Gaining Lean Muscle. What should i eat?

[Connor Sobol]

Hi, i just started crossfit about a month ago and i am a lightweight rower. i want to get stronger without gaining a lot of weight. does anyone have any advice on what i should or how much of it?

[Jacob Israel Briskin]

Originally Posted by Connor Sobol

Hi, i just started crossfit about a month ago and i am a lightweight rower. i want to get stronger without gaining a lot of weight. does anyone have any advice on what i should or how much of it?

Lightweight rowers FTW, my friend. Ah, I remember when I did that.....good times. I'm not sure I understand your question, though...do you want to get stronger or "gain lean muscle"? It's possible to get stronger without getting much bigger, if that's what you're getting at. Could you elaborate, please?

I assume you're trying to stay under 155lbs. How far under are you now?

[Laura Kurth]

well in your title you say you want to gain muscle... but then you say you don't want to gain weight

which is it?

either way the answer will be the same - lots of meat & eggs, fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, oils, etc. Whole Milk if you can tolerate it.

If you want to gain weight just eat a lot of good food, a lot more than you currently do. If you want to gain strength without gaining weight, it will be slow going but can be done. Just get a good strength program going and perhaps a very slight calorie increase.

Starting strength is a great program, though if you are willing to gain a bunch of weight, you will get a lot stronger in the process.

[Frank E Morel]

like the above post... slight caloric increase and alot of heavy lifting your going to either have a slight increase in weight or stay the same if your really watching what your doing. Its Very possible to do.. it just takes alot of documenting.. food journals, workout journal and a weekly weight.. yes weekly .. daily will be too mentally influencing.

Just follow, Rips starting strength to the letter.. dont tweak it or change it. It has all the bones for a rower to build on... you want a strong back back? dl and pc .... you want strong hip drive... squats dl, pc. grip strengths for holding on to that sweep oar... well the whole f'g program is going to give you grip strong that any Roman/ Phoenician boat slave would be happy to have you sitting in the seat beside them.

Just set up a food log, post it. There is enough of us around to guide you..
Post your strength log ... and there will more than enough of coaches for you.

So.... what do you think? Do you want to nail one of the engine seats on your sweep crew?

[Jamie Crichton]

You don't need to gain any weight to get stronger. Any progressive program will do it, just slowly put more weight on your lifts. Keep intake about the same and watch your weight. If it goes up, eat less. If it goes down, eat more. If it stays the same, eat the same. Simple.

Strength is a skill. Practice it and you will get better at it. It is all about more efficient recruitment of muscle fibres. Think about the top crossfitters, like OPT, Dutch, Josh E. Those guys squat 3x bodyweight or more. Did they need to add 30lbs of muscle to lift like that? No they just lift. You should be able to justify every lb on your body. If you can't DL 2x BW, then getting a ****load heavier isn't going to help. It'll just make 2x BW a whole lot more.

[Connor Sobol]

Jacob, im currently quite under at 145 lbs and 6 feet tall. i really want to get some explosive strength but stay below 155. so yes i want to gain lean muscle

[Frank E Morel]

Originally Posted by Connor Sobol

Jacob, im currently quite under at 145 lbs and 6 feet tall. i really want to get some explosive strength but stay below 155. so yes i want to gain lean muscle

Dude... you need that extra 20lbs... your too skinny Unless you wanna COX
EAT and go the milk route.... gain the muscle and be a piston in the engine block... not the crank arm!


wfs
http://www.usrowing.org/Parents/Rowi...ons/index.aspx

Lightweight vs. Open Weight

An athlete of any weight can enter the open categories, although the average woman in an open race will approach 6' in height and an average open weight man 6'6". Lightweight Men cannot weigh more than 160 pounds and the average weight in the entire boat cannot exceed 155 pounds. Lightweight Women cannot weight more than 130 pounds and the average weight in the entire boat cannot exceed 125 pounds.

[Connor Sobol]

Alright i will definitely take all of the advice you guys have given mean into account. its much appreciated. ill just diet right and if i gain weight i gain weight and if not as long as the plates keep stacking up then ill continue doing what im doing.
thanks

[Eric Feigl]

Originally Posted by Frank E Morel

like the above post... slight caloric increase and alot of heavy lifting your going to either have a slight increase in weight or stay the same if your really watching what your doing. Its Very possible to do.. it just takes alot of documenting.. food journals, workout journal and a weekly weight.. yes weekly .. daily will be too mentally influencing.

Just follow, Rips starting strength to the letter.. dont tweak it or change it. It has all the bones for a rower to build on... you want a strong back back? dl and pc .... you want strong hip drive... squats dl, pc. grip strengths for holding on to that sweep oar... well the whole f'g program is going to give you grip strong that any Roman/ Phoenician boat slave would be happy to have you sitting in the seat beside them.

Just set up a food log, post it. There is enough of us around to guide you..
Post your strength log ... and there will more than enough of coaches for you.

So.... what do you think? Do you want to nail one of the engine seats on your sweep crew?

I have kept food logs in the past...now Im wanting to keep track of kcals again as my workout intensity increases. Anyone have suggestions or a good outline I could follow?

[Frank E Morel]

yeah
wfs
www.fitday.com you will be able to post them using a ongoing url.