OVER 40 MUSCLE

My focus on this post is to let you in on what my nutritional intake will be for the next 12 weeks. But before I do that, let me get you up to speed on how Michael arrived at my numbers.

I had my body fat percentage checked on 05/18/07. The results were showing I had a body fat percentage of 18.6%, down from almost 22% a couple of months ago. My bodyweight at the time of the test was 214.6. My weight is lower than that now. However, for the contest my official starting weight will be 214.6 pounds.

Based on those numbers, my lean muscle mass was 174 pounds. With 1.5g per pound of lean muscle mass being the maximum protein intake for the program, that puts my total daily requirement of protein at 261g. I will divide that up among 6 feedings each day. If I come in a little lower than the 261g that will be ok for what I am trying to accomplish. Getting in anywhere around 250g of protein per day will feed my muscle tissues adequately.

The basics of the nutrition plan are simple. It is a high protein diet with moderate complex carbs. I will be limiting dietary fats to under 25g per day. Feedings are scheduled for every 2 hours (I was doing 2.5 hours on my own). Protein portions will be kept between 25-35g per feeding. The content will consist of lean quality protein, mainly chicken, turkey, fish and pork tenderloin.

Michael was very encouraging during our consult. He stated that what I was doing was good but all we were going to do was tweak it a little. Here are the changes made to my current intake.

1. Adding a breakfast of carbs before workout. These numbers will not really figure into my equation since I will be burning them off pretty soon after ingestion. I like the fact that I have a choice between the whole-grain toast and oatmeal. The fact I get to use some jam or jelly is a plus as well. The orange or apple is a given. I was already doing that.

2. Adding a deep green vegetable to each whole meal. I love spinach and broccoli cole slaw so look for a lot of that in the mix. I am not too big on asparagus or whole broccoli so unless instructed to do so – I ain’t gonna eat them.

3. I get to keep my PWO shake as it is.

4. Along with my 4 whole meals each day I will be implementing different types of protein shakes. My 1200 and 1600 feedings will be protein shakes only. Since I am using Whey protein for my PWO, it was suggested that I alternate between Soy and Egg for the other two shakes. No problem with that.

5. As an added treat, I get to eat (if I am still hungry before bedtime) a ½ cup of whole-grain cereal. My fix right now is Grape Nuts Trail Mix. This stuff is killer. Plus, the added fiber and good fats from the nuts will help my overall results.

Here is a basic rundown of what my feeding schedule will look like:

Wake – 2 pieces of whole-grain toast and jelly or 1 cup of oatmeal, fruit (apple or orange)

PWO – 2 scoops of whey protein, 10g Glutamine mixed with 20 oz of Gatorade drink

0730 – (I drink this on the way to work) 1 cup of egg white, 1 cup of water, 1 scoop whey protein

1000 – whole meal #1 (4 oz of lean meat, deep green veggie)

1200 – protein shake (egg or soy)

1400 – whole meal #2 plus complex carb (same as #1 adding sweet potato or fruit)

1600 – protein shake (egg or soy)

1800 – whole meal #3 (same as #1)

2000 – whole meal #4 (same as #2)

Bedtime – if needed, ½ cup whole-grain cereal

With the Ripped Rulez Challenge starting yesterday, I am now able to start my new workout program too. Both run 12 weeks so this should be interesting.

I first saw the program when it was published in the March 2007 issue of Muscle & Fitness (if you want to go back and find that issue, it is the one with Gunter Schlierkamp and Kim Lyons on the cover). At first, it did not interest me that much. Then, bwestgat went on the program and had some pretty cool blogs about his workouts. That made me look at it a little more. Then when the Challenge came along, it seemed like a perfect pair to me.

This program is broken down into 6 phases. Here is a quick rundown of each phase.

PHASE 1 – EXERCISE SELECTION
Week 1 – Multi-joint Exercises
Week 2 – Isolation Exercises

PHASE 2 – EXERCISE ORDER
Week 3 – Basic Movements First
Week 4 – Isolation Movements First (pre-exhaust)

PHASE 3 – RESISTANCE
Week 5 – Heavy (3-6 reps/set)
Week 6 – Light (12-20 reps/set)

PHASE 4 – VOLUME
Week 7 – Low (4-6 sets/bodypart)
Week 8 – High (16-20 sets/bodypart)

PHASE 5 – REST PERIODS
Week 9 – Long Rest (3 min. between sets)
Week 10 – Short Rest (1 minute between sets)

PHASE 6 – REP SPEED
Week 11 – Fast/Explosive reps (except for abs, calves and forearms, choose a very light weight, one that I can do 20-25 reps, but do only 5 reps, moving as fast as I can on the concentric portion.)
Week 12 – Slow Reps (choose a weight that I can do 5 reps, taking 5 seconds to perform the positive and 5 seconds to perform the negative of each rep. I will try the same weight I used the previous week. I should reach failure on the last set. Abs, calves and forearms are the exception.)

After consulting with Michael, I have been cautioned about weeks 9 and 11. For what I am doing right now (reducing body fat while building lean muscle) long rests are more for power lifters. Week 11 presents a threat of injury due to the fact that fast explosive movements could cause joint and tendon problems if you don’t warm up properly and are not accustom to them.

Next time I will post some thoughts and some more details of my nutritional plan for the next 12 weeks. Have a great weekend!

I received notification from Michael last night that the Ripped Rulez Challenge is underway. I have been looking forward to this for a while and am glad to finally get it started. After talking with Michael on my initial consultation and getting the requirements for my nutrition plan I was fired up to say the least. While I was waiting on the competition to begin, I tried a few days on the nutrition plan. I think my body will respond positively to this plan. I did not want to do it everyday while waiting because I did not want to loose a bunch of BF% before the contest began. I was also able to sneak in a few cheat days during this time. Now that it has OFFICIALLY started I can go all out.

I hit the gym this morning (only the second day this week) and felt pretty good. I could tell I had been out for a few days. With hurting my back, traveling out of town, a death in the family and an out of town funeral to go to had really messed up my training schedule. Hopefully things will get back to normal and I can have an easier time staying on track for the next 12 weeks.

Today, I worked Delts/Traps/Abs today doing all compound movements.

DELTS
Barbell Press – 3 sets of 10/9/8 @ 70
DB Press – 8/9/8 @ 40
W/G Upright Row – 10 @ 95, 9 and 8 @ 105

TRAPS
BB Shrugs – 3 sets of 10 @ 135

ABS
Hanging Leg Raises – 3 sets of 10
Decline Crunch – 3 sets of 15

CARDIO
30 minutes of fat-burning intervals on elliptical

I had to make a trip out of town this past weekend with my group to do some gigs in Florida. I had the best of intentions regarding my nutrition. The Ripped Rulez Challenge has not officially started yet so I knew I could throw in a couple (or three) cheat meals over the weekend and get by. I ate pretty clean except for the pizza and coke Sunday night but I feel pretty good. I stepped on the scale this morning and I had only gained 2.6# from Friday’s weight. I’ll take that.  

My back is also doing better. I knew the motel did not have a fitness center and the closest gym was about 20 miles away so I had to come up with an alternate plan to do something. I went to the store and bought 2-gallon jugs of water. Those babies are about 5 pounds or more a piece. I took them back to the room and used them in the place of dumbbells. I got in some curls, kickbacks, forearm curls, shoulder presses, lateral raises and shrugs with them. I did about 3 sets of each for 12-15 reps. I was also able to get in a run as well. I was able to make some laps around the parking lot Saturday morning - about a mile in about a 12-15 minute jog. The cardio and the jug workout kept me busy and feeling pretty good.

I was on the road yesterday so I did not get to workout but I did hit the gym this morning for a light workout. I did not want too go to heavy or too hard my first few days back after the injury. Here is what I did before going to work.

CHEST
Bench Press - 3 sets of 10/9/9
Incline DB Press - 3 sets of 9/10/9

TRICEPS
Bench Dips - 15/15/15

ABS
Crunch - 15/15/15