pdxprime Gets Strong

[pdxprime]

My name is Jon and I work a desk job. I often look to exercise as an escape from the mundane, and as a way to challenge myself. I just recently stumbled upon Starting Strength, and I have decided to give it a whirl.

I have been weight training off-and-on for the past year and a half. The main reason I chose Starting Strength is because I feel my form is absolute garbage, and I think I can lift heavier if I sort out my technique. Granted, I did lift weights and exercise when I was in high school, college, and earlier in my adult life, but I never approached it seriously like I have these past 18 months.

Starting Strength is going to be a unique experiment for me as I am going to combine it with both half and full marathon training in 2013. I have been training for 6 weeks now for my half, which is in mid May. The full is in October. It is my hope that Starting Strength improves my overall muscular endurance and strength, but also simultaneously provides a positive impact on both my running form and performance.

Age: 28
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 192
BF: 16%

[pdxprime]

4-8-2013

Squat - 210x3x5
Bench - 160x3x5
Deadlift - 250x3x5
Swiss Ball Crunches - 3x25
Race Training - 3.05 miles @ 20:06

I felt great. The hex bar wasn't available, so I went with the standard barbell for the deadlift.

I'll have diet information uploaded from this point forward. My overall goal is to get down between 180 and 185 for the race.

[pdxprime]

4-9-13

Race Training - 4x800 @ 6:15

Breakfast
1 piece thick cut, pepper bacon
2 large eggs
1/4 sliced avocado

Lunch
1 large apple
1 large banana
2 small clementines

Dinner
1 glass 2% milk
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 cup large curd cottage cheese
7 diced, large brussel sprouts
1 cup cooked, long grain brown rice
8 oz chicken breast

My run went well. I walked for 3 min @ 15:00 pace in between intervals. I felt very bloated after the run for some reason though after I got out of the shower.

Not sure what that means.

[pdxprime]

4-10-13

Weight - 190

Squat - 215x3x5
Press - 100x3x5
Clean - 65x1x5, 95x1x5, 115x1x5, 125x3x5
Race Training - 3.05 miles @ 19:54

Breakfast
1 piece thick cut, pepper bacon
2 large eggs
1/4 sliced avocado

Lunch
1 large apple
1 large banana
2 small clementines
2 strawberries
1 fun-sized package of Dots

Dinner
1 glass 2% milk
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 cup large curd cottage cheese
9 diced, large brussel sprouts
1 cup cooked, long grain brown rice
8 oz chicken breast
1 bag popcorn

Felt a little sore this morning in my lower back. I think that is because I'm not used to the standard barbell for deadlifts, and my form was probably junk. I'm too used to the hex bar. Any easy tips related to form and technique would be great. I'm in the process of scouring the forums here for more information on that. I hadn't cleaned in a while, so I did more sets to accommodate myself to proper form. I forgot how fun that exercise can be. I also don't press often, so I went with a lighter weight to focus on form and technique.

The run felt good and I was butt tired after. I made a conscious effort to lengthen my strides, which were likely a symptom of being stretched out from the lifting beforehand.

The strawberries and Dots were for a luncheon we were having today for an employee that is leaving the company. I exercised so much will power today it was ridiculous; I will spare you all the details. Haha. Felt a little hungrier than normal so I went with some popcorn in addition to dinner. Losing 2 pounds in 2 days tells me I need to eat more anyways.

Also - please feel free to comment on my nutrition and diet. I'll be the first one to say I'm no expert, and I'm open for advice.

[gtl]

4-10-13
Breakfast
1 piece thick cut, pepper bacon
2 large eggs
1/4 sliced avocado

Lunch
1 large apple
1 large banana
2 small clementines
2 strawberries
1 fun-sized package of Dots

Dinner
1 glass 2% milk
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 cup large curd cottage cheese
9 diced, large brussel sprouts
1 cup cooked, long grain brown rice
8 oz chicken breast
1 bag popcorn

Also - please feel free to comment on my nutrition and diet. I'll be the first one to say I'm no expert, and I'm open for advice.

There's nothing wrong with 3 meals a day if you can get the calories in, but you need more for breakfast, and a real lunch. Add more eggs and bacon, maybe potatoes, oats, veggies, fruit, milk, whatever to breakfast. For lunch, you need a protein source, and I would sub out some of the fruit for a better carb (and maybe a vegetable). Again, 3 meals a day is fine, but if you can't eat enough with 3, try 4, or add in some protein shakes.

A good starting point is bodyweight x 15 for total calories to maintain, which would be 2,850 for you. Subtract your protein minimums (bw x 1=190g, 190x4=760) leaves you with 2,090, which you can split between carbs and fat. Minimum fat is typically bw x 0.4, which would be 76g, or 684 calories. This leaves you with 1,406 which you could fill out with carbs at 351g, or a fewer carbs and a little more fat.

You can add calories from there in increments, but I wouldn't go below 2,850 if you are running SS, especially with your running.

[pdxprime]

Thanks for the advice, gtl

What if I'm looking to drop to between 180 and 185 for my race in a month or so? The metrics you provided seem to correspond to maintaining my current weight.

[gtl]

Thanks for the advice, gtl

What if I'm looking to drop to between 180 and 185 for my race in a month or so? The metrics you provided seem to correspond to maintaining my current weight.

Losing 5lbs in a month isn't an unattainable goal, but I think 10lbs could negatively affect your training (both strength and running).

Do you know how many calories what you are eating now adds up to? Ever log it with FitDay or MyFitnessPal, or something? I would probably eat 2,850 consistently for a week and see how your weight fluctuates (measuring first thing in the morning under same circumstances).

If your weight goes down, that means you are probably eating enough to maintain, but your activity level is high enough to lose weight. Depending on how much you lost, I would adjust calories. You may do something like 3,300 on training days and 2,400 on rest days (probably somewhere in the middle on days where you run only without SS), which is pretty close to a standard recomp protocol.

Edit: sorry, also, a lot of people can probably attest that bwx15 isn't enough to maintain on SS due to the stress of the program itself.

[pdxprime]

4-11-13

Race Training - 45 minute tempo; 6.43 miles

Breakfast
1 piece thick cut, pepper bacon
2 large eggs
1/4 sliced avocado

Lunch
1 large apple
1 large banana
2 small clementines

Dinner
1 glass 2% milk
6 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 cup large curd cottage cheese
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup cooked, long grain brown rice
8 oz chicken breast
1 bag popcorn

The run felt great. Hardly tough actually. I was about 3/4 of the way through and thought I had much longer to go. I think that's good.

I'm going to take gtl's advise and snag some protein powder next time I'm at the grocery and work a shake or two into the diet. Does anyone have suggestions on a simple, easy shake recipe I can make at work? I plugged all of my information into MyFitness, and I'm at roughly 2300 calories. So a shake or two should bring me up to that 2,850 number gtl mentioned earlier.

Can't wait to lift tomorrow. It's a rest day for running!

[Runner]

Wish you luck on the lifting,half marathon, and marathon training in 2013. You will find that your running will stall out your lifting and vice versa. I ran Portland marathon and had I lifted on top of it I would not have had the recovery necessary to do my 3-4 run training days. However my lifting makes running hills, and running long feel trivial. Just food for thought.

1cp greek yogurt
2 scoops protein powder
1cp frozen fruit.
1/2 cp water or fruit juice.

Blend and enjoy. Typically used post run.

[pdxprime]

4-12-13

Weight - 189

Squat - 220x3x5
Bench - 165x3x5
Deadlift - 260x3x5
Swiss Ball Crunches - 3x25

Breakfast
1 piece thick cut, pepper bacon
2 large eggs
1/4 sliced avocado

Lunch
1 cup white rice
green curry chicken
1/2 cup bell peppers
1/2 cup potato
1 large banana
1/2 cup sticky pasta

Dinner
1 glass 2% milk
1/2 plate of pulled pork nachos
1/2 basket of garlic tater tots
2 beers

Went out to lunch today with a coworker to a Thai place and had some good curry. Then caught a game with a buddy at a sports bar after work and we split some nice nachos and tots. I usually splurge like this on Fridays, but my lifts felt great after I got to the gym late after the game.

I'm going to snag stuff for shakes this weekend from the grocery and integrate one post-run to see how that helps things along.

My lifts felt awesome today. I struggled just a tad with the very last squat rep, so I racked the weight and did another one perfectly. I just let myself get sloppy at the very end. This weekend is going to be brutal for race training: I have an easy 4-miler tomorrow, but Sunday I'm supposed to run for an hour and 45 minutes. Pain!