High Level Nutrition and Training Strategy

Ok, since I will be busy tomorrow, I wanted to lay out my high level plan for getting myself back in shape. First a little background:

I played football, basketball, and baseball in high school. I didn't lift much then, but I was in great shape and had pretty good sport specific skills. Then I went to college and my main physical activity was playing basketball at the rec center and this is when I started getting into physical fitness. The very first website I read was by some guy in Georgia named Fig!! He was a big dude and he had a forum on his website. Since then, I have learned quite a bit through reading many books and websites out there. I consider myself to be pretty well read on the subjects of training and nutrition, but I do not, by any means consider myself an expert. It's just something I have an affinity towards. As far as some max lifts, or all time bests, here they are in the big three: bench press - 290, squat - 315, deadlift - 300. However, I am not quite that strong right now (not that where I was would be considered "strong", but it was strong for me!).

So anyways, onto my plan. Right now, my nutrition plan right now is to eat more food! I know what you are thinking, "Eat more food, to lose fat and get in shape?" But yeah, thats my plan. I think, right now, that I am undereating, therefore I need to reset my metabolism and stoke the fire, if you will. After about 2 or 3 weeks of eating at a new, higher calorie level, I will start to taper my calories down by 250. I will also track my progress using my weight, measurements around bodyparts, bodyfat caliper readings (after christmas, calipers are a christmas present!), and how I look. I plan to post up some pictures every two weeks or so. On to the eating plan!

As I said, I plan to ramp up my calories. My macronutrient breakdown will be fairly close to even across protein, carbohydrates, and fats. I will get most of my protein from eggs, lean turkey bacon, tuna, chicken, and protein powder. Main carb sources will be fruit and veggies, and maybe some whole wheat pasta or bread from time to time. After a workout, my carbs will come from simple sugars, such as smarties. Fats will come from nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, and pecans, along with natural peanut butter, avocado, and fish oil. Beverages will consist of water and green tea. I will supplement with a multivitamin. Much of my nutritional plan comes from Dr. John Berardi and his Precision Nutrition package.

Each week, on Saturdays, I will plan on having a meal that does not comply with these rules. It will probably consist of some sort of pasta with some sort of breadstick.

As far as training goes, I have become interested in bodyweight training. Alwyn Cosgrove, a well respected fitness professional, said that if you cannot control your bodyweight, then you really have no business working loaded movements. I plan to utilize many different types of movements including push-ups, dips, pull-ups, one legged squats, and also some static holds, like gymnasts would use. I plan to use quite a bit of stuff from Ross Enamait (www.rosstraining.com) and also some information I snagged from Christopher Sommer over at dragondoor.com. For conditioning, I will be utilizing simple methods, such as circuits, jump roping, among other bodyweight movements. Before each session, I plan to work on my dynamic flexibility by following the movements that are included in the Magnificent Mobility DVD, produced by Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson. Most nights, I plan to utilize some Self Myofascial Release (MFR) techniques using a foam roller. This is intended to improve my soft tissue quality. I will also static stretch at night.

My main goal with all of this is to lose fat and move more efficiently with my body. As I progress, I may add some strength movements in such as the deadlift, squat and bench press, or maybe some olympic lifts. At some point down the road, I would also like to improve my vertical jump for the purposes of dunking a basketball.

So there you go. Thats the high level plan. Sunday, I hope to post a more detailed look at my caloric needs, some food choices, and my initial programming for my training plan. Maybe even an initial pic or two! Please let me know what you think of my strategy and goals as they stand now.