Training and Nutrition Program Details

This post is a “sticky” and outlines the philosophy and theory of what I’m currently doing, please scroll down the page for the daily blog entries

photo by 713 Avenue

Background

I’m just coming off a fair length of time where health issues have kept me from working out as hard as I’d like and there has been a drop off in strength and MetCon levels.  Also there has been a drop in lean body mass that I’d like to put right.  As everything seems back to normal, now seems a good time to get back into the swing of things.

Strength & Conditioning Program

Rather than opt for purely following the CrossFit main site WODs, I’ve decided to go with Coach Rut’s Max Effort Black Box template.

My reasoning for this is that I need to bring my strength up to previous levels and this is better achieved through a more systematic and measurable program where the variables can be more predictably controlled.

With this program I’ll be doing a 3 days on / 1 day off pattern where Max Effort days will be alternated with CrossFit workout days. This gives an 8 day cycle containing 3 Max Effort workouts and 3 CrossFit workouts, for example…

Day 1: CrossFit / Day 2: Max Effort / Day 3: CrossFit /

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: Max Effort / Day 6: CrossFit / Day 7: Max Effort

Day 8: Rest

Repeat…

I’ll be taking the CrossFit Workouts from the main site on the days they appear in the program and this will give the program the necessary balance and variety needed to keep me interested.

Max Effort Day Exercise Choice

Programming the Max Effort days is the fun part.  Considering that I have 3 days in each cycle to program, I’ve decided to mix a predominantly lower body or total body movement with and an upper body move on each day.

Exercises will be compound movements and I plan to use the same movements for 4 cycles before switching.  This should enable maximum adaptation before plateauing.

Movement Pool – Deadlift, Back Squat, Front Squat, Floor Press, Overhead Press, Weighted Pull Ups

Sets & Reps

Cycle 1 – 3 Sets of 8

Cycle 2 – 5 Sets of 5

Cycle 3 – 5 Sets of 3

Cycle 4 – 5 Singles

The theory behind this is  to cycle from a hypertrophy dominant scheme through to pure strength.  The weight will be increased on each set until the best effort for that day is achieved.

At the time of writing cycle 1 has already been completed and I will be starting entries at Cycle 2.

Nutrition

At this stage, the goal is to regain lost weight via an intake of quality food.

General guidelines are as follows:

• Protein is be set at 1.5g per pound of lean body mass this give me a daily protein target of approximately 180g.
• Carbohydrates are to limited to under 100g per day.
• Carbohydrates are to be limited to low glycemic veggies and fruits at all times except for the 1-2 hour post-workout window where higher glycemic carbs are allowed/preferred.
• All grains are off-limits.
• Fat intake is to be increased to reach a minimum caloric intake of 2500kcal.
• Fat sources are to be from “healthy” sources.  Mainly almonds, olive oil, macadamias, avocados, coconut milk, nut butters/oils.

Therefore my macronutrient breakdown will look something like 180g Protein / 90g Carbs / 180g Fat. Which gives ratios of 25/15/60.

For those of you interested in Zone blocks that works out at approx 26 Blocks PRO, 10 Blocks CHO and 90 FAT.

Nutrition Update as at 27/9/08

As the program cycles through to lower reps in the max effort days, will be dropping protein intake to 1g/lb of bodyweight.

Also I’ve decided to match carb blocks to protein blocks (approx 19 of each) with 50% of carbs being taken in during the PWO window) all other rules still apply.

Nutrition Update as at 07/10/08

Will be reverting to prescribed Zone Block recommendation. (14 blocks PRO and CHO) but with a slightly higher fat intake.  I’ve found the increased block figure to be just too high to maintain and might be causing some digestive issues.  The prescribed Zone block should give enough protein and carbs to support muscle-mass maintainence and workout performance.

Supplements

I’ll be using the following supplements:

• Whey Protein Powder
• Casein Protein Powder
• Fish Oil
• ZMA
• Multi-Vitamin
• Digestive Enzymes
• Probiotics

As much as I’d like to get everything from whole foods, for the present time the protein shakes are the most convenient solution.  Once I hit my weight target I’ll be phasing these out.

The other supplements are in my program for the long haul.