12

May 2014

Over Training Sucks. Here Is How To Prevent It.

Chris O'Brien Blog 500 Comments

Get The Real Energy, Not The “Fake” Stuff.

We live in a very fast paced society, and in a world where there are Dunkin’ Donuts at every corner and 5-hour energy shots in every gas station, it is easy to fall prey to the “quick fixes” when you need a boost. Even if you are looking to upgrade your energy naturally, there is a bunch of misinformation and confusion among all the advice in the performance and wellness world.

….To start, Red Bull does not give you wings, and if you want to bulletproof your body, then there are some effective ways to hack your energy that doesn’t involve neon liquid in a can. This starts with applying effective strategies to protect yourself from stress (physical, mental, and emotional)

As intense CrossFitters we put an even more amount of stress on our body than the average person. Exercise is a stress. It breaks our bodies down and we rebuild ourselves back up when we sleep and eat the right foods.

The truth about energy is that it starts in the adrenals. These little guys are glands that sit above your kidneys and play a huge roll in regulating your hormones. If you take care of your adrenals, you will be able to harness the power of “real” energy, and stop having to rely on the “fake” stuff, like energy drinks, weak coffee, and funky pre-workout powders (not to say some of them are effective and safe..but most are not).

The thing is about the adrenals, if you fatigue them you are not in a good place. The system takes much longer to bounce back than other biological systems. However, with the following tips, you can get yours in better shape, improve your resilience to stress, and sustain long lasting energy.

7 Tips To Hack Your Energy

Know Your ABCs: A stands for Adrenals, and BC stands for the vitamins that are vital for protecting and nourishing the adrenal system. Most people (even if eating a clean diet) are not getting enough B and C vitamins in their diet. When you throw CrossFit training into the mix, it makes for even more depleted B and C levels.. If you want to prevent Adrenal fatigue, we recommend you look for foods high in B and C on days you train, or supplement with high quality B-complex and C vitamin supplements.
Make Sea Salt a Staple: More salt? That may sound like a weird suggestion to some, but in fact salt is an extremely important substance for the human body. Many of us have heard that we are made up of 70% water…but we are in fact made up of 70% salt water. The body is an internal ocean, and maintaining healthy electrolyte levels (sodium, potassium, etc.) is vital for your adrenal system. However there is a big difference from the salt in restaurant salt shakers, and the salt that comes from the earth. Get the good stuff. An effective way to use it is to add a pinch of sea salt or pink salt to your post WOD smoothie or simply salt your food.
Ditch The Sugar: We all have heard this one…no new news. But here is another reason to stop sucking down Gatorade (which is glorified sugar water) during workouts. Sugar is an adrenal stimulant, and can also overwhelm blood sugar imbalances. It is not to say you should be phobic of all sugar (like eating some fruits, and raw honey in your tea) but if you are constantly hitting your sweet tooth, you are going to pay in the long run with your energy levels. Especially if you are practicing intense exercise. Your body does not do well with that much stress.
Exercise Smart: This may just be the most important suggestion we give you. STOP training 5 days in a row! STOP IT! You are not getting any stronger or faster or experiencing any type of improvement. You simply are breaking down your body, and not allowing it to build back up. We recognize that you may be super motivated and enjoy your time in the box. However, take it from our experience, it is not going to make you better, or fitter, or leaner. If you are a person who is chronically soar and wondering why your shoulders still hurt after taking a day off, you are probably over training. Take 2, or 3 days off if you are experiencing this. You need it.
Drink Or Eat Green Food. If you asked 20 nutritionist what they thought about spinach, they all would agree on it. It is good for you. And in regards to your adrenal system, green things have the amazing ability to stabilize your blood sugar and protect your adrenal glands.
Meditation Or Massage: There is nothing cheaper for your adrenals than sitting and focusing on your breath. In fact it is free! So you have no excuse! Meditative breathing can lower stress levels (and cortisol levels) within minutes…come on, it doesn’t get any easier than that. If you are the anti-zen type, then outsourcing your relaxation is also effective. Studies show deep tissue massage lowers stress levels significantly, and plus who doesn’t like a back rub.
Supplement With Super Foods: What makes many superfoods “super” is the fact that they are adaptogenic. That means they literally are able to adapt to different stressors your body experiences….like doing 100 burpees, or sitting in traffic. Those are stressful activities. One of the most effective superfoods for intense exercisers is Maca. It is very available, fair priced, and actually pretty tasty in smoothies.

Want some more Hormone hacking tips? If you found these 7 helpful, we suggest checking out Sara Gottfried’s site on understanding and taking care of your hormone levels for optimal health. She is a Harvard trained medical doctor, and New York Times Best Selling author of a pretty awesome book called the Hormone Cure. She also offers a pretty amazing 21 page survival guide to hacking your hormones on her site for free!! …that is worth checking out people!