In one of the earlier blog posts, I dedicated that post to asking the followers/readers to come up with questions they have for coach Mike. It can be related to training or about anything they have always wanted to know about Coach Mike. Diego Araiza, a former member of NOX and a good friend of ours asked Coach Mike the Following questions: How does what we do at NOX improve your cardio and what does your nutrition consist of? The initial post was from about 2 years ago so I decided I would repost it. Enjoy.
AND If you have any other question that you want Coach Mike to answer then feel free to email me (richard@rxactionapp.com) or leave a comment below.
That's a great question Diego! By "Cardio" I'm assuming you are referring to your long running that you've been doing to prep for the Army Physical Testing that you will undergo in a few weeks. The whole idea behind "cardio", or the heart's efficiency to pump Oxygen-rich blood through the body, for most people, is to sustain an elevated heart rate ranging from 120-150 BPM(beats per minute) for a long duration, usually ranging between 30-60 minutes. This is a difficult task for most people because after doing a general lift session at LA Fitness, 120BPM can be out of most people's comfort zone, causing lots of stress on the heart who aren't used to it.
At NOX, we do our strength sessions, which are "slightly different" than the average sessions done at LA Fitness, and then we do our WODs, which average between 10-15 minutes. The primary goal of our WOD portion is intensity. To become uncomfortable quickly, and to fight it out for the remaining time or until you complete your task. In a 10 minute Workout, your Heart rate will range from 150-200 BPM throughout a majority of the workout while having to lift heavy weights, jump, crawl...etc, which is why sometimes you wonder why you're doing it and that you hate me. After 2 months of training like this, you have become more comfortable with being extremely uncomfortable , and so now when you do your 2-6 mile runs, never reaching more than probably 140BPM, which is well under your uncomforted level, and all you have to do is run without worrying about lifting, jumping, or counting reps...it becomes an easy task. So was long as you give the short duration workouts that we do at NOX 100% of your effort, elevating your heart rate as high as possible, performing “cardio” such as running/swimming/biking at low intensity will be much more manageable for you.
***Nick Leonne is a great example of how NOX can and will improve your cardio. A few months ago he ran a 10k race in which he ran much faster than the year before, and much faster than he has ever run 10k in. This time around Nick focused his training primarily of high intensity metabolic conditioning, the workouts of the day at NOX training. The year before he ran mile after mile, day after day to train for it and had no where near the same results he had while training at high intensity at NOX**
What does your nutrition consist of?
As far as my diet goes, I don't follow any particular one. I don't have an eating schedule and I don't count my calories. I have a high volume training schedule, and with the little appetite that I have, I find myself force feeding myself so that I get enough to sustain my training without diminishing my muscle tissues. My breakfast usually includes 2-3 eggs, a slice of toast with peanut and jelly on it, sometimes oatmeal, and a protein shake if I have one. I'll snack on a fruit or walnuts during my training. Post training is probably my largest meal containing, mostly eggs, beef, vegetables, potatoes, bacon...etc. Yeah I love breakfast. And then often I'll snack on ice cream, chocolate almond and fruit with peanut butter, putting me in a massive food coma. I try to earn my naps with a 2-3 hour training sesh and a 1500 calorie meal. I then force feed myself at around 4pm before heading back to the box, which usually contains whatever is convenient around the house. I have a pretty simple diet but I make sure to take a multi vitamin to supplement any deficiencies from my diet alone. When I compete I don't change anything with my diet. If you train day to day with certain foods, then I don't see any reason to change it one day for a competition. On competition days I will eat a large breakfast with eggs, oatmeal, fruit...etc. and I'll make sure to sustain my energy with fruit and some cliff bars, and also some lean meat such as chicken breasts. Staying hydrated is important, using a combination of water and Carb drinks such as Gatorade and pedialyte. Everyone is different, and require various amounts of caloric intake, this works for me and may or may not work or you. Training is when you experiment with your diet, and put together a plan that works for you.
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