Training can only get us so far.

We can spend hours grinding, stressing our bodies day after day, and still fall short of stimulating the adaptations to produce our Prime Athlete. Why? Because we forget some of the most essential components of athleticism exists outside the gym.

Think of it like this. Our workouts are like a demolition crew, breaking down our structure to clear the way for a better and stronger one. Consider this: (1) Do we want that demolition crew to have the best tools for the job, and (2), when we recover, do you want the best material to rebuild your new mansion?

That’s how nutrition fits into the equation.

We can use nutrition to offer that demolition crew a wrecking ball instead of a hammer and chisel. So why not maximize your demolition by fueling your muscles with carbohydrates.

We can rebuild your new castle with concrete blocks instead of matchsticks, so long as we incorporate proper protein timing to optimize recovery post-training.

Proper nutrition habits essentially allow you to maximize the gainz from your workouts by:

1.     Improving your workout quality

2.     Optimizing your ability to recover and adapt to your workout

There are, however, a few caveats in order for nutrition strategies to be effective for you. And that depends on how these habits fit into your lifestyle. In order for us to effectively utilize nutrition to support our training (in the long term), your approaches need to be:

1.     Relevant –

Do specific nutrition recommendations relate to you? Will the strategies we discuss actually progress you towards your Prime Athlete? If they don’t, then you don’t need to worry about them. Your goal should be to focus on only what supports you in your progress. Nothing else matters.

2.     Complementary –

Do these habits fit into your lifestyle? In other words, how far do you want to take this? Consider your Reverse Cone – Where do you stand? What are you willing to give up? Nutrition practices of athletes in the top 1% likely won’t fit into your current lifestyle. Okay, that’s fine! We aren’t all competing at the Olympics! So why are we worrying about mirroring their every food choice? What we should strive for is identifying nutrition strategies that easily fit into our current lifestyle. That way, you start benefitting from proper nutrition support without any noticeable change to your daily activities.

There’s a valuable lesson here about nutrition. Simply put, it’s not so much about knowing what you eat, but how you are going to eat it. Following nutrition guidelines is about adopting behaviors, not knowing your specific macros or g/kg recommendations. Realizing this is the first step to making sustainable change to your life. Change that will consistently fuel your training and stimulate your adaptations.

So where does this journey start? Well, think about where our nutrition foundation exists. I’ll give you a hint - it’s definitely not supplements. Our foundation starts with FOOD. Real Food.

Think Food First! Most of us can get everything we need to support ourselves simply with food. Supplements can come into play later, but food should be our primary source of nutrition if we want to create a sustainable lifestyle. Once you realize how to use real food to your advantage, you’ll be pulling up your wrecking ball and supplying the concrete for your castle day-after-day.

 That’s why, to me, learning some level of culinary skills in the kitchen is such a valuable tool for everyone. You learn how to manipulate real food so it –

1.     Fits your preferences and tastes amazing to you

2.     Meets your nutrition goals that stimulates your adaptations

3.     Optional - Maybe gets you some “likes” on that b-e-a-utiful picture you post (since that’s life nowadays). 

So ask yourself. What are your nutrition habits right now? And be honest. We have to critically inspect our lifestyles before we can start adopting habits that take us closer to our Prime Athlete.

My hope with Preston Performance is that you find practical uses of nutrition, so you can seamlessly incorporate whatever you need into your life. That way, you get to maximize the benefits of your grind. And, most importantly, you get to enjoy it.

Food isn’t going anywhere, it’s one of those lifelong relationships that’ll stick by your side. So why not learn to love it?

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