Re-examining my training

After several weeks doing traditional BB training, I am beginning to question its validity and effectiveness for achieving the physique I am looking for.  I've come to realize that my current routine is only giving me a "pump" where I looked jacked during and directly after my workout in the gym then look average again later, especially after several days not lifting.

Basically, I am looking for a routine that will increase the density of my muscles and help me drop my BF down to around 5%.  At this point, I'd like to do the minimal work and dieting to maintain this physique year-round so I am never too far off of looking sharp and cut any time of the year.  This will take a lifestyle mentality.

I am convinced that IF is the way to go in terms of lifestyle & diet interaction.  I just think that lifting 6 days/week is too much and right now I am not going to have the time to do this every during the next 6 weeks, possibly the busiest I will ever be in my life.

Right now I am reading Rusty Moore's report from FitnessBlackBook.com entitled The Vacation Body Blueprint http://www.fitnessblackbook.com/Vacation-Body-Blueprint.pdf.

In it, Rusty points out the best way to achieve my goals while maintaining a lifestyle.  It reminds me of Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Fitness, and I am intrigued and am going to try it.  Both experts advocate manipulating diet more than overtraining the body.  Maintaining muscle mass and cutting off that last 5-10lbs of BF will make the body look a lot more ripped and subsequently bigger, even though you are lighter and smaller.

Here is what Rusty says, in terms of training every week.  He does a 2 day split.



"Day #1: Back, Chest, and Abs
Day #2: Shoulders, Triceps, and Biceps
*I pick 2-3 exercises per body part
*3-5 sets of 3-5 reps per exercise
*I never train to failure
*I follow this with 15-20 minutes of intense HIIT"

And he also advocates the Crazy Eight workout.

"1. 60 Jumping Jacks: Done as fast as possible, but make sure
you do full jumping jacks.
2. 15-20 Spiderman Pushups: I'm just doing normal pushups
until they become too easy. Typically it is a breeze for me to do
40+ pushups, but it is much tougher when you do these with zero
rest in between jumping jacks.
3. Walking Lunges: I take 20 steps total. This is the easiest part
of the workout in my opinion.
4. Spiderman Climb: I do a total of 20 of these (10 per side) I
really feel these in my abs and obliques.
5. Wall Squat: Do for 45-60 seconds. This hurts! Don't rest your
hands upon your legs, since it makes it easier.
6. Planks: Do for 60 seconds. Tough after doing all these other
exercises without rest.
7. Burpees: Make sure and do a full pushup at the bottom and
explode as high as possible at the top into a jump. I'm still kind of
uncoordinated with these…probably because I'm "smoked" at
this point!
8. High Knees: Done as fast as possible. Do 50 total. I just count
when my right leg hits the ground for 25. It is hard to count both
legs for 50 since you are going fast. You will be dying about 1/2
way through."

Seems like a great "quick-fix" workout for me when I'm crunched for time.

However, Rusty also points to the necessity for a 3-5 week period of intense dieting and training, where you train for around an hour every day and keep a caloric deficit, in order to go from 9-10% BF (where I am now) down to contest ready fitness (4-5%).  I am going to devote the next three weeks to this.  It will bring me to where I want to be, then I will maintain.

Calorie-wise, I need to shoot for a daily intake of 190 (my weight) x 8-10 = 1700-1900 calories per day.  Over the next 3-5 weeks I will realistically lose 5-10 lbs of BF.

At this point, I feel it is best to do low-carb, but not super-strict keto.  I will eat carbs but they will consist of my berry protein smoothies and carbs I get from salads.

I want to structure my weeks somewhat like this:

M - Back, Chest, and Abs + 15-20 minutes HIIT
T - AM Sprints + PM Shoulders, Triceps, Biceps 
W - Parkour skill training (1 hour) + Crazy Eight Workout
TH - Back, Chest, and Abs + 15-20 minutes HIIT
F - Shoulders, Tris, Bi's, HEAVY Leg Press + Walking for 15 minutes PWO
S: Parkour skill training (1 hour) + Crazy Eight Workout
SU: Walking 1 hour

My brother gave me a Parkour training book for my birthday and I've always wanted to get into it.  These guys have the type of physique I am looking for and a mad awesome skill set.  For my resistance training days, I'd like to wean myself off of the weights (except for very heavy stuff) and go toward being awesome at body weight exercise (pullups especially) like the Bar-barians.  I really think I can believe a cut physique doing this stuff.

Nutrition-wise my plan will be this:  I will eat within my 1700-1900 cal window daily, the vast majority of which is going to be high in protein and fat.  Carbohydrate will come from berries and salad/vegetables.  Protein sources will include steak, chicken, fish, whey powder.  Fat sources will include almond power butter (my concoction), pork rinds, bacon, eggs, chicken skin, cheese.

The daily plan will consist of fasting as long as possible then working out fasted.  I'll wait between 30-60 minutes before either having a meal or my PWO shake, depending on the day.  It looks like two days/per week I will have to do my workout in the AM before Physics lab, so I will stop eating a lot earlier the night before in order to get a good fast in and workout first thing in the morning, followed by a shake an hour later.  Those days will be two shakes then dinner (like Rusty does when cutting).  The dinner will probably be my fav Cobb Salad from Chopped Greens or something similar.

The other days will be a morning fast, workout around 1pm, shake, then dinner, spread over a couple hours.