Nutrition 101 – Proteins/Amino Acids

There are perhaps about 100 different amino acids found in nature, and they are the basic building blocks of life. Humans are made up of 20 of these. Amino acids combine into polypeptide chains which in turn combine into proteins. Our cells are mostly water, but the non-water part is mostly made up of proteins. These 20 amino acids can arranged into trillions upon trillions of combinations to serve all the functions of our bodies. And proteins are the most complex molecular structures known to biology. Every part and function of your body needs protein! You cannot survive without eating protein.

The 20 amino acids that humans require can be further divided into two main categories: 9 essential and 11 non-essential. The non-essential amino acids are those that our systems can create from chemicals found in our body. The essential amino acids are those our bodies’ cannot synthesize and that we need to get from our food. Just a few examples of the proteins our bodies produce from amino acids are enzymes, antibodies, hormones, motor proteins and structural proteins. Myosin is one protein that is key to exercise as it converts energy into movement, which in this case is the contraction of muscle fibers.

We have two protein sources – either eating animals or vegetables. Most animal sources, including eggs and dairy, are called complete proteins as we can get all 9 essential amino acids from them. Vegetable sources are usually low or missing some of the essential amino acids. In order to get all the essential amino acids from only vegetables you have to combine them to ensure an ample supply of each.

You need to consume a sufficient amount of protein each day in order for your body to be able to properly build, maintain and repair all its functions. Your body does have some safety mechanisms to handle a prolonged lack of protein by breaking down less essential parts of your body to supply protein to the more essential parts of your body. An example of this is the body breaking down muscle tissue to be able to provide proteins to the brain or vital organs.

Your diet absolutely has to include proteins that will regularly supply you with all 9 essential amino acids. If it doesn’t, that will generate a deficiency in your body. How much protein your body needs and in what proportion to carbohydrates and fats is not an easy answer, especially if you have any conditions, health problems or other issues that can affect your body’s processing of nutrients. Also, determining what are the best sources for you is also something to consider. This is why we recommend working with a nutritionist/dietitian.

Next: How does our body use carbohydrates?

Specialty Classes This Week

FTX Gold (55+) – Wednesday 2:30pm
Family WOW! – Saturday 10am

Seven Sons Farm

You are what you eat! Exercise, nutrition and recovery are the keys to health. Workout hard, eat well and get rest. Food that is not processed and free of chemicals and pollutants is a must. We are here to help!

Our next delivery is this Saturday, March 14th. Order by this Tuesday, March 10th.
Delivery is to FTX CrossFit between 3:00pm – 4:00pm. You will be given a 30 minute window for pick-up. Ordering is easy.
Quality food is a must. Seven Sons is a great source for grass fed, antibiotic and hormone free meat that is ethically grown. They also offer great dairy products and more, and all of the highest quality.

Order here.

WOD Summary

Please look at Wodify for the specific daily WOD announcements. They are available a week in advance. We will no longer post full WODs here.

Our current strength program will finish at the end of this month. This strength program has involved some higher reps and two exercises. By constantly varying our workouts to hit our bodies from different angles, which prevents adaptation/plateauing, we’ve been seeing a lot of gain and improvement. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday it will be fast-paced as we cover 2 movements versus doing just 1. On Mondays and Fridays we will rotate through the movements: Shoulder Press/Ft. Squats, Ft. Squats/Deadlifts, Shoulder Press/Deadlifts, Shoulder Press/Ft. Squats and so on. Our warm-ups will have you ready to go. It will be important to arrive to classes on time in order to properly go through the whole warm-up sequence. The following is an outline of our strength program this week.

• Monday: Push Press and Front Squat.
• Tuesday: Olympic lifting – Jerk.
• Wednesday: 3 Dumbbell exercises – Arnold presses, Thrusters and Straight-leg Deadlifts.
• Thursday: Pull-ups or wtd. pull-ups.
• Friday: Front Squat and Deadlift.
• Saturday: Extra core work after WOD.

The WODs on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays during this strength cycle have been shorter WODs with a minimum amount of movements. Most of them being under 10 minutes and involve a couplet. Tuesday and Thursdays will have longer WODs that also may involve more movements. Saturdays will tend to be longer like the Hero WODs. We know that certain combinations of attendance, like MWF or TuThS, might limit your exposure to the full variety of our programming in February and March. Keep in mind that this is for 8 weeks. We will change it back up for April. This might narrow your focus a bit for the next 8 weeks, but this can be a positive. Our programming is all about the long-term, i.e. what can we achieve in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and over a life-time. It is not about trying to achieve unrealistic goals like “Beach body in 3 weeks” or “Biggest Loser”. It is also impossible to effectively cover everything, every week. To be well-rounded for the long-term, there are weeks or even months where we focus on one thing or another.

We start this week with a triplet consisting of T2B, push-ups and step-ups that will hit your core, pecs and legs. Tuesday is a longer partner WOD that will have you alternating between cardio (rowing and running) and lifting (S2O and Ft. Squats). On Wednesday we’ll have two choices for you: Our strength program and a shorter Metcon of Bike and Pull-ups OR an alternate WOD that is a long 30:00 AMRAP chipper with a variety of movements. Thursday is longer MetCon with some heavier weight consisting of power cleans, pull-ups and burees. Friday is again a shorter Metcon that will tax the shoulders, core and get the heart pumping. Saturday is a Hero WOD – Nate.

We hope you enjoy this week of functional, constantly varied workouts done at an appropriate level of intensity. As always – train smart!