121818 Strenght is important too!
MetCon//
AMRAP
1 min Snatch
Rest 2 min
1 min Clean and Jerk
Rest 3 min
1 min Power Clean
rest 4 min
1 min Deadlift
135/95
Your holiday should include awesome food! A healthy relationship with food means that during this season you should be able to enjoy the offerings with your loved ones and not feel guilty. You generally eat pretty clean and you train hard. And truly as your coaches we will always encourage you to make the best food choices. It is very easy though for your calories to skyrocket with the parties and get-togethers. Typically when Americans mention or stress about excess calories they’re most worried about gaining fat. And for the typical sedentary American, yes those extra cals get packed on as fat.
When you train hard and eat enough (or even dare I say, excess) calories, magical things happen. You get stronger, your mood improves, you have more ambition to move and to be productive! Push aside the guilt of an extra slice of pie and ignore that knee jerk desire to run 5 miles to absolve your food sins, and stop for a moment to ask if you really feel as bad as your brain is trying to tell you. I (Devin) ate as much as anyone at the Xmas party (didn’t drink as much as somebody of you, close though). Honest to goodness I was so freaking amped for the wod today. I guarantee my glycogen was fully topped off and ready to jam! I felt ambitious and rested.
What do you do with that? Yes, do your best to make reasonable choices. But when you’re into half of a pan of Rachael’s cinnamon rolls, rather than lamenting over how many Burpees you should do, think, “well I hope they program something heavy!”
When you eat too much, the scale is likely to raise. If you’re training though, that scale jump is inflammation from training and stress. Inflammation in your muscles is an important part of the strengthening process. So while you might see the scale rise, don’t freak out and think you’re getting fat, you’re repairing muscle, which takes water, protein and carbs and if not carbs, then time.
Minimally let it fly off the rails, but when you do, have faith that extra calories don’t only serve to grow fat. In athletes it makes them strong and grows more muscle. And in CrossFit not only are you setting the stage for muscle repair and growth, but you’re also acquiring new skill, stamina and endurance. So you’re not just gaining muscle for the sake of new muscle, it’s all functional rather, it’s all fitness.
Seasons of weight maitinence are really important and helpful for reaching long term body composition goals. Increased lean body mass also means your calorie needs increase. I.e the ability and need for more calories to maintain your weight. Living in a caloric deficit gets harder and harder to the point where you can’t really maintain it beyond an effective point without drastic measures. For example, there are plenty of people who haven’t lost weight in months or years who eat only 1000 calories a day Monday through Thursday and don’t loose any fat because they’re metabolically adapted or their body forces them to binge to catch back up every Friday and Saturday.
Let’s face it. You’re gonna eat a lot. You can let it crush you with guilt or embrace the gains!