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!
3/29: Recovery W4D5
General Aerobic Run
8.11 mi - 1:12:30/8:56 pace/144 HR
Squeezed this in on a hotel treadmill; fine enough.
3/31: Recovery W4D7
General Aerobic Run
10.0 mi - 1:27:59/8:48 pace/147 HR
Did a few loops around the Mall; pretty sweet scenery. Harder than it should have been, but I did walk 11+ miles yesterday, so not too surprising.
4/2: Recovery W5D2
General Aerobic Run
7.0 mi - 1:02:04/8:52 pace/152 HR
Squeezed this in after a day of sight seeing where I'd already walked 15k steps; were I less stubborn I'd have dialed down the pace, especially considering there was a fair bit of elevation gain where I ran, but alas.
4/4: Recovery W5D4
A
Bench: wu, 165 x9, x7x2
NG Pullups: +15 x9, x8, x7
RFESS: +30 x10x3
Seated Calf: 3x15
B
Farmer's Carries (75 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Leg Extensions: x20, x18
Leg Curl: x20, x18
D
Incline Bench: 55s x10, x9, x7
DB Pullovers: 70 x11, x8, x6
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
E
Facepulls: 4x15
Overhead Rope Tri: x16, x13, x11
DB Hammer: 25s x12x2, x10
Pretty k; need to fit in a recovery run this evening and an easy run tomorrow, so we'll see how I manage to get on.
I caught norovirus from one of my kids the day after I got back from DC; for about two and a half days I was in pretty bad shape with all the normal symptoms, and I ended up losing 7 or so pounds when all was said and done. I took most of last week off - I think I did four miles Tuesday and it was pretty tiring, so I figured some discretion was warranted.
I'd signed up for a 5k with a buddy a few weeks back; it's right by my house on a road that's part of my normal route, so no reason not to do it. I went into it not planning on racing it, but my buddy wanted to try for sub-22, so I paced him for that for the first mile (~7:08) until he fell off, then ran with his neighbor for a bit until I pulled away from him towards the end of the second mile. Obviously I couldn't let him catch me, so I came in at 21:45 per the chip, with a pretty decent negative split. I'm obviously nowhere close to peak fitness, but I was pretty happy with this. Long term goal is to get to sub-20 (maybe next year at this race?).
I did 3 miles of recovery yesterday, but my legs were pretty heavy and I was pretty fatigued so I cut it there. Per my watch and just how I feel I'm pretty obviously dealing with some sort of post-viral recovery, but I'm just going to push through things and autoregulate based on fatigue.
4/15
A
NG Pullups: x12, x10, x8
Walking Lunges: 25s x10x3
B
OHP: wu, 85x10x2, x7
HLRs: 3x8
Seated Calf: 3x15
C
Leg Ext: x20, x17
Leg Curl: x20, x18
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 60s x10, x9, x7
Facepulls: 4x15
Pallofs: 3x8
E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
F
DB LTEs: 25s x17, x12, x10
DB Seated Incline Curl: 20s x10x3
Average HR was higher than normal for this session and this took a few minutes longer than I normally take (this was about 63 minutes vs 58-60 minutes normally), so I'm definitely not all the way back. Going to try to get back into the 3x/wk gym cadence since my marathon training doesn't start in earnest until July.
nice 5k!
4/16
General Aerobic Run
7.0 mi - 1:03:35/9:05 pace/152 HR
Still not fully recovered from this illness and felt a bit DOMSy from getting back into the gym; dialed back the pace, but apparently needed to do it even more. I was tossing around doing a few miles of threshold work, but it was clear that wasn't in the cards; probably a few more weeks of aerobic work until I recover fully.
4/17
A
Single Leg Press: +80 x10x3
B
Incline Bench: wu, 135 x9, x8, x7
Seated Calf: 3x15
Back Extensions: 3x8
C
Leg Extensions: x20, x15
Seated Leg Curl: x20, x15
D
Seated DB OHP : 40s x12, x10, x9
DB Incline Row: 55s x12, x11, x10
E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
F
Facepulls: 4x15
Supinated Single Arm Cable Tri: x14, x13, x12
Bayesian Curl: x14, x13, x12
Lateral Cable Raise: x15, x13, x12
Fine enough; the EVgoodlife[sup]locoTM[/sup] is indeed good.
4/18
General Aerobic Run
8.63 mi - 1:16:20/8:51 pace/152 HR
Ran this at a bit higher exertion HR-wise than I'd have preferred, but was running with three other guys so I managed. I imagine the HR will continue to come back down to where I'm used to it being over the next few weeks. I'm hoping I'm recovered enough to do a threshold-esque run Tuesday.
4/19
A
NG Pullups: +20 x7, x6, x5
RFESS: +30 x10x3
B
Bench: wu, 165 x9, x8, x6
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x15
Farmer's Carries (75 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Leg Extensions: x20, x15
Leg Curl: x20, x15
D
Incline Bench: 55s x10, x8, x6
DB Pullovers: 70 x12, x9, x7
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x15, x12, x11
DB Hammer: 25s x12x2, x10
Definitely getting back to 100% but not quite there yet; felt a bit light headed for most of this, which is unsurprising because my appetite isn't all the way back yet and I'm still ant-sized.
HRV has started to creep back up over the last few days (finally). It's been exactly two weeks since I first got sick, so all in all, being able to go five straight days is pretty good I think.
4/18
General Aerobic Run
8.63 mi - 1:16:20/8:51 pace/152 HR
Ran this at a bit higher exertion HR-wise than I'd have preferred, but was running with three other guys so I managed. I imagine the HR will continue to come back down to where I'm used to it being over the next few weeks. I'm hoping I'm recovered enough to do a threshold-esque run Tuesday.
4/19
A
NG Pullups: +20 x7, x6, x5
RFESS: +30 x10x3
B
Bench: wu, 165 x9, x8, x6
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x15
Farmer's Carries (75 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35
When is next running event?
June 1st is the Full Mo, which is an ultra where we run the entire Monon, a paved running and biking trail that runs for 50k from north of Indianapolis into downtown Indy. A few friends want to do it, so I'm going to do it with them and just target something pretty easy (maybe 5 hours) as opposed to actually racing it.
4/20
Recovery Run
4.0 mi - 41:04/10:16 pace/134 HR
4/21
Medium Long Run
12.0 mi - 1:43:24/8:37 pace/154 HR
I'm not officially on my training plan for the Monumental Marathon yet (starting in early July for an early November race), but I'm running the base building portion right now just for something to do. My target pace for the marathon spits out target pace ranges for the various efforts, and medium long and long runs are meant to be faster and at a bit higher level of exertion than general aerobic ("easy") runs. Whereas in the past I'd just run this as a longer easy run, I tried to push this a bit harder and it went well enough.
4/22
A
NG Pullups: x12, x9, x7
Reverse Lunges: 25s x12, x11, x10
B
OHP: wu, 85x10x2, x8
HLRs: x10, x9, x8
Seated Calf: 3x15
C
Leg Ext: x20, x16
Leg Curl: x20, x16
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 60s x10, x9, x8
Facepulls: 4x15
Pallofs: x10, x9, x8
E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
F
DB LTEs: 25s x18, x12, x10
DB Seated Incline Curl: 20s x12, x11, x10
Average HR was higher than normal for this session and this took a few minutes longer than I normally take (this was about 63 minutes vs 58-60 minutes normally), so I'm definitely not all the way back. Going to try to get back into the 3x/wk gym cadence since my marathon training doesn't start in earnest until July.
Average HR was 12 BPM lower and I finished this right at 58 minutes, so I was definitely still not all the way back last week. I did feel pretty solid today, albeit a bit bloated from not a great weekend of food. We move on.
4/23
General Aerobic Run + Strides
7.0 mi - 1:02:26/8:55 pace/139 HR
Much better; negative split this one from 8:59 in mile 1 to 8:53 in mile 7. Afterwards, I did ten 15 second strides on the minute and added on about 1.25 more miles; even though it was in a steady rain, it was a good session.
4/24
A
Single Leg Press: +85 x8x3
B
Incline Bench: wu, 135 x10x2, x8
Seated Calf: 3x15
Back Extensions: x10, x9, x8
C
Leg Extensions: x20, x16
Seated Leg Curl: x20, x16
D
Seated DB OHP : 45s x10x2, x8
DB Incline Row: 60s x11, x10, x9
E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
F
Facepulls: 4x15
Supinated Single Arm Cable Tri: x15, x14, x13
Bayesian Curl: x15, x14, x13
Lateral Cable Raise: x15x2, x13
Still feeling good.
4/25
General Aerobic Run
10.0 mi - 1:43:24/8:57 pace/145 HR
A bit higher of a heart rate than I'd have hoped, but had some unexpected family stuff to take care of this afternoon so I had to squeeze this in during the boys' soccer practice. Still felt decent enough, but not great.
4/26
A
NG Pullups: +20 x8, x7, x6
RFESS: +30 x12, x11, x10
B
Bench: wu, 165 x9, x8, x6
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x15
Farmer's Carries (75 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Leg Extensions: x20, x16
Leg Curl: x20, x16
D
Incline Bench: 55s x10, x8, x7
DB Pullovers: 70 x13, x10, x8
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x18, x13, x12
DB Hammer: 25s x13, x12, x11
Small progress but nothing to write home about; I was still a bit fatigued from last night's run but this was the only time I could fit this in. Recovery run tomorrow and then a 13 miles on Sunday.
4/27
Recovery Run
5.0 mi - 49:24/9:53 pace/136 HR
4/28
MP Run
7.0 mi - 59:05/8:26 pace/162 HR
I loosely planned to do 8 miles at my old marathon pace, but I'm just not fit enough to do it when it's this warm, so I called it at 3 miles at around a 7:55 pace; I'll have to be better with scaling back everything, but especially the faster work, when it's this warm.
4/29
A
NG Pullups: x13, x9, x8
Walking Lunges: 25s x12x3
B
OHP: wu, 90x10, x9, x8
HLRs: x10x3
Seated Calf: 3x15
C
Leg Ext: x20, x17
Leg Curl: x20, x17
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 60s x10x2, x9
Facepulls: 4x15
Pallofs: x10x3
E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
F
DB LTEs: 30s x12, x10, x8
DB Seated Incline Curl: 20s x12, x11, x10
4/30
General Aerobic Run
10.0 mi - 1:30:47/9:05 pace/152 HR
It was pretty humid out this morning, so I slowed down a fair bit and it still wasn't enough; I'll just have to plan on 15 to 20 seconds slower per mile until I acclimate to the heat and my fitness gets a bit better.
what time do you generally start running?
6:30 AM yesterday; it wasn't much cooler earlier in the morning, but earlier would probably be better regardless.
5/1
Recovery Run
4.0 mi - 41:56/10:29 pace/130 HR
A
Single Leg Press: +70 x10x3
B
Incline Bench: wu, 135 x10, x9, x7
Seated Calf: 3x15
Back Extensions: x10x3
C
Leg Extensions: x20, x17
Seated Leg Curl: x20, x17
D
Seated DB OHP : 45s x11, x10, x8
DB Incline Row: 60s x12, x11, x10
E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
F
Dips: +0x10x3
Facepulls: 4x15
G
Bayesian Curl: x12, x11, x10
Lateral Cable Raise: x15x3
All k.
5/2
Tempo Run
4.0 mi - 30:19/7:34 pace/172 HR
Negative split this with the last mile at 7:25, so I finally paced something appropriately; with the two mile warmup and cooldown I finished this in a bit under 1:06:00 total, so it was a nice, tidy morning session.
5/3
A
NG Pullups: +20 x9, x7, x6
RFESS: +30 x12x3
B
Bench: wu, 165 x9, x8, x7
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x15
Farmer's Carries (75 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Leg Extensions: x20, x17
Leg Curl: x20, x17
D
Incline Bench: 55s x11, x9, x7
DB Pullovers: 75 x10, x9, x8
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x15, x13, x12
DB Hammer: 25s x14, x13, x11
5/4
Recovery Run
4.0 mi - 49:57/9:59 pace/131 HR
Slept terribly Thursday night and was considering skipping the gym, but fit it in in the evening; made some slight progress at least. I have 14 miles set for tomorrow so kept today pretty light.
5/5
Medium Long Run
14.0 mi - 2:00:13/8:35 pace/153 HR
I ended up taking this a bit faster than I'd planned; was going to try to negative split and top out at 8:35-8:40 in the last mile or so, but I felt good early and just kept it up. I averaged sub-8:30 for the last 10 miles, and my HR topped out at the low 160s except for a brief spike on a hill in the last half mile. My first very good session in quite a while.
5/6
A
NG Pullups: x12, x9, x8
Walking Lunges: 30s x8x3
B
OHP: wu, 90x10, x10, x9
HLRs: x12, x11, x10
Seated Calf: 3x15
C
Leg Ext: x20, x18
Leg Curl: x20, x18
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 65s x10, x9, x7
Facepulls: 4x15
Pallofs: x12, x11, x10
E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
F
DB LTEs: 30s x13, x11, x9
DB Seated Incline Curl: 20s x12x2, x10
5/7
General Aerobic Run + Strides
7.0 mi - 1:01:56/8:51 pace/148 HR
Threw in four 8-10 second hill sprints along my normal route and finished with ten 15 second strides; total distance was 8.26 miles. Legs were a bit heavy from Sunday's run and Monday's relatively mild lifting session, so we'll see how the next few days go.
5/8
AM
Recovery Run
5.0 mi - 49:17/9:51 pace/131 HR
A
Single Leg Press: +85 x10, x9, x8
PM
B
Incline Bench: wu, 135 x10x2, x9
Seated Calf: 3x15
Back Extensions: x10x3
C
Hip Thrust Machine: 3x8
D
Seated DB OHP : 45s x12, x10, x8
DB Incline Row: 65s x10, x9, x8
E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
F
Dips: +0x13, x11, x10
Facepulls: 4x15
G
Bayesian Curl: x13, x12, x10
Lateral Cable Raise: x10x3
All pretty k.
5/9
General Aerobic Run
10.0 mi - 1:30:01/9:00 pace/151 HR
Probably should have gone a little slower given how humid it was, but oh well - we move on.
5/10
A
NG Pullups: +25 x6x2, x5
RFESS: +40 x8x3
B
Bench: wu, 165 x10, x9, x7
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x12
Farmer's Carries (80 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Step-ups: +20x8x3
D
Incline Bench: 55s x12, x10, x8
DB Pullovers: 75 x11, x10, x8
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x12, x11, x10
DB Hammer: 30s x10, x9, x8
Felt great today; made a bit of progress everywhere.
