Earlier this month, Crossfit Athlete Brent Fikowski placed fourth at the Reebok CrossFit Games in Carson.
I have worked with Brent for the last five years and what a journey it has been tweaking his meal plan to ensure he is recovering from training, maintaining a good body weight and low body fat percentage in order to train at 100%.
This year all his hard work paid off and it was incredible to see this amazing athlete compete to his full potential at the Games.
So what does it take to fuel this athlete?
On a general training day, Brent consumes between 4100-4400 calories, 220g of protein, 190g of fat and around 350g of carbs. The carbohydrates increase/decrease according to his training day.
Additionally, because Brent can eat so much food to maintain his body fat, all his vitamins and mineral targets are easily met.
His daily diet consists of oats, eggs, vegies, fruit, mixed nuts, organ meats, bone broth, dairy and rice, along with his current supplements.
For Regionals the macronutrient break down was completely different
Brent consumed between 5000 -5200 calories each day to fuel his way to a win. He consumed approximately 265g of protein, 125g of fat and 655g of carbohydrates! His carbohydrate content significantly increased to ensure he was properly fuelled for every workout. It was quite low fat to prevent any delay in digestion of any protein or carbs and ensuring his recovery was perfect.
So what did Brent's Regionals Nutrition Plan look like?
Breakfast every day was - 3/4 C of oats with a piece of fruit + 3 eggs, a slice of lean bacon and some vegies.
Morning tea - fruit and 3/4 Cup trail mix
Both breakfast and morning tea has a good portion of carbs, protein and fat
Pre Event meals: 1/2 C of muesli (oats, sultanas, dates, coconut), 200g of plain greek yoghurt + 1 tb of honey.
Post Event meals: Protein/Carb shake, banana, 3-4 dried dates and then half an hour to 45 minutes later - 200g of chicken breast, 1 -1.5C of cooked white rice + 1 C of vege.
Both the Pre/Post event meals - moderate protein and very high in carbohydrates to ensure recovery
Dinner - was either 200g salmon or chicken + 1 C of rice and sweet potato + as many vegies as desired.
Before bed to ensure Brent's Glycogen stores were topped up and to assist with recovery he had: 1/2 C of oats with honey (refuel glycogen stores) and 100g of quark or cottage cheese (casein protein assists with muscle recovery over night).
A couple other extras that I found worked really well was Brent had a carbohydrate and caffeine gel prior to a couple of events, which really helped push him over to compete at his full capacity.
This competition plan has stayed pretty similar over the last 2 years for any major competitions for Brent. The break down of meals pre and post change depending on how intense, long or make up of the workout. The above plan is not exact for each day but is quite similar.
The same goes for a normal training day - this type of training is varied, and as a result so should his nutrition. Longer workouts require more carbs, shorter more intense ones require less again it changes depending upon strength days. Tailoring your nutrition around your workouts will ensure proper recovery, good energy levels and less body fat gain.
Never underestimate the necessity of a well fueled diet plan to see great results!! Congratulations Brent!!
If you want to ensure you are fueled well for training and competition or every day life and achieving your goals, contact me at amie@amiestargetnutrition.com or on 0413 684 215.
