February 23rd, 2010
by Amy Kasden
The more you know, the less you think you know. Who feels me on this one? The more I learn about fitness and nutrition the more I feel like I know nothing Further; the more I learn the more I have to remember and for which I have to plan. Every so often I need to take a step back and remember to dot my I’s and cross my T’s. Often if I hit a plateau; it is those little things I’ve been skipping that make all the difference. Of the many corners I’ve cut, here are a few I can remember.
Stretching
As I’ve mentioned before, I have been practicing yoga for about 9 years. I currently get to class 1-2 times/week and always add yoga/stretching to the end of my workouts. However, the busier I get the more I want to cut corners. When I was competing in fitness, the closer I got to a show, the more working out I had to get in each week. Make that occur during tax season and to say my time was limited was an understatement. On busy days I found myself either cutting my stretching short or skipping it all together.
You don’t need to be a genius to see where this lead. Not only did it affect my performance but it affected my mental state. As a yogi, regardless of where I am located, I can practice. The 20 minutes after my workout is a yoga practice which set the tone for my day.
Post Workout Meal
I must hang my head in shame for I completely slacked on one of the most important aspects of nutrition, my Post Work Out “PWO” meal. As I’ve posted about before, I’ve been doing density training which is extremely hard work! Well, I’ve also been doing this training without a PWO meal waiting for me the second I finish. Why, if I know so much about how important PWO is, have I been skipping it? I have three good excuses (and note I called them excuses because that is what they were), I hadn’t been having it prior to the density work because I was eating a full meal within an hour of training, I was lazy, and I did not want to add more calories to my diet/replace a meal with PWO.
What happened? I was not reaping the benefits of this training. I was not recovering properly, I was exhausted, and I was doing a disservice to my metabolism. After Jodi smacked me around for a few minutes, gave me the evil eye while thinking “have you completely lost your mind,” and shook her head; I snapped out of it. Not only are those few extra calories not something I need to be concerned with, but not having them was creating more harm than good (there was no good).
Now my PWO is back and I am stronger than ever and I can’t wait to see how this changes my training/gains/recovery/energy.
Dietary Rut
In the same conversation with Jodi I also realized I have been in a nutritional rut. It is really easy for me to eat the same thing day in and day out. After competing in fitness for 4 years, I am not only conditioned to a competitor’s diet; I prefer it. I also work in an office where I can order plain grilled chicken for lunch with a side of steamed broccoli, or tuna with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I can pretty much live off of what I can get to eat at work, egg whites, plain chicken, steamed veggies and some fruit. While it would appear I have a clean diet; ergo should be progressing right? That is not always the case.
If you have downloaded the MP4 Starter Pack (sign up in the little box to the right, its free) you have read Jodi’s report on making weight, specifically about athletes seeking for a desired physical look while training for a sport. That article states that one of the easiest ways to break a plateau is to change up what you are eating and to optimize the timing of your nutrition.
Ever since this conversation with Jodi I have been actively introducing foods into my diet I was ignoring. Ignoring because I was lazy; didn’t want to spend the time cooking and didn’t want to spend the time menu planning. Well, I’m back to menu planning and have cooked some of the most fabulous meals; ground buffalo with sautéed mushrooms, onions, and avocado; baked chicken, apples and carrots; steamed brussel spouts with a lemon butter sauce; and sautéed spinach with lemon, garlic and onion powder. I’ve also been purchasing a new fruit each week; kumquats, kiwis and figs are the most recent. Not only has my body and metabolism thanked me, I am actually excited for what I have to eat.
So What Does This Mean For Me?
There are a lot of things to keep in mind when training from nutrition to weights to cardio to supplements; pre workout nutrition, post workout nutrition, vitamins, rest, recovery, load, parameter, mobility, prehab, and the list goes on and on. As if that isn’t hard enough; the amount of information out there can be overwhelming. For every general principal you read, if you spend an hour, you can find a reliable source contradicting that principle. Spend another hour and you will be back to the original principle. If you are daring enough to write out your own plan, it’s almost inevitable something will be overlooked. i.e. my post workout nutrition.
On the flip side, you might know exactly what you should do, but lack of time or fear of change prevents you from doing it. It is times like these when you need to take a hard look at your training. If you can’t be objective you need someone else to do it for you! (which is why I am so thankful to have the MP4 team ready to open my eyes to these things – even if I fight them, tooth and nail, on each and every point. I do go home, let it settle in, and realize they are right). It is these easy and small adjustments that can make all the difference.
Note I did not say to cut calories, restrict food or add cardio. While those are the typical go to things to step it up a notch, ask yourself whether you are doing yourself a disservice. My default when I feel I’ve hit a plateau is to restrict and do more work. My default when I am pressed for time is to cut corners. But when I step back and dot those I’s and cross those T’s; I realize spending the extra 10 minutes stretching changes my mindset for the entire day, switching up my diet breaks the plateau without restricting my calories, and adding in the PWO aids in my recovery so I have the time to get those 10 extra minutes of yoga done.
So where are you slacking? I challenge you to sit down and take a long hard look at your program; really be honest with yourself. I bet you can find the corners you have been cutting. Are you cutting them due to time or because you are being lazy? Or are skimping because you are stuck in a pattern of restricting and restricting some more, paralyzed with the fear of trying something new? It is not easy to break free from this, especially if it means adding/taking away time from your training or spending more time in the kitchen. Challenge yourself to first figure out the corners you are cutting and then spend 7 days not cutting them, I bet you will feel better once you adapt to the changes.
Where do you cut corners? I’d love to hear your thoughts?
Tags: athlete, Pondering, training for per4mance, training techniques
I’ve got a cut-corner for you: sleep! That’s one that is pretty universal. Thanks to the Olympics being in a different time zone (and being so exciting it’s just too hard for me to hit “record” on my DVR and haul it up to bed), I’ve joined the ranks of the under-slept, and therefore under-recovered. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Needless to say, at some sleepy point the record button got hit last night and I caught some zzz’s. Tonight I’ll do it sooner. PS This isn’t just for the workout-abused among us. It’s for the injured. I’m rocking a shoulder injury right now and I have NO business under-sleeping if I want to ever heal. Which is what I preach to patients who try and scoot by with a mere 5-6 hours per night, every night. (How in the world they do that, I have no idea. Two nights of that and I’m a waste of human flesh.)
Heather, that is a good one. I often do the same – want to stay up to watch a show and end up getting less sleep than I should. You are so right, more than one day of that and I am a bag o shiat!
Sleep really is a corner I think a lot of us cut, and do not even recognize it as such!
Hi Amy. Love the honesty! When I get over myself and get real, you know really own my stuff and put it out in this way, I feel 10lbs lighter. This is a great reminder to us all, because we’ve all been that person. My corner cutting is usually just showing up for weight training and cardio, but not pushing myself too hard, so my goals are to begin using lifting techniques like your EDT and complexes, as well as focused cardio, bringing in 9/10 days, etc. And of course I fudge w/ nutrition by eating the same foods over and over. It sounds like you’ve really opened up your fruits and veggies, and now I’m inspired too.
Heather, I HEAR you on the sleep. Sleeping is one of my very favorite things to do. You will never have to tell me to go to bed early. Sleep is huge for the appearance too. You know how haggard we all look when deprived, to say nothing of our mood and energy levels. Oy!
Thanks Seanna, I had been wanting to write about these things for a while, just had to let them ruminate enough in my own head first.
I totally hear you on not pushing yourself in the gym, that is exactly why I brought in the EDT/Complexes and so on. We will have to get together soon and I can give you all my books/articles.
As for the fruits and veggies, it was you who introduced me to some of the new ones – specifically the kumquats! So thank you for that!
Me? Got you going w/ new fruit and veggies? Yay! You’re totally welcome! Not that we EVER have time to get together, but I will hold you to the offer to borrow your training books and articles.
Wow, can I just state for the record that this thoroughly looks like I paid you to talk me up… btw, check’s in the mail.
All kidding aside, the lack of change in the diet is HUGE! A dietary rut is a hard one to change but probably the change that will give you the most bang for your buck. Change the veggies and fruits that you eat, rotate your breakfasts, change your oils around a bit…your body will love you for it!!
Great article, Kas. I’m sure you have some folks wondering about their training right now.:o)