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!
7/25
Hill Repeats
30:00 - 3.43 mi/8:45 pace/139 HR
1:15_1 - 0.20 mi/6:06 pace/170 HR/180 MHR
1:15_2 - 0.20 mi/6:30 pace/170 HR/180 MHR
1:15_3 - 0.20 mi/6:16 pace/173 HR/184 MHR
1:15_4 - 0.20 mi/6:22 pace/175 HR/185 MHR
1:15_5 - 0.20 mi/6:23 pace/176 HR/185 MHR
1:15_6 - 0.19 mi/6:34 pace/177 HR/186 MHR
1:00_7- 0.16 mi/6:13 pace/177 HR/185 MHR
1:00_8 - 0.16 mi/6:15 pace/173 HR/185 MHR
30:00 - 3.22 mi/9:19 pace/154 HR
The workout was programmed as eight rounds of 75 second hill repeats @6:10-6:30 pace with two minutes jogging recovery; I probably need to find a steeper hill, as this was maybe a 3-4% grade and it's "supposed" to be 6-8%. (It seemed pretty steep at the time, though.)
I lapped the last two repeats at 1:00 because I was getting gassed; I walked the first thirty seconds of the first seven recoveries and then jogged the rest so I'd get far enough down the hill to have enough distance to go back up, and then walked the last recovery before the cooldown. My first time doing a legitimate hill workout and it sucked as much as I'm assuming it was supposed to.
7/26
AM
A
Single Leg Press: +90 x10x3
Incline Bench: wu, 155 x8, x7, x6
Seated Calf: 3x13
Facepulls: 4x15
B
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
C
Seated DB OHP : 45s x13, x11, x9
DB Incline Row: 70s x10, x9, x8
D
Hip Thrust Machine: +45 x8x3
Dips (paused): +0 x8x3
Back Extensions: +5 x 12, x11, x10
E
Bayesian Curl: x12, x11, x10
Lateral Cable Raise: x10, x9, x8
Recovery Run
40:00 - 4.13 mi/9:41 pace/131 HR
Fine enough. Decided to add in a recovery run afterwards, which felt great. Easy run tomorrow.
7/27
AM
Progression Run
70:00 - 8.07 mi/8:40 pace/147 HR
20:00 - 2.63 mi/7:37 pace/171 HR
This was a fair bit better than last time, though I did this run in between plane trips as I recall. Felt strong most of the way even though I pushed this up a day - flying down tonight for a week at the beach so didn't want to do this in the humidity.
7/28
PM
Recovery Run
4.0 mi - 41:36/10:23 pace/135 HR
Did this on the beach, the first two miles with the minis. Not really optimal for recovery.
7/30
Easy + Strides
30:00 - 3.40 mi/8:49 pace/141 HR
0:20_1 - 0.06 mi/6:01 pace
0:20_2 - 0.06 mi/6:02 pace
0:20_3 - 0.06 mi/5:57 pace
0:20_4 - 0.06 mi/5:52 pace
0:20_5 - 0.06 mi/5:49 pace
0:20_6 - 0.06 mi/5:48 pace
0:20_7 - 0.06 mi/5:41 pace
0:20_8 - 0.06 mi/5:40 pace
0:20_9 - 0.06 mi/5:51 pace
0:20_10 - 0.06 mi/5:50 pace
30:00 - 3.37 mi/8.54 pace/154 HR
My preference is to do strides at the end of an easy run, and I think I'll just reprogram these runs to do that in the future. Total for today was just shy of 8.5 miles in 1:13:20.
Yesterday was quasi-off, but did the boys' sprint ladder for summer soccer training with them (just a few miles).
7/31
Recovery Run
5.5 mi - 53:12 mi/9:40 pace/136 HR
8/1
Goal Pace Intervals
30:00 - 3:37 mi/8:55 pace/139 HR
400m_1 - 1:36.1/6:27 pace
400m_2 - 1:35.5/6:24 pace
400m_3 - 1:34.6/6:21 pace
400m_4 - 1:37.3/6:32 pace
400m_5 - 1:33.4/6:16 pace
400m_6 - 1:34.1/6:18 pace
400m_7 - 1:34.9/6:22 pace
400m_8 - 1:34.3/6:19 pace
400m_9 - 1:33.8/6:18 pace
400m_10 - 1:34.7/6:21 pace
400m_11 - 1:34.3/6:20 pace
400m_12 - 1:34.3/6:20 pace
30:00 - 3:18 mi/9:27 pace/154 HR
Both yesterday and today were quite hot and humid; I walked all of the 300m recoveries today, which ended up being ~30' of rest/recovery. All in all, it was ~1:50:00 and 11.76 miles.
8/2
AM
Recovery Run
4.0 mi - 38:54/9:43 pace/136 HR
8/3
AM
Easy Run
45:00 - 5.08 mi/8:52 pace/147 HR
8/5
AM
Progression Run
70:00 - 8.05 mi/8:42 pace/146 HR
15:00 - 2.01 mi/7:29 pace/174 HR
Went out a bit hot on the progression and didn't have the last five minutes in me due to the heat/humidity, but happy to get this in. Pushed this to today from Sunday due to travel issues back from South Carolina (multiple flights cancelled on Saturday/early Sunday, so we drove back 11.5 hrs yesterday).
The last two runs in Hilton Head were even hotter and more humid, so I called them both earlier than I'd have preferred; looks like it will be cooling off here by Wednesday, which will be a welcome change.
8/6
AM
Easy Run
5.0 mi - 44:26/8:53 pace/142 HR
Typically would run 7-8 miles on this day, but given my Sunday run was pushed to Monday, I still had a bit of fatigue in my legs so I called it here.
8/7
AM
Recovery Run
50:00 - 5.20 mi/9:37 pace/128 HR
The heat finally broke; my average HR stayed in the low to mid 130s even through the last full mile, so that was a pretty nice result. It should be cool in the AM for the next six weeks or so (mid-60s), so I'm definitely looking forward to that.
A
RFESS: +40 x8x3
NG Pullups: +25 x8, x7, x6
B
Bench: wu, 185 x6, x5, x4
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x13
Farmer's Carries (85 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Incline Bench: 60s x10, x8, x6
DB Pullovers: 75 x10, x8, x6
D
Step-ups: +30 x8x3
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x13, x10, x8
DB Hammer: 25s x12, x10, x9
No trips planned for a while, so I should have a solid 5-6 weeks straight of 3x/wk lifting to get back to; obviously lost a bit of strength, but it should come back soon enough.
8/8
Hill Repeats
30:00 - 3.38 mi/8:53 pace/134 HR
1:15_1 - 0.18 mi/7:01 pace
1:15_2 - 0.18 mi/6:54 pace
1:15_3 - 0.18 mi/6:56 pace
1:15_4 - 0.19 mi/6:45 pace
1:15_5 - 0.18 mi/6:49 pace
1:15_6 - 0.18 mi/6:50 pace
1:15_7 - 0.18 mi/6:51 pace
1:15_8 - 0.18 mi/6:59 pace
30:00 - 3.22 mi/9:20 pace/153 HR
Randomly watched a YouTube video from the author of this program on hill repeats specifically where he clarified that this is supposed to be some at 5k effort not 5k pace, which makes a bit more sense. I did this on a steeper hill than last time, so more like a 5% grade than a 3+% grade, but the pace felt a bit more appropriate so I got through it all this time (including jogging all the recoveries). The entire thing ended up being about 9.75 mi in 1:26:00 flat, so a tidy session.
hmm. and effort is harder than pace?
Not really; the idea is that running at 5k race pace (hopefully 6:25/mi) is a lot harder going uphill than on a flat surface, and that hill work is really more about getting the reps in and the benefits of hill work at the relative effort you'd be expending on a flat course. The first time I did the workout, I took my 5k pace as a guide, and it was a lot harder than it quote unquote should have been; yesterday was a fair bit less soul crushing even though I used a steeper hill. Dialing back the pace by 15 to 30 seconds was quite helpful in that regard.
8/9
AM
A
NG Pullups: x13, x10, x8
Walking Lunges: 35s x8x3
B
OHP: wu, 100 x10, x9, x6
Pallofs: x8x3
Seated Calf: 3x13
Facepulls: 4x15
C
Leg Ext: x20, x16
Leg Curl: x20, x16
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 65s x10, x9, x7
HLRs: x8x3
E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
F
DB LTEs: 30s x14, x9, x7
DB Seated Incline Curl: 25s x8x3
Pretty good day; got up a bit earlier than I wanted to get back for an early call, which just got cancelled. Lame. As with Wednesday's session, I lost a bit most places compared to last month, but so it goes.
8/10
AM
Recover-easy Run
1:18:34 - 8.60 mi/9:08 pace/134 HR
Went out with my buddy that pulled his hamstring five weeks ago when we did track work; he's been recovering and working around it since then. This was his longest run since the injury, so we took it a bit slower on the way out, which is slightly uphill, and did the first four miles at around a 9:25 pace, then sped up after the turnaround and came in around an 8:50 pace for the last four and change.
8/11
AM
Progressive Run
70:00 - 8.17 mi/8:34 pace/141 HR
20:00 - 2.70 mi/7:24 pace/164 HR
The weather was great both yesterday and today, and I was really able to push this to pace/HR combos I haven't been able to hold before, which is encouraging. Hopefully this cooler spell holds.
8/12
AM
Recovery Run
40:00 - 4.21 mi/9:30 pace/129 HR
A
Single Leg Press: +90 x8x3
B
Incline Bench: wu, 155 x7, x6, x5
Seated Calf: 3x14
Back Extensions: +5 x8x3
Facepulls: 4x15
C
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
D
Seated DB OHP : 45s x12, x10, x8
DB Incline Row: 70s x10, x9, x8
E
Hip Thrust Machine: +45 x8x3
Dips (paused): +0 x8x3
F
Bayesian Curl: x12, x11, x10
Lateral Cable Raise: x10, x9, x8
All k.
8/13
200 m Sprints
30:00 - 3.43 mi/8:44 pace/138 HR
200 m_1 - 0:42.1/5:39 pace
200 m_2 - 0:38.8/5:12 pace
200 m_3 - 0:39.7/5:19 pace
200 m_4 - 0:38.0/5:06 pace
200 m_5 - 0:38.7/5:11 pace
100 m_1 - 0:19.6/5:16 pace
100 m_2 - 0:21.5/5:45 pace
100 m_3 - 0:21.5/5:45 pace
100 m_4 - 0:22.1/5:56 pace
30:00 - 3.41 mi/8:48 pace/156 HR
Recoveries were 400 m in between the 200s and 100 m between the 100s; target paces for the 200s were between 5:10-5:40 and target paces for the 100s were between 6:10-6:30, so I met or exceeded everything and jogged all the recoveries. Total time distance was a shade over 1:18:00 and 9.2 miles total.
8/14
AM
Recovery Run
60:00 - 6.36 mi/9:26 pace/130 HR
A
RFESS: +40 x10, x9, x8
NG Pullups: +25 x8, x7, x6
B
Bench: wu, 185 x7, x6, x5
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x14
Farmer's Carries (85 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Incline Bench: 60s x10, x9, x6
DB Pullovers: 75 x11, x9, x7
D
Step-ups: +30 x10x3
E
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
F
Overhead Rope Tri: x15, x11, x8
DB Hammer: 25s x13, x11, x9
K.
8/15
Cruise Intervals
30:00 - 3.48 mi/8:37 pace/137 HR
1000m_1 - 4:24.3/7:05 pace
1000m_2 - 4:18.6/6:56 pace
1000m_3 - 4:20.3/6:59 pace
1000m_4 - 4:18.9/6:57 pace
1000m_5 - 4:21.0/7:00 pace
1000m_6 - 4:19.4/6:57 pace
1000m_7 - 4:21.2/7:00 pace
1000m_8 - 4:22.8/7:03 pace
200m_1 - 0:42.3/5:41 pace
200m_2 - 0:43.0/5:46 pace
200m_3 - 0:46.0/6:10 pace
30:00 - 3.23 mi/9:18 pace/154 HR
Walked all the recoveries except for the first one; still don't think I'm quite fit enough to "cruise" at these paces, which I guess confirms that my pace target was a bit aggressive, but so it goes. Pace goals were 7:00-7:15/mi and 6:10-6:30/mi, so I technically completed the workout, but I'm guessing the intensity was a bit too high. Ended up being a shade over 12 miles of running over 1:37:00 moving, plus the recoveries, which added up to about 19 minutes and 1.375 miles. A solid Thursday morning session for sure.
8/18
AM
Recover-easy Run
5.00 mi - 45:45/9:09 pace/132 HR
Went with another buddy and this morphed from an easy run to a quasi-recovery towards the end so he could keep up.
8/19
AM
5k Time Trial
30:00 - 3.48 mi/8:38 pace/137 HR
06:26 - 1.0 mi/6:26 pace/176 HR/182 MHR
30:23 - 3:52 mi/8:38 pace/155 HR
I had 1.5 miles programmed, but EV'd out after a mile - a bit disappointing, but hopefully I can perform a bit better next time (in two weeks).
8/19
AM
Recovery
50:00 - 5.36 mi/9:20 pace/128 HR
A
NG Pullups: x14, x10, x8
Walking Lunges: 35s x10, x9, x8
B
OHP: wu, 100 x10, x9, x7
Pallofs: x10, x9, x8
Seated Calf: 3x14
Facepulls: 4x15
C
Leg Ext: x20, x17
Leg Curl: x20, x17
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 65s x10x2, x8
HLRs: x8x3
E
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
F
DB LTEs: 30s x54, x10, x8
DB Preachers: 15s x12, 20s x10x2
Pretty good day; my paces on easy and recovery runs have improved quite a bit; 3ish more weeks in this 5k block, then a half marathon in October and a full in November.
is there a time trial built into the 5k block?
Yeah, it was built in - I was supposed to do 1.5 miles, but didn't have it in the tank.
I was fiddling around with my watch last night and noticed there are now just under 12 weeks left until the marathon, and I got a bit concerned; I decided to pivot back to marathon style stuff given that and just consider the speed block to have been a nice change of pace, so to speak.
8/20
AM
5.0 mi Threshold
3.0 mi - 25:26.0/8:29 pace/140 HR
5.0 mi - 36:48.7/7:22 pace/172 HR/182 MHR
2.0 mi - 17:04.2/8:32 pace/162 HR
I wasn't totally sure I could do this at what my threshold pace "should" be at to be on track for a 3:20:00 marathon, but I managed to get through this reasonably enough. It was kind of fun.
8/21
AM
Recovery Run
4.0 mi - 37:22/9:20 pace/126 HR
A
Single Leg Press: +90 x10, x9, x8
B
Incline Bench: wu, 155 x7, x6, x5
Seated Calf: 3x14
Back Extensions: +5 x8x3
Facepulls: 4x15
C
Abductor Machine: 2x15
Adductor Machine: 2x15
D
Seated DB OHP : 45s x12, x9, x7
DB Incline Row: 70s x10, x9, x8
E
Hip Thrust Machine: +45 x8x3
Dips (paused): +0 x9x3
F
Bayesian Curl: x12, x11, x10
Lateral Cable Raise: x10, x9, x8
Fine.
8/22
AM
Medium-Long Run
11.0 mi - 1:31:56/8:21 pace/146 HR
The weather was great today (low 50s when I went out) so I pushed the pace on this one a bit; my HR was still pretty controlled, so I'll take it.
8/23
AM
A
RFESS: +40 x10x3
NG Pullups: +25 x9, x7, x6
B
Bench: wu, 185 x7, x6, x5
Facepulls: 4x15
Seated Calf: 3x14
Farmer's Carries (85 lb DBs): x~40 sec, x~35 sec, x~30 sec
C
Step-ups: +30 x8x3
Incline Bench: 60s x10, x9, x8
DB Pullovers: 75 x12, x10, x8
D
Leg Adductor: 2x15
Leg Abductor: 2x15
E
Overhead Rope Tri: x17, x13, x11
DB Hammer: 25s x13, x11, x9
Meh. Bench was hard but I'm dropping a bit of weight, so not unexpected.
8/24
AM
General Aerobic Run
8.60 mi - 1:15:33/8:47 pace/144 HR
Ran with a buddy today; this was a bit quicker than I would have gone had I been alone, but pleasant enough.
8/25
AM
Long Run
16.0 mi - 2:17:24/8:35 pace/154 HR
Was supposed to do 18, but I went out a bit too hot and it was actually too hot (mid-70s by the end of the run). I'm also a bit out of practice at these distances, but was glad to get this in.
8/26
AM
A
NG Pullups: x14, x10, x9
Walking Lunges: 35s x10x3
B
OHP: wu, 100 x10, x9, x7
Pallofs: x10, x9, x8
Seated Calf: 3x14
Facepulls: 4x15
C
Leg Ext: x20, x14
Leg Curl: x18, x13
D
Low Incline DB Bench: wu, 65s x11, x10, x9
HLRs: x8x3
Adductor Machine: x15x2
Abductor Machine: x15x2
E
DB LTEs: 30s x13, x10, x8
DB Preachers: 20s x12, x11, x10
K enough.
