What adjustments for SS routine should a 61 yo make...

[ChessGuy]

I just started last week. Have completed 3 workouts.

I've never smoked, never drank heavy, never had a major injury, no arthritis or anything like that.

I've read most of the pertinent posts on here but what I get is bits and pieces. And no, I don't have money for another book. I did purchase SS, though.

[swingshiftworker]

I think the "coaches" here will tell you to just follow the program as written.

It's designed for untrained novices and, if you start at low weights for each of the lifts and allow for a modest linear progression in the weights added, you'll have sufficient time to gain strength and improve your lifting technique until the weights become challenging. You'll ultimately reach your stall weights at some point during the program, which will require to you to deload and reset the weights used to get past your particular lifting plateaus.

If you haven't found it yet, check out the Starting Strength Wiki website at: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wi..._Strength_Wiki. There's a lot of additional info posted there that's not made clear in the book or this forum. A good place to start is the Starting Strength Wiki FAQs page at: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:The_Program. You can also find a link to the Logbook Calculator in the FAQs which is useful to planning out your individual lifting "program."

You can also ask for help in the one of the "Programming" forums (there are 2 of them -- one for Starting Strength and one for Strength & Conditioning) but, if that doesn't work, you'll probably need to buy Rip's other book "Practical Programming" to get more information: http://aasgaardco.com/store/store.ph...on=show_detail

Good luck!

[Gene61]

I just started last week. Have completed 3 workouts.

I've never smoked, never drank heavy, never had a major injury, no arthritis or anything like that.

I've read most of the pertinent posts on here but what I get is bits and pieces. And no, I don't have money for another book. I did purchase SS, though.

Hey ChessGuy. Welcome to SS and this forum. Great to have another 61 yo here. I've been doing standard SS for two months now. I've learned a lot along the way. Most of what I've learned is in my log "Geezer Novice Log" in the Starting Strenth Training Logs section of the Forum. Take a peek. Also, I suggest you start your own log. Us other old guys will follow your progress and give you some encouragement and advice along the way.

[jshelton]

Depending on how sedentary you've been, you might want to hold off on power cleans till your deadlift is fairly high (well over body weight). Sure you probably can do a power clean, but if your back hasn't done much more than holding you steady in an office chair and walking back and forth to a car, even an minor form issue could put you back in that chair for a bit ...

(Proud member of the almost 40, office drone to herniated disk to 300+lb deadlift club! I think there's more out there...)

[Mark E. Hurling]

Hey ChessGuy. Welcome to SS and this forum. Great to have another 61 yo here. I've been doing standard SS for two months now. I've learned a lot along the way. Most of what I've learned is in my log "Geezer Novice Log" in the Starting Strenth Training Logs section of the Forum. Take a peek. Also, I suggest you start your own log. Us other old guys will follow your progress and give you some encouragement and advice along the way.

Welcome to another geezer. Yes we will absolutely talk you through things. The coaches here (just subtract the "coaches" part already posted) know what they are talking about. They may be more direct than is common among the more ego stroking 24 Hour Fitness ACE certified trainers, but at our age we should be able to handle a little straight talk having left puberty far behind us some decades ago.

[DPMuller]

From a merely 45 year old - you might need more recovery time, which might not allow you to progress for too long on 3 workouts a week. My results improved since I decided to take two full days off between workouts - basically moved from the standard 3 workouts in 7 days to a 3 workouts in 9 days schedule (currently adjusted to twice a week to allow for the soccer season, which will end soon). Got the hint from the Programming forum - a nice place to hang out in if you have the time.

Figured that since I only figured out how to work out at my advanced age, there is no reason to be in a hurry - slow and steady works for me. But please keep in mind that I'm merely a novice lifter, so take this with a grain of salt.

[Charlie Davies]

What everyone else said.

I remember one fellow did the standard novice program but on a 9-day "week" (2 days off after every workout).

The standard advice I believe from Rip's books is to follow the programs as written, but expect to have to switch from novice to advanced novice then intermediate sooner and at lower weights. But you might be an exception, find your own limits!

[jimk]

Echo the above. I'm 58, discovered SS 4 years ago now, ran with the basic program off and on a couple of years and then switched to the Texas Method (3 workouts a week, 1st volume, 2nd recovery, 3rd intensity) about a year ago and continue to hit PRs (usually in increments of 1.25 lbs or 1 more rep) every week.

What's worked for me:
- Slow and steady progress. Demand progress of yourself, but also pace yourself; go for singles and not grand slams
- Small plates. I use 5/8lb and 1.25lb Platemates to add a little weight to the bar every week
- Senior's squat exemption: somewhere on this forum Rip says the elderly can/should only squat once a week. I don't quite listen to him completely on that point, but the squat can really beat you down, at the first hint of overtraining I'd start skipping every other squat workout. When you stall on that regimen, probably time to go to the Texas Method.

[Mark E. Hurling]

- Senior's squat exemption: somewhere on this forum Rip says the elderly can/should only squat once a week.

I don't recall seeing that but it's certainly good advice for us older folks. I alternate squats on one week with deadlifts on the other and it works well for me. Albeit, obviously, progression is slower.

[Gerald Boggs]

As a 52 youngster, I've found favor with resetting low and working back up. As my body is right now, my muscles easily outpace my joints. I feel resetting gives my joints time to adapt. As I'm not in it to compete and any obsessive compulsive behavior already has an outlet, I'm quite happy with the slower pace. I'm still squatting three times a week, but in the eight months of SS, I've reset at least four times. If I'm traveling, I drop down and stay low until after the travel is over. I.E. I was traveling for a good part of August. I dropped from 280 down to between 185 and 225 depending on how I felt.