I’m the guy! Thank you so much for answering my question! Loved the episode! I’ll try to provide a little more context which may or may not be helpful based on the questions you were asking. I also apologize if this is way too much information. I’ve been lifting weights since 2011 but was just doing bodybuilding exercises (back/bis, chest/tris, legs, etc). I didn’t take it too seriously and definitely didn’t lift heavy enough to reach any sort of substantial progressive overload. I only ever really started doing heavy compound lifts (heavy for me) when I started CrossFit in 2020. I’m realizing I said I was doing CrossFit for five years, however, I’m now realizing it’s been four years. I’ve always been a smaller framed guy, about 5’9’’. I was probably 140 lbs in high school and got up to 150 by the end of university. I’ve been 160ish lbs for most of my 20s/30s with the exception of when I was up to 175 five years ago (I ate really poorly during this time). I did a cut after that and got quite lean to 153 lbs. For the last two years I’ve tried to eat about 150-160g of protein and have been eating at maintenance calories (2700ish) - some days more some days less. My weight has stayed between 155-160 lbs for the past two years. I use MacroFactor to track my calories, TDEE, etc. For the past month, I’ve been eating about 3000 cals and 170+ grams of protein in an attempt to try and get stronger. I’ve put on about 5 lbs and am now 165. I find I don’t have difficulty gaining or losing weight. However I want the weight gain to be at least SOME muscle and not just fat 😅. For supplements I take creatine, pre workout, and protein powder. For workouts I do classes at my CrossFit gym which vary a lot. Some days are only metcons, some days only strength, some are both. I try to go 5 days a week. I am definitely much better at gymnastics and body weight wods vs wods using moderate to heavy barbells. I usually am able to use weights between women’s and men’s RX. For example, if a WOD requires deadlifts 225 men/155 women I’d probably do 185. Or if it has clean and jerks 135/95 I would probably do 115. I’m a nurse and work shift work (two day shifts, two night shifts, five days off). I also pick up lots of overtime. My sleep consequently due to night shifts and overtime is poor. I probably average 5-6 hours at most. My biggest concern is how I can use my time at the gym effectively to get stronger. I feel I’ve hit a plateau for the last couple of years and am not reaching those RX weights, just always stuck between men’s and women’s RX. This may mean taking programming into my own hands and not just doing my gyms programming. I love CrossFit for the community aspect obviously but I understand that to get stronger I may require programming that’s more catered to my specific needs. Anyways, that’s a lot of information, let me know if there is anything else you’d like to know! Thank you so much again for answering my question and so cool that you made this episode based off my Reddit post that I thought nobody would read 😅
No, thank you! We had a great time trying to help you with your question. Sleep is going to be a big factor in improving strength. Thanks for the additional information. Maybe we could film another episode in the future with it. In the meantime, good luck with your training, If you have any questions feel free to reach out to someone on the team!
I’m the guy! Thank you so much for answering my question! Loved the episode! I’ll try to provide a little more context which may or may not be helpful based on the questions you were asking. I also apologize if this is way too much information.
I’ve been lifting weights since 2011 but was just doing bodybuilding exercises (back/bis, chest/tris, legs, etc). I didn’t take it too seriously and definitely didn’t lift heavy enough to reach any sort of substantial progressive overload. I only ever really started doing heavy compound lifts (heavy for me) when I started CrossFit in 2020. I’m realizing I said I was doing CrossFit for five years, however, I’m now realizing it’s been four years.
I’ve always been a smaller framed guy, about 5’9’’. I was probably 140 lbs in high school and got up to 150 by the end of university. I’ve been 160ish lbs for most of my 20s/30s with the exception of when I was up to 175 five years ago (I ate really poorly during this time). I did a cut after that and got quite lean to 153 lbs. For the last two years I’ve tried to eat about 150-160g of protein and have been eating at maintenance calories (2700ish) - some days more some days less. My weight has stayed between 155-160 lbs for the past two years. I use MacroFactor to track my calories, TDEE, etc. For the past month, I’ve been eating about 3000 cals and 170+ grams of protein in an attempt to try and get stronger. I’ve put on about 5 lbs and am now 165. I find I don’t have difficulty gaining or losing weight. However I want the weight gain to be at least SOME muscle and not just fat 😅. For supplements I take creatine, pre workout, and protein powder.
For workouts I do classes at my CrossFit gym which vary a lot. Some days are only metcons, some days only strength, some are both. I try to go 5 days a week. I am definitely much better at gymnastics and body weight wods vs wods using moderate to heavy barbells. I usually am able to use weights between women’s and men’s RX. For example, if a WOD requires deadlifts 225 men/155 women I’d probably do 185. Or if it has clean and jerks 135/95 I would probably do 115.
I’m a nurse and work shift work (two day shifts, two night shifts, five days off). I also pick up lots of overtime. My sleep consequently due to night shifts and overtime is poor. I probably average 5-6 hours at most.
My biggest concern is how I can use my time at the gym effectively to get stronger. I feel I’ve hit a plateau for the last couple of years and am not reaching those RX weights, just always stuck between men’s and women’s RX. This may mean taking programming into my own hands and not just doing my gyms programming. I love CrossFit for the community aspect obviously but I understand that to get stronger I may require programming that’s more catered to my specific needs.
Anyways, that’s a lot of information, let me know if there is anything else you’d like to know! Thank you so much again for answering my question and so cool that you made this episode based off my Reddit post that I thought nobody would read 😅
No, thank you! We had a great time trying to help you with your question. Sleep is going to be a big factor in improving strength. Thanks for the additional information. Maybe we could film another episode in the future with it. In the meantime, good luck with your training, If you have any questions feel free to reach out to someone on the team!