Coach Burgener goes over the snatch step by step. What are you missing in your snatch?

FREE CrossFit class tomorrow (Saturday) at 10:00am.

WOD make-up/skill work this Sunday from 12-2pm.

Gaining Mass For The Hardgainer

Lean muscle mass is better than adipose tissue (fat). We know all know this. Having more lean mass than fat mass will typically yield a longer and healthier life. Our goal here at the box is to aquire this favorable body composition through interval training, lifting heavy, and eating/living primally. I’ve tried to follow this prescription for some time now and am up to the heaviest and strongest I have ever been while also being the leanest I have ever been. This goes to show that it is possible for a hardgainer, like myself, to put on some extra lean pounds by adhering to the primal/paleo code. As with most of you (more so the guys), I’d like to up my size even more while staying within the realm of functional strength. Increases in strength will eventually require increases in size.

So how do you make these increases through functional fitness and a paleo diet? Well, first off, you keep on keepin’ on with these two things. You will also need to trigger the same anabolic (muscle building) hormones that others (think bodybuilders) use to get big only with more enthusiasm and drive. Some of the primary hormones that contribute to muscle growth are testosterone, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor-1. These hormones work best in the presence of one another. So how do you activate the secretion of these guys to help elicit change?

Avoid Stress

Cortisol is the main stress hormone associated with catabolism or muscle atrophy. Cortisol is increased by putting your body through stressful situations like not getting enough sleep, “fight or flight” situations, eating an inflammatory response inducing diet (grains, sugar, dairy), and having high anxiety. Not scheduling enough recovery time after grueling workout sessions will also increase cortisol. This is a way that working out actually impedes working out. So be smart and take advantage of your days off.

Lift Heavy Sh*t

Lucky for you we do this pretty consistently. Centering your routine around lifts such as squats, deadlifts, presses, snatches, cleans and jerks. These all induce the excretion of more testosterone. Bodyweight exercises, while still productive, don’t really contribute to size increases like that of heavy weight. It is essential to center your workouts around squats and deadlifts as these two lifts work the biggest muscle groups. So don’t miss the days when you see these guys on the website!

Eat Plants and Animals Like It’s Your Job

Eat regularly and often. If you have a tough time gaining weight, never skip a post workout meal or do “fasted workouts”. You can’t afford it and eating regularly will up the production of GH. Increasing your caloric intake will make up for the vast amount of calories you will burn lifting. It is especially important to eat a lot and often on your off-days because this is when muscle recovery is at its peak. For a post workout meal add in some paleo friendly starches like sweet potatoes and squash to help replenish glycogen depletion. Also, don’t be afraid to eat a piece of fattier meat everyday (remember grass-fed saturated animal fat is your friend). Fat actually blunts insulin secretion and increases testosterone. Eat eggs like they are going out of style. These are great for extra calories and getting in higher amounts of protein (and the are cheap too!). You should be trying to consume at least 1g/lb bodyweight of protein per day.

Positivity Is Positively Infectious 

We’ve all been there. It’s Monday morning at 5:45am and you wish you were still asleep. You’re Struggling through the last round of a grueling 5 round WOD. You’re one of the last to finish and not only do you hate squat cleans, but you can also feel a raw spot forming on your hands and your back starts to tighten up. Your sweating buckets and letting the negative voices creep in, telling you to quit. You’re staring at the bar way too long before picking it up again. It’s just not your day.

You’re about to throw in the towel when you hear a single chant; “You got this (insert your name here)!”. Some positivity starts to trickle in. “10 reps and you’re done!” You are able to fight through the burning in your quads and pick back up that med-ball. “Don’t give up!” You don’t. You grit your teeth and grind it out, giving all you have, leaving everything out on the floor. Now you’re through and unconsciously making a new sweat angel on the floor. You get a couple of high fives or pats on the back or maybe even a “good effort!” from a fellow peer. The burn in your muscles starts to fade and you begin to think clearly again as new oxygen is flowing through your body. You made it through. You battled yourself and won. The hardest part of your day is now over. You are a part of the team.

CrossFit works. That’s no secret. Community is fuel to the fire that is CrossFit. Without community, things get a lot harder (and heavier). What I’m getting at is that the small things like peer support and cheering sometimes go overlooked. Hearing someone else gunning for you when you’re trying to finish up a WOD can make a world of difference. It will also make it that much easier for them to cheer you on when you’re having a tough time at the gym on any given day. We have been having more newbies at the gym recently, too. One of the best ways to introduce them to the EDCF community and make that uncomfortable feeling fade quicker is to be supportive. So step outside your comfort zone a little today and pick a person to cheer on. Get rowdy. Get loud. Make The Suck more bearable. Who knows? You might just make their day..