CrossFit and Diet

Throughout the last year and a half, I've tried to do what I've always wanted to do; quite literally,

"Get in shape."

I've realized that "getting in shape" is a total healthy fitness that includes emotional, spiritual, social, and of course, physical factors. A couple of my favorite physical fitness finds include USANA, CrossFit Costa Mesa, and Full Ironman training by Scott Herrick.


DIET
USANA is my source for vitamins, antioxidants, and starting this week: my diet. I was inspired for dieting by several friends trying out what we call the 'V-Diet,' also known as the Velocity Diet (be forewarned, the website is total advertisement). To try a safer route, I'm going with USANA ($1 million guarantee: free of steroids/stimulants).


My diet is essentially 3-4 shakes a day at 250 calories/shake with a couple of low-glycemic index granola bars and a hearty set of vitamins. I'll stay on the diet for 3 strait weeks, then ease off of it for two weeks. I'll ease into the South Beach diet, or the Paleo Diet, both of which promote healthy eating and consumption of foods found around the 'perimeter of the grocery store,' aka-perishables like fruits, nuts, veggies, and lean meats. They also incorporate portion control for learning about personal satiation rates and satisfaction factors. The USANA diet is what I like to think of as a jump-start into some weight loss as I'm recommitting to a fitter phase of life.

EXERCISE
I was first introduced to CrossFit in Costa Mesa, CA. CrossFit is an exercise mentality that ostracizes generic gym techniques for incorporating total-body wholeness. See below (credit to Steve Dugger and Alec Hansen and CrossFit Costa Mesa):

The purpose of the gym is to train the mind and to establish a broad base General Physical Preparedness from which to build specific outcome based fitness.

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The Mind is Primary

Functional Training

Train all energy systems

Nutrition is foundational

Recovery is 50% of the process

10 Core Physical Skills

1. Cardiovascular / Respiratory Endurance, 2. Stamina, 3. Strength, 4. Flexibility, 5. Power, 6. Speed, 7. Coordination, 8. Agility, 9. Balance, 10. Accuracy

CrossFit achieves the above-stated goals by providing workouts that incorporate short bursts of intense exercise performed during intervals (aka- tabata). There is extensive reference to gymnastics, free weights, and core exercises. It is a new mindset for an athlete trained to run long distances over and over again. Instead, I'm running the same distances at intense intervals designed for building speed and muscular strength.

I've turned to CrossFit because I'm having difficulty not only in increasing my triathlon performance speed, but also in combating injury. On a consistent basis I'm struggling with IT band and quad problems. I think some targeted strength training will do the trick :).

GOALS
I'm a firm believer that fitness acceleration is enhanced by setting and meeting specific, deadline-oriented goals. My big goal is happening August 1 of this year:

Full Ironman

I quite literally have to compete, or I'll be out $400 (the race entry fee). As little stepping stones, I'll be competing in several Olympic triathlons before that time. Check my workout page for specific training goals and a timeline.

TODAY
To start out my new CrossFit exercises, I began with the "Baseline (Initiating Workout)." You return to this workout periodically and can mark progress. It includes:
500m Row
20 Pull-Ups
30 Push-Ups
40 Sit-Ups
50 Squats
500m Row

My time: 9.47min. We'll see how this changes with more strength training and rehearsal!

Also- 45 min of elliptical and stretching.