Easing your body back into a workout for first week allows mind-to-muscle link to be reestablished. It further allows your body to adjust to an increased level of intensity for upcoming months. Coming back from a break and then immediately going into an overtraining mode does not entice your body or your mind want to continue abuse.

If given two approaches to returning from a break, I now opt for second approach. Easing your body back into routine will allow for a mind-muscle-link to be reestablished and your progress will most likely increase. Take first week to get accustomed to your routine (60% intensity) and next 8 weeks to accomplish your goals (100% intensity).

Marc

Pre-Workout

1 workout bar of your choice (preferably some carbs and 20+ grams of protein) Meal 5 - 6:00pm (Post-workout)

1 serving of whey protein combined with 1 5gram serving of Creatine mixed in kool-aid. (This is an important meal and is designed for an insulin spike at just right time to increase creatine and amino acid uptake by muscle cells).

Meal 6 -7:00pm

8 to 10 ounces of a lean round or flank steak 1 serving of rice 1 medium baked potato 1 large green salad

Meal 7 - 10:00pm

1 packet of a meal replacement with 16 ounces of skim milk 1 large banana 3 to 5 grams of L-Glutamine

And that's about it. Simple? You will be significantly increasing protein uptake. Which means you should be increasing that water consumption as well. I'm not a fan of waking up at 1:00am to get more protein and therefore, I did not include anything beyond 10:00pm. I've noticed some significant gains from this program. My workouts were hardcore but my nutrition was lacking. By putting my eating times to a set schedule, I felt better during day and was even more ready to tackle that workout later in day.

Good luck,

Marc