Wednesday Wins!
WEDNESDAY WIN — PAUL H.
He’s been doing CrossFit for almost two years, but the last few months have been game changers. He’s faster, stronger and more mobile than ever, and has now made the diet changes to make all that hard work pay off BIG TIME.
MOBILITY MATTERS!
We always preach the mobility gospel at the Cove, and Paul bought in to that big time. He’s been “tight” his whole life, but has now been doing ROMWOD 2 to 4 times a week. While he’ll admit he’s still not as flexible as some (or as flexible as he’d like to be), his mobility gains has made a world of difference. He said everything just “feels better”. His can get into better positions on his lifts now (which let’s him lift more!) and recovery is always easier after a little ROMWOD.
SUCCESS CAN BE MADE OR BROKEN IN THE KITCHEN!
He said he’s always balked at the expression that “it’s 20% what you do at the gym and 80% what you do in the kitchen”, but he’s now a convert. He’s always eaten well (or so he thought), but learned that even food that wasn’t ‘that bad’ had things he wasn’t aware of. He followed Coach Brittany’s plan to the letter. In fact, he was THE MOST CONSISTENT challenge participant! He shifted his mindset and started eating for PERFORMANCE. He made adjustments along the way: eating too much protein first and not enough carbs. But he knows what to do now and figuring it out was all a part of the journey. And the results are astounding. In 35 days he:
He lost 8lbs of body fat. His % BF dropped from 17% to 13%. For someone his age (let’s just say, he’s in the “masters” Open team), that puts him in the “lean” or “athlete” categories on a body composition chart. And he swears this was not a one time thing, this is the new him.
WE ALL HAVE OUR “THING”
This was the first time he has done something like this. He’s made changes over the years, but nothing quite as seismic as the changes made during the Challenge. He cut out caffeine a year ago. But now that he’s figured out this eating part, his energy comes from food, not from coffee our Mountain Dew (yep, Mountain Dew was a “thing”).
This guy runs LONG days. He’s up before 5a and in bed after 10p. He said “I’d drink a Mountain Dew. I really thought I NEEDED it. But now instead of grabbing something for quick energy when I need a boost I make smarter choices. I was on the go the other day and I got a kale and quinoa salad from the deli and was GREAT. Never would have heard me say this before!“. AND CHEESE! Yes, like many of us, cheese was “his thing”. Not just any cheese, but Velveeta! Once referred to him as “liquid gold“, it now “doesn’t even entertain me anymore!“
YOU HAVE TO COMMIT
We asked what advice he’d give to someone struggling with food and their fitness. His answer was simple: “YOU HAVE TO COMMIT“. “You already committed to CrossFit. Of course the gains you came here for will come… to be better… to be stronger… to be faster. But it will be slower.” COMMIT and the hard work in the gym will pay off a LOT faster.
So now what? He’s lost the weight he wanted. Now its about maintaining his food intake and finding the right balances of carbs, fats and proteins. He’s eliminated the “junk” he had in the past and the Challenge helped him think creatively about how to eat better. Not just for 35 days, but for life.
WOD
25 min EMOM
Min 1: 12 Overhead Squats
Min 2: 12 Burpees
Min 3: 12 KB Russian Swings
Min 4: 12 Thrusters
Min 5: Rest
Fitness: 45/35, 35/26
RX: 75/55, 53/35
RX+: 95/65, 70/53
