Building Strength for CrossFit Through Nutrition
When I first found CrossFit I was 5’10” and weighed less than 145 pounds. I had no clue that food was supposed to fuel my body and was extremely concerned that gaining weight would mean getting “fat” and I had been taught that fatness was unhealthy and immorally wrong (which is complete B.S., but we will talk about that another day). Since then I have had to work hard to eat enough to fuel my training and gain weight to gain strength.
Don’t get me wrong, I was able to get very strong without gaining weight, but wasn’t able to maximize my potential. At 145 pounds I was benching 180 and deadlifting 300. But to continue getting stronger, weight gain was the right path for me.
So where should you start? Pick a training plan, and stick to it! I have done the 20 rep squat cycle, the PRVN strength program, and several of my own cycles. They all work so long as you are consistent.
But how can I optimize the rate of return? This is where nutrition comes into play! While building strength we are causing damage to muscle tissue which then requires rest and nutrition to rebuild. Protein is the major component of muscle fibers and increasing your intake even by 10g will help your muscles recover faster, thus increasing your overall strength faster.
Additionally, if you want to gain weight while training we will need to bump up your caloric intake. Assuming you are still doing CrossFit with strength on the side, you will want some extra carbs to fuel that high intensity work, especially in the 30 minute window following training sessions. Keep in mind for every pound you want to gain needs about 3500 extra calories (though the numbers should be precise, once you adapt to an eating pattern your body may not follow this pattern perfectly). So you can split those extra calories across a week or 2 weeks to help you gain at the desired rate.
What if I only have time for a WOD a Day? Good news, CrossFit works! You will want to shift your focus on doing as close to the RX weights as possible while maybe scaling another movement to preserve the strength stimulus of the WOD. I know that sounds fancy but let’s break it down.
In CrossFit, we do workouts that are constantly varied to provide a different stimulus every day. When you want to get stronger you can put your emphasis on the strength movements. This will allow you to get stronger and build muscle, without dedicated strength work. This was the original intent of CrossFit, 1 workout a day that would improve your fitness, and to do that you also need to improve your strength.
If you want to learn more, reach out, and let's chat about what is best for you!
