:: Sniffle ::

For the first time this year, I think I am coming down with a cold. My throat is scratchy, I feel vaguely congested, and my forearms hurt.

Oh wait, the forearm soreness is from the Max-OT wrist curls I did on Saturday. (Those may have to go. My left wrist tends to be a bit gimpy and prone to injury, and the heavy weights I’m using now are taking their toll on it. Doing wrist curls on top of might bring on more injury than they are worth.)

Over the weekend I’ve been giving some serious thought to altering my original plan through Jan 18 from cutting to maintenance/bulking simply because my work schedule is not going to allow for my regular evening extra cardio sessions for the next two months. I’m also concerned that once I reach my cutting goal of 12-14%, my arms aren’t going to have the amount of muscle mass I’d like. It might make more sense to experiment with my diet now to determine my true maintenance range while allowing the additional calories to fuel that lovely Max-OT muscle growth. Besides, I’d rather get this overwith now when long sleeves are de rigeur than in the spring when it will be tank top time again.

The excesses of my week off and my increased average calories over the last week have already had an impact on my muscle gain. My arms are filling out visibly instead of just hanging there like inert matter. I’d kind of like to encourage more of this, but that means I’ll have to modify the original plan.

I know how cutting works now. Maybe it’s time to see what maintenance and bulking are like.

What to do?

C3 Plan v. 3.0
- Maintenance level calories on weight training days (M, W, F) and Saturday (free meal day) at around 1800-2000 calories
- Low calorie days on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 1400-1600 calories.
- Extra cardio only on HIIT days, 30 minutes of steady state in addition to the 20 minute HIIT run and 1 hour tai chi class
- Weight training on M, W, F using Max-OT routines; 45-60 minute ballet, yoga, or tai chi workout tape in the evening if time permits

With luck, that should give me enough fuel for muscle recovery on my weight training days while still maximizing fat loss on cardio days. Best of all, I won’t kill myself trying to squeeze in two trips to the gym on weight days while working a 10 am-10 pm schedule.