Whole 9 Seminar

*image from CrossFit Generation*

5 of us from CrossFit Kingston attended the Whole 9 Nutrition Workshop yesterday (July 24, 2010) and they did not disappoint. Melissa and Dallas are very knowledgeable in this field and were able to make the content very easy to understand so everyone could follow along. Their main focus on this seminar was to educate us in making smarter nutritional choices for long-term health as opposed to short-term goals. Despite the constant flow of sweat trickling down my spine all morning it was very enjoyable.

It started off with Melissa and Dallas introducing themselves and a bit of their background. Then we jumped right into it and briefly discussed the 3 macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) and how the body responds if too little or too much of a macronutrient is consumed.

Insulin and inflammation were referred to a lot throughout the morning.

Dallas broke down "bad food choices" and what kind of physiologic effects occur as a result of their consumption. These "bad food choices" include sugars, alcohol, grains, legumes, and a few others.

Melissa jumped in after Dallas and discussed "good food choices". By eliminating what was mentioned above (minus a few things that weren't mentioned - go to one of their seminars to find out the rest) you are left with meat, vegetables, fruit, and fat. Each section was broken down and expanded upon quite efficiently and very understandable.

Meal portions were briefly touched on and they kept it so simple it literally took a few minutes.

The last topic of discussion for the Workshop was about pre- and post-workout meals. They talked about what types and quality of food to eat for each and when the foods should be consumed. All I can say is that I have never done any pre-WOD fueling before. I can't wait to give it a try this week.

I stuck around for the first Trainer's Workshop. Fortunately we were able to move to a room that had some sort of air conditioning. There were quite a number of people that remained for this Workshop.

This was a more informal setting where everyone in the class participated and talked about his/her own experience with clients at the box he/she coaches at or owns and views on the importance of nutrition.

Dallas and Melissa offered different strategies on how to include the topic of nutrition into the daily workout regime. As well, different strategies on how to better describe the importance of clean eating.

Then we spent a bit of time going over case studies and how to spot errors or patterns in nutrition logs submitted by clients. I was on the right track to understanding on how to decipher the food logs but Dallas and Melissa offered different views on looking deeper and finding a relation between performance and nutrition.

We finished off the afternoon with a "round table" discussion on how different boxes implement nutritional strategies in their box and how effective they are. All I know is that I learned the most from this group discussion and I hope to be able to implement some of what I learned at CrossFit Kingston.

I would recommend going to one of their seminars if you have any interest in nutrition what-so-ever. They get their point across without going into too much detail. Not only are they approachable, they are very friendly and are willing to answer any question thrown at them without going all "sciencey". If they ever come north of the border again, in Ontario that is, I would not hesitate to sit through another humid-filled room to listen to them speak.