Dave's Not Here

So, after talking with a lot of people (Ryan + chaps over on Fitocracy), I’ve decided to make some changes.

If you remember from my other post, I was going to do Starting Strength and Leangains for my diet. And, I have started it successfully — I already dropped over 7 lbs of water weight

However, Ryan pointed out two other plans:

• Strength: Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Plan
• Diet: Cheat Mode and, I even found a morning workout version: Cheat Mode v1.2

I read up on them, and I really liked the science behind them. But, I do have some worries.

I don’t think I’m quite ready for 5/3/1 yet. I’m getting sore on Starting Strength, since it’s been a few months since I’ve lifted heavy.

Also, as far as the diet goes, I like the fasting portion of Leangains, but I worry that there isn’t enough fasting. However, I am already losing weight.

My New Plan

So, what to do for me?

First off, I need to see a doctor about my shoulder. (I have an appointment for next week). Depending on what he says will determine what I do workout-wise. If I am able to continue working out, I will either move immediately to 5/3/1, or I will wait for Starting Strength to stall. I do like that I can work out 4 days a week with 5/3/1.

As far as diet goes — similarly, I’ll either just switch over to Cheat Mode, or I will wait for a stall. Either way, I will eventually be doing 5/3/1 and Cheat Mode.

The Schedule

Once I move over, this will be my schedule:

Monday: Exercise Day
Tuesday: Exercise Day
Wednesday: Fast Day
Thursday: Exercise Day
Friday: Exercise Day
Saturday: Fast Day
Sunday: Non Exercise Day

The days are described below. If I do happen to get in cardio on non exercise days, I’ll supplement with 30g of BCAAs spread out.

Exercise Day

Here is my schedule for exercise days:

5:30AM – Wake, pack for gym, and drink 10g of BCAAs.
6-7AM – Workout
8:00AM – 10g more BCAAs
10:00AM – 10g more BCAAs
12:00PM – Epic Breakfast + caffeine – Carbs are allowed. Fiber is encouraged.
3:00PM – Lunch (snack) — lower in carbs than breakfast
6:00PM ish – Dinner – Low carb
8:00PM – Fast Starts

Fast Days

No food. No exercise. Non caloric drinks / gums / etc allowed. Caffeine encouraged. (Fat burners, etc)

Non Exercise Days

Schedule for non exercise (and non fast) days:

12:00PM – Breakfast + caffeine – Keep it paleo
3:00PM – Lunch (snack) — paleo
6:00PM ish – Dinner – paleo
8:00PM – Fast Starts

I’m done with my cruise, taking a break from CrossFit, and now it’s time to get back to business. I weigh about 30lbs more than I think I should. And, my muscles are shrinking . . . so, what should I do, when my shoulder can’t take any more CrossFit?

My requirements were pretty simple:

1. Lose weight
2. Don’t lose muscle mass

(And, yes, I know that it is extremely difficult to build muscle and lose fat at the same time)

I asked out on Fitocracy. I was looking for weight loss, and strength training. The guys seemed split about Stronglifts vs Starting Strength. And, one person mentioned Leangains, which I had googled before, but, their site was a bit confusing.

So, I took the time to read a bit more, learn a bit more, and decided that I would build a plan based on Starting Strength, Leangagins, and, my normal Primal Diet. There were two reasons I picked Starting Strength over Stronglifts:

1. I have done Stronglifts before. And, while I did like it — I love new shiny things more
2. Someone on Fitocracy mentioned that Starting Strength did not take as long as Stronglifts. And, I do remember Stronglifts taking a VERY long time.

The Food Plan

So, what exactly is my plan? Leangains is a fasting / feasting plan, with 8 hours of feasting, and 16 hours of fasting. I have to use a slightly modified plan, since I workout in the morning. So, following the Early morning fasted training plan here: I have come up with the following schedule:

Workout Days

5:00AM Wake-up, have 10g BCAA (or low carb protein) shake before I head to gym.
6:00AM Training.
8:00AM 10g BCAA
10:00AM 10g BCAA
12:00PM First meal of the day. Large meal, since it’s Post Workout Nutrition (PWN)
5-6PM Dinner — Try to make this meal lower carb, since it’s pre-fast.

Non Workout Days

12:00PM First meal of the day.
5-6PM Dinner — Try to make this meal lower carb, since it’s pre-fast.

General Diet Guideline

I’ll be following the Primal Blueprint as much as I can on the meals. I will allow carbs on the first meal, but I’ll try to get them all from fruits & vegetables. If some grains / tubers slip in, though, it will be ok. Particularly in the beginning of the diet. If I stall, I will start counting carbs, and limiting them more aggressively.

The Training

As I said before, I will be following Starting Strength for a workout plan. The only thing I’m going to be modifying is Bench Press. Since my little gym does not have a power cage, I’m going to be doing dumbbell press instead of bench. (So, it is good that I’m starting lower, since I can only climb in increments of 10lbs (5lbs/hand)). Here is my schedule:

Workout A

3×5 Squat
3×5 Dumbbell Bench Press
1×5 Deadlift

Workout B

3×5 Squat
3×5 Overhead Press
3×5 Power Cleans

Schedule

Here is my workout schedule. Every workout the weights go up.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Week n	Workout A	Rest	Workout B	Rest	Workout A
Week n+1	Workout B	Rest	Workout A	Rest	Workout B

My particular workout regimen is in a google doc here

Starting Stats

And, finally, some starting stats. I am at my heaviest (since moving to Utah) starting this diet. I left for a cruise at 220lbs, and I came back at 225. (It would have been worse, but I stuck to my strict diet of soft-serve and liquor).

Body Weight: 225.2
Bench: 225(1RM), 205(5RM)
Press: 155(1RM), 135(5RM)
Squat: 255(1RM), 245(5RM)
Deadlift: 315(1RM), 275(5RM)
Clean: 185(1RM), 135(5RM)

I’ll find a measuring tape and update my google docs measurements sometime today and tomorrow, so, more accurate stats can always be found there.

Week 1: