Thursday, January 14, 2010

E.P.O.C - Why CrossFit works!


Many of you have signed up for the I Am CrosFit - E.P.O.C challenge! Well, what is E.P.O.C and why is it important to you?

What is E.P.O.C?

E.P.O.C stands for Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption and refers to the work your body continues to do AFTER your workout. During EPOC your body is restoring/repairing itself to it's pre-exercise state. This means, you're continueing to expend energy and burn fuel (calories) at an elevated rate.

EPOC is higher with short, high intensity workouts (like your CrossFit Central WODs) than with aerobic (running, cycling, long slow distance) workouts.

Why is it important to you?

EPOC is the reason CrossFit makes YOU fitter than you've ever been. You must attack every CrossFit WOD with your highest intensity and you will increase your metabolic efficiency. It's shown that EPOC can increase your metabolic rate 13% up to 3 hours after exercise and 4% after 16 hours post workout! That's right one 5-15 minutes workout can increase your metabolism for 16 hours. READ THAT AGAIN! That is exciting! That is something your 1 hour runs and 3 hour bike rides CANNOT do for you!

This also means that you need to respect the need for your body to repair itself after CrossFit WODs. You're in the challenge, you're working towards your goals, you're making sacrifices, and pushing yourself to new physical limits BUT make sure you rest and recover.

TEAM 4:
How has the first week been?
What did you learn at the Nutrition meeting?
What is the biggest thing you'll have to give up for this challenge? post to comments.

For me: I need to cut out the corn tortilla's and get back to 1x a week alcohol treats! I am doing the I Am CrossFit workout today and will let you guys know how I did and what my goals are for the next 8 weeks.

4 comments:

  1. The first week has been areal eye opener. Having done Crossfit now for a couple of months, I'm accustomed to the exercises, but the nutrition aspect is totally new to me. Giving up dairy and bread is going to be my biggest hurdle, but I'm excited to see what effect the 'clean living' will have on my system and my progress. I made it through an entire lunch at Maudie's without having a single chip!! Someone at the table even ordered the Diablo queso and I somehow managed to resist... so it can be done. All the coaches' encouragement and positive attitudes (and shared suffering) is great motiviation. Many thanks!

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  2. About 45 minutes ago, I was standing in front of my fridge on the verge of despair. I work from home, which is great in the sense that I have 100% total control over the food I put in my body, no stressing about where to eat lunch with non-CrossFit/non-paleo friends or coworkers. But it totally sucks when you haven't gone post-nutrition meeting grocery shopping yet. All the good stuff I thought we had? Eh, not so much, come to find out. So there I was, debating whether to pout, cuss or both, when the quiet, calm, rational voice in the back of my head--which I'm really good at blocking out, by the way--got kind of creative on me. How about stir frying some of those veggies in sesame oil? What about tuna with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, almond slivers, salt and dried spices? I suddenly had possibilities where there weren't any five minutes before. So I tried them...and they were good!

    Don't misunderstand, I'm not a gung-ho paleo convert on Post-Nutrition Meeting Day 1, much as I wish I were. I will struggle again tonight, when I can't have my wine, beer or frozen yogurt (and God knows I would LOVE a giant serving of tortellini and garlic bread). And I will struggle again tomorrow and the next day, and probably the day after that. But I'm committed to this, and I KNOW I can do it. Y'all just may have to listen to me whine a little while I break my old habits! :)

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  3. I feel sore but I love it! I feel MUCH better having cleaned my diet up after the holiday indulgences. My biggest struggle will be not having a glass of red wine with some of my favorite dishes. But right now I was SO READY to detox from the holiday sugar intake that I haven't been hit with any sugar cravings yet. I am happy to be away from that stuff. Can;t wait to see what the next 8 weeks brings. Happy to be in this all together! We ALL CAN DO IT!!

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  4. Today's workout was SUPER! I really liked the WOD, even with the modifications we had to make due to the rain. Overall, I feel pretty good this week.
    I hit an energy slump during yesterday's EPOC WOD, but think it was due to not eating enough dinner the night before.
    Going full Paleo has been a lot easier this time. I think it helps that I have already steered this way before. Although, I must admit...about 20 minutes ago I was tired of eating nuts, veggies, didn't have anymore turkey or tuna left and was craving anything other than Paleo. Good news is, I threw out everything non-Paleo last week.
    Looking forward to seeing transformations for all of us...GO TEAM 4!!!

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