One of the greatest joys in my daily routine is the morning shots of espresso. SOmething about hearing my machine warm up helps me wake up and makes me smile on the inside. Sound familiar? For Millions of us, Coffee is not only a joy but many times... a necessity. I am a big proponent of coffee for numerous reasons but as athletes we need to pay attention to how and when we take it.
The problem is performance.
Coffee has nutritional benefits and health benefits but drinking coffe also activates certain enzymes in the body which can stunt or depleate your body of vital nutrients as well. Take for instance Zinc and Calcium. According to the Journal of Internal Medicine, caffeine consumption of 150mg can flush your body of 5mg of calcium. Calcium is also not absorbed well in the intestines due to caffeine effects. Calcium is important for producing strong bones and preventing arthritis. Zinc is also vital for performance and immune health and when caffeine is consumed, enzymes are activated in the stomach which inhibit uptake.
The precaution I am suggesting is to avoid taking a multi-vitamin or dense mineral supplement in the morning if you are about to get your morning DRANK on!.
Coffee is a diuretic. You pee a lot when you drink a lot.
If you are a performance athlete who needs an extra pick up before a workout, awesome. I'm on board with that. Stay away from other pre-workout chemicals. But if you are also a fan of taking in your BCAA's, Protein, or other supps before a workout, I would do some research into how those react with caffeine. B12 for instance is absorbed more after coffee drinking which is important for red blood cells but Vitamin D gets passed right through the digestive tract when caffeine is injested with it.
Timing out your coffee is important.
The body is pretty smart. It can turn things on and turn things off pretty quickly. Enzymes and proteins are constantly being activated and produced. Coffee has the best effect on performance when taken at least an hour before your workout. This allows for a quick pre-workout BCAA mix to be taken right before the workout without adverse effects and post workout protein and carbs can be processed in the GUT exactly like they should.
This is just some info for you to process as we approach our training. Optimal performance is intrinsically tied to our nutrition; and even if you are eating the right stuff, it does not mean that you are absorbing all of it!. You are one big science experiment so test and retest your nutrition against your training. Good luck and keep pushing hard.
1/26
Baseline:
KB Calf Roll out 3 Minutes
:20 @ each
Shoulder rolls
Arm swing
Up back overs
Push ups
Piked Handstand push ups
Russian twists
Sit ups
V ups
Hip touches
Double Under Progression
-Single leg hops
-single unders
-high jump singles
-cadence drills 3,2,1
WOD:
“The Fighter”
3 Minutes at each, 1 min rest between rounds.
Burpee
Box Jump Overs 24/20
Push Press 95/55
Double Unders
*compare to 10/24/16
* This is a workout that Cristin and I made in tribute to IRISH MICKEY WARD the Boxer. Mention that…
Baseline:
Banded Hamstring
Banded Iron Cross
Scorpion Stretch
Contra lateral Hip/ Arm Reach and hold (on all 4’s, reach limbs away from each other)
W/ Barbell
3X
10 Romanian Deadlift
10 Bent Over Row
10 Sumo Deadlift
Skill Development:
Deadlift
3X5 @ 85%
WOD:
14 Minute AMRAP
25 Med Ball Clean
15 Sit Up
10 Pull Up
