Noah Ohlsen has always been super fit and an active individual but it was not until he reached college that his interest in sports tired to something more. It was specifically after seeing a poster of a ripped Crossfit athlete that he became inspired to try his hands on the sports himself. He said, “I was always pretty into health and fitness, and in my early college years, it was all about aesthetics. So when I saw a poster advertising a CrossFit gym with a jacked dude on the front, I was interested.”
Later on, he went on to be coached by the same person he saw on the poster, Guido Trinidad. It was just after his first CrossFit class that Noah found himself addicted to it. His career blossomed throughout the years such that he has become a famous athlete and also a social media star with millions of people following him for fitness inspiration.
He explains his feelings by saying, “I’ve changed so so much in so many ways! From physical to emotional to mental, everything seems like it went on the up and up since I got into CrossFit. My cardio, my strength, my gymnastics, and body control.”
He has also participated in many CrossFit competitions and displayed some really extraordinary performances. Many of the people who follow Noah on social media platforms see Noah as an inspiration, just like someday he saw Guido Trinidad.
Here’s what Noah Ohlsen wants everyone to know and what his ultimate mission in the fitness industry is. In his own words, he says,
I am a CrossFit Games athlete, striving to become the fittest on earth. I’ve trained about 6 hours a day, 5 days a week for the past 10 years focusing on everything from Olympic weightlifting to gymnastics to running.
I am very passionate about my roles as a son and brother, a fiancé, a dog dad, a coach and a friend.
I want to inspire.
I was once just a scrawny little dude that didn’t have a path. I’ve fallen into a sport and lifestyle that I love and I want to share some of that positivity along this journey with you.
Noah Ohlsen Statistics
- Height: 5’7″ (170 cm)
- Weight: 185 – 195 lbs (83.9 – 88.5 kg)
- Year of birth: 1990
- Nationality: American
Accomplishments
Personal Records
Squat – 445lbs
Clean and Jerk – 355lbs
Snatch – 288lbs
Deadlift – 505lbs
Fight Gone Bad – 421
Pull-Ups – 72
Fran – 1:58
Grace – 1:16
Filthy 50 – 19:05
Sprint 400 mt – 0:59
Run 5k – 19:50
Noah Ohlsen Workout Routine
Noah Olsen is a highly successful athlete when it comes to CrossFit. With success, he also comes to a lot of sacrifices that he had to make during his course every single day. His training plan was pretty exhaustive. He worked out for 5 to 6 hours every day. However, the workouts were split into 2 to 3 training sessions so it was easier to do it throughout the day. His training volume shows that the amount of effort to reach someplace where Noah is is extremely high.
While his training is hard many people wonder when does he even rest? Well, he knows when to take a break. When Noah is not competing, he takes two weeks off from training to let his body recover completely. While some people require weekly rests, Noah rests on this pattern. This helps him to maintain a strong and healthy physique that wins in Crossfit competitions even after years.
Coming to the exercises that he does. When asked, Noah says that his favorite form of exercise is the snatch. He explains, “I love the snatch because it’s such a fast, powerful, pretty, and technical lift. There’s not a whole lot of room for error and everything has to be timed just right to hit a big lift.”
Noah Ohlsen’s full day of training looks like this:
AM
3 rounds:
4 times up and over burpee over the jerk blocks
6 sandbag over shoulder 200#
Immediately into 400m run working on soft landing mechanics, and fully recover so you can attack the sandbag/burpees
+
For time:
100 heavy jump ropes
8 tire flips
50 GHD sit-ups
8 tire flips
100 heavy jump ropes
(walk forward jump ropes every 40-30-30)
Noon
For a time, all sets unbroken.
10-20-30-40-50
Wallballs (30#).
10 min cap. At 11 min mark,
10k c2 bike time trial.
PM
A. Back squat; 1 heavy set of 10
B1. Front squat; 2, 2, 2; rest 15 sec (build heavier each set)
B2. High box jump; 1.1.1×3; rest as needed
C. Single-leg box jump; accumulate 5 reps/leg
+
For time:
50 double unders
3 tng squat clean 225#
50 double unders
PM2
A. Weighted vest strict CTB pull-ups – AMRAP (as many reps as possible) unbroken x1;
+
2 rounds for time with a weighted vest
2 legless rope climbs
12 calories row
rest as needed to recovery
For time:
20 box jump overs 30″
50 pull-ups
rest as needed to recovery
For time:
5 pegboard ascents
10 strict muscle-ups
+
20 min shoulder mobility work
As a professional CrossFit athlete, Noah trains multiple times each day and rarely does the same workout. CrossFit is all about switching up your routine, having fun, and challenging yourself. Listed below are some example CrossFit style workouts from Noah, that you can try yourself.
As a professional athlete in Crossfit, Noah has a pretty intensive schedule and exercises multiple times each day, but he rarely does the same exercise. He says that CrossFit is all about switching up your routine and not sticking to the same one so that you can challenge yourself and your body. He also shares some of his exercises with his fans so that they can try them for themselves.
Noah Ohlsen does say that his schedule is pretty hectic but he makes sure that he takes caution. In his words, “that’s a lot of volumes, even for me. We’ll be careful to manage it based on feel each day, over the course of the next month and a half!’
CrossFit Open Training
Part 1:
- Assault bike 12 calories x 8
- Strict muscle up 3 x 8
- Assault bike 4 calories x 8
Part 2:
- Strict pull-up 10 x 10
- Hand release push up 10 x 10
- Hang power snatch 10 x 10 with 75 lbs
Part 3a:
- Snatch pull 3 x 5 with 275 lbs
Part 3b:
- Hang squat snatch 3 x 3 with 205 lbs
Part 4:
- Barbell front squat 3 x 3 (90-second rest)
- 1 Front squat and 3 split jerk (3-minute rest)
Big Ol’ Chipper
For time
- 120 chest to bar pull-ups
- 100 wall ball with 30 lbs
- 80 box jumps over 24″
- 60 deadlifts with 185 lbs
- 40 pistol squats
- 20 calories on the assault bike
Warm-Up WOD
Every minute, on the minute x 8 minutes
- 8 strict handstand push-ups and 8 air squats
- 8 strict pull-ups and 8 cossack squats
November Workout
AM Session
- A1 – Planche lean 20 seconds x 4 (rest 1 minute)
- A2 – Tuck back levar hold x 25 seconds x 4 (rest 1 minute)
- A3 – Shoulder extension plan hold feet elevated 20 seconds x 4 (rest 1 minute)
- B1 – Power clean from high blocks 1/1/1 x 4 (rest 10 seconds, rest 30 seconds)
- B2 – Supinated weighted ring pull up 4-6 x 4 (rest 10 seconds)
- B3 – GHD sit-ups 30 x 4 (rest 30 seconds)
- B4 – Single arm HS hold against the wall on parallettes 15 seconds x 4 (each side)
- C – Towel hang as many seconds as possible x 2 (rest 2 minutes)
For max reps:
- 1-minute 10-foot handstand walks
- Rest 30 seconds
- 1-minute parallete handstand push-up
- Rest 30 seconds
- 1-minute bench press with 195 lbs
PM Session
8000-meter row
- 1,000 @ 2:00/500m pace
- 1,000 @ 1:45/500m pace
Noah also plays a lot of competitions and even won a second prize in 2019 Wodapalooza, which is a four day Miami based Crossfit Sanctional Competition. Noah made his 9th Wodapalooza in 2020 and won third place in the category of Elite Men in the game and also won a lot of love from his fans who were flocked to get a fist bump or handshake from him.
He tells that as the dates for Wodapalooza were near, he prepared harder than ever. He did everything from training for hours per day and constructing a new nutrition plan that fits his demands. He also developed a new plan game and strategy with his coach, Max El-Hag from Training Think Tank. He increased the intensity of his workouts so that nothing could wear him down during the competition. After this experience, he went out to his fans and gave them 5 essential tips to add to their training schedule if they want to be better in competition. Take a look:
Noah Ohlsen’s 5 Training Tips
Stick to Your Taper
Unlike other Crossfit games that tell about the kind of events just before the actual competition, Wodapalooza revealed its first workout quite early in the month. It was Luce, three rounds of a 1-kilometer run, 10 ring muscle-ups, and 100 air squats, all while wearing a 20-pound backpack. For Ohlsen, it was supposed to be easy because ring muscle-ups are one of his favorite and strongest exercises. However, even after four practice sessions with increased intensity, he could not get the technique done correctly.
And although this particular movement was not meant to be added to his training schedule, he decided that he must try them once again just two days before the Wodapalooza, of course, under the expert supervision of his coach. He reveals his experience saying, “I found out that 10 reps were my max capacity,” he says. “I’m almost chicken-winging to get that tenth one, which isn’t smart to do so close to the competition. I also know that seven or eight reps are doable, but I wanted a session where I never got to that difficult point, where every rep felt good.”
He used exactly these guidelines for the program and chose to do 3 sets of 5 reps each which were exact to adjust his timing while at the same time not tiring himself out during the recovery period.
Know Your Benchmarks
When any workout begins, being able to control your pace is crucial. That job is even more comfortable to do on three basic CrossFit pieces of equipment: the rower, the Assault bike, and the SkiErg, all of which show you your strokes per minute, power output, and calories per hour. And while Ohlsen knows that his speed might vary during the workout depending on the length of the workout and the movements that he makes before and after, he has adopted three general guidelines to help him cope up with the situation. They are:
All Out: The best result he can produce for five to 10 seconds. On the SkiErg, it’s about 3,200 calories an hour.
Moderate: A speed that he can promptly hit and control before moving on to another activity—about 1,500 calories an hour.
Active Recovery: Smooth, simple, almost no effort—about 1,000 calories an hour.
Make Smart Adjustments in the Moment
Ohlsen gives an example saying that in one of the chipper events which consisted of 50 heavy wall-balls, 40 calories on the SkiErg, 30 dumbbell snatches, 20 box jump overs, and 15 bar muscle-ups, he knew that he would have to keep up with the intense pace without making a mistake and imploding. Before, he assumed to ski around 1,500 calories per hour, but later on, he ended the heavy wall-balls and got pulled, he was barely able to hit the high 1300s range.
However, he did not fear this and explained his strategy during that time instead, saying, “Just because we said that’s what I should hit, I know it’s not going to be worth it cause that’s going to exhaust me,” he says. “And when I get to those dumbbell snatches, I’m going to have to break them up or work a whole lot harder.”
Ohlsen made his choices based on how he was feeling, and he also has the plus point of knowing about his body very well. But there he also discovered that his energy levels are not correlated with how quickly his heart is thumping.“My heart rate can be lower, but still, for whatever reason, the movements that I’m doing just fatigue me differently,” he says.
Prepare to Go Icy Cold
The 2020 Wodapalooza had 5 team divisions, 34 individual divisions (17 for men and 17 for women), and multiple events running concurrently. To make sure that the whole went is well-coordinated, the organizers had to ensure that the athletes who were participating had to arrive at the place of venue half hour before the event has begun. This meant that Ohlsen was stuck in uncomfortable situations pretty often.
He said he had to do his own things to ensure that his body is warmed up and has not gone cold. In his words, “We were just waiting on a concrete slab before one of the workouts, which had dumbbell bench press and thrusters, so to stay warm I did some push-ups and air squats just to make sure I didn’t go out there completely cold.”
Ohlsen says that the competitors who have participated in similar events can also face such issues. Other events like road races or triathlons work on some similar staging logistics. He advises all those who are going to compete in any event to stay warm by doing some bodyweight exercises.
Accept Your Choices, No Matter What
Even a day after Wodapalooza ended, Ohlsen wasn’t certain if his plan on the rowing event was of any benefit to him. He reveals, “I do feel like I probably could have given it a little finishing kick and sprinted at the last minute and done a little bit better. On the other side of things, if I had started at a pace that didn’t make sense for me and just blasted it from the beginning, I could have exploded, and instead of taking 21st place, I take 40th place.”
In games like Crossfit, a strategy for every workout is important. It is admirable but more than often it is pretty unlikely to be achieved. However, you can still amp up your game and give yourself some rules on how will you work within your guidelines to control during an uncertain time.
Then keep those rules and tips in mind which can be done with a lot of hard work. The next thing you know, you’re probably rowing with Noal Ohlsen himself in next Wodapalooza.
These were Noah Ohlsen’s tips to be a better competition at any event and specifically at Crossfit. Moving onto how does he nourish himself for hours of training, we are discussing his diet plan and what Noah Ohlsen eats in a day.
Noah Ohlsen Diet Plan
When Noah began his CrossFit course in 2010, he weighed at a meager 155lbs. To gain a lot of strength and muscle size, his coach helped him with his nutrition plan and put him on a simple diet program. He drank at least a gallon of milk every day in his new diet. He did this for four weeks and was able to see a change in how he looked. He even gained a substantial amount of weight.
Now that he is not competing, he has become a little more structured. He eats several meals in his entire day which is pretty balanced and contains an ideal ratio of micronutrients. By the end of the day, Noah will eat 200grams of proteins, 400-500 grams of carbs, and 100 grams of fat. This all totals to about 4,000 calories per day.
With such a humungous and calorie-rich diet, Noah has been able to increase over 40 lbs of muscle throughout his time in CrossFit.
Noah Ohlsen, who came 2nd place at the 2019 Crossfit Games and 4th place at the 2017 Crossfit Games recently opened up about the exact food details that he consumes in ordered to fuel a top-level athlete like himself in his video “Crossfit Games Athlete Day of Eating”. He tells his followers exactly what he eats in the day to remain in the number one position. So if anyone is competing, one must take some inspiration from Noah and his food diary and set his meal plans accordingly.
For reference, Noah Ohlsen is 5’7 192lbs.
Principles of Noah Ohlsen’s Diet
1. Quality
According to Noah, the quality of food that you intake plays a huge role in the ability of the body to perform. If you eat high-quality food, you will notice a good performance yourself. In the same way, if you eat poorer quality of food, your body won’t be able to function as properly and it will decrease your performance levels.
Noah himself uses a meal service that delivers him a high-grade food quality. For someone as busy as him, it is a very efficient way to ensure that he gets the right quality of food and on time.
2. Quantity
For someone like Noah Ohlsen who spends a lot of time in training, they need to get in enough calories and macros throughout the day. In between his meals, Noal also likes to take some supplements to make up for the nutrient loss like a protein shake. Before, he used to drink only one shake a day but recently he has almost tripled his protein intake and now drinks one protein shakes after every workout sesh. Each shake that he consumes has about 30 grams of protein and anywhere between 50-100 grams of carbs.
He has also increased his calories by 1,000 since the day he joined Crossfit and has noticed a significant difference. While his composition of the body has not altered very much, he has noticed that his energy levels have improved significantly and even his recovery is on point.
In a single day of eating video that he uploaded to his YouTube channel, Ohlsen eats about 167 grams of protein, 73 grams of fat, and 460 grams of carbohydrates, and presented his spectators with an in-depth look at how he gets there. Take a look at what he eats throughout the day:
Breakfast
1.5 bagels
Half cup of blueberries
1 banana
1 whole egg, 2 egg whites
Handful of vegetables
Half scoop of protein powder mixed with coffee. (He calls that “joe and grow.”)
Multivitamin and fish oil
Macros: 47g protein, 10g fat, 115g carbs.
Post-workout 1
75g liquid carbohydrate supplement with BCAAs
Lunch
1 cup of white rice
0.75 cups ground beef
Handful of vegetables
Macros: 35g protein, 45g carbs, 18g fat
Post-workout 2
75 grams liquid carbohydrate supplement with BCAAs
Dinner
Hummus
Pita chips
Gnocchi
Chicken sausage
Half an avocado
Broccoli and kale-based salad with nuts
Macros: 47g protein, 129g carbs, 73g fat
Dessert
Whey protein
2 tbsp peanut butter
Half a banana
Total day’s calories: 3,165
Total macros: 167g protein, 460g carbs, 73g fat
Ohlsen is clearly not Paleo and likes to indulge in pasta, rice, bagels, and legumes throughout his meals. He notes, “I like to have bread or rice or pasta or a potato in all my meals because I feel that’s the type of carbohydrate that helps me get through high volume training multiple hours a day.”
It’s also worth observing that he doesn’t count any calories that come from vegetables (even moderately high-carb ones like onions), he doesn’t have any hesitation with combining fat and carbs (at least not at dinner), and he withdraws from consuming any kind of fat before a workout. He explains, “You want all your blood flow to go to your muscles, not to digesting food that breaks down slower”. Maybe the most striking point is that he devours one hundred and fifty grams of post-workout carbohydrates in the form of a powdered supplement. He takes them in a supplement that also contains BCAAs, electrolytes, and lactate.
While many Crossfit athletes post what they eat in a day video on social media channels but there are very few of them who are really focused on even the small things of their diet. Ohlsen is not too fanatical about eliminating or adding a specific kind of food into his diet and focuses on having a proper balance of macronutrients and micronutrients instead of that which will supplement their athletic needs.
Food Hacks
When you eat such huge amounts of foods like Noah do you have to be creative with your food unless you will get bored with the monotony of the same ingredients! Besides, when you train for a longer time and multiple times per day, you need those calories to be replenished. The problem with Noah is that he has trouble getting in a large number of calories. For him, applesauce packets do the trick because they are a quick way to get some carbs.
He also eats greek yogurt to satisfy his sweet tooth after dinner and which is also high in calories. Noah’s favorite brand of Greek yogurt is Chobani Flip yogurt which has some mix in nuts and chocolate chunks. He also really loves adding condiments to his food which he says will make the food appear and taste better. He usually transforms his plain chicken, rice, and broccoli with mango salsa!
Eating Out
Noah is not too finicky about counting his calories and macros daily. He likes to keep a balance and wants to enjoy life with his friends and family too. However, the kind of food he is eating is important to him and it depends on what time of the season is it and how far is the competition. During the week, he eats whatever he likes in his diet because he has strenuous workout sessions.
On the weekends, however, Noah is more strict especially when eating out. He does not work out much on the weekends and takes his time out to rest his muscles and recover. Therefore, his body does not need that many calories either. When the annual Crossfit competition approaches, he becomes strict with weighing his food too and counting his calories and macros. When the competition is over, he takes his time off from following such an intense diet.
One of Noah’s influences is his coach, Guido Trinidad who Noah first saw on a CrossFit poster, and he became motivated to try the sport himself. Before long, the two grew to be training partners, and also good friends later on.
“I’ve never had a sports hero or inspiration aside from my dad until I met Guido Trinidad,” Noah speaks of Trinidad.
What we can learn from Noah’s dedication is the fact that hard work pays off no matter what side of your physical fitness journey you are on. If you have to reach success, you will have to focus on your dreams and make them a reality.
For Noah, it meant working out for long periods of time, at least 6 hours per day and five days per week. And he did it. He also focused on his nutrition needs and recovery. He made a lot of sacrifices along the way but it was sure worth it all considering that he has reached the top position in his industry. He advises his fans and followers on social media to stay committed to their passions no matter whatever they are. He says that dedication, perseverance, and a willingness to sacrifice certain comforts of your life can make you reach the top of the success ladder too. Just like he did himself.
That’s all about Niah Ohlesen’s fitness routine including his diet plans and workout routine to keep him strong and muscular throughout the year.
