What Do We Think Is Optimal Nutrition?

 At CrossFit Plus, our nutrition approach is simple:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.

Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

While the coaches here at CrossFit Plus are not nutritionists but we are qualified in some areas of nutrition and can prescribe nutrition plans and advice to a certain extant.

We have experience-training individuals of all fitness levels and have observed the most efficient and greatest

fitness successes from those who eat a balanced diet of nutrient-rich foods.

If you think you need a more tailored nutrition program then we can offer, we are happy to refer you to a local nutritionist.

 

CrossFit Plus is equipped to educate the CrossFit methodology and provide instruction in individual functional movements. Our aim is to increase the work capacity of each person by developing and enhancing their fitness levels across the CrossFit Ten Universal Physical Skills.

This is done through the use of constantly varied functional movements, based upon CrossFit’s Nine Fundamental Movements, all performed at high intensity. It is our aim to teach and spread the CrossFit methodology!

10 General Physical Skills
Cardio-respiratory
Endurance
Stamina
Strength
Flexibility
Power
Speed
Coordination
Accuracy
Agility
Balance

 

9 Fundamental Movements
Squat
Front Squat
Overhead Squat
Press
Push Press
Push Jerk
Dead lift
Sumo Dead lift High Pull
Medball Clean.

 

 Top 10 Reasons why Heavy Weights Don’t Bulk Up the Female Athlete

 

By Tim Kontos, David Adamson, and Sarah Walls

From www.EliteFTS.com

David Adamson and I were driving to the IPA Nationals this past weekend talking training (yeah we’re pretty passionate about what we do) when the subject of training women with heavy weights came up. I’m in my ninth year at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) as the head strength and conditioning coach, and David has been in strength and conditioning for three years. This is a subject we deal with every year regardless of how much training information is available to the public.

The best way to get information is to go to the source. So we asked Sarah Walls, another strength and conditioning coach at VCU. Sarah is also a writer for Muscle and Fitness Hers, a former figure competitor, and a women’s tri-fitness competitor—not to mention a strong female athlete who isn’t bulked up. Therefore, she has a great perspective on the subject.

We, being a good team, put our heads together to find a way to combat this never-ending dilemma. Our way of doing that is through education. And, only one answer to a question is never enough. If you know your job well, then you know that there is more than one way to skin a cat. So we came up with the following list:

 

                     1. Women do not have nearly as much testosterone as men. In fact, according to Bill Kreamer in Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, women have about 15 to 20 times less testosterone than men. Testosterone is the reason men are men and women are women. After men hit puberty, they grow facial hair, their voice deepens, and they develop muscle mass. Because men have more testosterone, they are much more equipped to gain muscle. Because women do not have very much testosterone in their bodies, they will never be able to get as big as men.

                     2. The perception that women will bulk up when they begin a strength training program comes from the chemically-altered women on the covers of bodybuilding magazines. These “grocery stand models” are most likely pumped full of some extra juice. This is why they look like men. If you take the missing link that separates men from women and add it back in, what do you have? A man!

                     3. For women, toning is what happens when the muscle is developed through training.  This is essentially bodybuilding without testosterone. Since the testosterone is not present in sufficient amounts, the muscle will develop, but it won’t gain a large amount of mass.  The “toned” appearance comes from removing the fat that is covering a well-developed muscle.

                     4. Muscle bulk comes from a high volume of work. The repetition range that most women would prefer to do (8–20 reps) promotes hypertrophy (muscle growth). For example, a bodybuilding program will have three exercises per body part. For the chest, they will do flat bench for three sets of 12, incline for three sets of 12, and decline bench for three sets of 12. This adds up to 108 total repetitions. A program geared towards strength will have one exercise for the chest—flat bench for six sets of three with progressively heavier weight. This equals 18 total repetitions. High volume (108 reps) causes considerable muscle damage, which in turn, results in hypertrophy. The considerably lower volume (18 reps) will build more strength and cause minimal bulking.

                     5. Heavy weights will promote strength not size. This has been proven time and time again. When lifting weights over 85 percent, the primary stress imposed upon the body is placed on the nervous system, not on the muscles. Therefore, strength will improve by a neurological effect while not increasing the size of the muscles.

And, according to Zatsiorsky and Kreamer in Science and Practice of Strength Training, women need to train with heavy weights not only to strengthen the muscles but also to cause positive adaptations in the bones and connective tissues.

6. Bulking up is not an overnight process. Many women think they will start lifting   weights, wake up one morning, and say Holy sh__! I’m huge!” This doesn’t happen.   The men that you see who have more muscle than the average person      have worked hard for a long time (years) to get that way. If you bulk up overnight, contact us because we want to do what you’re doing.

7. What the personal trainer is prescribing is not working. Many female athletes come into a new program and say they want to do body weight step-ups, body weight lunges,   and leg extensions because it’s what their personal trainer back home had them do. However, many of these girls need to look in a mirror and have a reality check because   their trainer’s so-called magical toning exercises are not working. Trainers will hand out easy workouts and tell people they work because they know that if they make the program too hard the client will complain. And, if the client is complaining, there’s a   good chance the trainer might lose that client (a client to a trainer equals money).

8. Bulking up is calorie dependant. This means if you eat more than you are burning, you will gain weight. If you eat less than you are burning, you will lose weight. Unfortunately, most female athletes perceive any weight gain as “bulking up” and do not give attention to the fact that they are simply getting fatter. As Todd Hamer, a strength and conditioning coach at George Mason University said, “Squats don’t bulk you up. It’s the ten beers a night that bulk you up.” This cannot be emphasized enough. 

If you’re a female athlete and training with heavy weights (or not), you need to watch   what you eat. Let’s be real—the main concern that female athletes have when coming to   their coach about gaining weight is not their performance but aesthetics. If you choose to ignore this fact as a coach, you will lose your athletes!

9. The freshman 15 is not caused by strength training. It is physiologically impossible to gain 15 lbs of muscle in only a few weeks unless you are on performance enhancing   drugs. Yes the freshman 15 can come on in only a few weeks. This becomes more   complex when an athlete comes to a new school, starts a new training program, and also   has a considerable change in her diet (i.e. only eating one or two times per day in addition   to adding 6–8 beers per evening for 2–4 evenings per week). They gain fat weight, get   slower, and then blame the strength program. Of course, strength training being the   underlying cause is the only reasonable answer for weight gain. The fact that two meals per day has slowed the athlete’s metabolism down to almost zero and then the multiple beers added on top of that couldn’t have anything to do with weight gain...it must be the   lifting.

10.  Most of the so-called experts are only experts on how to sound like they know what they are talking about. The people who “educate” female athletes on training and   nutrition have no idea what they’re talking about. Let’s face it—how many people do you know who claim to “know a thing or two about lifting and nutrition?” Now, how many   people do you know who actually know what they’re talking about, have lived the life,   dieted down to make a weight class requirement, or got on stage at single digit body fat?   Invariably, these so-called experts are also the people who blame their gut on poor genetics.

 

These so-called experts are the reason you see so many women doing sets of 10 with a   weight they could do 20 or 30 times. They are being told by the experts that this is what it takes to “tone” the muscles. Instead, they are only wasting their time doing an exercise with a weight that is making no contribution to the fitness levels or the development of   the muscle. 

 

In case you haven’t figured it out by this point in the article, what is currently being done in fitness clubs to help female athletes tone their bodies is not working. It’s not helping these women get toned, and it is definitely not helping improve athletic performance. Maybe it’s time for a change. Contrary to the ineffective light weights currently being used, heavy weights offer many benefits for women including improved body composition, stronger muscles, decreased injury rate, and stronger bones (which helps prevent osteoporosis). Let’s try lifting some heavy weights and controlling our diet and watch this logical, science-based solution make the difference we’ve been looking for.

 

Tim Kontos is in his ninth year as the strength and conditioning coach for Virginia Commonwealth University athletes. A certified strength and conditioning specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Kontos designs, implements, and supervises all strength, speed, and agility programs for all the VCU athletic programs.

 

David Adamson is in his second year as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for VCU.  He is directly responsible for program design and implementation for men’s and women’s track and field, women’s cross country, and field hockey. Prior to coming to VCU, David worked at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Arizona State University, and Winona State University.  In 2003, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and in 2006, he received his masters in sport leadership from VCU.

 

Sarah Walls is in her first year with the Rams’ strength and conditioning staff as a graduate assistant working with men’s and women’s soccer, golf, and men’s cross-country. Graduating magna cum laude, she earned a bachelor’s of science degree from Virginia Tech in 2003. Since graduation, she has spent time working at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia in the strength department. While there, Sarah worked with women’s tennis, men’s tennis, men’s volleyball, and men’s soccer. At the same time, she also worked for LifeTime Fitness and helped manage and develop innovative training programs. In addition, she is a contributing writer for the magazine, Muscle and Fitness HERS.

 

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.

 

 

 

 

Affiliates 

CrossFit Plus Membership Terms and Conditions

Membership

• Membership is required for unlimited, 3x per week and 10x session pass holders.

Membership Freeze

• Freeze periods are available. Please inquire for more details call 0439 339 422 or info@crossfitplus.com

 

Unlimited access

• Available to unlimited pass holders only

 

PT Sessions

• A 40% Cancellation fee applies if at least 24-hour notice is not received (ie: $60 per hour will result in a $24 cancelation fee if given less than 24 hours notice)
• Pre payment is required to secure session, 40% of fee (unless valid reason)

 

A friend a month free (single pass only)

• Available to members with unlimited/3x per week passes
• Must be a different friend every month
• Required by all members (not sure what this means)

 

Causal drop-in

• Clients can only train during scheduled classes (due to insurance purposes)

 

10-visit pass

• Available to members only
• Valid for 8 weeks from purchase date
• Can only train during scheduled classes (due to insurance purposes)

 

3x per week

• Available to members only
• Direct debit required. (Unless valid reason) (See below)
• Can only train during scheduled classes (due to insurance purposes)

 

1 month Unlimited Access (4 weeks)

• Available to members only
• Direct debit required. (Unless valid reason) (See below)

 

Direct Debit

• Once off set up fee $2.20
• Can be set up on a weekly, fortnightly, 4 weekly or a monthly basis
• Admin fee (each charge/transaction will accrue a fee of $1.10 depending on account type)

 

*Fees are subject to change at any given time, notice to scheduled increase will be given to members in writing

 

*Contact Corey with any questions/queries. info@crossfitplus.com or 0439 33 94 22

 

 

Terms and conditions me be changed/altered at any time by the business owner.

 The cost to drop-in is $20 per class, per person. We ask that you please call ahead of time and we prefer that you have experience in CrossFit training. This is for your safety and the quality/efficiency of the class.

The cost for visiting athletes from other affiliates nationally/internationally is $15 per class, per person,

Please call ahead to inform us that you are coming and if you have another questions

CrossFit Plus .

 

This is a common misconception. The most elite athlete can come into the gym and find a workout challenging. You will never be “FIT” enough. That’s why we offer/recommend PT sessions to some and we are here and offer scaling options for each individual so that you can succeed in each workout on a personal level. Fitness is a lifelong voyage. 

Our rates are actually less costly than most other CrossFit Affiliates in NSW. The quality of instruction you get from our Coaches is Group/Personal training at a fraction of the cost.

“You could just follow our blog, and do the WOD for what you under stand of it. But you would not get the quality of teaching from our certified coaches. Most people are not taught how to move correctly and don’t know how to teach themselves. You are automatically making yourself more vulnerable to injury and neglecting your gains by trying to do this on your own. It is also infinitely more fun when you are encouraged and held accountable by a group of your peers. Plus you won’t have someone cheering you on in your basement or local gym, like you have at CrossFit Plus.”

‘We are a community’

You can injure yourself in any activity, but CrossFit is much more safer than most activities people perform each day. That is why hear at CrossFit Plus We highly recommend people take part in the ‘On-Ramp’ Classes or the PT session to start, so you can get up to speed and lower the % even more, of injured your self. That is why we first of all go over the correct mechanics/technique; ease you into the intensity and group atmosphere.