Fact: I’m the skinniest guy you know.

Fact: Being the lightest guy in the gym is not good news in CrossFit.

Sure, I’ll smoke everyone if we ever do a 100 handstand pushups for time, but at 125lbs and five foot seven inches, the standard men’s kettlebell (53lbs) is over 40% of my body weight. That thing gets heavy fast.

So obviously, when I spotted strongman coach and competitor Brandon Morrison’s Lift Big Eat Big: How To Get Big While Doing Crossfit article I pounced on it.

There are three key points to their article:

Alter your diet – You will not be able to put on weight eating low carb (regardless, of how much protein you’re eating). A paleo diet is low carb by default. You’re going to have to make a solid effort to get carbs. Decrease The Number Of Training Days – If you’re hitting hard met cons five or more times a week you’re not going to put on weight. You need quality not quantity and your rest days give are when your muscles will be repairing. More Short & Heavy, Less Long & Light – Look at all the bigger athletes you know in and out of CrossFit. Do you think they got that way by doing a forty-five minute grinder with an empty bar?

Fact: These three steps will work if you take it seriously. But you need to give it a dedicated shot. At least five to six weeks of diligently sticking to this plan.

Miraculously, I have manged to add five pounds to my bony arse over a five week period using basically the same template. I know, five pounds: big deal. Some of you can probably gain five pounds by holding your breath. But for a guy whose weight has remained basically static over the course of four years of CrossFit this is amazing. Probably, even more amazing has been the weight has stuck during the last four weeks of eating a bit more typical diet (e.g. I’m no longer consuming tablespoons of coconut oil with every meal).

Check out Morisson’s full article for additional details.

You can also pair this post with Greg Everett’s tip On Midnight Shakes For Weight Gain.

Picture courtesy of Gregor Winter’s Flickr.