Volfe's Progress Log

[volfe]

Background:
I am 17 (almost 18) and have ran cross-country and track since 7th grade. I'm pretty good at running and as such am fairly skinny. I'd like to keep running, so I'm trying to tweak everything to fit that in. I am 6'4" and weigh around 175 lbs. I'd like to get that weight up to about 185-190 of lean muscle and lose the little bit of fat I have in my chest and sides (mostly loose skin) from when I was fat in middle school.

I have started waking up at 5am every morning. After waking up, I run 3-4 miles (I lowered my running so that I wouldn't burn quite so many calories). I work out after school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with a friend.

The Workout Plan:
Props to Effort for the following

Week 1:

Monday - Workout A
Wednesday -Workout B
Friday - Workout A

Week 2:

Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B
~
Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift
**2x8 Dips (if you cant do these or no assist machine then do Decline Dumbbell Bench Press with your hands Facing each other)

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Standing military press
3x5 Pendlay or Bent Rows (or power cleans)
**2x8 Chin-ups (recommended mainly if doing the cleans)

To give you an idea of how weak I am right now, the max I can bench press is about 115 lbs.

The Diet:
Six meals/day
1: Eggs +Oatmeal +Almonds
2: Apple + Protein (have to figure something out because its at school)
3: Milk + Chicken + Almonds + Veggies
4: Post-workout shake (52g protein) + Fruit
5: Frozen dinner or two small ones (healthy kind) + Oatmeal; can't really do much else, as I'm at school from 6am until 9pm everyday and the store near the school is the only place I can get to.
6: Almonds before bed

Note: As you can probably tell, I like almonds a lot. Are they alright to eat? They have a decent amount of protein and good fats, and my mom buys a ton of them. Sooo, any suggestions?

Thanks for any help and wish me luck. I'll post a before picture soon; I just can't find my camera.

 

[wolf116]

There is no way in hell you are going to be gaining any weight with all that running unless you eat like a sumo. Even if you do, you will overtrain for sure. You're tall and thin so it will be much harder to see results as it is. Just focus on one goal at a time mate. You may get away with jogging on non-lifting days.

Almonds are great but they are not a meal. Your diet need work (more food) Search for EFFORT's starting diet in the vault sticky. You will need to be eating 1.5 to 2 grams of protein/lb of body weight a day.

btw good job on choosing a great workout routine.

 

[Quiksilver]

Cut the running down to two or three sessions a week. Space out your lifting and cardio as much as possible, or do cardio right after lifting.

Other than that, it looks good.

edit: almonds are fantastic

 

[volfe]

This is really difficult though for me to cut the running down any more than I have because I have track in the spring. I don't need to run nearly as much for track as for cross-country, because I specialize in the mile which takes more strength than endurance anyways. I don't need to get huge or anything, and I have been stuffing down food (good food) pretty much non-stop.

You think three miles a day is a lot? I used to run eight or ten every day, hehe.

 

[stronglifts]

This is really difficult though for me to cut the running down any more than I have because I have track in the spring. I don't need to run nearly as much for track as for cross-country, because I specialize in the mile which takes more strength than endurance anyways. I don't need to get huge or anything, and I have been stuffing down food (good food) pretty much non-stop.

You think three miles a day is a lot? I used to run eight or ten every day, hehe.

Yes but now you're doing Squats.

Lower the intensity of the running for now, it's off season as I understand. Switch to 2 weight lifting sessions when the season starts again, putting strength on maintenance, and running as priority.

You can't be good at everything at the same time. Either running of lifting.

 

[volfe]

Yeah, I can do that. However, is it reasonable to hope that I can keep the muscle I gain in the next two months at the same level during the track season? Or will it all disappear? After track, I have no competitive running plans for the rest of my life, and will only do running as a way to stay healthy, so lifting will become easier to fit in.

 

[BluEyes]

If you run the mile, then practice doing just that.

Focus on one mile runs and try to progressively lower your time. Running 3-4 miles doesn't help with this.

You'll be able to gain just fine for a little while even doing all that cardio, but after a while you'll notice no strength or size gains coming. That is the point htat you should lower the amount you do.

 

[EFFORT]

Yeah, I can do that. However, is it reasonable to hope that I can keep the muscle I gain in the next two months at the same level during the track season? Or will it all disappear? After track, I have no competitive running plans for the rest of my life, and will only do running as a way to stay healthy, so lifting will become easier to fit in.

why not just focus your training so you perform really good for this last track season then start with the muscle gains after that?

 

[volfe]

Ok, so I did the workouts as listed this week. Ate few carbohydrates, lots of protein, moderate fat. However, theres a bit of weird news...

My muscles have grown noticeably larger and the weight feels easier every time (ie: i can increase it a bit). However, I've lost 5 lbs!! I am a bit skinnier looking, as in, less loose skin, but my muscles are much more defined and I look less scrawny. Sooooo, is that bad that I lost that much weight? I cut my running down to 2 miles a day, just to get a little bit in at least (its a New Year's resolution to run everyday so that I get into the habit for college).

Thanks for any advice, and sorry for the delay!

 

[Quiksilver]

No its not that bad losing that weight, just drink fluids and do the right things on paper, which means as long as your numbers in the gym are going up and you're eating your set amount of calories each day, its all good.

I lost 10lbs when I started working out, but my numbers kept increasing and slowly i gained the weight back, thats all that matters.

In fact, as Throttle put it: throw out your weight scale.

 

[EFFORT]

if your involved in a sport your training should revolve around that. Train for the sport, add mass when your done with the sport.

 

[cuzza]

can't really do much else, as I'm at school from 6am until 9pm everyday and the store near the school is the only place I can get to.

For the love of god, why?!

 

[volfe]

I'm at school that late because I have lots of after school activities that I am obliged to attend that are spaced out, but not enough to allow me to go home in between.

I have been keeping up with the exercises. My bench press has gone from 100 max to 125 max, which is nice progress for two weeks. My squats are at 185 reps right now, I could probably do 220 or so, but it kills to go running as it is . My diet's been good, and I gave up processed and unhealthy food for Lent, which should solidify the deal.

 

[Heart Break Kid]

Volfe, I was you minus an inch back at the start of high school. Cross country and everything. I used the same rippetoe/compound workout, it gets results. Cut down on running a bit, weight lifting actually helped me become a bit better of a runner (so I placed consistently at meets.)

Diet is the big problem. Almonds are great, I eat lots of them and pine nuts. Add in shakes if you can.

-2% skim (sometimes I use soy)
-3 scoops of quality protein powder
- 2-4 raw eggs
- extra-virgin olive oil

There is no way I can stress how much this helped me. Also if you have a 7/11 anywhere close to school (or you/your friends drive) they have some nice subs (plain cheese, ham, beef, etc) that are very nice too.

Good luck!