”, set your shoulders back and down and stabilize your mid-line while you row. Hinge at the hip don’t flex at the spine to row. Remember, all this equates to more power and a better performance.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Daily WOD
Bench Press
3×5 Bench Press, Add 5 lbs.

then…

Partner WOD

Complete as many rounds as possible in 18 minutes of:

10 Decline Push Ups (feet on 20″ inch box)
20 Walking Lunges
30 Double-Unders

Rx’d or Scale 3.

*This is a two person workout in which Partner 1 begins the sequence above while Partner 2 does a 200m dual KB carry with the KB’s in the front rack. Once Partner 2 returns, he/she will pick-up where Partner 1 left off in the sequence while Partner 1 goes for the carry. Men will use 24KG kettlebells and women will use 16 KG kettlebells.

There will be no SINGLES at all… work the DU and only count it if it goes under twice.

Beginner Class
Presses: Press, Push Press, Push Jerk, Thruster

21-15-9
Push Press
Burpees

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So I just got out of Beginner Class and I’m not sure how all the Strength Progressions go during the 1st half of Open Class. Or……..so I’ve been in Open Class for a couple months and I still get confused about the strength work, which one I’m supposed to be doing, the loads I’m supposed to be using, etc.

So glad you asked!

Here are the nuts and bolts:

1.) We want to develop strength and basic barbell movement patterns via the Squat, Deadlift, Press and to a lesser extent some Olympic Lifting/Derivatives in the Open Class. Also we want to make you stronger in the pulling movements. So each week we Back Squat 3×5 (3 sets of 5 reps), Deadlift 5RM (1 set of 5 reps), Press 3×5 and do Pull-Ups 3×5 (first assisted, then body weight, then weighted). Recently we have added the Bench Press 3×5 each week as well. Sometimes we Squat and do Pull-Ups 2x week which is even better.

2.) There are usually 3 options listed for Barbell Movements. If you don’t know which one you are on, it means you are on the first one listed which will always be 3×5 or 5RM. That is the first tier and the most simple progression. You will follow that for months. Eventually you will fail (there are different reasons for this) and then we might test your 1RM or we may regress you and make another run at getting the most out of the 3×5 or both. Once a client has exhausted the first and simplest strength progression you will move on to the 3rd tier of programming which is more varied and complex. Here are some of the most common and obvious indicators that you haven’t gotten the most out of the first tier of programming and still have a long way to go:

• You have no record of  your lifting numbers. This means you are spinning your wheels EVERY TIME YOU COME AND LIFT. So if you’ve been coming to class for two months and you just started writing this stuff down yesterday, then we officially started yesterday with your strength training. Get a journal and write down the lift, the scheme (3×5) and the load. You need all this information.
• You don’t come to class consistently. This means you will see only a fraction of the benefits of the training.
• You still don’t know how much the bar weighs or the bumpers that are on your bar. No worries, we’ll help you. It just tells your coach that we haven’t even gotten started yet. So learn those things.

3.) It’s important when you start with these lifts that you start LIGHT. Generally we advise that you begin with about 65% of what you think you could actually do for a set of 3×5 or 5RM. Starting light gives you lots of practice with the movement BEFORE it gets heavy. This is essential! Also, it gives you some place to go. Clients almost always want to go heavier. If we start too heavy you will fail in the first 3-6 weeks. The progression is designed to be a 4-5 month affair if you are hitting the same lift every week like clockwork.The limitations of programming for the group come to bear on this however, so in the setting of the open class you may fail earlier. Which is why we often will regress you and make one more run at the most simple progression.

So come to class consistently each week, write your lifts down every time (lift, scheme and load) and focus on doing the lifts correctly. You will get SO strong and have a great time getting better at barbell training! Hope this helps, see you out there!

Daily WOD
Squat 3×5, add 5lbs. or 1RM 5×2 Pause Squats, AHAP, 2 second pause at rock bottom.
then
35-25-15
KB Cleans (24/16)
Weighted Step-Ups
(24/16)
(24″/20″)

Scale 1:
(20/12)
(optional reduction in BJ height)

Scale 2:
(16/8)
(optional reduction in BJ height)

Advanced Class
Snatch Balance
6×3 medium wt., for speed and technique.

10 Rounds:
5 TNG Squat Clean Thrusters AHAP
30 UB DU’s

If you break the Squat Clean Thrusters, run 200M then return and start at rep 1 again. If you break the DU’s, start at rep 1 again

Beginner Class
Pull-Up, Push-Up, Ring Dips

AMRAP in 10 Minutes:
5 Pull-Ups
10 Push-Ups
15 Squats