Monte's Log, Featuring a Debate About Dotard Genetic Potential with an Ant
Brief Background
Long time lurker who recently registered. I'm 31 years old, 6'4", and 220 pounds. When I graduated college 10 years ago, I was the same height, but weighed 165 pounds. After college, I found the gym and packed on a lot of muscle over the subsequent 2 year period of working out, but did the typical broish bench/curl-centric exercise routine while rarely squatting or deadlifting (i.e. I maxed out at 330 benching and 235 squatting). Since then, I've periodically gotten back in the gym for six months or a year at a time, but never consistently.
Recent Workouts
Recently I've been doing 3 sets of 40 pushups and a total of ~25 pullups 4-5 times a week, and also playing squash a few times a week. Since beginning squash (which is very high impact), I've been having periodic weakness/pain in my right knee, but other than that no issues except chronically tight hamstrings.
My Plan
This is yet another starting SS log; I'll be doing the version with pullups/chinups and without PCs (at least to start), but I will be deadlifting for the first two weeks or so until my gains start to level off. I've read the book and the wiki, and I'll be starting on Monday. I've purchased the appropriate lifting shoes and chalk, and I'll be doing foam rolling on my problem areas post-workout. I also plan to purchase Assess and Correct or something similar shortly in order to work on my flexibility issues.
My diet is pretty decent, with a lot of skim milk/oatmeal/protein bars/lean meats/veggies on my good days (at work), with the occasional pizza and beer meal thrown in (usually weekend). I haven't been doing daily tracking, but I plugged in an average day and I'm around 2800-3000 calories with around 150 grams of protein a day.
My Goals
This log is mostly for motivation. I'm not entirely sure but I would guess my body fat percentage is somewhere between 20 and 25%, so I guess I'm shooting for recomposition. I don't have many specific goals in mind. My main goal is to get stronger, especially in my lower body (maybe get my combined deadlift+squat+bench to 1000 lbs). I'd also like to tighten up my midsection and lose the 15 or so pounds of extra weight I'd guess I'm carrying around my gut.
Questions
-I'm assuming I should up my protein intake? I'm not really sure what my LBM is exactly, but if I use the 1.5 g/lb LBM I should up the protein to between 225 and 250 g/day, correct? I can throw a scoop or two of protein powder into my morning and evening skim milk if necessary.
-I'll be lifting at lunch with a coworker; this is the first time I haven't worked out in late afternoon. I am used to having a post workout recovery shake (e.g. Endurox) and then eating my largest meal of the day 1-1.5 hours post-workout. Should that still be the case if I'm working out at lunch -- that is, should my lunch be dinner sized, and should my dinner portion be smaller?
-Any tips or suggestions from other tall guys, or people who've trained with tall guys, about pitfalls or things to avoid involving squatting would be welcome. I suspect the answer is "shut up and lift weight" but just thought I'd ask.
Thanks in advance!
3/11: Recovery W2D2
AM
A
NG Pullups: +15 x7, x6, x5
RFESS: +30 x8x3
B
Bench: wu, 155 x9, x8x2
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x15
C
Farmer's Carries (75 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
D
Leg Extensions: x20, x13
Leg Curl: x20, x15
E
Incline Bench: 50s x10x2, x8
DB Pullovers: 65 x12, x10, x8
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x20, x15, x13
DB Hammer: 25s x11, x10x2
PM
Recovery
5.0 mi - 48:46/9:45 pace/136 HR
Did this yesterday; fine enough, just getting back into things.
That Indy marathon is top5 fast flat marathon.
Not only is it flat it is scheduled at the perfect date, almost always cool.
Berlin and Chicago need to move to late october/early November. Too damn hot these days.
Unfortunately the Indy marathon has got to be pretty damn boring and not scenic. IndygonnaIndy. But yeah if you live there, an excellent option.
Sub3:20 or Bust. Well I don't know if I should say that, after you busted in Chattanooga. But Chicago calling afterwards, so
Probably boring for most, but kind of comforting given I'll have run the majority of the route and it'll be a bit more routine. The stretch goal is going to be 3:15:00.
3/13: Recovery W2D3
Recovery Run
5.0 mi - 48:41 mi/9:44pace/146 HR
3/14: Recovery W2D4
A
NG Pullups: x10 x8, x6
Walking Lunges: 25s x8x3
B
OHP: wu, 85x8x3
Facepulls: 4x15
Pallofs: 3x8
C
Leg Ext: x20, x14
Leg Curl: x20, x13
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 60s x8x3
HLRs: 3x8
Seated Calf: 3x15
E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
F
DB LTEs: 25s x15, x11, x10
DB Seated Incline Curl: 15s x15x3
Had too much to drink Tuesday night so yesterday's run was pretty bad; lifting today was fine.
3/15: Recovery W2D5
Recovery Run
6.0 mi - 59:00/9:49 pace/143 HR
3/17: Recovery W2D7
Recovery Run
7.0 mi - 1:07:13/9:36 pace/140 HR
HR a little elevated from adding booze back in, but the legs are feeling a bit better than last week. Still not going to have a real run until Friday, so a few more easy recovery this week.
3/18: Recovery W3D1
A
Single Leg Press: +90 x10x3
Seated Calf: 3x15
B
Incline Bench: wu, 125 x10, x9, x8
Facepulls: 4x15
Back Extensions: 3x8
C
Leg Extensions: x20, x15
Seated Leg Curl: x20, x14
D
Seated DB OHP : 40s x10, x9, x8
DB Incline Row: 55s x10x3
E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
F
Supinated Single Arm Cable Tri: x15x3
Bayesian Curl: x15x3
Lateral Cable Raise: x10x3
Fine. Itching to run something more than recovery, but I'm going to be patient and follow the plan. Slated for 7 miles easy plus some strides on Friday, so that will be something to look forward to.
That's crazy that you are looking forward to 7 miles + strides. Could you imagine what 40 year old monte would think? He'd be like wtf.
I call this habitddiction. Obviously a combination of habit + endorphin releasing exercise.
It becomes so powerful that the monte itching to get back out there.
Unfortunately other stuff like food, alcohol, porn work the same way.
With exercise it's a good thing, up to a certain point. And that certain point varies between individuals, for running I would say its 45-65 miles a week. Above that I would start questioning wether the habitddiction is a negative.
I only bring this up because right now my running is not consistent, but I was from 2018-2023. The habit is gone and I only have slight endorphins to work with. Laziness is setting in. And if I don't watch out, I could spiral out of control to fattysville.
I guess I'll ask this here since Monte is skyrocketing up the H&F jogger power ratings. Seems like the other joggers hang out here too.
I'm a mediocre jogger who runs like a donk (as loco would say, and not be wrong about). Only about 15 miles a week (all treadmill), but I get a moderate amount of blisters on my toes. What are your best picks for socks and shoes that are most likely to prevent this? Right now I wear some Balega ones that were on sale at Amazon. Shoes are Brooks Adrenaline GTS. They feel OK, but if the blisters keep piling up over time. It's not enough that it is painful or causing problems, but at the current trajectory thing may change at some point.
Only thing that may save me is a lower body injury that will keep me from running for a while. Of course, as an old, I'm always drawing very live to that.
3/19: Recovery W3D2
Recovery Run
5.0 mi - 49:19/9:52 pace/140 HR
3/20: Recovery W3D3
Recovery Run
5.0 mi - 48:42/9:44 pace/145 HR
HR is still a bit elevated on these easy runs; hopefully I'll settle into something a little closer to my previous baseline once some slightly harder work starts back up.
That's crazy that you are looking forward to 7 miles + strides. Could you imagine what 40 year old monte would think? He'd be like wtf.
I call this habitddiction. Obviously a combination of habit + endorphin releasing exercise.
It becomes so powerful that the monte itching to get back out there.
Unfortunately other stuff like food, alcohol, porn work the same way.
With exercise it's a good thing, up to a certain point. And that certain point varies between individuals, for runnin
Very true, 40 year old me would be quite surprised by these developments. You are correct that it's now a habit; from time to time my wife certainly (quite rightly) bristles if I don't organize things so the impact on the family is minimized. I'm going to try to ramp up to 55 miles during the marathon prep for November (I'll be doing Pfitzinger's 18 week/55 mile plan), so I'll have to make sure I get up early enough to knock everything out in the mornings again.
You should sign up for a race, loco; I somehow now have four on the calendar, so there's now no choice but to train.
I guess I'll ask this here since Monte is skyrocketing up the H&F jogger power ratings. Seems like the other joggers hang out here too.
I'm a mediocre jogger who runs like a donk (as loco would say, and not be wrong about). Only about 15 miles a week (all treadmill), but I get a moderate amount of blisters on my toes. What are your best picks for socks and shoes that are most likely to prevent this? Right now I wear some Balega ones that were on sale at Amazon. Shoes are Brooks Adrenaline G
I used to have this problem, and the thing that saved me was anti-chafing foot cream: I didn't buy anti-blister socks until just before the marathon. I used to have bandaids over half my toes when I started and now I'm much better; with that said, I'm sure the combo of a) socks made of the correct material to wick away sweat and b) lubrication of the areas where you tend to blister is best. Getting fitted for the correct shoe for your gait and adjusting your stride to increase your running economy would probably address the root cause, but I can't be bothered to get that into it at this point.
I used to have this problem, and the thing that saved me was anti-chafing foot cream: I didn't buy anti-blister socks until just before the marathon. I used to have bandaids over half my toes when I started and now I'm much better; with that said, I'm sure the combo of a) socks made of the correct material to wick away sweat and b) lubrication of the areas where you tend to blister is best. Getting fitted for the correct shoe for your gait and adjusting your stride to increase your running eco
Thanks. I don't use no fancy anti-chafing foot cream, but I do slather my feet in vaseline before putting on the antiblister socks for anything more than a few miles. Looks like I'm doing about as well as I can do. Seems like an unavoidable problem even with (barely) significant mileage.
3/21: Recovery W3D4
A
NG Pullups: +15 x8, x7, x6
RFESS: +30 x10, x9, x8
B
Bench: wu, 155 x10x2, x8
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x15
C
Farmer's Carries (75 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
D
Leg Extensions: x20, x16
Leg Curl: x20, x14
E
Incline Bench: 50s x12, x10, x7
DB Pullovers: 65 x13, x101 x8
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x16, x11, x10
DB Hammer: 25s x12, x11, x10
Standard.
Melk,
Maybe try those toe socks that look like Vibrams?
3/22: Recovery W3D5
General Aerobic Run + Strides
7.0 mi - 1:02:10.7/8:53 pace/147 HR
This definitely felt harder than it would have 8 weeks ago, but it was still pretty comfortable; my average HR was a bit higher than I would have hoped, but when I calculated my HR bands for this training (based on HRR), between 133 and 153 is the range I should be shooting for, so fine enough. I also did 8 rounds of 0:15 strides with 0:45 recovery, which added an extra mile at the end; felt good to get a little pace on my legs.
3/24: Recovery W3D7
General Aerobic Run
9.0 mi - 1:19:33/8:50 pace/147 HR
Pretty k. Going hiking with the wife and kids this afternoon, so I'll be getting my steps in.
I've never had this issue in running shoes but have had it with boots and if the boot wasn't too small, what Monte suggested would fix it.
Blisters are caused by friction which means the tip of your toe has to rub against something. And it isn't your sock that it is rubbing against.
3/25: Recovery W4D1
A
NG Pullups: x11, x9, x7
Walking Lunges: 25s x10, x9, x8
B
OHP: wu, 85 x10, x9, x8
HLRs: 3x8
Seated Calf: 3x15
C
Leg Ext: x20, x16
Leg Curl: x20, x16
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 60s x10x2, x8
Facepulls: 4x15
Pallofs: 3x8
E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
F
DB LTEs: 25s x16, x13, x10
DB Seated Incline Curl: 20s x10x3
Ramping the old man routine back up; still going to try to fit in three sessions a week after I get back from our little spring break trip.
On another note, there's a nice YMCA gym about a quarter mile from my office that I've rarely used because I've been lifting with my buddies at one nearer to my house. One of them is going to keep lifting because I've pretty much ingrained the habit into him (he's lost 40 lbs) and the other one stopped, so I've switched my routine up and just leave the house early, lift, and then go to work. It's legitimately saved me 45 minutes to an hour every morning in terms of commute time back and forth and the random tasks I end up doing at time after I get back but before I leave. The other plus is that the gym is nicer, so it's kind of dumb of me not to have done this sooner.
3/26: Recovery W4D2
General Aerobic Run
7.0 mi - 1:02:13/8:53 pace/148 HR
Kind of meh; legs were heavy and I had a pretty significant headwind for the majority of the time.
3/27: Recovery W4D3
Recovery Run
5.0 mi - 48:58/9:47 pace/139 HR
3/28: Recovery W4D4
A
Single Leg Press: +70 x10, x9, x8
Seated Calf: 3x15
B
Incline Bench: wu, 125 x10x3
Facepulls: 4x15
Back Extensions: 3x8
C
Leg Extensions: x20, x17
Seated Leg Curl: x20, x17
D
Seated DB OHP : 40s x10x3
DB Incline Row: 55s x12, x11, x10
E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
F
Supinated Single Arm Cable Tri: x14, x13, x12
Bayesian Curl: x14, x13, x12
Lateral Cable Raise: x14, x13, x12
Off-site folks have been in this week so I had a bit too much to drink Tuesday, but still managed to get my run in. Lifting session today was fine. Last night was a bit of an adventure because I sliced my forehead open on a shelf in the pantry, but lucky just needed five butterfly stitches, which we did at home.
Heading out to Washington DC with the wife and for a Spring Break trip; probably not going to get any lifting in, but should be able to gin up some time to run.
How do you do an incline dumbbell row?
Lazy man's seal row, basically - set up the bench like you're doing incline dumbbell bench, lay face down, row the dumbbells from the floor. I used to do one arm rows from the bench, but it tended to irritate my SI because I'd twist too much; I'm not sure how effective these actually are, but I feel them like a standard row and they don't irritate my lower back, so I'll take it. There's another variation I haven't tried where you stand facing the end of an inclined bench (opposite the seat) and brace your chest against that and row; I've never done it, but I'd imagine you'd need to either strap up or do less weight since I'd assume most can't pull from the floor using that setup.
Lazy man's seal row, basically - set up the bench like you're doing incline dumbbell bench, lay face down, row the dumbbells from the floor. I used to do one arm rows from the bench, but it tended to irritate my SI because I'd twist too much; I'm not sure how effective these actually are, but I feel them like a standard row and they don't irritate my lower back, so I'll take it. There's another variation I haven't tried where you stand facing the end of an inclined bench (opposite the seat) an
ok, makes sense if it's an injury get around. My lower back tweaks if I do barbell bent over rows, but I don't get it (shudder....yet) if I do bent over DB rows
of all the body parts though, I kind of think that back is the one that responds best to machine based exercises....or there's the least 'loss of value' by not using free weights. With the exception of Deadlift, which IDK, I always think of as a lower body exercise more than a back one
ok, makes sense if it's an injury get around. My lower back tweaks if I do barbell bent over rows, but I don't get it (shudder....yet) if I do bent over DB rows
of all the body parts though, I kind of think that back is the one that responds best to machine based exercises....or there's the least 'loss of value' by not using free weights. With the exception of Deadlift, which IDK, I always think of as a lower body exercise more than a back one
I tend to rotate horizontal pulls reasonably frequently, but yes, I probably use machines most frequently for those. I should probably add in some lat pulldowns on the one day in my rotation that doesn't have chin-ups.
Back when I was exclusively lifting, my motto was always "you can never do too much back", which is probably still true but less relevant now that I'm an old cardiobunny that barely lifts anymore. The volume of chin-ups I used to do was pretty significant, looking back; luckily my elbows didn't explode.
