I started 5x5 for fat loss this week with a fairly low carb diet, using creatine. Working out 3x per week, short 5x5 workouts in the AM and PM explosive work a la Meltdown II. Tonight, was my first night at a new part-time job and I foresee a problem. I’m cleaning a coffee shop 4 nights a week after closing and it’s like 100 degrees in there and very active work–mopping, scrubbing, etc.–for about 3 hours. Basically, half the week will be a lot more intense in terms of physical and mental stress than the other half. I want to know what I should do to (1) avoid overtraining, (2) prevent my fat loss from being inhibited. I figure I should ditch the PM explosive training (I’m racking the weight each rep and using explosive concentrics for the 5x5 anyway), lengthen the AM workouts slightly and up BCAAs post-workout. That’s common sense. But should I up my calories during the more active part of the week? And will the creatine and low carb approach still work with this JPP (Janitorial Physical Preparedness)? Any help from you guys would be appreciated.
On those days where you have your JPP activity, I would ditch the PM workout and maybe add a few sets to the AM workout (although that may not be necessary) and up your calories just a bit. You could up your intake of carbs a bit during the day or just make sure to eat more protein and fat on those days. Keep an eye on your strength levels. Unless you are severly hypocaloric, your strength should stay up and/or increase. If this is not happening, you’ll need to bump up the cals.
Creatine is still a great addition, but make sure to load your body with water, especially when cleaning up the coffee shop.
Another thought would be to put your workout on the days where you are not cleaning the coffee shop (that is unless the 4 days at the shop are in a row). That way you could still do your AM/PM workouts and on "off" days you could relax until you JPP. Just a thought.
Sounds like some good additional calorie burning work- a good thing. If it is really taking a toll on you mentally, then make some of the changes that Jason has recommended, although I don’t see them neccesary unless this is the case.
Here’s something weird. Right now I’m taking a class in the morning, and then working 8 hours a day. I’m doing 5x5, but I’m only doing one or two sets, 3 times a week. I’m throwing in a day or two of cardio/sprinting (I know I need to up that). I’m watching my diet, but really I’m eating more than I usually do. Here’s the weird part: the weight I can lift is going up every workout (not so weird), my muscles are getting larger (that’s kind of weird), and my body composition is changing (really weird). Cool.