At CrossFit Recursive we to strive to provide a holistic approach to health and wellness. A big part of what we are trying to educate people on is complete mental and physical well-being.
Think of it this way. You workout to break down your muscle tissues so it repairs itself and becomes stronger. What you eat is what your body uses to build those bigger and better muscles. And when you sleep at night is when your body does all of that repair work.
That’s the trifecta – smart exercise, well balanced nutrition, and quality sleep!
At the gym, we can help you with the workout and the nutrition, but we can’t directly help you with your sleep. I can’t come to your house, tuck you in, tell you to take some melatonin or magnesium, have a cup of hot tea, make sure you put away all your devices at least an hour before bed, and make sure your bedroom is cool and dark. I can help with the exercise and nutrition and hope that helps you sleep better though!
I do have an opportunity to help you in all those ways during the workouts in class. Coaches are there to get you warmed up, make sure the joints are moving well, make sure you are scaling and modifying to make for a smart and challenging workout, and to push you through each workout. At the end we want to make sure to properly cool down and stretch as well.
I would like to educate more people on the nutrition piece to make sure the whole trifecta is complete! There is a lot of information out there. There are so many fad diets and plans and challenges promising to help you lose weight or get killer abs for summer. It’s easy to get lost and confused and even feel like it is all just too complicated!
Tomorrow I would like to talk briefly on the main diet plans we are seeing these days – Paleo, Zone, and Keto.
I will give you this much info now though – there isn’t one perfect eating plan that works for everyone. Nutrition (like exercise and even sleep) is very individualized.
The key points to take away is that you have to start somewhere, you have to track it, you have to measure it, and you have to re-evaluate and tweak it as you go. Essentially you are becoming your own guinea pig to see what works for your body and what works best to get you to your goals.
Likely, the help of a Nutrition Coach is a great way to start. They will sit down with you and get to know you, your lifestyle, and your goals. They can help you with good, better, best approaches to food. They can help you make a plan, and hold you accountable (which is usually the biggest hurdle for people!)