The vast majority of people who practice Crossfit They do not fail to go to their training since they are fun, in groups and dynamic, but, we find ourselves with Many athletes that fail to build muscle mass or that they have been stagnant in the process. There is also a very broad profile, which does not practice Crossfit Just for this same reason, although they would like. Here are the important thing to follow a Basic diet to gain muscle. Many times we focus on things too specific and complicated, both in the training and nutrition field. In the end, the most important thing is to have a clear objective, priorities and draw a Specific plan To do this.
➡️ most important faactors to gain volume by practicing CrossFit
If we had to draw a pyramid with the important thing to achieve results it would be in this order:
- Calories
- Macronutrients.
- Micronutrients.
- Food.
- Timing (number, schedule and frequency of food).
- Supplements.
Although, without a doubt, the pyramid is based on the adherence. It doesn't matter if you have the most perfect plan in the world, if that plan does not adapt to you, and not otherwise, you will not achieve results. It is not about doing everything perfect, if not to do it in such a way that You can keep it in time. Don't do much, do it well. We all have social life, work and the same hours in the day. Do not worry if one day you cannot train, if you go out to eat whether or if you feel like a donuts. Your diet will not improve for eating a salad, nor will it get worse for eating a pizza. The muscle gain is a slow and constant process. And now, as the information is power, we will explain a bit how all this works.
✅ How many calories should I consume?
Being simplistic, you must consume More calories you spend on your day to day. The calories of each food are different, and this will affect your body composition, that is, a donuts and an egg can have the same calories, but they are different. First we must estimate our Caloric expenditure, in general, no one is a good judge of oneself. It is very difficult to estimate the real caloric expense of a person, but we can approach a bit, either by formulas created such as that of Harris-Benedict, which is an empirical equation to estimate a person's basal metabolism (BMR) based on their body weight, height and age, taking into account their physical activity.
BMR (woman) = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years) BMR (man) = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)
Then we should multiply our BMR by the daily physical activity we have. This is a way to do it to have more or less an idea, but you can also calculate what you eat in a week keeping your weight on the scale. In this case, We seek to gain muscle mass, with which we must generate a Caloric surplus. Once we know our maintenance calories, we can increase the calories we consume by 10%. In CrossFit We are not interested in gaining a lot of fat in the muscle gain process, so it is better to gradually increase that caloric surplus and observe us.
✅ What indicator is better to know if we are doing well in our muscle gain process?
A simple way to measure it is through photos fortnightly, Body measures On the thighs, arms or waist. You can also do it with impedance scales, although they are not the most reliable method either. It is always better for someone to evaluate our progress, to be more realistic. In addition, you will also notice that you have more strength, that you progress in certain exercises or uprisings or that Your sports performance improves little by little. The muscle gain process is different depending on the starting point of each athlete, it will not be the same in a beginner, intermediate or advanced athlete and also of the body composition of each. Surely if you are a beginner you can even gain muscle mass and lose fat at the same time, but, for example, if you are intermediate and desire 2 kg every fifteen days you are surely increasing your fatty percentage to a greater extent. The normal thing is that at a surplus stage you increase your fatty percentage, but everything up to a limit within normal. Novice athletes surely generate hypertrophy in a much simpler way than another more adapted to these training. We must take into account that CrossFit It is a sport where a lot of energy is spent and, possibly, if you do not want muscle mass, it is because you are falling short.
✅ What exactly when I do a wod? Where do I get that energy training
The ATP is an energy exchange currency. There are three systems to obtain this energy. He CrossFit They are explosive exercises in short periods of execution (0 to 10 sec), where phosphocreatine is used, that is, phosphagene pathways are activated. Then we activate the glycolitical system, which is all that is outside the mitochondria in longer -duration activities, but not tan High intensity (longer wod), and this is where we use the Carbohydrates as the main energy source. And finally, there is oxidative phosphorylation, which would be the use of fatty acids, protein or glucose at the mitochondrial level. It all depends on the intensity and duration of training, it is not that one or the other ways are activated, it is that in CrossFit We played the three ways of energy substrate normally. It is not that you have three glasses and decide just drink one. Surely there are words that sound like Chinese, but it is important to understand that it is a sport with a high energy demand. Once we already know what it is Important to generate a caloric surplus, which will determine whether we gain more muscle or more fat will be macronutrients.
✅ What happens to proteins, carbohydrates and fats if I want to gain muscle?
We must establish a sufficient contribution of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Actually, the Proteins In a volume phase they should not be very high, since protein degradation will be less because of the anabolic state generated by the surplus, we can estimate between 1.6-2 grams per kilogram of body weight. The Fats They must be between 1-1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight, it is important that if you are a woman do not go down 1 gram per kilogram of body weight. As for Carbohydrates You can estimate it with the rest of calories that have to complete, it must be high since they are necessary to recover from training and gain muscle mass. You can play up and lower the hydrates on the days you give in and those you rest. Do you remember adherence, right? Perhaps it is not the best for you to be telling and weighing every gram and every calorie you eat, at first you will surely have to do it, but once you know, it is simply guide your instinct.
✅ Micronutrients: indispensable in the basic diet to gain muscle
Now that we have already established calories and macronutrients What do you tell me about micronutrients? Are essential for proper functioning of the organism, hormonal system and mood. We must choose dense and nutrient -rich foods for a basic diet to gain muscle, for example: Vegetables, fruits, tubers, legumes, nuts, seeds, meats, fish and shellfish, eggs, yogurts and extra virgin olive oil. Being in caloric surplus. Surely it is difficult for us to eat what we owe, we can include healthy but calmer foods: rice, quinoa, oatmeal, bread, paste, dried fruits, chocolate or pure cocoa, whole milk, quality cheeses ... etc. Any of those foods serves you, it would be best to put many colors to your meals or dinners And vary, always doing the best you can with what you have, as much times as possible.
✅ How many meals and what time to eat to gain muscle?
You do not have to eat 5-6 times a day, you have to eat the times they adapt to you and your routine. Generally, this generates a lot of stress and is not really relevant. If you want to make two large intakes, go ahead, but If it is hard for you to reach your energy requirements His would be to do More meals. On the contrary, if you go hungry, eat less times a greater amount.
➡️ List of more frequent problems when gaining muscle mass in CrossFit.
Point out not to happen to you too!
- Not for eating more you will win muscle, since if not Specifically train prioritizing strength exercises with progressive overload and hypertrophy.
- It really is important to get to calories, do not be afraid to gain weight, having information and doing things well sure you achieve your goals. In addition, having more muscle mass will greatly improve your health.
- Not for being in volume you have to eat all the buns at home, Not everything is worth.
- It makes sense to program Cheat Meal, or in volume, or in definition, always uses the head. If you feel like something, consume it, whatever it may be, and if you go out with friends or family, enjoy.
