So some brief background before I get into my planned routine. As my profile states, I play sprint football for Cornell University. Sprint football is full contact football, 11 on 11, and so on just with a 172 lb weight limit. In season, in order to play in a given week, I must make two weigh ins, which occur four and two days before the game.
In the offseason I can do whatever I want, and I had decided to clean bulk to 185 and then start a cut in late June/July, given that I have reached this target weight by then. I am currently 185 at a reasonable bodyfat (pictures are in profile for reference) and preparing to cut. I was hoping I could get some feedback on my workout routine and carb cycling so as to maximize my ability to maintain and possibly even gain muscle as I lose fat.
My current stats are:
Height 5’11"
Weight 185
Deadlift: 350x5
Bench: 235x3
Squat: 315x4
Clean: 210x3
All lifts are unbelted, unstrapped, etc etc…
For my routine, I decided to use the fat loss strategy CT suggests in this article: Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION, with some minor adjustments. As of now, it looks like so:
Monday: Heavy Lift (Deadlift 4x4, then a Bench/Fly Pullup/Straight Arm Pulldown circuit, in which I do Bench, fly, rest 2 minutes, Row, SAPD, rest…then repeat this circuit four times) and Alactic training
Tuesday: Complex A from Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION and HIIT
Wednesday: Active Recovery
Thursday: Heavy lift (Squat 4x4, then a circuit of Incline Bench/Cables and Rows/Shrugs) and Alactic training
Friday: Off
Saturday: Complex C from Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION and HIIT
Sunday: Off
For my diet, I am planning on following the carb cycling technique outlined by CT in the following article: Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION. I have created a listing of every food I eat on a daily basis, as well as those I will likely consume more of during my diet to fulfill the given macro requirements, as calculated using my BMR and activity multiplier along with the suggested 10% decrease in caloric intake for an ectomorph attempting to lose weight. My high carb days will be the heavy days, moderate carb days will be the complex days, and low carb days will be my off days.
Any feedback about my program is greatly appreciated, I am very open to advice. After this program I hope to be around my target weight and then start a program heavy on olympic style lifts and plyometrics to prepare me for the upcoming season by making me as explosive as possible.
Let me just say that I realize that in the world of lifting cutting from 185 to a target weight of 176 at 5’11" is not a popular decision, and rest assured, it is not one I would have made was it not for the requirements of my sport. This is not about hawt abz or any crap like that: I could give a rat’s ass about all that. It’s about my sport and that is all.