Starting Strength who followed the program starting in late 40's

[Rherington]

I am a male 49, weight 230 lbs 26 - 30% bodyfat depending on which calculator you use. I don't have any joint problems to speak of. i am not the limberest of people but the book said it should help with that as well. I have never relly done much more than bodyweight exercises or nothing. After high school i got real fat, 280 lbs fat. Lost back down to 225 ish. Then I went to the Army from 90 till 99 and stayed in relatively good shape. Nothing since then until March 12.

I have been doing some bodyweight exercises since March trying to lose some body fat. Worked really well for 2 months. Lost 13 lbs. and about 6% body fat. I have been the same weight since late April. My body composition has changed some since then; but I still carry to much fat. So i have decided that I will just weight 230 if that is what my body wants, but I get to decide what it looks like!!!! I don't want to have a bodybuilder body, just to carry around 15 - 18% body fat would be nice. (basing this off the charts, will decide where I like it when I get there) I will be eating in a surplus; at least to start. Keep reading and you will see why!

I am going to stop smoking on Monday after 33 years of at least a pack a day; more usually. So I plan to use the extra calories I am going to be taking in ( i know it is going to happen) to build muscle rather than fat, get strong and change my body composition. In SS he talks about the fat kid losing some body fat and the skinny kid putting on weight. Well I was the fat kid. So I am hoping it will have the same effect even though I am outside that 18 - 35 target demographic.

I have read SS and up through the Novice chapter of the PP book. I have the video coming tomorrow so I can really see the techniques better.

Questions:

Did any of you start out using the basic Novice program at an older age? I have read on here where it seems a lot of the people around my age use the Texas Method or modify the standard Novice program because they have less ability to recover. But where did you start? Basic SS or TM?

BTW, is the Texas method described farther than I have read in the PP book? I did not see it in SS at all.

Did anyone not start out using creatine? (seems most on here use it from what i am reading) Do you regret not using it at first if you started using it later?

Has anyone used the program to get the same type of results I am looking for?

And now the biggest question.
What is strong enough? Does anyone NOT try to lift more at some point? Has anyone said "You know what, I am strong enough, I look good enough, I am just going to maintain what I have."

Thanks,
Randy

[greg44]

I've been using the SS program for about 2 months. This is my second time beginning in the novice stage after an injury. I'm 48 and worked through the first month with squats 3x per week. I burned out and needed to rest for almost a week. I had all of the classic symptoms of overreaching described in Practical Programming. I would suggest starting with the Novice program and increasing the weight each time that you train. As progress slows you may want to back off to weekly increases.

Quitting smoking will be challenging enough and my guess is that you'll take in enough calories without using creatine. I have not used it and am still making steady progress.

Good luck to you.

I forgot to mention that I cut the squats back to 2x per week after I burned out.

[pkelly54]

Randy
I started the Starting Strength program when I was 59. I got great initial results with the program. Like Greg44, I pushed too hard. I backed off twice then shifted to Texas Method. I read the forum and concluded for me a modified program with an extra day of rest between workouts allowed for better recovery. Sully has some good suggestions about a modified Texas Method in his blog. I am back doing the linear progression with two days rest between workout to recover from an injury. The progress I am making is very satisfying. I plan to keep on Linear progression until I have to back off twice and then I will go to the modified Texas Method again. I started with a body weight of about 230 and am now a slim 226. However I lost 3 inches off my waist and I buy dress shirts labeled as athletic fit rather than the regular. I think your results will be the similar.

A suggestion, avoid junk food. Eat real food. Eat more protein, you won't get hungry as fast. Good luck on you efforts to quit smoking. I quit smoking a million time so it must be easy. Seriously, if you have a smoke once in a while it should not hurt, so long as it is once in a while. A good strength program will get you winded enough so smoking is less appealing.

I use creatine occasionally, for about two months at a time. I gain a few pounds when I do but it seems to help my progress. I suggest you get a good routine and follow Greg's suggestion. You can decide later if you want to take creatine.

As to the question of Strong enough. You will know.

[Rherington]

Did either of you track your food/macronutrients while doing the novice program to make sure you got enough cals and protien?

[pkelly54]

Did either of you track your food/macronutrients while doing the novice program to make sure you got enough cals and protien?

I did not. I would weight myself each time at teh gym, but I had a substantial reserve to start with. As other geezers, who are smarter at this stuff than me, have said, don't over think this program. Show up, lift heavy , go home. With consistency will come results. good luck.

[jimk]

Randy, sounds like you and I have a couple of things in common: 5/11, overweight, and not much of barbell training history. I discovered Starting Strength 4 years ago at 54 and found the base program worked well for me for about a year. I made some age adjusted modifications to the program: squat every other workout (Rip somewhere on the site says master lifters should squat only once a week, I was lifting so little when I started it didn't bother me much); smaller jumps with the weights (Platemate 5/8s and 1.25 lb magnets); and lower expectations for progress, meaning it was ok to repeat a workout two or three times to master it before adding more weight to the bar. In Strong Enough, Rip says master novices should start with SS but maybe progress to TM quicker than the 20 year old brats; I thought I got good mileage out of SS and would recommend you Do The Program.

Jason Lasek has an e-book out on TM, The Texas Method Part One (don't think he's gotten to Part Two yet.) He presents some variants to the program I've found helpful, such as adding 3 sets of restricted-rest volume work to the intensity day to help develop more muscle mass.

I found Rip's desciption of what happens when an overweight lifter starts doing the program to be very accurate: shirts get tighter, pants get looser, pounds come off slowly but you get fitter. I've dropped from 225 to 195, and I am still setting PRs on Fridays with the TM. Not in every lift every Friday, but I do better in something every week, and that is certainly enough to keep me coming back for more.

[Mac Ward]

I wasn't late 40's but I was 43. I did exactly what Rip said to do.

I recently thanked Rip, here.

Happy to answer any questions you my have, though I am 5 years your junior.

Recovery is the issue, but not in the beginning. You will exhaust Novice LP in a few months, vice a year, and you will quickly move to advanced Novice. TM was tough for me, Monday's were more than I could personally handle. Rip has said time and again that older guys should use 4x5 vice 5x5 if the volume is too much. I was stubborn and moved to a different program.

Hope this helps.

[greg44]

I've increased my calories and protein. Including protein before and protein and chocolate milk post workout. My bodyweight has remained about the same +/- a couple of pounds 6' 220#. I've always been prone to overdoing it when trying new routines. As I've gotten older I've tried to listen to my body a little more closely. There is lot of good information on this site and a person can get a little overwhelmed. I've decided to try to keep it simple.

[Charlie Davies]

I was 45 when I started SS with little or no athletic background, very weak and thin.
My log is here: https://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=32487.

Being heavy and sedentary is better for strength than thin and sedentary, you'll probably outdo me.
But even my progress, poor as it is, is a wonderful improvement.

Age wasn't my biggest problem -- it was bad form which constantly injured me and screwed up my progress.
I am my own coach, and I'm a crappy coach.

If you can get to a seminar or find a local coach, do it.
My big breakthrough was when I started video-recording every squat working set so I could see what I was doing wrong.

[Rherington]

Cwd- I am going to be my own coach as well. I am going to working out at home also. How would I locate a SS coach anyway? I would think there would be at least one in San Antonio or Austin anyway. Taping my squats is a good idea though. Thanks
Greg44- I have already discovered the wonders of chocolate milk after working out also.

I am not totally out of shape right now. I have completed 90 dats of Tapout XT. It is mostly a cardio workout where you use your body weight. I probably would have been a lot farther along if I had started SS when I started it. Live and learn.

Mac- nice progress. I plan on doing the 2 pint MAD at least until i shed some body fat. I think I read on here where Rip suggested older fat people might not want to do the full GOMAD. Correct me if I misread it.