Move, Breath, stop and feel your heart beating.. and Thank the CoQ10 in your body for doing what it does. This outlier on the daily RDA Vitamin Chart is responsible for a whole lot of your daily activity..and you take it for granted. Though you may have heard of it talked about, I am going to lay out some specific reasons why all athletes should be getting as much of it in their diet as possible.
CoQ10 is often referred to as an enzyme but it functions very much like a Vitamin. Taken in solely through your diet, it is fat soluble and utilized by all muscle cells especially the ones in your largest and hardest working... like your heart. Now, you may have seen the CoQ10 printed in bold letters on supplements pertaining to those with Heart Problems and it is because as I will show you, your cells need this vital element to function correctly and folks with a history of Heart Disease and some brain diseases are drastically lacking CoQ10. The good news is that a healthy diet can contribute to increased bio-availability and synthesis in the body..
Lets take a look.
Going faster, recovering faster and Enduring longer is absolutely tied to the Presence of CoQ10 in the body. Reason #1 is that increasing CoQ10 will help you be a better athlete. And the reason is this; inside your cells are the vey small but very important power producers called Mitochondria. A whole lot of cool chemistry happens in your cells, (which I dork out on constantly but may not be your cup of tea) some of which includes passing electrons around to increase the output of ATP when needed. ATP is energy in its purist form and for it to be produced the motor has to be fueled correctly. Scientists search and study for the answer to how to produce and regenerate ATP at the fastest rate, thereby allowing athletes to work harder for longer. CoQ10 is essential to repair the damage done during intense training and exercise and therefore a necessity in your diet.
Reason #2 CoQ10 will literally help you live longer through its anti-oxidant properties. As I mentioned previously, CoQ10 lives in and around the cells. In, Fact CoQ10 is found in all cells, both plant and animal alike! Because it lives inside the cell it can perform rehab on broken and tired parts of the cell but on the outside (the membrane) it functions as a barrier to the oxidative stress imposed on cells by your body. Think about it like your aging skin, when we are young you can bounce a quarter off your supple cheeks but as we age there tends to be loss of tension in the skin and vibrancy is lacking. CoQ10 is like the fancy face cream that your wife or mom puts on each day to keep her looking good. That cream will help keep the good stuff in the cells and repair what has been damaged by sun and time. Oxidative stress is common and necessary for your body to regenerate so its not a complete blocker but CoQ10 in your diet keeps the insides looking as good as the outsides.
Now I digress for Reason #3. I know y'all don't always get my science talk or understand why I'm into the MINUTIA of health but its all for good reason. And my understanding and study of nutrition science has yield this cool fact about CoQ10, it helps you lose weight! Booom. You are welcome. Coupled with exercise, CoQ10 can take micronutrients and turn them into straight heat which can burn calories and bad fat. For many years one avenue that companies have tried to get folks to lose weight is through gnarly nerve stimulating drugs like ephedra, stimulants and caffeine. The "gitters" is essentially your nerves going fucking bonkers in your body and creating heat and energy as a result.
And what have we learned from countless tails of college students, failed weight loss stories, and the like??? Liver damage, endocrine fatigue and overall poor health because of this path towards weight loss. CoQ10 acts on excess calories in the same way these synthetic nerve stimulators do but without all the stress on the body. Remember, we are going for optimal health and performance, not trying to mask it with bullshit chemicals!
Reason #4 is a simple one and the one I will close this thing out with. If you are paying attention to your CoQ10 menu, you are damn sure going to be on the pathway towards a healthy, mind, body and especially heart. The CoQ10 menu is one that you will see me espousing for most of you, lean meats, lots of veggies, nuts and seeds, little fruit and no sugar or stimulants. Fried foods basically cuts the amount of CoQ10 in your meats by half so that takes any chance of bad fired shit going in your body out, and of course grass fed meats has more enzyme CoQ10 available.
From performance to overall health, CoQ10 is a vitamin that you should bee aware of if you want to obtain the best possible version of yourself. The big take away is that CoQ10 is the producer of energy and the protector of the cells in the body; without it you are walking a fine line between sickness and poor performance in the gym. Stay conscious my friends and eat with a mission. You have the power to empower your performance with this naturally occurring health promoter.
Until next week, train hard, be kind, spread joy and love. AND SHARE THIS ARTICLE!!!!!
E
Programming Notes 10/2-10/6
10/2
Baseline:
6 min Partner Warm Up
P1- 300/250m row
P2- 12XSlam Ball Overhead Walking Lunge, Slam Balls (Hips must pass below parallel receiving the ball)
-Ipsalateral Deadbug core drill
-Banded Good Morning
-Banded Press
-Banded Lateral walk (partner holds band around waist, athletic Position is held and lateral walk commences)
Double Under Progression- Singles, high singles, cadence drills, double under
WOD:
Partner WOD:
200 Double Unders
100 Wall Ball Push Press 20/14 (go to 9’ target)(Break up as needed between)
50 Deadlift 365# (both partners on bar at same time)
12 Rope Climbs (Break up as needed)
50 Deadlift
100 Wall Ball Push Press
200 Double Unders
Cool Down:
Bike for 5 Mins
Roll Out Low back and Calves
10/3
Baseline:
3X
10 cal Bike
10 M Bear Crawl
10 Squat Therapy
5 Strict Toes To Bar
Squat Flow: Squat Flow: Kang Squat, Internal Rotation, Ankle Roll Out, Bootstraps, PNF Stretch, Squat W/ T Spine Stretch
Strength Progression:
Back Squat
3X5 + 5-10# from last week
*same weight across All Sets
WOD:
OTM X10
5 Front Squat
-max lateral burpees over bar in remaining time
*goal is 75 burpees over the 10 min workout.
*bar must be taken from the ground
*Levels
1-95/65
2-135/95
3- 185/135
10/4
baseline:
3X
200m Run
10 PVC Pass Thru
10 Reverse Lunge W/ High Knee Pull (per leg) *lunge backward, then drive through front heel to standing, bring swinging leg up in front of body, hug close to body
10 PVC Good Morning
10 Side Lunges
Pacing Drill:
On rower, set a clock for 1:00 and row @ 1000m pace. Rest 1:1 and then repeat. How many calories you average over the two efforts is what you will use as your sprint goal in the workout. (If you average 12 calories in 1:00 @1K pace, that is the number you must sprint towards AFAP in the workout)
WOD:
EMOM 20
A- Strict Ring Dips 6-8 reps, or 3-5 ring muscle ups
B- GHD Hip Extensions X14 reps
C- Box Step Ups W/ KB’s X 12 (held in farmer carry position)
D- Row Sprint (row to calorie goal established before, as fast as possible )
*for Box Step Ups, ensure that you use the same leg on the concentric (step up)an eccentric (step Down)
10/5
Baseline:
10@ Each
-Shoulder Rolls
-Arm Swings
-Trunk Twists
-Bow/Bend back
-Sit Ups
-Russian Twist
-High Knee Pull
-Quad Pull
-Squats
Strength:
Strict Press
3X5 + 5#@ Tempo (1,1,3)
*rapid punch off chest, slow eccentric lower
WOD:
21-18-15-12-9-6
Floor Press @ Bodyweight (can sub Dumbbells if more comfortable on shoulder)
Cal Assault bike
10/6
Baseline;
3X
100m Run (focus on proper arm swing and pulling knees up)
8 Jumping Pull Ups
8 Kettlebell Goblet Clean and Press
8 Kettlebell Windmills (each Side)
10M @ Each
-high Knees
-butt kickers
-High Skip
-Fig 4 Skip
-Lateral Shuffle
-Carioca (fast hip flexion and abs engaged)
-2X Shuttle Sprint
Intensity Sprints
3X
Sprint 100m
*go every 2:30.
WOD:
4X
21 Pull Up
15 hang Power Clean 115/75
9 Pistol Squat
Cool Down :
Pigeon Stretch
Couch Stretch
*go at least 1:00 at each
