I’m a 40 year old male, 5’9". I got lazy and pudgy in my 30s, and over the last three years have become more active doing cycling and running. Last January, in preparation for a bike tour, I lost the last chunk of my extra weight and went from 190 lbs @ 25% BF to 162 @ 15%, and discovered that I really enjoyed running. I also found that I was a bit on the scrawny side, with no real upper body strength, and began lifting weights with a universal machine 2-3 times a week using Stronglifts 5x5 but using the universal for rows, squat & bench.
This January, I started going to a gym that had a power rack, and began doing all the lifts with barbell, learning form from SS online videos. By mid-April, I found I wasn’t able to recover in 48 hours as my running volume had increased to over 60kms per week in preparation for my first Marathon in June. I de-loaded 20%, and switched to 3x5 to reduce volume, and stopped lifting during the two weeks prior to the marathon. After June I’ve maintained 3x a week workouts, and apart from a small de-load due to concerns with my right wrist (burning sensation in the wrist on extension, it’s only an issue with power cleans/front squat) I’ve been maintaining a LP on most lifts since the marathon. I’ve gone up to 175 lbs, but have been maintaining my weight in the 170-175 range.
Current program is A: 3x5 Low bar squat, 3x5 bench, 3x5 Row, B: 3x5 Low bar squat, 3x5 OHP, 1x5 DL and Current #'s are Squat 3x5 275, Bench 3x5 182.5, Row 3x5 160, Press 3x5 113, DL 1x5 235. I’ve had to drop to 2 lb increments on OHP, and I’m going up 2.5 to 5 lbs on the other lifts each workout. Running wise, I’m an okay runner given that I’ve been doing it 2 years. Marathon 3:48, HM 1:44, 10k 45min, 5k 21:10, 1 mile 6:20.
I want to continue increasing my strength, but I love to run, and plan to run 2-3 half marathons a year, maintaining a running volume of 40-60 kms per week depending on where I am in my running training cycle. I also love what lifting has done for my overall strength, physique, and back strength. I recognize that strength is a more useful adaptation overall than endurance cardio. To optimize my running, I need to drastically reduce my lifting, drop down to 150 lbs, and increase my mileage to over 100 kms a week. To optimize my lifting, I need to stop running, go up to 190 lbs, and probably increase my training volume a bit.
My last race of the year is a half marathon in 3 weeks. After it’s over, I’ve decided to try & keep my mileage under 40 kms a week, and take my weight up to 185 so I can squeeze a bit more out of my novice LP. My OHP has stalled a couple of times at around 110, but I’m hoping that gaining a pound a week and 1-2 lb increments will let me squeeze a bit more novice progression, but I’m wondering if I need a bit more volume on the press too.
How do you program for someone that does a lot of steady state cardio? Am I deranged to want to do both? I can deal with being an artificial intermediate due to reduced recovery capacity and a reluctance to gain too much weight provided I can keep making slow steady progress. I’ve read through Starting Strength once, and am working on The Barbell Prescrption now. Your Barbell Medicine podcast has been an excellent resource for me so far, and is much appreciated.