Welcome to a deeper dive into the world of sports nutrition, where we magnify the crucial yet often underestimated role of micronutrients. In this edition, we delve into essential vitamins and minerals that power athletic performance, how can implementation optimize fitness,  and draw lessons from real athlete case studies on overcoming common deficiencies.

Recent studies have brought leucine to the forefront of nutritional science, particularly regarding its role in post-exercise recovery. Research from the University of Toronto and associated institutions has demonstrated that leucine-enriched essential amino acids are instrumental in enhancing recovery from muscle damage incurred during exercise. This benefit is distinct from the traditional mechanisms of protein synthesis, offering a unique avenue for muscle repair.

CrossFit athletes, known for their rigorous training encompassing high-intensity cardio, weightlifting, and plyometrics, face unique recovery challenges. Leucine, an essential amino acid, emerges as a key factor in post-exercise recovery. Studies, including those from the University of Toronto, highlight that leucine-enriched essential amino acids are effective in repairing muscle damage after intense workouts—a common scenario in CrossFit. Leucine's collaboration with insulin in enhancing muscle protein synthesis is particularly beneficial for CrossFit athletes, who often engage in diverse and demanding exercises.

Dealing with a setback after a CrossFit competition can be challenging, especially if you have been training for months or even years for the event. However, setbacks are a part of life, and how you handle them can have a significant impact on your ability to bounce back and move forward. In this blog post, we'll discuss some strategies for handling setbacks from the CrossFit Age Group Online Qualifiers (AGOQ) and/or Quarterfinals.

Imposter syndrome is a common feeling experienced by many individuals in various professions, including strength coaches. It is the feeling of inadequacy or self-doubt despite evidence of one's skills, knowledge, and experience. Strength coaches who experience imposter syndrome may feel like they are not qualified or skilled enough to be coaching athletes and may doubt their abilities.

Overcoming imposter syndrome as a strength coach can be challenging, but it is possible. Here are 5 tips on how to overcome imposter syndrome as a strength coach.

This weekend marks the second/third stage for the age group quarterfinals. I say the second/third stage because I look at stage two as the teams and stage three as the age group, of which both are competing this weekend. With the release of the floorplans, I am very excited to see these workouts. Here are my thoughts on the floorplans and potential difference makers, as well as a few tips to mentally prepare for the Quarterfinal weekend.

The main purpose of a deload week is to give the body a chance to recover from the accumulated stress of intense training. This can be especially important for individuals who participate in strength and conditioning programs that require a lot of high-intensity training, heavy lifting, or frequent training sessions such as with CrossFit athletes. Over time, this type of training can lead to physical and mental fatigue, decreased performance, and an increased risk of injury. 

In today’s information age, finding an online coach is like shooting fish in a barrel. Everywhere you look there is another platform, another program, another coach. Even though the principles are the same, what varies from coach to coach is their ability to not only apply the principles to the athletes they are working with, but their deliverables to the clients in a professional manner.

Here are Conquer Athlete’s seven principles to being a good online coach.

CrossFit is a demanding fitness regimen that incorporates a variety of exercises and movements to improve strength, endurance, and overall fitness. To get the most out of your Crossfit workouts, it's essential to incorporate the principle of progressive overload into your training. This principle involves gradually increasing the intensity, volume, or frequency of your workouts over time, to continually challenge your body and promote ongoing gains in strength, endurance, and fitness.

Here are some tips on how to use progressive overload in Crossfit.

The CrossFit Open brings mixed emotions for most athletes. Some thrive under the pressure, while others crumble. How you plan for the start of the competitive season can play a major role whether you thrive in the OPEN or you just survive. 

When I’m working with athletes, I think of competition in three phases, before, during and after and each phase has specific skills attached to it. As athletes, the sooner you realize and embrace that competition is a skill the sooner you’ll begin to thrive in it. 

The CrossFit Open is here! For some, this is just another walk in the park. For some, this is a fun community event where they get to throw down shoulder to shoulder with other members of their community and compare themselves to the best of the best. For others, this is the start of what they have been training for over the past year(s).

There are many variables to doing well in the CrossFit Open. However, my goal is to touch on four topics that can yield a huge impact for you.

Here are some ways that coaches and athletes can prepare themselves for the CrossFit Open. This is definitely not exhaustive, but will surely help to get you focusing on what will put YOU in the best position to perform at your best. As always, having a Coach to help guide you through the X’s and O’s will always be your best resource, but for now, let’s call this a close second.

Conquer Athlete had quite the showing at WZA in Miami last weekend. Here are the athletes who represented Conquer, results, and highlights.

One major problem I see with “proving” if CrossFit is an effective program lies in one of its foundational principles of preparing for the unknown and unknowable. The application of it is different for everyone. Because there is no centralized delivery of workouts, it’s up to the affiliates to interpret the method and put out a product. It is up to both the program design side and how you the athlete decides to complete it that determines if it’s a “proven” and effective program.

A common question that coaches are asked is whether or not they should seek out Remote Coaching or In-Person Coaching. In truth, there are very compelling reasons why either could be more serviceable so it’s not a matter of if one is better than the other, per say. What needs to be determined is which is the best option for the athlete at any given point in time.

CrossFit, as a sport, is based around the idea that through “constantly varied training” we will be “prepared for the unknown.” This means that athletes in the sport must be able to perform movements from Gymnastics, Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Endurance Training, Strongman, and more without any idea of how they will end up being tested. With so many different skills and exercises to learn and only so much time to train, the question then becomes how do we include the right amount of variety without sacrificing structure within our programming?

One of the most impactful things we can do as a coach is to understand that we are also leaders and guides. Oftentimes as leaders, egos can get in the way. When the leader presents himself as the end all be all, there will be a lack of those who will follow. As coaches, we need to be able to have conversations, and take in information from our athletes, our staff, and know that others may have expertise in areas that you don’t.

It’s 2022 and people are still out here dogging CrossFit and its effectiveness as a training model. I think we’re at the point now where we can really look at CrossFit as a tool to develop all forms of athletes when the time is appropriate, and that's the big caveat here: timing.

Everyone has, at some point in their training, experienced a plateau regardless of how fit they are. It can be very frustrating and leave you feeling disinterested and unmotivated with your training. This feed-forward cycle can wreak havoc on long-term success which is why I want to discuss some ways coaches and athletes can break through plateaus before they become problematic.

Master CrossFit Athlete Coach Jason Leydon lists a 10-step approach to programming for a CrossFit Masters Athlete. Read more.