Nutrition

Home Nutrition

BASICS FOR CROSSFIT AND NUTRITION

Diet is crucial to optimising health and performance whilst being a crossfit athlete. Crossfit nutrition is the foundation of the crossfit pyramid. We all need to be doing these foundations every. Single. Day. It needs to be a lifestyle. The basics need to be the boring stuff like prepping meals, eating more vegetables, limiting alcohol and getting to bed early. When you nail the basics, the effect on performance and health are incredible. Remember that everything you put in your mouth will either help you achieve your goal or hinder your performance.

You've taken the first step in becoming a crossfit athlete, so you're obviously serious about your health and wellbeing, now let's sort your diet out……

We can cover your current diet in a few 1-1 sessions. Head coach and box owner Phil Oliver, has been studying nutrition for 30 years. First of all you will need to keep a diary of everything you eat/drink for a week. You will need to detail what times you ate and how you felt an hour later. Be honest or we can't help you. You can then book a session with Phil to go through every meal and see where we can make some changes. Sometimes we need only change the smallest thing, but it can have a dramatic effect on your health. Each session is £30 per hour.

We also hold regular Wellness & Lifestyle workshops using the BoxMate lifestyle app to help support your nutrition and wellness journey.

Register Interest

The CrossFit Dietry Prescription

Protein should be lean and varied and account for about 30% of your total caloric load. Carbohydrates should be predominatly low-glycemic and account for about 40% of your caloric load. Fat should be predominatly monounsaturated and account for about 30% of your total caloric load. Calories should be set at between 0.7 and 1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass depending on your activity level. The 0.7 figure is for moderate daily workout loads, and the 1.0 figure is for the hardcore athlete.

Daily
Macros

Protein

30%

Essential for muscle recovery and growth

Carbohydrates

40%

Primary energy source for high-intensity training

Fats

30%

Important for hormone production and overall health

In plain English, base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no sugar. That’s about as simple as we can get. Many have observed that keeping your grocery cart to the perimeter of the grocery store while avoiding the aisles is a great way to protect your health. Food is perishable. The stuff with long shelf life is all suspect. If you follow these simple guidelines you will benefit from nearly all that can be achieved through nutrition.

The Caveman or Paleolithic Model for Nutrition Modern diets are ill suited for our genetic composition. Evolution has not kept pace with advances in agriculture and food processing resulting in a plague of health problems for modern man. Coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, obesity and psychological dysfunction have all been scientifically linked to a diet too high in refined or processed carbohydrate. Search “Google” for Paleolithic nutrition, or diet. The return is extensive, compelling, and fascinating. The Caveman model is perfectly consistent with the CrossFit prescription.

Excessive consumption of high-glycemic carbohydrates is the primary culprit in nutritionally caused health problems. High glycemic carbohydrates are those that raise blood sugar too rapidly. They include rice, bread, candy, potato, sweets, sodas, and most processed carbohydrates. Processing can include bleaching, baking, grinding, and refining. Processing of carbohydrates greatly increases their glycemic index, a measure of their propensity to elevate blood sugar.

The problem with high-glycemic carbohydrates is that they give an inordinate insulin response. Insulin is an essential hormone for life, yet acute, chronic elevation of insulin leads to hyperinsulinism, which has been positively linked to obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, blood pressure, mood dysfunction and a Pandora’s box of disease and disability. Research “hyperinsulinism” on the Internet. There’s a gold mine of information pertinent to your health available there.

The CrossFit prescription is a low-glycemic diet and consequently severely blunts the insulin response. Caloric Restriction and Longevity Current research strongly supports the link between caloric restriction and an increased life expectancy. The incidence of cancers and heart disease sharply decline with a diet that is carefully limited in controlling caloric intake. “Caloric Restriction” is another fruitful area for Internet search. The CrossFit prescription is consistent with this research. The CrossFit prescription allows a reduced caloric intake and yet still provides ample nutrition for rigorous activity.