Supplementation and Updates

The most common question we coaches are asked about regarding food, fueling, and nutrition is about supplementation. Everyone wants to know what protein powder to buy, what recovery shake to drink, what pre-workout allows you to feel the best when you’re working out, etc. Honestly, most high-level athletes don’t take much for supplements. It turns out that the variable that we have the most control over that has the absolute biggest impact on your health and fitness is—you guessed it—your food. In short: bypass the supplements and spend the effort (and money) on buying better food!

Most people don’t eat enough protein, so protein powder is a hot topic of conversation in the supplement department. Protein powder admittedly has its place when you’re in a situation that isn’t ideal. We’re talking about traveling to foreign countries where access to quality protein is limited…yeah, I’ll admit…I pack protein powder in those instances. BUT…if you’re using that excuse in the United States of MF America, where you can literally buy a steak or a whole chicken anywhere you want at any time, save it. You’re not getting enough protein in because you’re choosing to not get enough protein in, and that’s the bottom line. Eat your protein…and that statement has so few exceptions, I won’t even get into it any more than I already have!

Want to know the absolute best recovery shake? A meal. In the event that you’re a recovery shake kind of person, do you want to know how soon after that shake you should be eating the aforementioned meal? About an hour afterwards. That’s right…that post-workout shake is not supposed to tide you over from 7am until lunchtime! That’s like tearing down a wall in your house with the intent of remodeling, but not going to the store to buy materials.

When it comes to pre-workouts, people get into a lot of trouble here, and I think this is a much larger issue. Bottom line is, if you need a pre-workout to feel like half of a shit while you’re working out, there are much larger issues that need to be addressed. We are a society that is overly dependent on stimulants to get ANY work done nowadays. People need coffee all day, every day at work, 2 scoops of pre-workout before their 530 workout, and then they wonder why their sleep is dysfunctional and they wake up feeling like a bag of turds the next morning. Let me guess…coffee the next day, rinse and repeat, right? Learn what normal feels like and re-set your body—your ability to produce hormones will thank you for it!

When it all comes down to it, there are just too many excuses when it comes to supplements. As cliche as it sounds, the saying ‘you can’t out-supplement a shitty diet’ is true 100% of the time. Do yourself a favor and just address your food—it’s the most powerful drug we put in our body multiple times a day, every single day of our lives. If you need help along that path, please reach out! You might not like what you hear, but you might need to hear it.

My favorite line relevant to this topic: A failure to plan is planning to fail. Taking the time to have a meal plan requires you to think ahead, but it absolutely saves you time AND money in the long-run, aside from being the absolute best thing you can do for your body.

Stay the Course

—Coach Phil

Updates:

• Shirts should be in today! I’ll pick them up and have them at the gym as soon as they are ready.
• New ropes are ordered and we are looking to install them early next week, depending on ship times and when we can get a scissor lift!

Not a member? Sign up for an Intro Class today!  The next Intro class takes place on August 4th at 10:00, and Foundations starts the next week (August 7th).
RSVP to the free Intro Class here!