If you don't have access to the right equipment, you cannot do starting strength.
Hi !
Apologize in advance for bad grammer.
I am 34 years old. I weigh 82 kg and my height is 185 cm.
I would like to begin with a starting strength program but I was wondering if it is better to first lose some weight and then begin with the program. Because I know that in order to succeed in gaining strength I need to gain weight in the process and so I don't know what to do. I should say that in any case the gyms in my country are all closed now anyway because of the pandemic so it's a chance for me anyway to lose some weight.
Can you please advise a beginner?
Thank you!
If you don't have access to the right equipment, you cannot do starting strength.
You can’t do anything until you begin lifting.
The simple answer is "no, it would not be better. Just get started on the program." Although the gyms being closed in your country makes that a bit more difficult.
Yes, you will gain weight if you do this program correctly. But you'll notice that the weight distributes differently as you gain muscle, even if you are gaining fat at the same time (which happens). It is important to break the mindset of "lighter is better" and not focus on the number on the scale.
With the gyms being closed, you'll probably just have to start exercising to mimic the main movements. Use whatever weights you can get your hands on. Since they're probably light, you'll be able to do many repetitions, which is different than the program. If you do this for a few months and you're increasing your total repetitions and not change anything else, you're going to lose weight. But that shouldn't be your goal.
As a comparison, I am 52 years old, and I am approximately the same height as you. Pre-COVID and doing the program, I was up to 103 kg and back to wearing pant sizes and shirt sizes that I hadn't worn since my mid-20's when I weighed 30 kg less. During the lockdowns, I lost a lot of that weight, doing exercises as I described, getting down to 89kg. Now that I have been able to build a sufficient gym in my house, I'm gaining again. But again, the distribution is different, so I don't worry about the number on the scale, unless it starts going down.
Also, search around on this site. There are a lot of articles that cover this topic.
At 82 on a 185cm frame I wouldn't worry about losing weight, I'd worry about how to get started. This pandemic has been hard on everyone but you need to find a way to start lifting.
At your height and weight, I would not recommend losing any weight even if you can't start the program right away. In my experience, you'll make better strength progress at 85kg than cutting down to 75kg or even 80kg. If you can't do anything gym wise, spend the time to get good at cooking and make sure your sleep is optimized. There's no point in you losing weight right now.
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I honestly don't have any way of lifting now. As I haven't even started, I think I'll just wait for the gym to open . Should be in about a month.
The question I am asking is whether take this time while the gym is closed and lose as much weight as I can so that when I finally start it will be from a lower body fat.
I am very interested in strength training but I don't want to be on the high end of the body fat scale.
If you are so worried about body fat, then you aren’t going to be interested in strength training. The fact is that for every pound of muscle you build, it will require some additional body fat. Getting stronger means getting fatter. If you are terrified of getting fatter, then this isn’t the path for you. Stay weak and thin.
My recommendation if you're stuck not lifting is to hone your diet. Find good healthy foods and meals you can make regular staples of your daily eating. Work on a meal plan. Breaking the habit of "eating whatever" is something can you get on right now even without a gym. Master that, and you can scale your diet up or down depending on your goals without much issue.