CBL for amateur athletes

[gmorris300]

Hi guysI'm a 21 year old male student in the UK playing rugby for my university. I have two questions:Recently I've been using CBL DB (since I like eating carbs at night), and am hovering at about 10-15%bf and want to get leaner.My training schedule at the minute is like thisMon: Morning weights, evening club trainingTues: Off, mobility session in eveningWed: University league matchThu: Morning HIIT (if I feel like it) evening weightsFri: Early morning club trainingSat: Local league matchSun: Evening weightsI'm thinking of changing my carb intake to just the night before games, so essentially two backloads per week (Tuesday and Friday). Does anyone with any similar experience have any pointers for me, even to tell me i'm being ridiculous?Before I get asked, yes I have read Kiefer's CBL for crossfit pdf, but I don't feel like I'm doing enough volume to warrant following it.2nd Question. The program I've been following is from something I found in an Elliot Hulse video, my gym programme consists of:An Olympic lift/variation e.g. power, pulls etc.A squatA pressAn upper body pullA core/trunk bracing exercise e.g. pallov press, leg raise, ab wheelSome sort of conditioningI basically do what I feel like but I feel like the lack of a set regimen is holding me back. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a better set up? increasing weight during the week, treating each week like its own microcycle sounds good to me but I don't have any experience with this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[jable1066]

There's probably not enough information here for anyone to give you some solid, tailored advice. A few things I think would help people answer... 1. 10-15% is a very broad range and I imagine the carb intake would be very different for either extreme of the spectrum. Are you closer to 10 or 15? 2. How much do you weigh?4. How often do you backload at the minute? You may be best off just backloading after weight training sessions, however it would depend on your main effort. If you're doing it for aesthetics then it'd be alright however if you want to improve performance in the weight room, which in turn may improve performance on the field... It may be better backloading the night BEFORE a weight session. Either way may get you leaner anyways, just depends and requires trial and effort. As for backloading before a match, that just depends on how well you cope without carbs when you play. Personally, I don't feel like I need carbs during any sort of CV unless I'm doing multiple sessions a day or squatting (which happens to be nearly every day anyway). As for training... 1. How long have you been training like you are? 2. What have your results been like following it? 3. What are your lifts currently at? 4. How is your recovery after sessions? 5. What do you want your focus to be on in training? If you only train weights to supplement your rugby, your coaches will have a good idea of what works. If they don't, seek somebody out who specialises in coaching rugby players. Or maybe look at how the NFL players train for inspiration. I suppose your training will probably need to be tailored to whatever position you play too depending on what level your playing at and where you want to go with it i.e. some people may need to be ridiculously strong and powerful without worrying too much about speed and agility... vice versa. There's unlimited possibilities with training and finding something that works is probably a case of finding something that excites you where you're willing to get enthusiastic about it enough to give it 100%. If you're not enjoying your current set up, change it to something you will enjoy. If you're relatively new to lifting, in that you haven't followed a dedicated strength program for a long time you could do 5x5, starting strength... If you're more advanced there's things like the Texas Method, 5/3/1, West Side etc. etc. it'd be stupid to recommend something as there's so much and they all work provided you stick with them (which comes back to being enthusiastic about it). Really, what you're doing should give you fairly good results though. You squat, pull, do power movements, balance your pushing and pulling and don't neglect your conditioning. Maybe it's too much to fit in one session though and you'd be better off breaking it up a bit, but it just depends on your schedule. If I'm squatting, I like to focus solely on that with maybe 1 assistance move with it. It usually takes me a while to mobilise, warm up, ramp to a max and then do back off sets... Maybe concentrate on less but go at them harder and focus on quality a bit more. You might be best having 2 workouts that differ slightly and cycle them on a 2 week basis i.e. Workout A and Workout B would go something like this:Week 1Day 1. ADay 2. BDay 3. AWeek 2Day 1. BDay 2. ADay 3. BI know Wendler has a version of 5/3/1 suited for this set up and I think he recommends it for athletes who are IN SEASON. And if all that fails and all you care about is losing a little bit of weight... Backload less. Do a prep phase and use that as your guide to how many carbs you should eat.

[gmorris300]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure of my exact bf% but I'm closer to 10 than 15, I had it taken a few months ago at 12% and feel like I've got a bit leaner since then. Other stats are:Height: 6'6"Weight: 16 stone, or 224lbs is you're from the USMy goal at the minute is, and I know its sounds weppish, but to maximise performance on the field while losing fat while preserving muscle. The main thing is: would I really need to backload before or after each training session since i'm having pwo carbs and carbing up twice a week? I've been lifting for several years but only known what i'm doing for the last couple of years, I was following 5/3/1 until about a year ago, then I moved onto an Olympic weightlifting program using carb nite since I wasn't playing rugby and focused on the training. I've been training and eating in the way I mentioned above for about a month now. Recovery is good, since i'm not pounding each body part into submission with a bodybuilding style split I generally feel fine, not sore.Last night  I tried a combination of 531 and 5/5, for example I squatted at 75,80,85% for 5 reps, with the plan being to squat at 80,85,90% next time I get in the gym - basically condensing a month into a week. Its early days but it feels good and I think i'll stick with it most of my lifts

[gmorris300]

On second thoughts I should probably have posted this in carb nite, since that's essentially what i'll be doing

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