Can you gain serious mass on Crossfit?

[Steven Low]

Originally Posted by Christopher G. Woods

Actually, you couldn't be more wrong. You can easily put on mass while doing the WOD's, metcons and all. It's all about diet. I maintain myself at 165 lbs with about 5-7% bodyfat. I let my diet slip a little right after Easter (too much junk around the house) and put on almost 7 pounds in two weeks.

I'd say do th main page WOD's, and get on the zone. When you plan your zone diet, don't plan for what weight you are, plan for what weight you want to be.

WODs won't be as good as strength training though for mass gain. More or less the point he was trying to make.

[Kevin Perry]

Originally Posted by Christopher G. Woods

Actually, you couldn't be more wrong. You can easily put on mass while doing the WOD's, metcons and all. It's all about diet. I maintain myself at 165 lbs with about 5-7% bodyfat. I let my diet slip a little right after Easter (too much junk around the house) and put on almost 7 pounds in two weeks.

I'd say do th main page WOD's, and get on the zone. When you plan your zone diet, don't plan for what weight you are, plan for what weight you want to be.

Chris

Since im not in much a mood to argue this week the OP is talking about mass. Can you gain mass on CF? yes it's possible and likely if your a novice, will it be tremendous gains? no and I stand by that firmly. Unless he is eating a great deal then he won't put on serious mass and when we talk about mass the majority of the time it is strength the person is talking about. CF will deveop strength but not as well as a program designed to put on strength and mas like SS or any other similar program.

The big issue I see here is that everyone says stick to te WODS and get o the zone. Thats great advice and all but the zone is not diet aimed at mass gain and neither is crossfit. Crossfit is designed for functional fitness and the zone is more or less designed for eating healthier and cutting weight and body fat.

Was I wrong? sorry but no, there are no right or wrong answers per say since everything in the fitness world is based on goal setting. He has a goal of mass gain. So why not program him the method that will achieve that fastest? I.e. strength training + lots of food.

[Mark Knisely]

When you buy SS is there a program contained in the book?

[Kevin Perry]

Originally Posted by Mark Knisely

When you buy SS is there a program contained in the book?

There are a couple programs outlined in the book yes.

[Jason Naubur]

Mark - what is great about SS (the book) is the amazing instruction on the lifts. Squat, Deadlift, Press, Bench Press, Power Clean. The program is a small part of the book, in fact if you search 'onus wunsler' on this board you will see a post that describes a whole bunch of programs including the SS one. (Onus is an example in the book). If you buy it expecting to see a 'do this for the most gains' type section you will be disappointed.

If you are not a very experienced lifter (which you aren't by the sounds of it), read the book. If you aren't squatting / DLing properly, at best you will see small gains, at worst really hurt yourself.

The writing style is very readable and entertaining. To the point but detailed. After reading it I must say that Mark and Lon have a gift for writing. I have been doing squats for years, and I still learned a LOT. It is a constant reference for me.


jason

[David Gessen]

Mark - If you want inspiration read what I am saying:


I've started with SS 10 weeks ago with the weight of 112.2lbs 5'7
Now I am 136.4 5'7 1/2.

20.2lbs bodyweight in 10 weeks.

[Jared Ashley]

Originally Posted by Kevin Perry

Chris

Since im not in much a mood to argue this week the OP is talking about mass. Can you gain mass on CF? yes it's possible and likely if your a novice, will it be tremendous gains? no and I stand by that firmly. Unless he is eating a great deal then he won't put on serious mass and when we talk about mass the majority of the time it is strength the person is talking about. CF will deveop strength but not as well as a program designed to put on strength and mas like SS or any other similar program.

I have to agree 100% with you... the OP says he is 17 years old, 135 lbs, and 5'7"... so he's probably a lot like me; the skinny guy who can eat ice cream by the bucket and not gain weight. If so, CF may add a few pounds at first if he's eating enough, but he's NOT going to gain 15-20 lbs, PERIOD! From personal experience as a 135 lb, 5'7" 26 year-old guy doing CF with a raging metabolism, it's hard just to maintain your weight, let alone add any. Hell, I'm trying to get 5 lbs back that I lost after a flu, so I've cut back my metcons, I'm doing more ME work, and I'm eating a ton, and it's still a struggle!

to the OP: it's been said before... buy starting strength, read every word, do the program (yes, it's in the book), drink the milk. Once you've hit your strength/mass goals, by all means switch to crossfit for conditioning.

[Daniel Olmstead]

I was under the impression that the human body could only add .5 lb's of lean mass (ie, muscle) per week under ideal conditions, and anything more than that is fat that must then be dropped later. Obviously, it's near-impossible to gain ONLY lean mass - any gains will be some ratio of fat/muscle. But I try to limit my gains to .5-1 lb/week, for fear of getting too chubby.

Am I wrong?

[Tom Fetter]

Yup.

Yes, you'll add some fat along with the muscle mass if you do the SS routine as the book lays it out, and drink the full gallon of milk each day. But no, you won't be limited to only about a half pound/week of muscle gain.

[Steven Low]

Depends on your genetics and other factors.

Some scrawny/underweight growing/youthful people (with more GH and testosterone than the rest of us) with good genetics *HAVE* added 40-50 lbs of lean mass within 6 months which is abut 1 lbs per 3 days or so. So I mean.. depends on the person.