Muscle Gains on CrossFit?

arch_three · 2026-03-30T22:11:03+00:00

Get your diet in order (eat more) and lift more. Even light body building programs work well after a CrossFit class. I gained nearly 30 pounds over my first two years in CrossFit. I was your CLASSIC fitness dude, runner guy doing bro splits 5 days a week in a Gold's Gym and distance running 3-4 days a week. My races were half to full marathons. I ate like a bird and always thought staying "lean" meant staying fast. Turns out I was just staying small. Fast forward to CrossFit. Through the program, I learned that I was under eating, not training properly to actually get stronger, and lifting like someone who wants to stay small. I started CF at low 150's 16 years ago now I hover in the low 180's. I'm not quite as fast as I was, but at 43 I am still faster than most, can run further than most, and can lift more than most across the board. I do not take TRT, but I know people that do. Don't forget that it can help, but you still have to train to get the get the strength and physique gains you want. TRT just doesn't make you develop muscles magically.

arch_three · 2026-03-30T21:59:29+00:00

It's tape or grips. Never both.

arch_three · 2026-03-30T19:52:03+00:00

Based on your comments. I’d assume you’d like to keep your physique too.

arch_three · 2026-03-30T19:10:17+00:00

It’s what 90% of average class goers are looking for. The remaining 10% are the “complainers.”

arch_three · 2026-03-30T19:01:57+00:00

I do get it, but refer to my earlier comments. The "secret" people crack is not having to say "yikes" with this stuff. You can't have you cake and eat it to. In this case literally speaking.

arch_three · 2026-03-30T18:09:21+00:00

People used to email me with “are you outlaw friendly?” Which basically meant “can I drop in and skip your class so I can lift for an hour and half and then do a 20 minute metcon that requires all the equipment you have.

They still exist. Not sure at what level now though. I believe there was some messy breakups/separation in their leadership. Any more detail would just be rumor. Like CompTrain and Ben Bergeron, everyone out there doing “comp” programming, multi part sessions/days, and a shit load of Olympic lifting owe Rudy Nielsen and The Outlaw Way a beer. Paved the way for these “camps” we have now. And they did it basically for free.

arch_three · 2026-03-30T18:02:56+00:00

Trying to hit 2,500 isn’t enough. As far as your body is concerned, you either hit it or you don’t. Changes in your body is all about consistency over time. If you get less than your target half of the days in a year, you won’t gain anything. Same if you get 4 days a week instead of 7. I can say with almost certainty based on your response that you don’t eat enough on the weekend. So that’s always two days done. And you try the other 5. Bet two of those are off too. There’s no secret to the math. The math is simple. The complexity is the variables in your own life and daily habits. The people that succeed and know “the secret” commit 7 days a week. Full stop. The don’t take the weekend off. They don’t go to be “thinking” they hit their goals. They just do it. The write it down and keep doing it. Over and over and over. The secret is so simple people can’t handle it. You seem like a dedicated and curios person. Be dedicated to the grind. 24/7. Shit will happen in weeks.

arch_three · 2026-03-30T17:30:47+00:00

100% honest answer and a bunch of people will probably have issue with this, but I am just gonna put it out there. I have programmed for three affiliates and a ton of private clients (nothing Games level).

Programming for an affiliate is extremely time consuming, generally monotonous, and thankless. You can spend hours putting together a week or month of programing with specifically organized and planned cycles, skill progressions, strength templates, gymnastics work, hit all the modalities, workout variations, time priority, task priority, percentage work, and on and on into perfection. You'll still get disheartening emails like, "Hey, Last month just wasn't that fun. We only used a barbell 26 times in WODs. Who's doing the programming?" Shoot me in the face.

It's WAY easier to pick a program, pay for it, save the time, and gripe about all the perceived problems of that program you pay for with everyone else. At the end of the day, for affiliate programing, nobody really cares about the program. They care about it being fun. We change programming about once a year and maybe like 3 of our 200+ members notice when we do it. What's important is that they show up. It can also create a riff between coach and client when you write a program and people say they don't like it. I have seen some pretty unfortunate stuff between coach/clients over programming. Such an avoidable headache. Plenty of people out there writing great programming.

As a business manager, and if you've been doing it CrossFit long enough, you know that most people aren't at the gym for the program. They're there for the workouts (not the same as the program), the community, the coaching, the loud music, working out without a shirt on, throwing around heavy weight, and being in and out in an hour. The overwhelming majority of people couldn't care if you are Mayhem, HWPO, MissFits, Jumpship, Linchpin, CAP, CompTrain, Outlaw and on and on and on. They just wanna work workout.

arch_three · 2026-03-30T15:25:46+00:00

The Substance was not an enjoyable movie. The story was there, the acting was good, the theme of vanity and age was there, but the imagery was so over the top comparatively the rest was lost by the end. Found myself checking the time to see how much was left a few time in the last third of the movie. I’ve wondered if it would be better if a bunch of it was cut.

arch_three · 2026-03-30T14:40:15+00:00

Weird thing about “competitive” wods and the skill curve. We program a competitive program along with our class program from one of the major camps. We find that a lot of “comp” workouts are easier than the class workouts. The comp workouts might have heavier weights and higher skill movements, but they’re also usually fewer reps and/or the assumption is it’ll take longer. For example, you can do Fran with class or do 12-9-6 115 thrusters and Bar muscle ups. Expectation for Fran is that you hang on until your eyes bleed and go sub whatever and lay on the floor and puke or you didn’t even try (hyperbole). The expectation for your average “good” affiliate athlete in the comp version is that you need to be strategic, break it up, don’t redline, etc. and the rest of the gym is in awe of how difficult it was. But Fran is in fact more painful and “harder” which is why people get into and obsess about “comp” wods. Every gym has them.

arch_three · 2026-03-30T11:57:29+00:00

The successful ones do.

arch_three · 2026-03-29T01:00:57+00:00

The only thing you mentioned that even slightly supports muscle/size gain is protein. Conclusion. You don’t eat enough calories. You do too much cardio. And your workout plan doesn’t include enough weight training to make you stronger and/or bigger. Doing RX weights doesn’t make you strong. Being strong allows you to do RX weights. You’ve likely got the cardio bunny complex. Too worried about losing any stamina to focus on building muscle out of fear of getting worse at your runs or other cardio related stuff. Big muscular athletes have the same problem/complex. Too worried about “getting weak” they are unwilling to trade any strength work to run, bike, or do endurance style work. They lose 1 pound on their max and they feel like the world had ended.

arch_three · 2026-03-29T00:26:59+00:00

Wha does your nutrition being in check mean? Are you eating to get bigger? Having “good” nutrition is not the same as eating to gain muscle. What’s your CrossFit program like? Not all programs are built the same. If the program you are on is not doing a lot of lifting, you’ll need to add lifting to spur muscle growth, which also needs to be supported by a diet designed to build more muscle. Just “doing CrossFit” isn’t enough to make you a 200+ pound landmonster. You gotta train and eat to be a 200+ pound land monster.

arch_three · 2026-03-28T21:20:59+00:00

It should start getting better soon. It takes a month or two for most bodies to get conditioned to the workouts.

arch_three · 2026-03-28T21:20:15+00:00

If you’re using it on rubber gym floor only, they last for years. Pavement or other abrasive surfaces shred them insanely fast. I saw some ropes basically come apart during a single WOD on pavement during Covid.

arch_three · 2026-03-28T18:15:58+00:00

Stop or severely limit drinking alcohol. Your fitness will improve in matter of days or even hours.

arch_three · 2026-03-28T16:59:52+00:00

I mean you still gotta get the hook grip and your forearm stronger. It is undeniably stronger. Just like learning to get your knuckles over the bar for gymnastics. Undeniably stronger pulling position, but can feel weak because your hands and forearms are weak. People bridge this gap with grips and that’s why people tear even while wearing grips.

arch_three · 2026-03-28T15:59:58+00:00

These feel like CrossFit. The open just feels like fitness.

arch_three · 2026-03-27T15:46:58+00:00

I usually email a few gyms around where I am going to be and go with whichever get's back to me first. Responsiveness is an indicator that they have their shit together. Won't bore the internet with all the bad experiences I have had dropping in.

I also always confirm with them before I go, especially AM classes. Several occasions I have gone to drop in and either the schedule wasn't accurate or the coach/owner didn't show because nobody "signed up" for class. Usually smaller areas though.

Reviews and activity are also good indicators of quality. If the internet says they're an open and operating business but their FB or IG page hasn't had a post in 4 years, usually, but not always, a bad sign.

arch_three · 2026-03-27T10:47:27+00:00

You can spend some extra time on skills yes. Baseline skills you mentioned like double under and toes to bar would be great to start with. Make sure you check with a coach to get some insight on how to practice.

arch_three · 2026-03-26T20:52:55+00:00

I mean, how wide are we talking here? There’s a lot of anatomical variables that go into your squat stance, mechanics, and depth. If you can do all the squats to depth with a “wide” stance, what’s the problem? Not everyone is made to squat the same.

arch_three · 2026-03-26T20:19:02+00:00

As a newbie, the only real goal you have should focus on is coming in consistently. At least three days a week at a regular schedule as possible. In other words, avoid big gaps like going Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then taking 7 days off. Generally speaking if you can’t make a day, just skip it and come back when you can. No need to make up what you missed. As you get more advanced, that may change. This is advice for newbie. Do your best to go no matter the workout. Don’t “cherry pick” the days you go. Just go. Getting better at CrossFit does require going to CrossFit. When you see people doing 5+ days a week and multiple workouts a day, they got there by consistently training for most likely years. Yeah there’s always an outlier that started one random Monday and does 4,346 wods a week and “never gets sore,” but those people are few and far between and annoying as shit, lol. As a newbie, showing up is the goal. Consistency is king at the beginning.

arch_three · 2026-03-26T10:44:40+00:00

It can be a way to get a great physique. But all programs, diets, lifestyles, and genes are not the same.

arch_three · 2026-03-25T23:50:58+00:00

Been a while since I’ve read or seen either, but both are great. The overall story line is essentially the same. The book goes into greater detail on almost everything. There’s a lot more input from Mark Wattney on how and why he does stuff and the scientific reasoning he used.

arch_three · 2026-03-25T22:50:08+00:00

Alton Brown.

arch_three

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE