I've had quite a few people asking me about nutrition, supplements, etc as part of my Jump Manual training so thought I'd share what I've been doing in this area.
About a year ago, I was introduced to "green smoothies" and have been hooked on them ever since. I have one nearly every morning for breakfast after my workout. The nutritional value of a green smoothie is off the charts and they make you feel so good. Typical ingredients I use are spinach, cale, protein powder, coconut oil, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and ice. Most people hear "spinach" or "cale" and assume it must be disgusting. It doesn't look pretty (green/brownish), but it tastes great!
I used to take Muscle Milk and several of the other popular protein powders out there but many of them upset my stomach and I'm really trying to stay away from eating anything that has a list of ingredients a mile long. Many of the popular protein powders have a ton of sugar and all kinds of artificial crap that I don't think is good for your body. So I did quite a bit of searching and found 2 protein powders that I like a lot. One is by Sun Warrior which is an all natural protein made with rice. It doesn't taste very good if you just mix it with water or milk but in the green smoothie it's great. I love that this protein literally has 1 ingredient and none of that artificial garbage.
The other protein I just started using a few weeks ago is by Mercola. This one is a whey protein that is all natural and has a bunch of other unique benefits. It also tastes pretty good just mixed with water and ice which is nice for those times when you don't have 10 minutes to make a green smoothie.
Around 10:30 am, I usually have a snack like an apple, almonds, banana, etc. For lunch, I usually go to Subway or some place like that for a sandwich. I also eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly and peanut butter and honey sandwiches. What can I say...they are cheap and taste good to me!
I try to have another healthy snack before dinner (apple, banana, almonds, yogurt, etc.) but I find many days that I don't fit this in. For dinner, my wife often makes something from a cookbook we got several years ago when we did Body for Life called "Eating for Life". There are tons of good recipes in that book.
Also from Body for Life, I take one free day each week (usually Sunday) and eat whatever I want. I love junk food so this is my day to enjoy cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, and whatever else sounds good! The great thing about exercising and eating healthy is you then have freedom to eat some junk food every now and then without fear of gaining weight or causing other problems. It's just not realistic (at least for me) to completely eliminate all unhealthy food. A free day is a great way to maintain balance between eating good food without depriving yourself of things you really enjoy.
One new thing I've been experimenting with is having a protein shake right before bed. I've done this a handful of times and seem to have more energy and get a better workout the next morning. Not sure if it's coincidence or if this is in fact a good thing to do. Stay tuned on that.
I'm also using creatine and definitely can see and feel a difference when I'm taking it. Highly recommend using creatine as part of your training.
So, that's what I'm doing in terms of nutrition. But, what about you? What is working or not working for you?
I've been using Cyto Sport on the recommendation from the Jump Manual but, like you, I haven't been terribly excited about the long list of ingredients. "Exactly what am I really putting in body?," I wonder often. I picked up some plant-based protein powder called Vega Sport a few weeks back from Whole Foods. Wow. That stuff tastes terrible - it has to be good for you. I can't stomach it at all, though.
ReplyDeleteWhat is cytosport supposed to do? Not familiar with it.
ReplyDeleteProtein shake - build "lean" muscle
ReplyDeleteI have experimented a little with the jump manual and have received nothing but positive results. The one thing I would recommend is not to concentrate on just the jump manual. You should still have some other alternative workout regimen.
ReplyDeletehttp://plyometricsworkouts.org
@ ffmedic - i agree but if you do the jump manual as outlined you do hit the entire body. some people probably skip the core and upper body training but it's part of the program too.
ReplyDeletei personally believe you have to "trick" your body to avoid plateaus. the body gets used to a certain way of training pretty quickly so it's important to change it a bit every so often. that's why for my 2nd round of jump manual, i'm doing things a little different that first round.
thanks for sharing! I will check out your site.
I am doing dunk now program, any suggestions?
ReplyDeletenot familiar with dunknow program so not sure...but would encourage you to work hard! be consistent! make sure your nutrition is good and get enough rest.
ReplyDelete@Candyman - If the protein powders upset your stomach, it could be because you're lactose intolerant. This just means your body doesn't make enough (or any) of the enzyme lactase. You can buy Lactaid at the drug store, which is simply lactase and will help your body breakdown the lactose in the powder. This is what I have to do and it does wonders for my stomach.
ReplyDeleteI may give that a try. I've never had problems with dairy although I don't drink milk that much anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe most important thing to me is using protein powders that are as natural as possible. That is why I really like the Sun Warrior Protein. Has 1 ingredient. If you look at most other proteins, the list of ingredients is a mile long.
hi bro, how about vegetarian, any idea to get protein source from plant base?
ReplyDeleteIf I were vegetarian (I've tried a few times but couldn't stick with it very long), I would get my protein from Adam's Natural Peanut Butter, spinach, goji berries, almonds, and Sun Warrior Protein (made from rice).
Deletehi man, so how many times a day did you eat while doing the jump manual? i've been weightlifting for a year and a half already and just finished a week of this great program. basically i lift upper body on monday and friday, i do the plyos on sundays and the leg weight workouts on wednesdays. throughout my year i've been eating 5-6 meals a day (calorie surplus) to bulk up. right now i'm happy with where i'm at so i just eat maintenance calories. however, in order for my legs to recover, wouldn't i need to eat extra calories again? i'm concerned though because lifting heavy weights and eating at a calorie surplus promotes weight gain and i really don't wanna get any heavier. wouldn't getting heavier be detrimental and wouldn't it negate any gains that i make? sorry for the long and poorly structured question lol
ReplyDeletei definitely think you want to stay lean if jumping higher is your goal. i crunched the numbers from the nba combine and the players with at least a 38" vert had an avg bodyfat % of around 6% when i was my leanest i was eating 5-6 small meals per day. check out this post http://myjumpmanual.blogspot.com/2013/06/if-you-want-to-jump-high-you-better-be.html
Deletei see, thank you very much for your response. btw, i noticed doing the weightlifting workouts took a VERY long time probably about 2 hrs and some more minutes to complete. i was also taking around 2-3 minute rests between sets. did you have the same experience?
Deleteyes - the strength and explosion workout (squats, deadlifts, etc.) took me about 2 hours or so
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