7 Week Update

After I moved my marathon date to February I lost all motivation to run. I dropped my plan to run a marathon and to log 1000 miles in 2012. I decided to cut back to running 1 day a week for 2 miles with my dog but even that plan did not last. After 15 months I stopped but I did manage to sign up for an 18km trail run with my father-in-law and his friend. It is on December 8th and I have done zero training for it until last Friday. I ran, hiked, and climbed 8.3 miles with my father-in-law in Palo Duro Canyon (the second largest canyon in North America). It gave me confidence I can manage 11ish miles but I have not run in the past 6 days.

My loss of desire to run was match with an increased focus of strength training. After taking 11 days off of lifting I started the StrongLifts 5x5 program. It is a very simple 3 day a week routine. You alternate doing 5 sets of 5 reps (after some warm up sets) of three full body exercises. Working A you do Squats, bench press, and bent over barbell row.  Workout B you do Squats, Overhead Press (standing), and Deadlifts. In order to develop proper form you start with just an Olympic (45 pound) barbell and 5 pounds each exercise the next workout (10 pounds on deadlifts). I had been neglecting working my legs the past 2 years and I am loving it.

As an experiment the first 4 weeks of SL5x5 I also followed the GOMAD (Gallon of Milk a Day) Diet. Basically you drink a gallon of whole milk on top of your normal eating. I split it into 4 quarts and drank it between meals and in 27 days I gained 12 pounds half of which is shows up as lean body mass. It was "fun" but I am not sure what I think about the results. Since Thanksgiving is now past I plan to shed the fat I gained plus some. Cowtown 10k is 2-23-12 (about 12 weeks away) and I plan to shed 12-15 pounds while maintaining my Lean body mass (151-152 pounds). That will put me back in the 160s and 12% BF range that I was in back in May/June. 

I no longer fear gaining weight and I am now committed to a full body "powerlifting" program that I will build strength on instead of hitting a weight plateau due to switching my routine every 4-6 weeks. Never says never but now I have no plans to continue doing any endurance training and will still do HIIT cardio and running 5k and 10k races on occasion. 

Please feel free to tell me anything or share any opinion you have. It will not hurt my feelings and I like constructive criticism.

10-5-2012 to 11-27-2012 (camera phone quality is poor)

171 lbs 14.4% BF to 184 lbs 17-18% BF

“"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out..." - Robert J. Collier”

Quote of the Day

"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." - Mark Twain

StongLifts 5x5 Week 7 Day 2

Squat:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

80 x 3

80 x 2

Work Sets

140 x 5

140 x 5

140 x 5

140 x 5

140 x 5

Overhead Press:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

65 x 3

65 x 2

Work Sets

95 x 5

95 x 5

95 x 5

95 x 5

95 x 5

Deadlift:

Warm Up

95 x 5

95 x 5

140 x 3

140 x 2

Work Set

180 x 5

34 Minutes

StongLifts 5x5 Week 7 Day 1

Squat:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

75 x 3

75 x 2

Work Sets

135 x 5

135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5

Bench Press:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

100 x 3

100 x 2

Work Sets

130 x 5

130 x 5
130 x 5
130 x 5
130 x 5

Barbell Row:

Warm Up

95 x 5

95 x 5

120 x 3

120 x 2

Work Sets

145 x 5

145 x 5
145 x 5
145 x 5
145 x 5

47 mins

For 2012 I have been taking a monthly progress picture around the 8th day of the month but this month I was super busy (and could not find my blue shorts.) This morning I had Ellen snap some quick pictures on my phone. The quality is low but comparing them to my October progress really shows how much I gained. The October pics were taken the week before I started GOMAD. I am about 14 pounds heavier 6-7 weeks later. Hopefully I packed on some permanent muscle. I plan to start running again to shed the 6+ pounds of fat I put on. I have 14 pounds of fat to shed to my longtime goal of 10% body fat and the Cowtown 10k is 13 weeks away. I have a goal and a deadline and it is time to take action.

Quote of the Day

“When you stop thinking about being fat you stop being fat”

StrongLifts 5x5 Week 6 Day 3

Squat:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

80 x 3

80 x 2

Work Sets

130 x 5

130 x 5

130 x 5

130 x 5

130 x 5

Overhead Press:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

65 x 3

65 x 2

Work Sets

90 x 5

90 x 5

90 x 5

90 x 5

90 x 5

Deadlift:

Warm Up

95 x 5

95 x 5

135 x 3

135 x 2

Work Set

170 x 5

35 Minutes

StrongLifts 5x5 Week 6 Day 2

Squat:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

75 x 3

75 x 2

Work Sets

125 x 5

125 x 5

125 x 5

125 x 5

125 x 5

Bench Press:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

95 x 3

95 x 2

Work Sets

125 x 5

125 x 5

125 x 5

125 x 5

125 x 5

Barbell Row:

Warm Up

95 x 5

95 x 5

115 x 3

115 x 2

Work Sets

140 x 5

140 x 5

140 x 5

140 x 5

140 x 5

43 mins

StrongLifts 5x5 Week 6 Day 1

Squat:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

75 x 3

75 x 2

Work Sets

120 x 5

120 x 5

120 x 5

120 x 5

120 x 5

Overhead Press:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

65 x 3

65 x 2

Work Sets

85 x 5

85 x 5

85 x 5

85 x 5

85 x 5

Deadlift:

Warm Up

95 x 5

95 x 5

135 x 3

135 x 2

Work Set

160 x 5

36 Minutes

This has been the best Monday morning in two months! We got to the gym at 5:10am and knocked out a great workout together. It is a 3 day work week and a upcoming 4 day weekend. Ellen has gone from barely able to do a body weight squat to doing weighted front squats in just two weeks. It is reminding me of our first BFL challenge together almost 3 years ago. 

Nutrition was spot on last week minus our lunch yesterday. No cardio workouts at all but I plan to launch a full scale attack after "Turkey Day" weekend. One month from my 3 year BFL anniversary  3 pounds heavier and 2% lower body fat and light years more educated.

I bought Ellen some weight lifting gloves for her birthday. She is now on her 4th week lifting with me. The first two weeks she did it twice and last week she joined me all three times. I am SUPER proud of her. Breaking her wrist in January really took the wind out of her sail for a while. Now we are recapturing the energy of 11 months ago and I LOVE IT! She is really pushing her limits on weights and setting "next time" goals. Once we lock in the eating and add in cardio she will be an unstoppable force.

YAY MONDAY! YAY LIFE!

(This message was brought to you by coffee and half a Monster energy)

StrongLifts 5x5 Week 5 Day 3

Squat:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

75 x 3

75 x 2

Work Sets

115 x 5

115 x 5
115 x 5
115 x 5
115 x 5

Bench Press:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

95 x 3

95 x 2

Work Sets

120 x 5

120 x 5
120 x 5
120 x 5
120 x 5

Barbell Row:

Warm Up

95 x 5

95 x 5

115 x 3

115 x 2

Work Sets

135 x 5

135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5

46 mins

StrongLifts 5x5 Week 5 Day 2

Squat:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

75 x 3

75 x 2

Work Sets

110 x 5

110 x 5

110 x 5

110 x 5

110 x 5

Overhead Press:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

65 x 3

65 x 2

Work Sets

80 x 5

80 x 5

80 x 5

80 x 5

80 x 5

Deadlift:

Warm Up

95 x 5

95 x 5

125 x 3

125 x 2

Work Set

150 x 5

43 Minutes

After 5 weeks of StrongLifts5x5 I am finally getting to some struggling weights and not just working on my form. I lost alot of muscle mass in my legs during my 13 months of endurance running. I LOVE LIFTING and recently sharing my lifting time with Ellen is great. 

No more Gallons of milk for me. I put on a solid 5 pounds of mass (and 6 pounds of fat) in 4 weeks and not I have a reason to run off the pounds. I am back to my Honeymoon weight but 4 pounds leaner (2% body fat). I am still 8 pounds of muscle from my long term goal and about 15 pounds of fat to shed to get to 10% body fat (my other goal). Do I lean out and then bulk again? 183-185 is my upper limits of comfy and 190 is my max I will ever let myself go. I think I can lean back out in 10-14 weeks. I like to stay lean from April to August so I guess fatty bulking it not an option until next fall. 4 pounds of muscle a year adds up in the long run. The BIG picture.

3 weeks until my next race (18k trail run) and I am nowhere near ready and that is exciting.

StrongLifts 5x5 Week 5 Day 1

Squat:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

70 x 3

70 x 2

Work Sets

105 x 5

105 x 5
105 x 5
105 x 5
105 x 5

Bench Press:

Warm Up

45 x 5

45 x 5

95 x 3

95 x 2

Work Sets

115 x 5

115 x 5
115 x 5
115 x 5
115 x 5

Barbell Row:

Warm Up

65 x 5

65 x 5

95 x 3

95 x 2

Work Sets

130 x 5

130 x 5
130 x 5
130 x 5
130 x 5

51 mins

GOMAD Day 18

This morning I stepped on the scale for my weekly stats and it surprised me. In the past 7 days I gained only 1 pound. I pulled out my body fat monitor and it was a lower reading than last Thursday. Somehow I lost 1.3 pounds of fat this week despite drinking 7 gallons on whole on top of my normal eating.

I have 10 days left on this WONDERFUL diet and I am up 8.3 pounds of which 3 pounds is fat. That means 65% of the gain is fat free. I am hoping this is not a fluke reading and I do not have to worrying about hitting 190lbs or 20% body fat. 

Currently 180.2 15.5%