The Labors of Hilo,
as told by Hilo of Growton.
Preface
January 2nd saw a rejuvenated spirit in Hilo of Growton. After a long hiatus living a life of modest luxury, Milo had grown dissatisfied with his mortal form. At 6’4 260lb Milo was formidable, but a sloth compared to his ghost of past. Now with cash in hand, Milo selects a gym one mile from his domicile and begins to train.
Labor 1: The Finnish Lion
Objective: Compete in first 10k footrace. Improve SQ, BP, DL, PullUps.
Hilo, well prepared for a mild famine, was not prepared for a heart healthy lifestyle. At week IX into the the training the weight has now reached 254lb and for what its worth the hand held body fat estimating black box come up with ~18% body fat, which in Hilo’s estimation is lower than reality.
In the first month Hilo was focusing on setting the proper foundation for building muscle. Hilo reintroduced compound barbell movements with meticulous attention to perfect technique. Muscle memory was the goal, reps and sets didn’t matter. With the gym time sometimes hitting 6 days a week, jogging was introduced. One particularly spunky Monday morning Hilo pressed the 5k button on a treadmill and set the speed to 4.5 and jogged until the machine stopped +46’ minuets later.
Hilo’s body demanded sustenance. After an odyssey trudging through schools of dieting Milo had found something that seemed to work and save money. Beans and rice were cooked in bulk once weekly, and supplemented most meals. Adding sweet potatoes, spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts, tomatoes, garlic and the zucchini zoodle Milo was eating till he was full. He also was known to crush chocolate milk or pan sear steak w/ rosemary if his macros allowed, and he was working to learn to debone a chicken in under three minuets, Jacque Pepin can do it in under one minute. Fruit and eggs or yogurt was eaten mostly in the morning, and sometimes oats.
Rounding into the second month Hilo shifted his goals on shedding fat while still growing stronger on his noob gains. Previous diets had Milo down to 1600kcal/day, this time he was focusing on being around 2000kcal as a base, allowing more as his Polar Beat chest heart rate monitor dictated. This slighter deficit made maintaining the cut consistently a lot easier. Instead of shooting for +245 gram protein every day he listened to the cravings in his gut, which were now craving health foods instead of industrialized junk. His workouts shifted more to a SS/5x5 inspired routine where Hilo was lifting heavier weight for less reps.
As a wrestler Hilo viewed running as a form of punishment. He did not need to run, if an altercation were to arise it was certainly the foe who’s best interest it was to turn tail and flee. Now he eyed the footrace in a different light. Hilo would use running in a fasted state, except for lean protiens or BCAAs, as a means to make himself a leaner more efficient human. He would also run after fueling his body to improve his cardio efficiency and not as a means of fat burn.
Week IX should consist of: Tue modified SS/5x5, Wed jog, Thr modified SS/5x5, Fri baseline time for mile run, Sat modified SS/5x5
EX NIHILO NIHIL FIT
Hilo of Growton
