I’m a planner, both professionally and personally. I have a tendency to overthink things and overplan things, which serves me well professionally, but sometimes not so well personally, specifically when it comes to training and dieting. I’ve overplanned and overthought my way to mediocre and chubby, and only through really simplifying and focusing on the basics have made some nice progress this year.
5/3/1 is exactly what I needed to rebuild my base, and including cardio/conditioning has, if nothing else, made me feel better. But there’s still a little more I need to do.
I’m still too chubby for my tastes, running aroud 20% bodyfat. My blood pressure is a little high, and I’m still not in the condition I’d like. Plus, we’re going to San Diego in November, and I’d like to be more comfortable in my clothes. Seriously.
So, for August, I have to pull it together. Here’s the plan
Training stays with 5/3/1. It’s getting closer to PR 1RMs, so it’s going to get tougher. I’m also thinking I might add in some assistance stuff to help build work capacity and maybe build some muscle. I’m also going to do a minimum of 2 hours steady state cardio in the 130-150 bpm range each week. If my recovery seems OK, I’m going to add in one day of harder conditioning (sprinting, sandbags, etc).
Dieting has to be on. I hate it, but that’s the way it goes. So, for August, I plan to average 2400 calories per day, with a minimum of 250g of protein each day. The rest of it will vary; my job makes it tough to eat ‘clean’ all the time, but I can make sure I get 5 servings of veggies and enough meat.
Weight and waist tomorrow. Today will include pizza, filet mignon, and ice cream.