Workout of the Day:
Five sets of:
Press x 3 reps
Rest 90 seconds
Unilateral Hip Bridge x 12 reps (each leg)
(Check out the fabulous Sage B. demonstrating how to perform a unilateral hip bridge.)
Rest 90 seconds;
and then,
Three sets of 4-minute “Cindy” sprints (5 Pull-Ups, 10 Push-Ups, 15 Squats) – Perform as many rounds as possible in 4 minutes, then rest 90 seconds between rounds and pick up where you left off to start the next round.  Score total number of rounds completed, and compare with Monday, February 8, 2010 score.

Not exactly how we teach the box jump, but she's up there.

Plan for Success – Part Two
Written by C.J. Martin

In yesterday’s blog post I explained the four-step process that I use to plan my meals for the week.  Today I’ll delve a little deeper into what that plan looks like and my secret weapon to keeping a bit of variety in my diet.

You’ll hopefully notice that there is some variety in my diet.  There are two reasons for this: (1) it gets really boring to eat the same thing every day; and (2) rotating your foods has a ton of health benefits.  I’ll save that for a future post, but do some research on food rotation, particularly if you have any food sensitivities or allergies.

I want to be very clear on one thing though, how I eat is not necessarily what will be best for you.  Every individual has his or her own preferences and needs.  Some individuals tolerate carbohydrates better than others, need more calories than others, etc….  The point of providing you a list of what I am eating this week is merely to give you a template that you can customize for your own personal needs.  (And of course, if you want more help with this, our coaching staff would be happy to spend 60-90 minutes going over your individual plans.)  Here is my plan for the current week:

Early a.m. (5:30 a.m.) and Late Evening (9:00 p.m.)

I take in some variant of a protein shake for both of these meals Monday through Friday.  This is just something simple to get some protein and micronutrients in before and after my longest fasting period of the day.  It’s too early or late to cook anything, so I substitute consistency and convenience for variety here.

Whey Protein and water.  Look around for a brand that suits your needs, but checkout Jarrow and Dream Protein as two good options that come from cleaner sources than most.  Ideally I would throw some Greens First and Carlson’s Fish Oil in to the shake as well, but I am waiting for my Greens First to arrive.  (Side note, Optimum Performance Training sells all of these if you want a one stop shopping experience.)   If I feel like I need more carbohydrates or am craving something sweet, I will throw in frozen berries and/or a big tablespoon of almond butter.

Breakfast (8:00)

Monday and Thursday – Scrambled eggs with broccolini and onions with a small bowl of blueberries.  I use the Omega-3 enriched eggs, and I eat the yolks (even though Barry Sears quite literally said he “puts the yolks where the sun don’t shine” – I am sure he didn’t really mean that how it sounded, but he said it and Michele’s pictorial notes almost made me pee my pants in front of a couple of hundred CrossFitters).

Tuesday and Friday – Chicken hash.  I take chicken breast, peppers (tricolor), celery and apples, chop them and stir-fry them together with a little bit of crushed red pepper and cinnamon.  Some people think the cinnamon is weird.  I think it is delicious.

Wednesday – Two Henry’s chicken sausage links with Swiss chard, golden raisins and pine nuts.  These sausages are hand-packed at Henry’s, which is much better than the preservative-laden sausages that come in packages.

Late Morning (11:00 a.m.)

Monday, Wednesday and Friday – Chicken Salad on top of organic greens and an apple.  The chicken is boiled and shredded and mixed with an egg and olive oil mayonaissey thing.  Throw some cilantro, chopped onions and celery in it too for a bit more flavor.

Tuesday – Turkey patty with grilled veggies (asparagus and zucchini) and an orange.  I use ground turkey breast – it’s more expensive, but it also has a much better protein and fat profile, and heck, I kind of like to know which part of the bird I am eating.

Thursday – Buffalo patty with grilled veggies (not sure which until Wednesday) and an apple.

Lunch (2:00 p.m.)

Monday and Thursday – Chicken breast with Swiss Chard, golden raisins and pine nuts.  This is seriously delicious, even if my explanation of it doesn’t sound appealing.

Tuesday – Grilled steak (top sirloin, I think) and sautéed vegetables (zucchini and onions) and sliced heirloom tomatoes with basil leaves.

Wednesday – Turkey cutlets and asparagus.  Nothing fancy here, just easy to season and prepares quickly.

Friday – Buffalo patty and grilled veggies or heirloom tomatoes with basil leaves.

Dinner (5:00 p.m.) – My Secret Weapon

I have been fortunate enough to have a few good ideas in my lifetime, but more fortunate to be surrounded by really cool folks who are up for adventure and who get along really well.  The latter enables the former.

For dinner, I was able to get some of my closest friends and family to agree to a food swap co-op.  Each is responsible for cooking dinner or breakfast for the rest of the group once a week.  So, someone is responsible for cooking and delivering meals to the gym on Monday, another takes Tuesday, and so on through Thursday.  And because we have five groups in our co-op, we also get a breakfast on Wednesday.

The co-op works really well because it is much easier to prepare one meal, with the same ingredients, for 10 people than it would be to prepare 5 different meals for one or two.  And it means that you only have to prepare dinner once per week.

Before you get too excited about this, remember that EVERYONE in the group has to be adventurous, and the group has to have a somewhat unified perspective on what is healthful and delicious.  It also doesn’t hurt to recruit some amazing cooks, like Michele, Courtney, Sarah the Human, Krazy K, and Coach Calvin Sun!! (ladies, I do not lie, this man can cook).

That’s it.  Now you all know my nutrition secrets and how I plan for success.  If you have any helpful strategies or recipes for good meals, PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME!!!  I am always looking for good recipes to post on the blog, and if everyone contributes just one we will have a year’s worth of delicious meals that we can all choose from.

Tags: Nutrition

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 9:30 pm and is filed under Workout Of The Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.