Novice Questions

[paladin235]

40 y/o male, 5'8, at around 212 pounds, down from 260 all time highest.

I have spent a couple of years lifting at or under 135 (except DL got to 185 once!). I was pretty inconsistent, but also my main motivation was to loose weight rather than get stronger. A fear of getting injured was also part of not increasing the weight. I've lost 4 inches off my belly since last year and feel more comfortable with how I look, but I'm still under 135 for just about everything (DL is about 20 pounds higher).

I have owned the starting strength book for a while, but I have decided to jump into the program (minus power cleans, no one has successfully convinced me that I absolutely MUST learn Oly lifting to get stronger and healthier). My long term goal will probably be to get my big three up to 1000. Beyond that, I would probably just be content using the barbell to remain lean, and for general aesthetics.

They say SS is for people who have never touched a barbell before. I think I'm still enough of a newbie to benefit though. I am sort of nervous about leaving my low carb and calorie deficit that helped me get near 210, but I understand that you get only one linear progression in your life, and I want to take advantage of it.

Thoughts?

[wsmoran]

It's not necessarily that it's for people who have never touched a bar. It's for people that can/should be on a novice linear progression. "Novice" is not related to experience or level of strength, it's how quickly your body can go through the stress/recovery/adaptation cycle.

On the note of the power cleans, you're going to get to a point at which you cannot effectively recover doing deadlifts every day. The power cleans are there as a supplement to the deadlift so you are still training those same muscle groups on the day that you aren't deadlifting. It's not that you absolutely have to do it, but it will be more effective than other lifts. Barbell rows would be my top substitute, but ONLY if you absolutely refuse to do the cleans.

[Marenghi]

Its important to know in terms of nutrition and "novice gains" that there isnt some kind of "magical" once-in-your-lifetime-chance of doing progress. More concise: If you have less of a (huge) energy surplus/gaining weight, for example 3 vs 5 lbs/month, you will have less progress/time *for that short time period*. However, often this is outweighed mid- and long-term by gaining less fat. Fat that has to get rid off anyway in the future (depending on which BF%age you want to walk around with), thus slowing down progress during the diet. A middle ground with gaining weight is best, shown here in detail: How to Adjust Your Diet to Successfully Bulk Without Getting Fat

Novice gains are possible whenever there is a large gap between your current and max. genetic level. You can - and many people have done - several linear progressions in their lifetime, for example after injuries and times without resistance training in general (muscle memory sometimes allows even more rapid gains in a second linear progression). So dont worry about that. Its all depending on context, and if you have struggled to reach your current weight (which isnt underweight anyway), I certainly recommend gaining less weight than for other people, *even* gaining less than is needed for maximal strength gains short-time.

Simple feedback: Belly circumference. If your belly shrinks, your strength numbers fly up and the rest of the body gets more muscular - the typical trouser loose at waist, exploding at thighs scenario - by all means, continue or even increase calorie intake and weight gain. If on the other hand you gain weight on the scale, but its only belly (and noticeably so), whereas your shirts wont get tighter and your strength rises slowly - dont increase calorie intake and weight gain/week further. Cut it back a bit.

Your previous experiences and stats - albeit probably with a lesser program - indicate that youre not the next Mr. Schwarzenegger. You wont get 4lbs of muscle a month. Eat accordingly. Youll profit form carbs around the training (you can do low carb on the other days) and high protein intake throughout - for your stats, 1.5g/kg (thats 0.7g/lbs) is sufficient and lets you more room for training-fuelling carbs, because your wont have an energy surplus. Keep your weight.

And ...train hard. That requires you to be confident about technique. That requires you to learn and get feedback on your technique. Read the exercise descriptions, watch videos and upload videos of your lifts in the Technique section. When your technique is good (by feedback, not by too much or, in your case, too little confidence), and you manage the given reps - increase the lifts. You will notice a great difference in your progress. You will definitely surpass your previous numbers.

Power cleans are definitely not important for *you* in this context. Concentrate on the other exercises. Even more effectively for you than power cleans (which are great for doing power work and can be a lot of fun - but only if you are not struggling with technique issues for months) for supporting deadlifts and thus strength and hypertrophy are light deadlifts (take 85%, later 80% of the weight), Romanian deadlifts or barbell rows (well, those trade off upper body pulling work for dynamic hip extensions, that means theyre a bit different), as wsmoran said.

Good luck!

[LarryLohkamp]

You are still a novice. Use the starting Strength book for exercise form. Get a copy of “The Barbell Prescription” by Dr. Sullivan and Andy Baker. Where the Starting Strength book targets exercise form, Barbell Prescription targets programming for us older people.

You can most certainly gain strength while losing the fluff. Stick with whatever diet got you to where you are now, get enough protein and let your body use the fluff for energy.

Unless you are really damaged, you need not fear getting stronger. I am 69 with a 210# squat and a 265# dead lift, I have had a minor grade 1 tear in my quad that is affecting squats. It is so minor that I am still able to do dead lifts. Proper form, good nutrition, lots of rest, and pick up heavy things, You will soon impress your friends and feel great. Welcome to the journey to fit.