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!
6/4
AM
Recovery Run
4.0 mi - 38:53/9:43 pace/132 HR
6/5
PM
A
NG Pullups: +25 x8, x6, x6
B
Bench: wu, 175 x8, x7, x6
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x12
Farmer's Carries (80 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Incline Bench: 65s x8, x7, x6
DB Pullovers: 75 x13, x9, x8
D
Overhead Rope Tri: x13, x12, x10
DB Hammer: 30s x12, x10, x8
Quick morning run Tuesday and then squeezed this session in after work; felt ok enough I suppose. I'll work in lower body lifting again next week.
Thanks!
Amazing stuff, montebro! Sick run. What's left?
I've got Monte completing an Ironman before 2030.
Forget the Golden Loco, we need a Golden Monte.
Zero chance at an Ironman; I'm far from good enough as a swimmer and don't have the desire to learn, plus I know what the training takes and I don't have it in me (my brother-in-law has done nine Ironmans and there's just no way).
+1
Running that distance at any pace is quite the accomplishment, but at that pace is very impressive.
Thanks!
My brother who is an ultra and extreme ultra guy reckons by far the best/most fun ultra is Comrades which is (I think) a double marathon event in South Africa. It’s a giant deal there and he spoke of African choirs and all kinds of other fun stuff along the way.
Long way from your home but he goes there from Colorado so it’s doable. Have you checked it/other ultras out?
My brother who is an ultra and extreme ultra guy reckons by far the best/most fun ultra is Comrades which is (I think) a double marathon event in South Africa. It’s a giant deal there and he spoke of African choirs and all kinds of other fun stuff along the way.
Long way from your home but he goes there from Colorado so it’s doable. Have you checked it/other ultras out?
I've heard of Comrades; probably not in the cards for me yet; the one buddy I did this with is going to do a 100k trail ultra in October in Southern Indiana, which there is 0% chance of me doing yet. I need to get fitter for a few more years before that would become viable I think; I'll probably crew for him and maybe run 10-15 miles with him or something.
6/7
A
OHP: wu, 95 x10, x9, x8
NG Pullups: x12, x10, x8
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x12
B
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 65s x11, x10, x8
Pallofs: x10x3
HLRs: x12x3
C
DB LTEs: 30s x13, x11, x10
DB Seated Incline Curl: 20s x12x3
45 Degree Side Bends: bw x6x3
6/8
Recovery Run
8.0 mi - 1:17:05/9:38 pace/132 HR
Lifting was fine; will probably slowly work in lower body lifting over the next few weeks; I've been pretty fatigued towards the end of the day this week, so I'm definitely not fully recovered. The run went really well considering I had five drinks last night.
Monte,
What would you reckon is the min time commit at your age/genetics (lol) to get into ironman completion shape?
You're pretty quick, so I think you could be 50/50 to complete on even 27-30 per week.
good race, lol HR at the end tho ffs. reminds me of the horror of xc runs.
Monte,
What would you reckon is the min time commit at your age/genetics (lol) to get into ironman completion shape?
You're pretty quick, so I think you could be 50/50 to complete on even 27-30 per week.
good race, lol HR at the end tho ffs. reminds me of the horror of xc runs.
I could probably figure it out; my wife's older brother started doing Ironmans when he was about my age (he's 55 and has done 9 at this point) and I'm fairly certain he's in the ~30 hr/wk range. As I've said, the swimming is a dealbreaker for me; I'd need to get a coach and commit a lot more time to doing it, and I just don't really want to. I also don't particularly enjoy biking either, and the amount of gear he has and the expense of it doesn't feel like something I'd be able to sustain. With that said, I hated running until I started doing it, so who can say what the future holds.
And thanks; 174 is not much higher than my threshold, but watching my HR go up the last four or so miles was less than encouraging. Given I didn't train specifically and wasn't in great shape for this race, I'll take it.
Heart rate mostly blew up do to increasing heat and radiation (story of races, since they mostly go off 6-8am). And of course what everybody missed, the monte came in 1 and 2 spots in front of his buddies. And he has been telling us for months one of the buddies is more experienced and faster.
Gotta love seeing that. Need competition to keep motivation high. and the monte turned up the heat late and soul crushed the one more experienced buddy.
Heart rate mostly blew up do to increasing heat and radiation (story of races, since they mostly go off 6-8am). And of course what everybody missed, the monte came in 1 and 2 spots in front of his buddies. And he has been telling us for months one of the buddies is more experienced and faster.
Gotta love seeing that. Need competition to keep motivation high. and the monte turned up the heat late and soul crushed the one more experienced buddy.
A nice story, but unfortunately not close to true; he stayed with us out of camaraderie and fell back with my other buddy because he was worried about him (other buddy is T1D). If we'd both have raced it for real, he'd have no doubt smoked me. But, regardless, I'm happy with the outcome.
I was kind of wondering about that detail myself, and thought that maybe I had remembered something wrong.
Your experienced friend seems like a good dude.
He is. I just saw on Strava that he ran a 13.1 mile Spartan this weekend, so it seems he's fully recovered.
6/10
A
Incline Bench: wu, 145 x10, x8, x7
Seated Calf: 3x12
Back Extensions: +5 x8x3
Facepulls: 4x15
B
Single Leg Press: +90 x8x3
C
Seated DB OHP : 50s x10 x9, x8
DB Incline Row: 65s x12, x10, x8
D
Hip Thrust Machine: +35 x8x3
Dips: +0 x12x3
E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
F
Bayesian Curl: x13, x12, x10
Lateral Cable Raise: x12, x11, x10
Good session.
He is. I just saw on Strava that he ran a 13.1 mile Spartan this weekend, so it seems he's fully recovered.
6/10
A
Incline Bench: wu, 145 x10, x8, x7
Seated Calf: 3x12
Back Extensions: +5 x8x3
Facepulls: 4x15
B
Single Leg Press: +90 x8x3
C
Seated DB OHP : 50s x10 x9, x8
DB Incline Row: 65s x12, x10, x8
D
Hip Thrust Machine: +35 x8x3
Dips: +0 x12x3
E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
F
Bayesian Curl: x13, x12, x10
Lateral Cable Raise: x12, x11, x10
Good session.
on your single leg press, how close can you get to 50% of what you can do with two legs? I'm at like 30% on my left leg and still less than 50 on my right leg. Maybe it's a co-ordination thing?
on your single leg press, how close can you get to 50% of what you can do with two legs? I'm at like 30% on my left leg and still less than 50 on my right leg. Maybe it's a co-ordination thing?
It's been so long since I've done a two leg press, it's hard to say; I would hope I'm still working my way up on this, because a 1pps single leg implying a 2pps two legged work set would be pretty pathetic, even were I something more than an old cardiobunny that wasn't exactly going for RPE 10 anymore. I'll probably trial it one day and see once the LP on this lift stops.
6/12
AM
General Aerobic Run
7.0 mi - 1:01:49/8:50 pace/148 HR
PM
A
RFESS: +40 x8x3
NG Pullups: +25 x8, x6, x5
B
Bench: wu, 175 x9, x8, x7
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x12
Farmer's Carries (85 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Incline Bench: 65s x9, x8, x7
DB Pullovers: 75 x13, x9, x7
D
Step-ups: +20 x10x3
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x14, x12, x10
DB Hammer: 25s x12x3
Had a colleague/buddy in town the last two nights, so pushed Tuesday's run to today; heart rate was high as expected from the booze, but settled down after the first mile to a 146 average, so no big deal. Lifting was fine enough I suppose.
I could probably figure it out; my wife's older brother started doing Ironmans when he was about my age (he's 55 and has done 9 at this point) and I'm fairly certain he's in the ~30 hr/wk range. As I've said, the swimming is a dealbreaker for me; I'd need to get a coach and commit a lot more time to doing it, and I just don't really want to. I also don't particularly enjoy biking either, and the amount of gear he has and the expense of it doesn't feel like something I'd be able to sustain. Wi
Yeah, people forget how much of an absurd time commitment being good at gheydio is. Granted you can grind out a ton of that steady state at home on a bike/treadmill. But you can't really multi-task a pool, and gotta eventually get outside.
On the swimming note, SIPO is a real thing and you def don't wanna do some wonky ass training swims when at high volume in a non-supervised, unsafe space. But it seems like you're an aids tier white person at swimming, so I don't think you're really at risk for hopping alone in some lake and trying to make it to the other side and your scumbag body murdering you.
Biking is def far pricier than jogging, but once you're in for 5k on your road bike, you should be able to get a pretty decent amount of mileage out of it assuming you don't abuse the **** out of it or really enjoy crashing. (Like the rest of your healthy years.)
Maybe go full Lyle and start crushing rollerblading competitions in jean shorts.
Never go full Lyle.
Yeah, people forget how much of an absurd time commitment being good at gheydio is. Granted you can grind out a ton of that steady state at home on a bike/treadmill. But you can't really multi-task a pool, and gotta eventually get outside.
On the swimming note, SIPO is a real thing and you def don't wanna do some wonky ass training swims when at high volume in a non-supervised, unsafe space. But it seems like you're an aids tier white person at swimming, so I don't think you're really at risk fo
I'm a decent to good pool swimmer and can handle myself for a few hundred yards near shore in a NH lake, but I'm tremendously inefficient. The gap between that and 2+ mile open water swims is wide enough that I'd have to be really motivated to close it right now (and I'm not). I could see myself enjoying biking if I got into it, but I'm already dumping enough time into training that I think the wifeacore might have a problem with anything additional. We'll see I suppose.
6/13
Progressive Run
8.59 mi - 1:12:44/8:28 pace/156 HR
Ran with my fitter buddy from the ultra, so this was a bit faster than I'd have programmed for myself normally; the last 4.6 miles ramped from 8:30 to 7:30 pace, so my HR got up there towards the end. My legs were a bit toasted from the double day yesterday, but happy I was able to get through this.
Never go full Lyle.
I feel like this is a lot of white guilt on your part my fellow Frenchman. Granted as a POC I can use racial slurs against my fellow Gamma humans compatriots. As an Alpha++ it is probably just shameful for you with strong Nordic genes that Hitler idolized.
I'm a decent to good pool swimmer and can handle myself for a few hundred yards near shore in a NH lake, but I'm tremendously inefficient. The gap between that and 2+ mile open water swims is wide enough that I'd have to be really motivated to close it right now (and I'm not). I could see myself enjoying biking if I got into it, but I'm already dumping enough time into training that I think the wifeacore might have a problem with anything additional. We'll see I suppose.
6/13
Progressive Run
8.5
Doing a 2 mile open water crawl seems like a very bad time. I'd look into how people who grind out the 14-16hr time bracket swim. I'd bet dollars to dimes they're doing a lot of strokes that are slower and keep their heads somewhat out of the water. (Googled this: It is super common actually.) Also... Lake swimming >>> ocean swimming. No ****ing way you can backstroke your way to success in Hawaii.
On a side note, didn't you get pretty aspy about being on an erg? I'm sure you can figure out how to get a reasonably efficient crawl in a pool on a random off day with the kidacores.
Doing a 2 mile open water crawl seems like a very bad time. I'd look into how people who grind out the 14-16hr time bracket swim. I'd bet dollars to dimes they're doing a lot of strokes that are slower and keep their heads somewhat out of the water. (Googled this: It is super common actually.) Also... Lake swimming >>> ocean swimming. No ****ing way you can backstroke your way to success in Hawaii.
On a side note, didn't you get pretty aspy about being on an erg? I'm sure you can figure
It's less that I don't think I'm capable of the kinesthetic awareness to do it and more that I didn't really have the desire to go beyond the "read random book suggested by my brother-in-law -> half-assedly implement" heuristic, as I don't really enjoy swimming for distance. I'm sure I would were I better at it, so the key is the will, which may come later.
I breast-stroked the last half of my 500 m swim in last summer's sprint tri, which gives you an idea of how pathetic I was (though I had just cut off the tip of my toe walking into the water, so some extenuating circumstances).
6/14
A
NG Pullups: x13, x10, x8
Walking Lunges: 30s x12, x11, x10
B
OHP: wu, 95 x10x2, x8
HLRs: x8x3
Seated Calf: 3x12
Facepulls: 4x15
C
Leg Ext: x20, x15
Leg Curl: x20, x15
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 65s x10x2, x9
Pallofs: x10x3
E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
F
DB LTEs: 35s x11, x9, x7
DB Seated Incline Curl: 20s x14, x13, x12
45 degree side bends: bw x8, x7, x6
Pretty enjoyable session, if not particularly notable.
It's less that I don't think I'm capable of the kinesthetic awareness to do it and more that I didn't really have the desire to go beyond the "read random book suggested by my brother-in-law -> half-assedly implement" heuristic, as I don't really enjoy swimming for distance. I'm sure I would were I better at it, so the key is the will, which may come later.
I'm feeling pretty good about my Monte Ironman by 2030 prop.
I breast-stroked the last half of my 500 m swim in last summer's sprint tri
If you can actually breaststroke for 250m, you are probably in the top 1% of humans in swimming ability. Considering how many can't swim at all, it's not exactly high praise, but it's not nothing. You will require less training than most.
Swimming 2 miles outdoors is not a big deal. I haven't done it for a while; but I did it a few times when I was fat and unfit.
6/15
Medium Long Run
12.00 mi - 1:45:53/8:49 pace/153 HR
Carrying a bit of fatigue, but wanted to get this in today rather than tomorrow in case I have a few pours tonight. Legs felt heavy and my HR was a bit high, which was to be expected, but ran with four buddies, so it was enjoyable.
Ran 6 recovery miles yesterday, of which the first 2.5 were with the wifeacore, so quite slow; the last 3.5 were at a 9:30 pace with around a 130 average HR, so decent enough.
6/17
A
Incline Bench: wu, 145 x10, x9, x8
Seated Calf: 3x13
Back Extensions: +5 x 10, x9, x8
Facepulls: 4x15
B
Single Leg Press: +90 x10x3
C
Seated DB OHP : 50s x10 x9, x8
DB Incline Row: 65s x13, x11, x9
D
Hip Thrust Machine: +35 x8x3
Dips: +0 x15, x13, x12
E
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
F
Bayesian Curl: x14, x12, x10
Lateral Cable Raise: x15, x12, x10
Grilled yesterday and tied one on a bit too aggressively, so was in no shape to lift in the AM; happy to have gotten this in, though.
6/18
Lactate Threshold
2.00 mi - 17:42.6/8:51 pace/143 HR
4.00 mi - 30:05.8/7:31 pace/175 HR
2.00 mi - 17:48:6/8:52 pace/161 HR
A smarter man would have dialed back my threshold pace given the heat and humidity, but I am not that man. Happy to have gotten through this, though; I may do my recovery run on the treadmill tomorrow to save myself from the heat a bit.
6/19
Recovery Run
5.00 mi - 48:48/9:45 pace/137 HR
6/20
General Aerobic Run
9.00 mi - 1:20:45/8:58 pace/147 HR
Meant to lift yesterday, but the gym had holiday hours and I have family over, so I couldn't make it. Both days were unusually hot and humid, even with getting out early, so it was a bit of a struggle; my heart rate in the last few miles today was in the mid- to high-150s, which is about ten beats higher than usual at that point in the run. Heat acclimation for the win, I suppose.
6/21
A
RFESS: +40 x10, x9, x8
NG Pullups: +25 x8, x7, x6
B
Bench: wu, 175 x10, x9, x8
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x13
Farmer's Carries (85 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Incline Bench: 65s x10, x9, x7
DB Pullovers: 75 x13, x11, x9
D
Step-ups: +20 x12x3
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x13, x11, x10
DB Hammer: 30s x12, x11, x10
Went out to dinner and had too much booze last night, so slept in a bit and it helped; still had a good session, and my bench is progressing - bw x10x3 seems like it could be attainable in the next few months, which while totally arbitrary would be kind of cool.
I've decided I'm going to do an 8 week 5k training block to get some speed work in, which I've been neglecting; that will give me a somewhat abbreviated 12 week marathon block thereafter. May be a disaster, but I've been doing a lot of long, slow work, so hopefully this will be a nice change that sparks some different adaptation.
6/22
Recovery Run
5.00 mi - 48:32/9:42 pace/135 HR
6/23
Medium Long Run
12.00 mi - 1:46:19/8:51 pace/149 HR
Very humid both days, so glad to be able to still hold a reasonable pace, albeit at a slightly elevated HR. My first true speed workout is Thursday, so hopefully it's cool.
