Top 3 CFA Recommended Supplements for the Whole Life Challenge
The Whole Life Challenge: Supplements
One of the new elements of this years challenge is including a daily supplement point. Supplements are an important part of any athletes daily routine, but should not be prioritized over good nutritional habits. Additionally, supplements shouldn’t be viewed as a replacement for good ole fashioned whole foods. An analogy I like to use is whole food based meals are the the studs and solid foundation of your nutritional house, and quality supplements are the nails that hold it together. So no matter how nice of nails you put your nutritional house together with, it will still fall apart if you build it with rotten studs, and a cracked foundation.
That being said we’re talking about supplements today and we do carry them at CrossFit Austin. We offer the supplements we carry because we use them and believe in them. So today I’ve included what I believe are the top 3 supplements for our athletes that are taking on the Whole Life Challenge.
3. SFH Pure
At number 3 on our list we have Stronger Faster Healthier Pure. SFH Pure is a Whey protein made from grass fed, free range, hormone free cattle. To put it simply protein is the most important part of your daily nutrition, and many folks struggle to eat enough especially if the are regularly training with any type of intensity. Additionally, protein aids in recovery and serves as a “building blocks” for muscles in our body. Our recommendation is appx. 80-120 grams or protein per day for women, 160-240 grams of protein per day for men, and recommend taking a whey protein supplement immediately after a training session.
Now, there are a multitude of protein powders on the market and we carry a good number of protein powders. My recommendation of SFH Pure is based on the fact that it contains is very few ingredients : Whey, Sunflower Lecithin, and Stevia. And isn’t cut with additional carbohydrates and sugars that can be counterproductive for folks that are training intensely less than 5 hours a week and are try to lose fat.
A whey protein supplement is an important part of an athlete’s nutrition when CrossFit / intense training is involved. I’ve ranked it at 3rd because folks that are simply training at a lower intensity should strive to get all of the protein from whole food sources and whey protein is not allowed on the Performance level of the WLC.
Number two on our list is PurePharma O3 aka PurePharma fish oil. The primary benefit of fish oil is to reduce systemic or acute inflammation. Overall Inflammation is caused by any and all forms of stress such as exercise, life stress (work, family, financial, etc), or lack of sleep and manifest as joint pain, sickness, muscle pain, and/or delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Supplementing with Omega 3s via fish oil in addition to great nutritional habits have dramatically reduces all the pain associated with inflammation.
Like protein powder, there are a ton of fish oils on the market. Simply put, PurePharma O3 is the purest fish oil on the market with a minimum of 73% EPA:DHA concentration. I also personally prefer the capsule form of fish oil as opposed to liquid form.
I ranked Fish oil 2nd because it’s a supplement that all athletes should include as a part of their daily nutrition regardless of activity level. Its also recommended on all levels of the challenge.
3. PurePharma 3
PurePharma 3 is a daily dose of Vitamin D, Fish Oil, and Magnesium. PurePharma 3 is a cocktail of three essential supplements in a convenient, easy to manage, daily system.
There are myriad of benefits to supplementing with Vitamin D, Fish Oil, and Magnesium, but I’ll hit on the most important for each. Vitamin D boosts your immune system, and helps maintain strong, healthy bones, by improving the intestinal absorption of calcium. See above for the primary benefits of fish oil but to add to that, studies have shown regular fish oil intake assists immune function and muscle growth. Lastly, magnesium aids in energy production via increased ATP production. Magnesium also serves as a natural, non hormonal sleep aid and a natural digestive aid.
The main reason I’ve ranked Purepharma 3 at number is it includes three of the most important supplements anyone can take and combines them in a simple easy to maintain package. It takes the thought and work of “Taking your vitamins” out of your hands, and all the supplements are recommended at all levels of the challenge.
There are tons of supplements on the market and a lot of misleading marketing to go along with then. We encourage our athletes to include the supplements above, not just because we sell them, but because we only carry what we personally use and recommend to our clients. Everything listed above is something I use on daily basis. We’re offering a 15% discount on all our supplements to Whole Life Challengers throughout the duration of the challenge. Hopefully this will help you never miss your supplement point on the challenge!