Current plans for 2019 competition season

Well...

Its a new year and a new set of plans.

Competitions

NZ powerlifting changed somewhat last year, on the tail end of the IPF fun with PA/Robert Wilkes.  That means that in NZ we now have NZPF continuing under the IPF banner, and then World Powerlifting (obviously) the World Powerlifting banner.   Plan is to stick in the IPF world at the moment, even though I can out lift the WP 120kg class 45-50 Masters record currently (its 190kg, and I did 195kg last year).  The NZ records are even lower, being close to the open 120kg class record.  The larger lifts are in the IPF, and will work towards that, then change my mind later :)

So the current plan is

23rd March - CDPA Qualifier - Wai Weight Gym, Masterton

15th June - CDPA Bench Champs - Platform Gym, Palmerston North

28th September - NZPF Bench Champs - TBC, Canterbury 

November - Bledisbro (WPNZ meet, but will decide closer to the time :))

Training

I like Sheiko training, although my last few blocks of 2018 were not that successful at adding additional weights.  So, what I am planning to do, is provide a little more periodization how I normally structure it.  I have been reading and watching a bunch of stuff over the Christmas period, including Eric Helms Training Pyramid, Boris Sheiko's English translation of his book, the Juggernaut manual, dragging out my old Coan programs from the early 1990's, then listening to the various things around Joey from Flexx Training Systems.  Of the four, Sheiko approaches things slightly differently, but that's OK, The other three have a lot more similarities, in structure and function.  Coan is classical linear periodization with a hypertrophy/accumulation phase, a strength/intensification phase, a peaking/realization phase, and then taper into competition.  Helms, Juggernaut and Joey have these aspects, but they provide a range of things that allow you to modify the actual structure, and differentiate the periodization structure.  Sheiko has aspects of all of this, but it is certainly set up differently.  So what I planned, and developed somewhat, was a linear structure, transitioning into my first competition of the year.  I had set up a couple of weeks, and a rough idea of everything.  But never gotten right to the point of designing the whole thing.  Then TSA updated their freebie intermediate 9-week program, which is a mixture of linear and undulating periodization.  Bryce is also from the Eric Helms school of training programming, so this fitted in nicely with that program, aligns to Erics books, and provides a little structure without me having to think.  Four days a week, two squats, three benches, a few accessories.  Deadlift is planned 2x weekly, but my low back may not handle this, so will be monitoring it and adjusting the frequency to suit.  

Diet

For somebody who has  their primary education in Nutrition and employed in the area, its the thing that I fek around with the least.  And by that, I am always hungry, never full, which is pretty common, but means I can jam in a lot of food in a short time period.  I am good when good, and bad when bad, which on average is pretty eh.  

So, the goal is to be good more often than bad :)  Work my way to a higher carb, moderately high protein mix, with moderate/lower fat.  I don't mind low carb, it just has never done anything special for me, besides mess with my recovery and performance.  

Using the construct from Eric Helms (The Muscle and Strength Nutrition Pyramid) along with my own input.

Energy

Although I have been doing a lot more daily physical activity, its still not major.  My average for last year was 12k steps per day.  My watch tells me I walked 9km per day, or 3285km for the year.  But then, compared to the NZ average of ~4300 its pretty good.   Over double the global average for my age, and nearly triple the average for my BMI.  Obviously this has an implication for total energy expenditure.  So, what would be the total energy requirement?  Three ways I can estimated that.  Guess, estimate from previous intake/weight change data I have, and finally, calculate from public metabolic rate calculators, with estimates for energy intake.  

What would these look like.

1) Guessing - I want to eat more, but need to be less fat :) so not  really useful.   But, instead of pure guessing, I will say the values from my Apple watch are as good as guessing.  My average total energy from last year is 3705kCal.  

2) Estimate from previous intake/weight change (using ~3500kCal/lb of fat as an estimate). I have a range of data on this, with values from last year.  I have some data from a few years ago, along with some statistics from that, but that requires more digging.  Last years estimates put it at 4080kCal.

3) Finally, calculation.  Some use a simple 10kcal/lb estimate, but as I am in NZ, I will use the Schofield equation, which uses weight, height and age to provide a value of 9.413MJ, and then uses physical activity ratios to estimate how much other stuff is done.  PAL ranges from 1.2 (bed rest) to 2.2 (very active or heavy occupational work). They correspond to the following activities: 1.2 – bed rest; 1.4 – very sedentary; 1.6 – light activity; 1.8 – moderate activity; 2.0 – heavy activity; 2.2 – vigorous activity.  PALs of 1.75 and above are consistent with good health.  PALs below 1.4 are incompatible with moving around freely or earning a living.  So that would put me somewhere in the 1.8x area, good amount of walking compared to the average population, plus 4 planned training sessions per week, likely to increase later in the year.  So, 9.413 x 1.8 = 16.94MJ converts to 4049kCal/

So, pretty much all are within a similar range.  But, I will take the lower of the three, just because of past experience.  

Now, my primary goal is weight loss.  So, that requires a deficit.  Because I prefer a slightly larger deficit, I will aim for 1000kcals (for ~0.9kg/week estimated loss, 0.75% BW), which gives me ~2700kcal to play with.  I also do not track my coffee, and the milk that goes into it, so I will cut off 200kcal for that, which is approximately 450mls of the higher protein skim I use in most of my coffee.  

2500kcal target.

Protein

Protein is a never ending lolz fest for research and lay public.  General bbr lore puts protein as high as possible, but typically sets a minimum at 1g/lb, which ends up at 2.2g/kg for those more modern folks in the world.  Going from research the latest systematic review  puts the recommendation at 1.6g/kg, or if the data was presented the same as the typical RDA, the recommendation would be +2SD, so 2.2g/kg/day.  Pretty similar.  Adding to this, there are two recent papers using Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation to identify the requirements for resistance trainers, male and female, which indicate a similar RDA (or Safe Intake, depending on the parlance) of 2.2g/kg, and 1.9g/kg for the males and females, respectively.

So, 2.2g/kg.  If I times that by my, admittedly, fat body weight, it adds up to a lot of protein.  Now, that's based upon muscle mass, or a break point on amino acids/nitrogen, where as the outcome of interest for me is primarily strength.  How can protein help strength?  Less directly.  There is no realistic direct influence, or ergogenic effect of protein on strength.  It will impact strength through other mechanisms, either improved muscular recovery which enables training more, or more time spent at the high %1RM, which will have a large effect.  Or, it will aid in the gaining and retention of muscle, which is a component of strength.  

So, Based upon the above (for Males), a dose of 1.6g/kg will provide adequate protein to maximize muscle, or meet the needs of amino acid/nitrogen for 50% of the population, and a dose of 2.2g/kg will meet the needs of nearly all males (97.5%).  

So for me, that's about 192 - 264g.  I am also quite fat.  Fat tissue is metabolically active, but not a tissue that is a substantial target of dietary protein.  Some recommendations have focused on recommending protein per kg fat free mass, or lean mass.  In the Nutrition Pyramid, they highlight using your height in centimeters as a proxy, so that would be 174g, which will be around that ~2g/kg.  Dieting typically results in greater muscle loss, so a higher protein diet during these periods may be advantageous to prevent muscle loss.  A little more speculative, but typically 10% increase in recommendations, so that would put me at the 200g/day target. Per total body weight, that would be around the 1.7g/kg mark, or right on target for the average recommendation. Wordy, overly wordy, but a good speculative target. 200g would be plus whatever protein is in the milk, which is approximately 25g per 450ml. Which means the protein intake I am targeting will be 175g/day.

175g minimum.

Fat

Fat intake is really poorly defined for athletes.  But, it tastes good, and maintains a good proportion of a normal diet.  Normal dietary guidelines recommend a fat intake below ~35% of energy.  But, if I am trying to reduce energy, and reducing carbohydrate impairs performance, then something has to give.  Louise Burke (Australian Institute of Sport), and some of the natural bodybuilding recommendations highlight the value of 15-25%, or 15-30% of energy, respectively.  The Nutrition Pyramid mentioned earlier highlights the 15-25% range, with a minimum at 0.5g/kg. That sets a range of 42 - 70g, and minimum at 60g. This gives me a target of around 60-70g/day, aka 25%. Going lower than this, with foods I want to consume, is more complex. The fat content of the coffee will be ~1g, so negligible.

70g maximum. (acceptable range ~60-80g/day assuming energy is suitable)

Carbohydrate

Carbs are not essential.  But, eating them tends to help my performance and recovery.  So, what does the literature say on carbohydrate for strength athletes?   Actually, its also pretty poorly defined.  Really poorly.  Lifting weights can deplete glycogen, but more so on higher volume type work.  Which makes sense, as for low rep work, the predominant energy pathway for ATP generation will be the phosphocreatine pathway.  Outside of this, there will be more anaerobic ATP generation, and some aerobic.   But all depends.  If we take a strength athlete, a good proportion, ~50% of volume will be in the 2-5 rep range, which is less glycogen demanding.  The actual optimal amount is unknown.  Eric sets a minimum at 1g/kg, or approximately 120g, which is similar to the RDA that USA sets at 135g.  Various recommendations highlight a range of intakes.  The AIS reference above highlights values of 6-8g/kg/day for weight loss (in athletes, so includes all sports), they also recommend 5-7g/kg/day for athletes with daily recommendations for bodybuilders.  Other researchers recommend a range of 4-7g/kg/day depending on the phase of training, but also note athletes were taking in only 3-7g/kg depending on the exact sport.  They also highlight the actual intakes from surveys show ~3-5g/kg/day carbohydrate intake.  The other way of calculating it, is as recommended by the Nutrition Pyramid, or Erics paper where they say carbohydrates make up the remaining energy.  That would be 1170kCals, or 293g carbohydrate, or 2.4g/kg, so quite low.  But also quite fat, so, perhaps lean mass is a better area, which is approximately 3.2g/kg.  Of course, the coffee will provide ~23g of carbohydrate, but even with this the carbohydrate intake is still at the bottom end of the range.

290g maximum (acceptable range ~260-322g assuming energy intake is suitable)

Supplements

I believe supplements are useful additions to the diet.  The following supplements are included in my program, some for ergogenic effects, others for a nutritional infill.  

1) Creatine Monohydrate - duh

2) Pre-workout - either caffeine/tyrosine mixture, or an Optimum Nutrition product.

3) MyProtein Vitamin/Mineral tablet

4) MyProtein Vitamin D capsule

Other products I will take that some would classify as supplements, but I see them as alternative food sources, including protein powder (usually MyProtein whey), carbohydrate powder (usually VitaSport electrolyte mix) and fish oil (whatever the store has).