Supplements
99% of supplements you go to the store for, if you still do that, aren’t worth the label they’re printed on.
The claims they make have little to no actual evidence that they actually work.
That said, there’s a few that will help you potentially become a better CrossFitter if, and only if, you’ve already done your due diligence when it comes to crushing your natural micronutrients (food).
Creatine Monohydrate:
This one is probably the most researched supplement on earth. Probably.
One of the main things it’s known for is assisting in strength development. However, within CrossFit or functional fitness/high intensity training, it assists in short bursts of maximum effort activity (1-10 seconds) and helps facilitate recovery for multiple bouts of maximal sprint activity.
It also has assisted in increasing total work of high intensity exercise.
How do you take it? Simple. 5g daily for several weeks in order to load the muscle with the appropriate amount.
Caffeine
You might not think of it as a drug or supplement, but really it is.
You don’t have to do anything fancy with this one. If you like your morning cup of coffee, keep it simple and stick with that. If you hate coffee and don’t like pre-workout, you can just as easily pick up tablets of caffeine.
You’re looking for 3-5 mg/kg of weight before your workout. For most people, that’s a large cup of coffee or a pre-workout supplement.
Sodium Bicarbonate
Sodium what now?
Interesting. This is the one probably on the list that you’re not expecting to see.
The biggest thing you’re going to get from it though is the ability to buffer lactic acid and lactic threshold--think, burning out. Think of doing some assault bike intervals and not dying out as fast as you may have thought.
In terms of dosing, you want to think about 0.2-0.3g/kg of bodyweight about 1-3 hours before exercise. Give it a try, even if you didn’t think it may work.
Beta-Alanine
You may have used this one at some point already, especially if you looked inside of the pre-workout supplement you may or may not already be taking. This supplement has a good level of evidence to support the claims of increased performance during high intensity activity.
That being said, most pre-workout supplements or BCAAs don’t have enough to get a good dosage. We’re looking at 3.2-5.4g per day for 2-6 weeks.
Whey Protein or Essential Amino Acids
In no way is protein a good readily available energy source for high intensity exercise. That being said, it can definitely help in making you have the muscle tissue required to do well when that time comes.
How much is probably more than you think or more than you’re currently eating. Think of getting at least 1.4g/kg of bodyweight and may depend even more on total volume of exercise and duration per week.