Master in Central Florida Novice log

[LarryLohkamp]

A bit about me and where I have been:

I am 69. I was an engineer by trade and did a lot of sedentary years. The sick, aging phenotype had me firmly in its grasp, complete with metabolic syndrome and polypharmacy. I started this year (2017) with Weight Watchers for a 35 pound loss. My wife informed me that I looked like I was dying of cancer when I hit goal weight, so I got 60-odd pounds og standard plates, dumbbell handles and a curl bar. I did fill up some sagging skin using those weights, but it was obvious that I needed more weight and a barbell. My research into barbells led me to Starting Strength and The Barbell Prescription. I now have an Olympic barbell, 260 pounds of iron and a squat cage. I have been on the beginning novice for Masters for 2 weeks now. My starting weights are weird because I started with my dumbbell max lifts. Hopefully this log will bring me into contact with other masters, maybe even here in central Florida.

Starting: Squat- 70#, Press - 55#, Bench – 60, and Dead Lift – 90.

[LarryLohkamp]

End of week 2

Squat - 105
Press - 62.5
Bench - 80
Dead Lift - 175

Total weight lifted last week - 23,528#

I need to work on my diet. I need to figure out how to add calories without blowing up.

[cfreetenor]

Hey, great decision to get strong using this program.

If you don't mind me asking, how much protein are you eating?

[LarryLohkamp]

Hey, great decision to get strong using this program.

If you don't mind me asking, how much protein are you eating?

I am still toying with this, and how much I need to increase carbs. For protein I currently do 1.73gr/kg. 40gr are in the form of whey powder with the rest mostly from beef, pork, and chicken. Surprisingly quality fresh seafood is not readily available without driving half an hour or so. Seafood is also not as dense a protein source as land based animals. I work out about half an hour after eating breakfast and consume the whey protein in small amounts during the workout and after. Most absorption rate studies are done on young subjects that are fasting. Consuming the liquid protein over top of a meal should prolong the time in the small intestine and increase absorption.

I am being cautious with my dietary intake. I got rid of all but 1 of my maintenance drugs. A big part of that was lowering body fat. I do not want to go back to tossing a handful of pills twice a day just to 'bulk' faster.

So how much protein do you do?

[cfreetenor]

I get a gram per pound of body weight, but it's been discussed a lot here that older people should maybe shoot a bit higher than that since their muscle protein synthesis starts slowing down in middle age. Think perhaps 250g, but it sounds like you get most or all of it from high quality protein so I am sure that goes a long way to account for that.

[carson]

Welcome. I'm 70 but started at the young age of 66. Please, share your height and weight. I'll follow along from time to time. Off to Church I go.

[LarryLohkamp]

Well gee, slap with a mackerel. I though I put that in there.

I used to be 6 foot, but at my last annual check up they measured me and I now seem to be 5' 10. I heard that we shrunk with age, but I was surprised by 2 inches. Weight is currently 143 with about 16% BF.

Rest day today.

[Mr. Bingley]

welcome, and keep up the good work! you may find that with the Program you may gain back an inch or so as your bone density and posture improve

[carson]

At 5'10" and 143 pounds (I gather you don't mean kg.) you need to eat and eat some more.

[LarryLohkamp]

Start of week 3

Body weight 141.8, Body fat 16.8%.

Squat 110X5X3
Press 65X5X3
Dead Lift 185X5X1

Plenty of gas left on squats and dead lift.
Press is killing me. I barely locked out the last rep while shaking like a leaf. I'm only going up 2.5#. I may have to drop that some more if I don't get decent recovery for the next pressing. My triceps hate me. They always have. I will win, even if I can only go up a pound a week.