No Ceiling

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.

 

 

 

Get rowdy. Get loud.

Fernando getting some extra reps in post-WOD

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..

Wild Ones

Embedly Powered

Embedly Powered

Think you’re man (or woman) enough for Ultimate Tak Ball?

There will be NO Friday evening classes tomorrow (3/23).

There will be a FREE Saturday morning class at 10am.

Members: Remember to record your workouts by clicking on the “Whiteboard” button up by the WOD for easy workout tracking in the future.

 

Make You Feel That Way

Charles C. has been committed to the paleo lifestyle and higher intensity workouts for quite some time now. As he will tell you himself, cutting fat and building muscle are the only side effects to look forward to.. And they say never trust a skinny chef.

Links and links and links:

Cold Thermogenesis 6: The Ancient Pathway <– crazy thoughts from a doc that just might work

My Leptin Perscription <– more from Dr. Kruse

Bulletproof Coffee <– think I’m gonna try this one tomorrow

Science, Pseudoscience, Nutritional Epidemiology, and Meat <– Taubes tackling the latest red meat scare

Now read people!

New Online WOD Tracking!

You talked. We listened! Now you can track your WOD results online. Having trouble remembering when we did a certain lift or workout? Now you can use the key movements in the WOD to search for it and know your time to beat before you step in the door. So please, when you get home at night or the next day, log in your WOD times by clicking ‘WOD RESULTS’ over here to the right. Knowing your progress is key!

Feel The Heat

Embedly Powered

Tim is one of the newest additions to the masters class, and also Trevor’s father. After a total knee replacement surgery, there wasn’t much hope of exercising again. He has proven that he’s still got it and now is moving faster than ever and feeling great. Tim is described most accurately with one word: resiliency. Keep up the good work Tim!

Wicked Twisted Road

Get well soon Alan!

It’s all about the insulin.

Hyperinsulinemia – google it. Read about it. FEAR IT. It means “too much insulin”, which comes from what? Too much glucose (too many carbohydrates). A quick web search will link hyperinsulinemia to (drum roll): obesity, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, high blood pressure, auto-immune disorders, and more fun and exciting modern diseases.

The Paleo Diet has one goal above all others: controlling insulin levels.

Ideally, insulin and glucagon work in harmony in our body – insulin stores energy, glucagon releases it. We never store more than we need before our next meal (avoiding those nasty love handles!) and it is released by the glucagon promoted by low blood sugar levels between meals. Unfortunately, the FDA’s food pyramid, putting grains and dairy as a staple of a “healthy diet” is one big fat lie and throws this entire balance out-of-whack. Eating an average meal of complex carbohydrates results in, on average, anywhere from 2-10 times as much insulin production as eating fruits and vegetables. Once we have too much insulin in our system, things really get out of control.

From Paleo Science 101 by Cliff Hodges.