Goals?

[Prunesquallor]

Goal is to be off stupid diabetes and cholestoral meds in the next appointment or 2. Improved insulin sensitivity and sub 20% BF, so that I can look at a slight surplus and start really kicking ass.

Cheering for you.

This is why I lift, I've been able to stay off of Type II diabetes meds for a couple of years through diet and exercise.

Last year, made the switch from "exercise" to training that I can keep it that way for the foreseeable future.

Haven't been able to get off of the blood pressure meds yet, but those don't mess with me the way the diabetes meds do, so I'm less worried about that.

I've gained a few pounds, mostly muscle, since my last in-depth visit to my doctor, expecting a bit of a discussion about that.

[Jeff Leonard]

I am 54 and have been training for about 3-4 years now. My goals are pretty simple, continue to make progress as long as I can. I have coached HS football so every summer my training was interrupted for about 3-4 months, and I would start all over it seemed. Well last season I retired and have been very consistent since the winter and have made some nice gains.

My current 1 RM numbers are:
Squat 385
Bench 305
DL 355
Press 175

My short term goals for numbers are to get the squat and DL over 400 and press to 200, and then see what happens.

Something that has helped me, as I am typically not someone who sets a bunch of goals and chases them down, instead I like to find someone to push me or compete against. There are 6 of us who rent a small space and we have made a really nice little gym for ourselves. One of the things we did was put up a max board where everyone keeps track of their maxes for the various lifts. Nothing ground breaking as I am sure every other gym does this as well, but it does drive us to compete and push ourselves a little harder than if we were just lifting alone in a basement somewhere.

Kind of a ballbuster to go in there and see someone is beating you by 5 pounds on their totals, so it makes you work a little harder.

[doublenaught]

I would like to see you hit those goals, but to achieve them you are going to need better programming than what you are following now.

Well that is just unbelievably obtuse. This man has gone from zero to a 340+ deadlift and you call his programming subpar? Get a grip.

I'm an old 68 year geez who has been at it for 2 years. I have a beautiful body unblessed by an abundance of natural strength. Accordingly, my goals are modest. I seek a 250 deadlift, a 225 squat, a 125 press and a 175 bench. If I ever achieve those marks, I will reset.

As for all the lurkers who can't do a 400-this and a 500-that, don't let that discourage you. Just get with the program and get stronger. It will keep you off the cane and the walker.

[PizzaDad]

I am 50. I have lifted since I was an early teen. I never got really strong. I stayed fit...I always overtrained and never knew how to squat properly. my bench hit 250, squat doesn't count because I never was able to squat to depth and I was still in the 2-300 lb range for my max. Deadlift in high school was over 300 but I never did it again for 30 years. I've run, done 5 different types of martial arts. Done triathlons, obstacle races and lots of intense workout programs. I was strong compared to the average person....but the average person doesn't workout. I have not done a vertical jump test but I suspect that even at a height of 6'2" I would prove to be sub par.
I herniated a disk at about age 40.....workouts pretty much went away. The Dr I was seeing told me to stop squatting. I didn't do any physical therapy and the sheet of exercises they gave me to do was bullshit stretching stuff. After watching my wife die from cancer I said "fuck this . This isn't life" So I started busting my ass at the Y again. it has been a lot of ups and downs. Pulled some muscles, etc. I set a goal of doing a Spartan 8 mile race. I did 5 of them over a year and half. Met a woman who did crossfit (married her) and gave it a try...I liked it but my joints were always sore as hell. Knees hurt so bad sometimes I could barely walk the 3 blocks from my car to the building I work in.
I have been trying to do SSLP or about 3-4 months now. I had started LP 2 years ago but tore my ACL hopping out of my pick-up truck.
Since starting SSLP in February this year, I have had to reset due to form adjustment, and due to a pulled groin My numbers are squat 245, bench 175, press 130, deadlift 295 . Those are my worksets from last workouts. I was at 270 squat when I pulled my groin. My goals are 315 squat, 405 deadlift 225 bench and 160 press. Body weight is 214 this morning.
I am down to 2 workouts a week because I farm on the weekend and it beats me down. My wife and I are building an apple orchard and Cidery from nothing. from forest land to apple trees. So every day is full of work and it makes training hard. Recovery is difficult also, and getting enough food in me is a constant challenge. I come back from my farming weekends having lost weight...sometimes 5 lbs or more. As the summer heat builds, this will become more of a challenge.

[Bestafter60]

PizzaDad, Never built an orchard or cidery, but it sounds very interesting. I'm working an exhausting land development project on my weekends as well.*You can hit those goals. To gain faster and recover under your current circumstances: eat, eat, eat, and sleep, sleep, sleep! Your lifts will go up with your weight. I eat a lot and supplement protein and carbs between meals. Fighting my way up to 240 now.

[Bestafter60]

Just get with the program and get stronger. It will keep you off the cane and the walker.

You gave me an idea for some geezer words of wisdom:

"Better to push up on a bar than down on a cane".

[Mark E. Hurling]

We have orchards of all kinds around us in Southern Illinois, apples, peaches, pears, cherries. Lotta work just to maintain the trees and properties on an established one. Clearing land and getting one going in one generation must be a real task. On the order of the pioneers.

[Mark E. Hurling]

You gave me an idea for some geezer words of wisdom:

"Better to push up on a bar than down on a cane".

I keep telling people, a cane is the one weapon you can open carry in every single state in the Union. Even if you don't need one.

[pkelly54]

As for all the lurkers who can't do a 400-this and a 500-that, don't let that discourage you. Just get with the program and get stronger. It will keep you off the cane and the walker.

+1

[PizzaDad]

We have orchards of all kinds around us in Southern Illinois, apples, peaches, pears, cherries. Lotta work just to maintain the trees and properties on an established one. Clearing land and getting one going in one generation must be a real task. On the order of the pioneers.

It is definitely a tall task, but nothing compared to the pioneers. On a regular basis I look at what we have done and imagine what it would have taken to do similar amounts of work with oxen or plow horses and your own back. There is a lot of lifting...I installed a 24 foot culvert under the road I recently built, this past sunday. Packing in the backfill with an 8 inch tamper was absolutely exhausting....as was the shovel work to clean up the trench for the culvert. But I used machinery to dig the trench. Thank God I had that machine. digging that trench by hand would have taken me a week.