Q: I’m a CrossFit athlete who wants to compete. What should I know to boost my performance?
A: CrossFit athletes are a hybrid of performance – meaning they should engage speed and explosiveness, along with maximum strength and resistance in power.
In other words, lactate tolerance. In order to build maximum strength, we need to focus on core exercises like the squat, bench and deadlift movements.
Perform one-quarter repetitions with 120″ [seconds] resting time. On the other hand, to develop resistance in strength, you’ll need to perform high repetitions of 15-20 with short intervals of 30″ – this will develop resistance in lactic acid and anaerobic threshold. Supplements for these conditions are creatine monohydrate, beta-alanine, carnosine, and sodium bicarbonate.
From an aerobic perspective, we need to boost erythropoiesis and red blood cell (RBC) count.
This will ensure more hemoglobin and myoglobin will provide oxygen in tissues and skeletal muscles. Iron and ascorbic acid, plus folate and injectable cobalamin, will ensure that. From a PEDs perspective, salbutamol inhaler is a beta-2 agonist that will improve VO2 max through bronchodilation.
While oxandrolone and stanozolol are AAS that will increase velocity without adding extra weight coming from water retention, because they don’t aromatize.
Of course, BCAAS are necessary pre- and intra-workout, while leucine and glutamine post-workout, along with creatine.