2024 Goals - Seeking Advice

[fionar]

Around April this year, I (34M) got back into the gym after being severely overweight for a long time. Have lost around 35lb so far, and somewhere down the line got into a little bit of running (like once or twice a week for 3-4 miles; ran 10k twice). Right now, I feel the strong and agile enough, but I still have got about another 30 or so pounds to loose.

Given that I'm truly enjoying the process, I want to keep some non-weightloss related goals for the next year (hoping that around 30lb could be cut by continuing my training + being on a calorie deficit). Here is what I'm considering -

1. Deadlifts - move from 300lb x 8 reps to 450 x 4reps
2. Bench - move from 150lb x 6 reps to 220 x 4 reps
3. Squats - move from 240lb x 6 reps to 350 x 4 reps
4. Pull ups - move from 0 to 10 strict pull ups (have a wonky shoulder/tendonitis + extra pounds on the body)
5. Run two half marathons

Does this sound too low/high/realistic an expectation? Am I missing something? Would love to hear comments from people who has/is going through the journey.

Stay fit!

 

[josipa]

@fionar These are some insanely lofty goals for one year dude, especially while losing weight.

 

[fionar]

@josipa Thanks! That seems like the general consensus here. What do you reckon could be a more realistic one?

 

[josipa]

@fionar Based on another comment you said you don't really care if you achieve the goals so I guess it doesn't matter. Everyone's psychology is different and if you're happy and can stay motivated completely whiffing on most of your goals then have at it, most people I know would get very discouraged though.

If it were me I'd go with short term goals, then reassess. For example 0 to 10 pull ups in one year will almost definitely not happen unless you already have the strength to do say 6 but you're avoiding it due to injury. Set a goal of one pull up, how long that takes will give you a gauge on how long a second, third etc... takes.

Your lifting goals are also very high assuming you don't change how you do things (ie. switching from flat back bench to heavily arched or full ROM squats to quarter squats etc...). Let's take the deadlift for example. It's not a perfect comparison but 300x8 equates to about a 372.5 pound one rep max. 450x4 equates to about a 491 pound one rep max, that's about a 32% increase in that lift. And you want to do that in one year, while losing weight, improving other lifts and running half marathons at 34 years old, it's just not realistic for most people. I'd start with either 300x9 or 325x8 as a short term goal then move from there.

Your weight loss and running goals are completely reasonable assuming you still actually have 30+ pounds of fat to lose which would be a weird thing to make up.

Now all that said if you completely sand bagged yourself with your starting lifts, are just a genetic freak and go absolutely ham on this maybe you'll prove me wrong.

 

[itrm]

@fionar Even if you do everything perfectly, you're likely going to get some sort of injury that will set back your timeline.

But let's assume you don't get injured--even if you're a relatively new lifter, these are some pretty big jumps in your lifts.

I've seen people make big jumps in deadlifts, but squat and bench numbers seem to move slower--especially if you're losing weight. Seems like a stretch.

Pull ups though--if you cannot do one pull up strict pull up--even if you lose 30 lbs--I don't see how you can jump to 10 in a year. Pull ups are hard. The amount of volume you would have to do to get there that fast seems like guaranteed elbow/shoulder tendonitis.

 

[cosimnot]

@itrm Yea, my first thought after reading the original post was Golfer's Elbow for OP but plenty of other injuries seem likely.

Unrealistically high goals exacerbate injury risk as people tend to ignore warning signs (small nagging injuries) that can evolve into major long-term problems, setting them back months or even years. Also non-causally, unrealistically high goals indicate someone doesn't know what they are doing and that tends to cause injuries.

 

[drjon]

@itrm

Even if you do everything perfectly, you're likely going to get some sort of injury that will set back your timeline.

Where do you get this from? Most injuries are fairly minor and can be worked around, if they impede anything at all.

 

[itrm]

@drjon From direct and indirect fitness experience.

These are lofty goals. There will be injuries--I didn't say they would be catastrophic injuries--but there will be injuries that will set back this 1 year timeline. If you tweak your back/hip/knee doing deadlifts and squats its going to affect OP's TWO half marathon goals.

And vice versa--if OP tweaks a lower extremity running/training for two half marathons, its going to set back squat deadlift training. Every single person I've ever known (including myself) gets injured running. OP is overweight, 34 years old and planning to train for and run two half marathons next year--I think its very likely they sustain an injury that will slow down their goals and impede progress.

tying to max bench press + going from zero to 10 in pullups---very likely you're going to run into a shoulder issue that will slow you

And there's nothing wrong with that--it's just how it goes when you train hard.

If OP had said they have these same lofty goals, but didn't stipulate that they are 1 year goals, injuries would still be inevitable, but not guaranteed in the short term.

But trying to squeeze all this in one year? Seems obvious what's going to happen. And of course you work through the injuries, but they will definitely slow you down.

 

[fionar]

@itrm I think you might be right on the chances of getting injured, esp with running thrown into the mix. I used to get terrible shin splints earlier, which has subsided now probably because of strength training & losing some weight. But that is something I’m always worried about while running.

Timeline-wise, I’m not really bothered. This is my first time setting/chasing some goals. It would be nice to see where i end up at the end of the year.

 

[drjon]

@itrm Lofty goals yes, and I doubt they're possible in the timeframe, but I don't see how they at all are "likely going to get some sort of injury". What's likely is that OP just doesn't hit those goals is all. Injuries are inevitable yes, but not because of those goals.

In my training thus far, I'd had 2 injuries that delayed me a week total each. That's over 6 years pretty much. Everything else was just an annoyance that didn't impede progress.

 

[itrm]

@drjon Sounds like you've had extraordinarily good luck. You may be the Lebron James of lifting. This is not the reality for everyone else.

 

[drjon]

@itrm Hardly. Sounds like you fear monger over something that's relatively inconsequential.

 

[itrm]

@drjon I'm just pointing out that injuries are likely and will affect the timeline. A perfectly reasonable response to OP's question. And OP himself acknowledged the point.

Hardly fearmongering.

 

[steve_yavli]

@fionar You are doing really well. So you do you. And remember to enjoy.

Congratulations.

 

[predrag]

@fionar Lifting for... 8 months.

I'd suggest having some checkmarks along the way. Maybe plot training 12 weeks at a time.

 

[ruth23]

@fionar Like others have said, those are some pretty tough strength goals to hit whilst on a cut. Personally if it was me, I'd keep doing the lifts, big compounds have worked really well for me, but I wouldn't put a number on where you end up, just keep trying to progress and leave it at that.

If 30lbs is your goal, I'd use that as the goal and not put extra goals on strength numbers. Once you hit 30lbs, celebrate that by increasing calories and THEN working towards actual strength goal numbers.

 

[hunter101]

@fionar Some extra weight loss will definitely help for goals 4 and 5. How doable the pullups are depends on how far your shoulder is from recovering, and how many you can do at that point. In the meantime, do whatever back work you can, and as much of it as possible - it will transfer eventually.

I've found that high frequency and volume for pullups is a great way to increase your rep max relative to bodyweight. Obviously dial it back if the shoulder starts acting up again, you could start doing like 5-10 sets of 50% of your rep max every time you're in the gym.

I probably wouldn't set the pullup in stone until youget to the point where you can train for them and assess how far away the goal is. But then, if you could do like 2-3 reps were it not for your shoulder, 10 reps wouldn't be too far away if you lose that extra weight.

If you don't care too much about your finishing time, a couple of half marathons should be doable. For that you probably want to build up to doing daily, easy 2-4 mile runs + one weekly long run.

Your absolute strength goals (deadlift, bench, squat) will probably progress very slowly while you're losing weight. Squat and bench goals seem more achievable to me, but I'm also shit at deadlifting.

 

[fionar]

@hunter101 Thanks for the detailed response!
None of these are set in stone and will probably adjust them along the way. But pull up is something I really want to get right.. I’ve always avoided it, even in my fitter 20s.

 

[hunter101]

@fionar Now I'm curious - why did you avoid it?

 

[fionar]

@hunter101 I can’t exactly recall why. Probably was attempting to “protect” my wrists since I was into some sports at the time (stupid me!). Also, it’s damn hard..