I hope I am not stepping on anyone’s toes or crossing the line with the following suggestions. First things first, I know how you are and credentials matter to you, with that being said, I don’t have any (yet) but I do know my shit. Let’s get some basic terminology out of the way.
MetCon: Metabolic Conditioning, basically any Crossfit type circuit training. The body had several pathways it uses to access energy. Crossfit primarily utilizes the metabolic pathway.
Volume: the overall quantity of training in a given time period not to be confused with training session. So simply put a number of training sessions per week make up your training volume.
So after looking over your training goals and physical goals, I have some concerns about your volume. You told me that you are currently doing 3-1 and then running, weights, swimming and hiking. Worst case scenario you’re actually doing all this in the space of a week which would mean that you are not recovering. Not recovering can and will cause elevated cortisol levels and elevated cortisol levels signal your body to hold on to fat. Just from talking to you, I can sense a problem of with cortisol because your diet and sleep are dialed in and you don’t seem to have any major life stressors. So the culprit can be hormonal. Okay enough jibber jabbering. How would I address your situation? I would address in three parts.
PHYSICAL:
I would reduce your training volume (number of training sessions) per week. If you’re going to do 3on – 1 off, then stick with that. Crossfit type workouts produce a huge cortisol response. (Side note, cortisol is not bad, but chronically elevated cortisol is.) I would ditch the running for while. What I am trying to say is that you need at a minimum one day off from high intensity anything. I would recommend that you practice some skill work, but for now just take days off.
Swimming, I would keep, but I would keep the laps at recovery pace (basically nice and easy.) Swimming at recovery pace would really help to “remove” the built up lactic acid in your system.
Hiking, I would also keep in the rotation; slow movement is good movement especially when it comes to recovery. The same concept as swimming.
Strength, the greatest limiter for female athletes, and something that should be address as early as possible. The program I use and recommend is structured in this manner.
Warm –up
Dynamic strength (power clean, snatch, jerk, explosive movement)
Slow strength (Squat, Deadlift, and Bench)
Then a short and nasty Metcon.
I understand that you’re in class setting and switching things up may be difficult, but you will need to build your strength parameters up to compete. (That’s a whole other topic)
RECOVERY
Another way to tackle the cortisol beast is your method of recovery. I will make several suggestions to you and I hope that you follow at least one to two of the methods thrown out at you.
- Ice baths (at least once a week)
- Contrast showers: you start showering with hot water and then switch to cold approximately 5-8 times throughout the shower.
- Foam roll like its going out of style
- Massage
- Long walk ( 35+mins)
- Sleep 9-10 hours (this one is actually hard to do.
SUPPLEMENTS:
You can also help lower your cortisol by taking the following supplements. I view supplements as the icing on the cake and not the cake. A lot of people view the supplements as the fixer to their problems. I don’t think supplements should be used that way.
- Glutamine ( 5-10 grams a day on a empty stomach)
- Phosotidyserine ( I think I spelt this wrong)
- Fish Oil ( I know you already have that dialed in )
- Probiotics (Super heavy dose – Bio- K would be great)
Well, I can go in on this topic for days, but I think I covered the basics and what needs to be addressed for you to really give games or the regional’s a shot. Hopefully you take my advice and run with. I can see you being a force to be reckoned with at the games.
