Older and Stronger | Craig Brooks

[stef]

Three years ago, on May 6, 2016, I attended the Starting Strength Seminar at Westminster Strength and Conditioning. I wanted to deepen my understanding of the barbell lifts, so I could continue to get stronger as a lifter, and gain more knowledge as a coach. I had started my Novice Linear Progression program...

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[AndyEp]

Very inspiring to read - I'm 48 and agree with the concept of older rather than old. I have only been training for 2-3 years. I'm not anywhere near the same ballpark for the lifts and am becoming increasingly aware that I really am not very strong and should be/would like to be stronger tough seem to have plateaued. Do you think the main key for you was just eating enough, resting and allowing weight gain or is it because you trained all your life.

[Philip DiDomenico]

Thanks for sharing your success story.

[samuraimilkman]

This is great and just what I needed to hear now. I started LP at 59kg (130lb) aged 42. I'm 44 now and 80kg (176lb) and lifts have progressed well. I look stronger, but now I wanna be strong. I'm at a point where I was starting to wonder just how much stronger can I actually get in the next five years. I guess I'll dream big.

[BrooksC]

Very inspiring to read - I'm 48 and agree with the concept of older rather than old. I have only been training for 2-3 years. I'm not anywhere near the same ballpark for the lifts and am becoming increasingly aware that I really am not very strong and should be/would like to be stronger tough seem to have plateaued. Do you think the main key for you was just eating enough, resting and allowing weight gain or is it because you trained all your life.

The Main ingredient for me was eating more! When I finally decided that I wanted to weight to move on the bar, setting goals, I gradually upped my intake, body composition got better , weight on the bar started moving easier, I slept & recovered better & just continued training. When I wasn’t eating enough or what I thought was enough, I struggled.

[over40]

This is great, thanks for posting this!!!

As a 45 year old about a year into this, mind if I ask a couple questions:
1) Are you doing any conditioning now and if so what type?
2) How much of your increased body weight is fat vs lean muscle?
3) Made any diet shifts to help steer your body composition in the right direction?

Thanks!

[agingstrong]

I understand the desire to get stronger, but you were 5’8 & 185 lbs and now you are 5’8 and 235 lbs. Is it worth that strength level for that amount of weight gain or could you gain less strength and keep your weight about the same?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Why would you want to stay at 185?

[BrooksC]

I understand the desire to get stronger, but you were 5’8 & 185 lbs and now you are 5’8 and 235 lbs. Is it worth that strength level for that amount of weight gain or could you gain less strength and keep your weight about the same?

RM
Everyone's goals are different. My goal is to continue to get stronger and be able to add weight to the bar. If that means my weight goes up, then so be it. My squat and deadlift 1RM is 500# at a bodyweight of 235# and I wasn't doing anywhere near that at 185#. So, yes, the weight gain has been well worth my gains in strength - but that's for me and these are my goals; yours certainly may be different.