Habit is a son of a bitch.. Coffee is certainly a habit and perhaps a slight addiction that many of us have. Its calling each morning, helping us rise from slumber, and the peaceful revival it brings to our body and senses is undeniable. I love the stuff, not going to lie. I am on the road a lot and will admit to drinking probably much more than I should. For this reason I have done some research and testing on 3 ways we can change up our habit bringing more diversity into our drinking habits.
Coffee has amazing health benefits, but many people should take precautions as well. High anti-oxidant levels of the coffee bean itself make it a winner in terms of nutrition. Elevated caffeine levels are great for us a athletes as a pre workout (and to be clear, coffee as a pre workout means a cup of espresso or black coffee, not the variations you find at Starbucks and the bullshit packaged under the auspices of a "pre-workout"). But the tannins in the coffee can stain the teeth and drinking coffee late in the day can lead to restless sleep and a diuretic effect that can purge the body of vital nutrients. For this reason, we should look to what Mother Nature has for us outside of the Goddess Bean!
1. Wild Guayusa. This is a new discovery for me. This delicious and widely unknown tea hails form the Amazon Rainforest. This tea is actually not a leafy plant but actually the leaves from a tree. The leaves of this caffeinated Holly Tree are picked, dried and brewed like a tea.
Health benefits abound from this amazing product. Boasting more antioxidant levels than Green Tea is just one way that this tea needs to be brewing in your Kitchen. Another is the levels of Polyphenols, and Flavanoids that are not only beneficial to cancer prevention but also can have repairing effects on the GUT.
Guayusa is not popular like the Coffee bean so this means that no matter where you buy it from, you can bet that it is grown Organically and in small farms. This matters to both coffee and tea as the smaller the farm, the more care generally is taken in producing the plant.
2. Maca Root. This root vegetable grows high in the Peruvian Andes, again proving that Peru is the Richest country in the world! I swear the fountain of Youth lies in this this countries soil! Regardless, Maca is not a tea like you would expect, it is actually a root vegetable which has been used for thousands of years by indigenous people of Peru. This Root has reached the ranks of top super food in the world! There is a lot to get excited about here.
Ill try and list some key nutritional findings here;
-High in B Vitamin Complex
-High in Vitamin C and D
-5 g of plant protein per serving
-19 essential Amino Acids
- 25% of your daily Iron intake per serving
-Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium
Like many Mushrooms, Maca is an Adaptogen herb which increases your energy levels by boosting metabolism and hormone levels. Essentially, this herb is really well liked by your cells and can boost your nutrient levels along with giving you a bump in the morning that wont leave you crashing early on in the day. You can find maca root in many popular drinks but I prefer buying from a herbalist and mixing it in a smoothie or adding it to a Protein Shake. The taste is nice and the consistency resembles any other plant based protein.
3. MATCHA GREEN TEA!! Yes you know I couldn’t leave this out could you?? I love this tea and was on it exclusively for a while as I did some experiments with caffeine and mushrooms =). Matcha Green tea is is becoming popularized because of its high caffeine levels (respectively speaking) but also because it helps detoxify the body. Like other teas it has a antioxidant profile that stands out among all the other foods we consume. The list of vital nutrients is long but one notable one is antioxidant is the Catechin levels in Matcha. Catechins are a type of antioxidant that have been studied extensively and have been made famous by living in chocolate, red wine and keeping millions of Chinese cancer free .
Working with Caffeine, Matcha nutrients provide a overall energy boost that is unrivaled by most substances.
Ceremonial Grade Matcha is what I prefer you buy and use in your smoothies or to make tea out of. It is a bit more expensive and harder to come by but the results are apparent when used. That being said, if you have ANY opportunity to purchase Mactcha Green Tea you should be doing it and replacing your coffee with it.
Here is the deal, think about nutrition differentiation like your weekly menu. You and I both know that eating chicken and broccoli 7 days a week can make you want to lose your mind; You want to have variety in your diet and avoid consuming too much of anyone thing if there is a tipping point from health benefits to health detriments. Try these 3 alternative to coffee as a health experiment. Do a bit of research and educate yourself on the amazing natural products that our Earthly Mother is providing for us.
Keep elevating your mind, body and Spirit. We owe it to ourselves to always be treating ourselves well, that way we can extend our goodness to others in our lives. Give good health for Christmas, try these alternatives as gifts as well!
I love you all, E.
Programming Notes 12/4-12/8
12/4
Baseline:
500m Row
5 Burpee Over Rower
5 Inchworm Push Ups
5 Banded Trunk Rotations + Pass Thru
300m Row
3 Burpee Over Rower
3 Inch Worm Push Ups
3 Banded Trunk Rotations + Pass Thru
*Spend 3-5 Mins W/ a partner stretching Hamstrings and SI Joint
-begin with one athlete on their back, extend one leg up at a time stretching hamstring.
-Then lay extended leg over the other while pushing the opposite shoulder down to the floor, essentially a partner Iron Cross Stretch
-finally bring the knee tucked up and into the corresponding arm pit, use partner for extra stretch
Dumbbell Hinge Priming Complex:
3X8 W/ 2 Dumbbells
-Single Leg Romanian Deadlift (focus on eccentric)
-Bent Over Row
-Sumo Deadlift High Pull
WOD:
“The Chief”
-Each year a select group of Navy Officers are selected to become Chief Petty Officers. These warriors are a select cadre who become true leaders on the battlefield. This workout is in honor of them, both past present and future candidates.
5X
3 Min AMRAP
3 Power Clean 135
6 Push Ups
9 Squats
*post total rounds and reps completed
12/5
Baseline:
400m Run
20 Side Plank Knee To Elbow L
20 Superman Rocks
20 Side PLAnk Knee TO Elbow R
20 Hollow Rocks
400m Run
Squat Flow: Kang Squat, Internal Rotation, Hip Bridge, Ankle Roll Outs, Boot Straps, PNF, Squat W/ T Spine Rotation
BackSquat:
2-2-2-2
@ 85-90% of 1 RM test weight
WOD:
21-15-12-9
Thruster 95/65
V Ups
*every Minute on the minute, stop and do 2 Burpees.
12/6
Baseline:
2X:30
-Jumping Jacks
-Mountain Climbers
-Side Lunges
-Bicycle Crunches
-Divebomber Push Ups
Lat Band Mobility / Banded Bully Stretch/ Scapula Distraction Stretch/ Banded Half Moon Pose
Gymnasty 12:
Move for Quality, Not Time
10 m Handstand Walk
:20 L Hang On Bar (scale to Knee Tucks)
5 Bridge Ups (you tube if you don’t know)
5 Forward Rolls On Mat. (Protect the neck, tuck the chin)
WOD:
15 Min AMRAP
15 Burpee
30 Cal Row
*score is rounds and reps completed
12/7 PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY
*Remembering the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. Just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on Perl Harbor, killing more than 2,400 Americans, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.
Baseline:
3X
400m Run
12 Barbell Good Mornings
12 Jump Squats
12 Kip Swings On P/U Bar
Snatch Warm Up:
7X @ Each
-romanian deadlifts
- snatch high pulls
-muscle snatches
- tempo overhead squats (OHS), tempo 23X1
- snatch balances
- power snatches to OHS (receive each rep a little deeper, pause 2 seconds in receiving position)
- snatch pull unders
- hang (squat) snatches
Snatch Complex:
*spend 10 Minutes Building Past Your Workout weight
3 Tempo Snatch Lift Off
1 Hang Snatch
1 Touch and Go Squat Snatch
1 OHS
WOD:
7 Rounds For Total Time
7 Power Snatch 135/95
7 OHS
:45 Rest In Between
* The Goal is to really push hard on the barbell cycling and hold onto it for all 7 reps of OHS! Be blessed with rest!
12/8
Baseline:
Tabata Your Warm UP!
-Jump Rope Progressions (singles, high singles, dubs, triples)
-Push Ups
-M/U ring Pull Throughs (practice the transition from bottom tot op of rings)
-Tempo Air Squats (move perfect, not fast)
*complete 4 rounds of :20/:10 and then move to next exercise. Go 2 Rounds through each exercise>
WOD;
AMRAP 14
7 Muscle Ups (scale to Jumping Bar Muscle Ups)
50 Wall Ball Shots
100 Double Under
