First, I would like to extend my thanks and congratulations to all who participated in the 2013 Nutrition Challenge. We saw some phenomenal changes for the better as well as some noteworthy PRs. These PRs ranged from faster times to heavier weights lifted or less assistance (bands) used!

When we embarked on this journey back in late February, we had a total of 48 participants (plus 4 trainers in their own separate bracket). Out of those 52 people, only 16 of them crossed the finish line by turning in their essay to me a little over two weeks ago.

How it was scored:

Each person was ranked in their respective category by their performance against three metrics — percentage of bodyfat lost, pounds of muscle gained and overall improvement in the benchmark workouts. These metrics were then weighted based on the goal category the person chose at the beginning.

What do the winners get?

Rather than going with a pre-chosen prize package, we have decided to let the winners allocate their winnings among some select partners. Winners may choose to get gift certificates or items from the following:

• J&J Grassfed Beef
• Brian’s Bowls
• SFH Fish Oil and Protein
• Trigger Point Kits
• …and at Ruth’s suggestion — Lululemon

Winner, Performance category — Ashley Baker

Over the course of the challenge, Ashley managed to increase her back squat by 22 lbs, her deadlift by 50 lbs, and shaved over a minute off her Helen time. In addition to this, she dropped an impressive 3.4% bodyfat and added a 1/2 lb of muscle! She also was able to knock out 2 strict pullups when she used to rely upon the bands.

Other noteworthy contenders in the Performance category: Tyler Swanson who put on just under a pound and a half of muscle while adding 40 lbs to his squat and 25 lbs to his deadlift. Tami Higa added 18 lbs to her squat and 40 to her deadlift. Pat Suesataya added 25 lbs to her deadlift and lost 4.6% bodyfat to boot!

Winner, Muscle Gain category — Tyler Brown

Tyler put on just under 5 lbs of muscle along with losing 1.5% bodyfat. This helped him to increase his deadlift and squat by an estimated 60 lbs. and he cut 1:30 off his Helen time.

Honorable mention goes to David Olivera, who added over 6 lbs of muscle and dropped 4.1% bodyfat at the same time. Nice job David!

Winner, Fat Loss category — Laura Sardo

Laura took the win for this heated category through her loss of 3.9% bodyfat while gaining 4.2 lbs of muscle and adding 20 lbs to both her squat and deadlift. She also cut her Helen time by 2:23 while also dropping from a blue to a purple band!

There were several other notables in this division — David Pynadath (who should have gone for muscle gain!) added over 5 lbs of muscle and put that to use on the weights, adding 10 lbs to press and squat and 50 lbs to his deadlift. Amanda Kammier lost 4.9% bodyfat, gained over a pound of muscle and shaved 39 seconds off her Helen — while using a heavier kettlebell! Tom Davoren lost 4.7% bodyfat, added 15 lbs to his deadlift and also cut his Helen time by 36 seconds.

Winner, Trainer category — Holley Dickmeyer

To borrow from Holley’s own post about her experience, she noticed “a huge improvement in my ability to recover from a heavy lift day or from a tough WOD.” She gained a pound of muscle, while eating substantially more than she had before. While she would have liked to have gained more muscle, she learned the valuable lesson that what she previously thought was enough food wasn’t even adequate to maintain her hard work. Now she knows how to attack this problem in the future!

Again, a huge congratulations to all the competitors in the 2013 Nutrition Challenge. There aren’t words to express how proud I was of the effort you all put into this challenge. I hope you found it worthwhile and I look forward to planning the next one!

WOD 07.03.13

Deadlift 1×5
Then,
AMRAP 9

• 5 Muscle Ups (sub Ring Dips or Pullovers)
• 7 Pistols
• 9 Box Jumps