The Plan for the Next 5 Weeks

photo by Usodesita

Background

After finishing the last cycle, I was still a little off from hitting my goals strength-wise.  So, I’ve decided to hit the weights a bit harder this cycle and really go with a weight program that is easily measurable in terms of progress.

Goals

Bodyweight Overhead Press

x1.5 Bodyweight Back Squat

+75% Bodyweight Weighted Pull Up

x1.5 Bodyweight Floor Press

Strength & Conditioning Program

Taking the idea of Max Effort days from the last cycle, I’ve increased the number of ME days and consequently cut back on MetCon days.

With this program I’ll be doing a 3 days on / 1 day off pattern where a CrossFit WOD will be sandwiched between two Max Effort days. The exercises wil be rotated to give an 8 day cycle containing 4 Max Effort workouts and 2 CrossFit workouts, for example…

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

Day 4: Rest

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

Day 8: Rest

Repeat…

The CrossFit workouts I’ll be using will be a mix of the original CrossFit Girls.

Max Effort Day Exercise Choice

Programming the Max Effort days is the fun part.  Considering that I have 4 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.  I’ve added Power Cleans, Push Presses and Weighted Dips to the pool for this cycle.

Movement Pool – Deadlift, Back Squat, Floor Press, Overhead Press, Power Clean, Push Press, Weighted Pull Ups, Weighted DIps

Sets & Reps

I’m going to be experimenting with using 10 sets of 3 reps for each exercises this time around.  This will give a good mix of weight and volume, the theory being to promote both strength and size increases although strength is the dominant focus here.

Nutrition

Having stabilised bodyweight at approx 60kg through the last cycle, the goal this time is optimising health and performance.

General guidelines are as follows:

• Protein is be set at 0.8g per pound of lean body mass this give me a daily protein target of approximately 110g.
• Carbohydrates are to limited to under 140g per day (this is the net figure i.e. minus fiber).
• 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.
• All dairy is off limits
• Fat intake is to be increased to reach a minimum caloric intake of 2000kcal.
• 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 110g Protein / 140g Carbs / 100g Fat. Which gives ratios of 25/30/45.

For those of you interested in Zone blocks that works out at approx 16 Blocks PRO, 16 Blocks CHO and 48 FAT.

Supplements

I’ll be using the following supplements:

• Fish Oil
• 5-HTP
• ZMA
• Multi-Vitamin
• Digestive Enzymes
• Probiotics

The Fish Oil is to ease inflammation and whole other bunch of benefits.  The 5-HTP and ZMA are taken before bed to enhance sleep and recovery.  The Enzymes and Probiotics are to aid digestion.

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