Really confused about my nutrition. Please help

[jonnylugs]

@gitz Thanks. Good to know. I will try and do a strength programme after the opens

 

[itiswellwithmysoul78]

@jonnylugs What is your goal?

 

[jonnylugs]

@itiswellwithmysoul78 At the moment, increase mass to increase strength since improvement in gymnastic aspect seems to be going fine.

 

[itiswellwithmysoul78]

@jonnylugs Okay; what are your calories looking like along with high level macro split? What percent is protein, versus fat, versus carbs? What is your training like--how often does your box program for strength? Are you doing any accessory work or anything extra to compensate if they aren't focusing on strength?

 

[jonnylugs]

@itiswellwithmysoul78 When increased, it was 3000+cal, 50-30-20 ratio of carb-pro-fat

Due to lack of time, I am only doing the wods.

 

[hrlcoach]

@jonnylugs When your gaining weight and your calories are higher do you also follow a strength program? I don’t really know how you are attacking this problem but it seems that you may not be training right and less about your calorie intake. Also you’ll gain a little fat when your bulking, and gaining size doesn’t mean strength comes with it if your not diligently training for strength.

 

[jonnylugs]

@hrlcoach I was thinking it was more to do with my diet, as is the problem with many. I am especially sceptical about my post wod meals.

But, maybe you are right but due to lack of time as mentioned earlier, I stick to wods in my box. Currently as opens begin soon, wods are more condition focussed, but we have had strength cycles in the past in the wod.

 

[hrlcoach]

@jonnylugs If your eating high fat and low carb/protein it won’t help much in muscle mass, strength and performance. But if your goal is strength than you need to prioritize that and less wods since your low on time and the your gym is more focused on conditioning wods. You don’t get strength by just eating a diet aimed toward strength you have to put in the work. And it seems you are not putting in the work to get stronger.

 

[jamalh]

@jonnylugs If you want to move past your current plateaus on strength, you need to pause crossfit after the games (drop to once a week at most) and program weights for strength while eating at a surplus. Give yourself 3-4 months to see significant gains then go back to crossfit full time. You should be able to keep your strength as long as you continue to keep your nutrition on point and practice regularly with the heavy lifts.

 

[antonyfrancisathikalam]

@jonnylugs At a quick glance, I’d say you need way more protein. I’d estimate you’re eating less than 160 grams (give or take a few).

Just for reference, currently on a maintenance phase after a cut sitting around 81kg and I still eat upwards of 225 grams of protein. You could do well with some starchy vegetables, too.

I’d recommend looking to the RP strength mass templates if you’re needing it laid out for you. I did a cut and highly recommend it.

 

[jonnylugs]

@antonyfrancisathikalam No, with the supplementation, I am reaching around 200g protein/day and for 63kg weight, I think that is already high imho.

 

[dawn16]

@jonnylugs General crossfit is not the most efficient way to get strong, its a GPP program that seeks improvements in all kinds of places but is generally too random for putting on real strength. If you've hit a plateau and want to get strong you need to bias towards strength and allow a compromise in other aspects of your fitness. You need structured strength work that consistently and progressively overloads.

 

[jonnylugs]

@dawn16 Thanks for the input. I am planning to do a strength scycle immediately after the opens

 

[noname5137]

@jonnylugs Do more hypertrophic volume training. At least 3x a week on top of your CrossFit.

Watch this

 

[dawn16]

@noname5137 This is twenty minutes and first minute is him selling stuff.

How about a TL;DW

 

[noname5137]

@dawn16 It's free information.

Cholesterol is important for hormone production and building cells. OP is eating a diet low in cholesterol. Red meats are high in bioavailable, complete amino acid chains. OP is eating a diet low in red meats. OP needs to progressively overload his caloric intake so he can build muscle and not put on fat.

 

[dawn16]

@noname5137 Thank you - all reasonable.

 

[noname5137]

@dawn16 I do have to say though, the kooler is a genius invention and Stan is a great entrepreneur and salesman.

 

[jonnylugs]

@noname5137 Any alternative to red meat. Most people just advice me to eat meat which is not an advice I am looking for.

 

[noname5137]

@jonnylugs Here's the bottom line - you need to be in a caloric surplus to add weight. If you go too high in a caloric surplus right away, you'll add fat faster. Think about it as two elements to an equation - calories and metabolism. Metabolism is your ability to use calories. If you add 200 calories, your metabolism needs time to adapt, to be able to catch up to that increase. For the first 2 weeks in a 200 cal surplus, you might put on a pound or two of fat. But, your body will learn to utilize that energy and in the long term you'll have more energy for your muscles. When you try that for a month and you start getting hungry again, add 200 calories. You need to train metabolism with progressive overload.

Any fatty meat is going to have good cholesterol content, but it's hard to replace red meat in terms of available amino acids. There's also the factor of how lean meat might increase the thermogenic effect and therefor end up burning more calories (40g protein, 160 calories, might net a total 100 calories after that factor, for example).

If you are eating vegetarian, it's going to be hard. You need to really look into amino acid pairing for every meal so that you are getting a complete amino acid profile. There are also essential amino acids (the ones your body can't make) that aren't as bioavailable in vegetables.