Comments on: Cortisol Management for CrossFitters

By: WOD 4/19 | CrossFit Austin | Group Fitness Classes, Personal Training, Olympic Lifting, BootCamp

Wed, 19 May 2010 03:46:56 +0000

[...] Cortisol Management [...]

By: Greg Harrington

Greg Harrington — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:03:26 +0000

Melissa,

I am wondering how/if you have changed your CF WODs in response to this article? Do you think main site WODs, in general, fall in line with the intensity of training over the long term? (For sake of argument, lets assume the crossfitter is someone who usually does the workouts RXd in a reasonable time, (not a firebreather, but respectable)

By: Dale Johnstone

Dale Johnstone — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:06:03 +0000

@Hamilton: You make a great point here that I've often thought of when taking supplements.

How does one really notice whether or not they're making a difference? Especially given that there are so many factors involved that it's impossible/impractical to just change one thing. Let's say this week I decide to start taking BCAA's. I know my work schedule and pressure is going up, but I'm also switching my training program up. And I'm at day 23 of my whole30. And so on... So, how do I tell if these are working or if I'm wasting my money?

Ok, let's say my numbers in my workouts go up/down. Was it the supplements or was it something else? Or, let's say I start taking them and I "feel" stronger more days in a row? Did they help with my recovery or is there something else going on?

By: Jason Struck, RKC

Jason Struck, RKC — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:22:15 +0000

oh, though not working by the exact same mechanisms, I think that Creatine and Glutamine have similar effects, if only indirectly.

As does marijuana.

But I didn't say that.

By: Jason Struck, RKC

Jason Struck, RKC — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:17:32 +0000

nice work

By: Hamilton

Hamilton — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:49:15 +0000

Mellisa,

You've got a distinctive way, so I like to pop in here. I appreciate your taking the time to respond further.

In my view, there's too much in the way of shorthand solutions floating around on the largely unreliable web. Anything focusing on supplements is suspect. Surely you've dropping in on various fitness sites and noticed how everyone is pimping supps. I take fish oil and D and haven't noticed a bit of difference.

Good luck.

By: Melissa Urban

Melissa Urban — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:06:30 +0000

@Hamilton: All right... that's fair-ish. Lest anyone think I got my information from the back of Muscle & Fitness Hers, here's some background. A few months ago when I was going through some stress, I spoke with Robb Wolf about adrenal fatigue and his experience with cortisol and cortisol management. He made reference to Poliquin's BioSignature work, which I then spent time researching. Fascinating, especially knowing the success Robb has had with implementing Poliquin's cortisol management protocol in his own life. I then sent my thoughts on supplementation over to M@ and Dallas, and had chats with them about what was worthwhile to consider and what was, in their opinion, bunk. I then applied some of these tips for cortisol management to my own life, with good success. So there you have it - all that background, condensed into the phrase, "I Googled some stuff."

In all fairness, not all supplements are bad. Fish oil is a supplement. Vitamin D3 is a supplement. And in times of stress, I am not above bumping up my supplement intake in the short term to help see me through. Note, however, that three out of my four areas of recommendations had nothing to do with pills from a bottle, and everything to do with good old fashioned common sense. And I sure as hell consider common sense "stuff I know".

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

By: Hamilton

Hamilton — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:32:52 +0000

Melissa,

Making supplement recommendations based on google searches is weak.

The supplement industry is notorious for promoting stuff of questionable value. You are simply falling in line.

You do ok when you talk about stuff you know. Don't give up your authority.

By: Brandon P. Petersen

Brandon P. Petersen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:27:22 +0000

Great post….
starting my google searches :-)

By: Dallas

Dallas — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:15:02 +0000

While I don't consider myself "smarter or more science-y" than Melissa, I'll weigh in and say that a little calcium in some residual food in your stomach that you ate 3 hours before bed shouldn't affect the absorption of magnesium and/or zinc, though I wouldn't recommend taking a calcium supplement with your ZMA. In general, I encourage people to head to bed with an emty-ish stomach anyway, so ZMA right before bed shouldn't conflict too much with calcium-containing foods. Also, keep in mind that most calcium supplements aren't very well absorbed anyway (though some compounds are better than others), so I'd rather see you getting your calcium from food. Of course, the ZMA supplement is a suboptimal source as well, but as an anti-stress "intervention", it works well. I've used ZMA (and various formulations of chelated zinc or picolinate and magnesium asparate/citrate) off and on for years, and definitely noted better tolerance to hard training and life stressors when I am supplementing with it. I don't place nearly as much importance on calcium supplementation, though. The hormonal balancing and immune-stimulating effects of ZMA can be augmented by glutamine and BCAA supplementation, as Melissa previously noted.

Melissa, nice work on posting all this stuff. I'm stoked to have you as a Smart partner. Now if you could just make me a little less Dumb...