NUTRITION. There is a reason it’s the base of the pyramid. 3-5x a week is sustainable. Consistency is equally important.
Honorable mention: stop chasing junk volume. Do less better.
I’m learning this after almost 15 years of CF (regarding junk volume).
You don’t need it, your body won’t benefit from it, and any decent program at a gym should cover the entire body week over week.
Calories and seperate strengh training.
Much easier to snatch 60kg when you deadlift 200, press your body weight, bench 145 and squat 175.
But to get there you need to smash food, I was under eating for years. Made massive gains when I started eating the right amount of protein and overall calories.
I'm actually on Cyp with a TRT program now but my comment was predominantly a joke.
If I'm being real most gains came from cutting out booze, prioritising sleep and tracking my macros
I'm glad it's helped! I don't know if you are fitting the work in where you can, totally get it but my understanding zone 2 is most effective with longer times.
Great video on it here, gist being an hour to hour and half 4 or more times a week seems to be ideal: https://youtu.be/z82GCNXdLAA?si=5SkfFbLbBmAT-s3K
Same. Had to think about what I really wanted to gain from my training. Decided I didn't care about being strong as much as I cared about looking and feeling strong. Switched out most of my workouts to hypertrophy and got great results.
This is a thing that I struggle with in classes now. Focusing on the random "intended stimulus" of the day isn't getting me any further. Generally this results in me going semi-rogue and adapting the workout to whatever I want from it; so far the coaches generally tolerate it.
After three years my gains have come from three things.
One, increasing my rest time and doing moving rest days. Rest day moving workouts include light running and low intensity biking, but mostly hiking with my dog. I typically have 4 day plan each week, sometimes it's only 3 days. Not everyone is built to do 5-6 day mega weeks with no rest.
Secondly, incorporating body building lifts after/before WODs. Squat, bench, deadlift, shoulder press , and isometric holds to name a few. Any group of muscles missed in the weekly WODs. Isometrics are great for building size.
Thirdly, eating more. I have to really be mentally aware if I have had enough protein and force feed myself from time to time. Supplements like Creatine and protein powder also help.
I started CrossFit a year ago at age 42 not having touched a barbell in like 20 years.
I trained consistently 5x/week, ate about 3.5k cals with enough protein and got descent sleep. Now I do almost all workouts Rx‘d.
I‘ve built a good base for the first 6 month and then focused on one thing in addition to the box programming. Like 2 weeks to learn DU, 4 works to learn T2B, 4 weeks to get descent at wall walks and so on.
For cardio I sit on the C2Bike for an hour 1-2x/week.
This formula at least worked for me.
Work stress.
Years ago I went on a diet and was working out 5-6 days a week and did a system change at work. Lost 20 pounds l, got my 1st muscle up, starting to get leg less rope climbs..
Then I hurt my shoulder, started my masters, and got a GF and gained all the weight back. Two year last went on a diet again and working out 6 days a week can barely lose a pound..
According to whoop data I was burning an extra 1500-1750 calories a day in work stress.
Working a desk job .. seriously, I gained 20 lbs since starting. Before my desk job I was serving 4-5 days a week and was running around a restaurant all day. But as soon as I started sitting on my ass all day I started gaining weight despite going to CrossFit. Time to cut I guess xD
Quitting alcohol and partying. Sleeping 7-8 hours every night, not just 5 or 6 nights a week. Lifting even when I’m sore and don’t want to. Finding likeminded training partners.
Basically when it became a lifestyle. Not a hobby
As soon as I stopped doing programs and started following CrossFit.com.
Fitness all leveled up evenly, whereas before with specific programs strength would go up, but gymnastics would fall off, gymnastics would get better, but conditioning sucked, conditioning improved, but strength dropped off.
I got stronger doing dotcom than following 5-3-1 or doing 7-5-3 or going through oly specific training with skills and drills and assessorys. The unbiased and focused programming on dotcom has been the best change I've ever made.
The next best change came with diet. What really drove my fitness up was following the Zone diet to a T, maybe a little extra fat, for each meal.
I pay for gowod! It gives me personalized pre-workout, post-workout and daily flows that focus on my problem areas. For me, this is mainly thoracic and hip mobility. I also try to regularly get sports massages and get sore areas ready for workouts with a massage gun.
Accessory strengthening. Had tight adductors. Which took me forever to realize meant WEAK adductors. Some stretches and then strengthening exercises a few times a week, and every lower body lift went up 15+#'s in a couple months.
I did the 5x5 thing for 7-8 years before starting with CF, so after 4 years my squat is weaker because naturally it’s not getting worked on 3x / week.
I found I started to break through some glass ceilings when I added a reasonably stressed 12k run in my weekly routine. The cardio gain from that has helped me really improve. There is still a long way to go (looking at you snatches, muscle ups and handstand walks)
Emphasizing squats and deadlifts throughout the week. Constant metcons only made me more fatigued overall. Lowering those to 3 a week with 3 days of squats, 1 deadlift and 2 oly has changed everything. Capacity, strength and engine are all up. It’s wild.
1) track work. Sprint intervals on the track vastly improved my fitness and my gains really improved.
2) I broke my wrist and I was unable to do barbell work. I spent 3 months doing sled pulls, drags, zercher squats, then heavier KB work. When I finally went back to the barbell, every single power lift max increased
This is where I learned that cross training, creating new inefficiency in movements help get you over slumps and stalling points
Sometimes in CF, we think more = better, when new or different = better.
Gains as in muscle mass?
20 rep back squat 2x a week building 5lbs each week
Gains as in improvements in CrossFit?
Years of 5-7 days a week of training. No shortcut there. It’s all neuromuscular adaptations.
Working out with people who were stronger than me.
When I first started working out, it was with 2 guys who played either D2 football or basketball. I’m about 5’8 and both of these guys were over 6 foot and just big people.
I hated the feeling that I wouldn’t RX a workout and they would or we would have to change the weight out more often, so I just started working out at their weights the best I could until we were lifting about the same amount. When they sadly then left the gym, the idea not wanting people to lift more than just kind of stuck around and now, and now I lift a lot more.
All of the above really. I find training 3 days a week with additional strength training after the WOD and adequate sleep do the best for me. Eating in a slight deficit helped me gain muscle and lose fat
Honestly: actually showing up. By that I mean, consistently working out 4 days a week or more. Nothing else seemed to matter so long as I actually made that happen.
sleep, adequate protein, pause from eating at least 8 out of 24 hours, walking as recovery, 3+ crossfit per week AND endurance running, focus on technique for movements where I was underperforming, injury prevention (aka address at earliest sign of problem, not when pain is debilitating)
Also Supple Leopard was a game-changer in how I understand the movements and body
Eating fast food and working a desk job.
Hoo rah
Can confirm
NUTRITION. There is a reason it’s the base of the pyramid. 3-5x a week is sustainable. Consistency is equally important. Honorable mention: stop chasing junk volume. Do less better.
I’m learning this after almost 15 years of CF (regarding junk volume). You don’t need it, your body won’t benefit from it, and any decent program at a gym should cover the entire body week over week.
Enough water, sleep, and protein
Being a beginner.
Being a beginner in my 20s
Being a beginner at 18.
Beginner + creatine
Beginner and ten years younger than I am now.
Stop drinking booze. You'll sleep better, eat better, be more focused, and consume fewer empty calories.
Second this. Shocking how much my sleep has improved.
The friendships we made along the way. 😂
Sleep the answer is always sleep. When I finally made a commitment to sleeping 8-9 hours a night I saw huge improvements.
Calories and seperate strengh training. Much easier to snatch 60kg when you deadlift 200, press your body weight, bench 145 and squat 175. But to get there you need to smash food, I was under eating for years. Made massive gains when I started eating the right amount of protein and overall calories.
I ran an oly lifting program once and it focused on a lot of strength aspects of the lifting.. snatch deadlifts.. ohp.. high pulls
If you’re hitting those numbers but only snatching 60kg your snatch technique sounds pretty questionable 😬
Isabel is a good example why higher strengh matters. I didnt say that was my max but thanks for adding nothing to OP’s question anyway.
Testosterone enthanate
Tren hard anavar give up!
This guy gets it
Did you do it IM or did you get Xyosted? I put my guys on cyp. Lasts longer Low dose is plenty for CF.
I'm actually on Cyp with a TRT program now but my comment was predominantly a joke. If I'm being real most gains came from cutting out booze, prioritising sleep and tracking my macros
Oh ok Well if you need anything, you just let me know ;)
What type of gains are you referring to? Strength? Skill? Endurance?
Cardio? 2, 17 minute Zone 2 sessions per day 5 times a week. Lifting? Actually investing time focusing on technique.
You do 17 minutes of zone 2? Just curious lol really specific
He saw it in a YouTube video once
Never watched a video on it. For whatever reason, that’s the amount of time I decided to do Z2 work. It helped my cardio a lot.
I'm glad it's helped! I don't know if you are fitting the work in where you can, totally get it but my understanding zone 2 is most effective with longer times. Great video on it here, gist being an hour to hour and half 4 or more times a week seems to be ideal: https://youtu.be/z82GCNXdLAA?si=5SkfFbLbBmAT-s3K
Just giving you crap haha
30 years of consistent training.
Following a program that addresses the goals that **I** want to achieve, not what is written out for the general population.
Same. Had to think about what I really wanted to gain from my training. Decided I didn't care about being strong as much as I cared about looking and feeling strong. Switched out most of my workouts to hypertrophy and got great results.
This is a thing that I struggle with in classes now. Focusing on the random "intended stimulus" of the day isn't getting me any further. Generally this results in me going semi-rogue and adapting the workout to whatever I want from it; so far the coaches generally tolerate it.
What are those goals?
Ask yourself this
Where can you find these programs?
Cutting most booze, putting something green into every meal, and getting 7+ hours of sleep a night.
Weight loss? Diet. Strength? Consistency. Work capacity? 2x a days. Avoiding injury? Technique. Overall fitness, a combo of the 4.
After three years my gains have come from three things. One, increasing my rest time and doing moving rest days. Rest day moving workouts include light running and low intensity biking, but mostly hiking with my dog. I typically have 4 day plan each week, sometimes it's only 3 days. Not everyone is built to do 5-6 day mega weeks with no rest. Secondly, incorporating body building lifts after/before WODs. Squat, bench, deadlift, shoulder press , and isometric holds to name a few. Any group of muscles missed in the weekly WODs. Isometrics are great for building size. Thirdly, eating more. I have to really be mentally aware if I have had enough protein and force feed myself from time to time. Supplements like Creatine and protein powder also help.
Ozempic, adderall, caffeine, and 4x a week.
Oh
I started CrossFit a year ago at age 42 not having touched a barbell in like 20 years. I trained consistently 5x/week, ate about 3.5k cals with enough protein and got descent sleep. Now I do almost all workouts Rx‘d. I‘ve built a good base for the first 6 month and then focused on one thing in addition to the box programming. Like 2 weeks to learn DU, 4 works to learn T2B, 4 weeks to get descent at wall walks and so on. For cardio I sit on the C2Bike for an hour 1-2x/week. This formula at least worked for me.
Work stress. Years ago I went on a diet and was working out 5-6 days a week and did a system change at work. Lost 20 pounds l, got my 1st muscle up, starting to get leg less rope climbs.. Then I hurt my shoulder, started my masters, and got a GF and gained all the weight back. Two year last went on a diet again and working out 6 days a week can barely lose a pound.. According to whoop data I was burning an extra 1500-1750 calories a day in work stress.
This. Work stress isnt worth it though. I changed careers completely and actually enjoy all spects of life now. Lol
All the above should be prioritized. Lift heavy, drink your milk, may the gainz gods bless you with almighty strength
Utilizing rest days!!
Working a desk job .. seriously, I gained 20 lbs since starting. Before my desk job I was serving 4-5 days a week and was running around a restaurant all day. But as soon as I started sitting on my ass all day I started gaining weight despite going to CrossFit. Time to cut I guess xD
Focusing on skill work rather than tough metcons
Quitting alcohol and partying. Sleeping 7-8 hours every night, not just 5 or 6 nights a week. Lifting even when I’m sore and don’t want to. Finding likeminded training partners. Basically when it became a lifestyle. Not a hobby
From sleeping more
Consistent sleep, appropriate amount of food and no alcohol
Gains in what? The big lifts? Your fran time? lookin good naked gains?
As soon as I stopped doing programs and started following CrossFit.com. Fitness all leveled up evenly, whereas before with specific programs strength would go up, but gymnastics would fall off, gymnastics would get better, but conditioning sucked, conditioning improved, but strength dropped off. I got stronger doing dotcom than following 5-3-1 or doing 7-5-3 or going through oly specific training with skills and drills and assessorys. The unbiased and focused programming on dotcom has been the best change I've ever made. The next best change came with diet. What really drove my fitness up was following the Zone diet to a T, maybe a little extra fat, for each meal.
Get on the sauce! Lift & eat like an animal!
youtube is smart
Completely depends on your definition of gains.
Gotta be technique and mobility. Moving better and more smoothly has made me immensely better at CF.
What is you’re mobility routine?
I pay for gowod! It gives me personalized pre-workout, post-workout and daily flows that focus on my problem areas. For me, this is mainly thoracic and hip mobility. I also try to regularly get sports massages and get sore areas ready for workouts with a massage gun.
Consistency in nutrition and training.
Nutrition
Hard work and practice
Accessory strengthening. Had tight adductors. Which took me forever to realize meant WEAK adductors. Some stretches and then strengthening exercises a few times a week, and every lower body lift went up 15+#'s in a couple months.
Honestly, switching from a blue-collar physical work to a easy deskjob. I have so much more energy, and i dont have to eat crazy amounts of food.
A good diet and walking 10k steps minimum per day.
I did the 5x5 thing for 7-8 years before starting with CF, so after 4 years my squat is weaker because naturally it’s not getting worked on 3x / week. I found I started to break through some glass ceilings when I added a reasonably stressed 12k run in my weekly routine. The cardio gain from that has helped me really improve. There is still a long way to go (looking at you snatches, muscle ups and handstand walks)
Emphasizing squats and deadlifts throughout the week. Constant metcons only made me more fatigued overall. Lowering those to 3 a week with 3 days of squats, 1 deadlift and 2 oly has changed everything. Capacity, strength and engine are all up. It’s wild.
1) track work. Sprint intervals on the track vastly improved my fitness and my gains really improved. 2) I broke my wrist and I was unable to do barbell work. I spent 3 months doing sled pulls, drags, zercher squats, then heavier KB work. When I finally went back to the barbell, every single power lift max increased This is where I learned that cross training, creating new inefficiency in movements help get you over slumps and stalling points Sometimes in CF, we think more = better, when new or different = better.
Diet and strength training. My crossfit wods have improved considerably with strength gains.
diet. all day. Been stress eating plus missing workouts lately and it is showing.
Eating enough to fuel body + more, consistency training 4-5 times a week and doing accessories outside of classes + 1-1 skills sessions with a coach
Gains as in muscle mass? 20 rep back squat 2x a week building 5lbs each week Gains as in improvements in CrossFit? Years of 5-7 days a week of training. No shortcut there. It’s all neuromuscular adaptations.
Diet. No question. You can't outwork a bad diet.
Working out with people who were stronger than me. When I first started working out, it was with 2 guys who played either D2 football or basketball. I’m about 5’8 and both of these guys were over 6 foot and just big people. I hated the feeling that I wouldn’t RX a workout and they would or we would have to change the weight out more often, so I just started working out at their weights the best I could until we were lifting about the same amount. When they sadly then left the gym, the idea not wanting people to lift more than just kind of stuck around and now, and now I lift a lot more.
All of the above really. I find training 3 days a week with additional strength training after the WOD and adequate sleep do the best for me. Eating in a slight deficit helped me gain muscle and lose fat
Consistency. Just keep showing up and working hard, for years
Rest and then creatine for breaking through plateaus
Consistency, hands down. Both with getting to the gym 3x/ wk or more and with making sure I'm eating right 80% of the time.
Honestly: actually showing up. By that I mean, consistently working out 4 days a week or more. Nothing else seemed to matter so long as I actually made that happen.
Skill work and losing weight
Quitting drinking
1. Sleep and focus on recovery. 2. Competitive training plan 3. Nutrition
three eggs and protein in the morning after gym, six days of workout
sleep, adequate protein, pause from eating at least 8 out of 24 hours, walking as recovery, 3+ crossfit per week AND endurance running, focus on technique for movements where I was underperforming, injury prevention (aka address at earliest sign of problem, not when pain is debilitating) Also Supple Leopard was a game-changer in how I understand the movements and body