A couple of questions from an older novice

[Slatts]

Rip, an intro and a couple of questions. I'm 42 year old male that started weight training in May. I'm 6-0" and my weight was around 215 in May when I started.

I wasn't much for training or exercising of any sort except for bicycling in the last year or so until taking up weight training in May.

I didn't really start doing the SS program appropriately though until about a month ago. When I very first started, I was doing squats on the dreaded Smith machine and did bench presses on another set of equipment. But since late June/early July I've been doing them all pretty correctly and following a linear progression.

My working sets after yesterdays workout are as follows:
Squats 295
Deads 325
Power Cleans 160
Bench 165
Press 110

I get as deep as I can on squats but probably just to parallel. I just cannot get there as hard as I try...the flexibility isn't there. Prior to starting SS I was a cyclist riding 50 to 100 miles/week so that could account for some of my inability to get my ass down as far as we'd like.

Deads come pretty natural to me, but admit that 325 feels brutally heavy. I keep a flat back throughout though ...at least I think so.

My power clean form is really pretty poor but improving....I'm doing a floppy chicken thing.

My bench and press have been going up linear at 5 pounds per week until I went 5/5/4 at 170 on my bench yesterday.

I don't know what my body fat percentage is but I've always struggled with belly fat since my 20s. It is still there but I'm seeing more definition and know I'm putting on muscle mass. What surprises me is that I weighed in this morning at 227...up over 10 pounds in 2 months.

My diet is pretty good...I cut out refined foods pretty much a year ago. I don't count calories or carbs but am doing a low-ish carb paleo approach. I eat mostly venison and grass fed beef as protein sources. I don't do GOMAD and actually go pretty easy on dairy in general. I tend to follow Robb Wolf's Paleo solution and also read Mark's Daily Apple.

So, some questions:

• I've tried the approaches for getting below parallel in the squat per SS, but can't seem to get there. Close but no cigar. Have you seen this before?
• Is putting on 10 pounds of muscle the norm for a 40+ guy in 2 months?
• I feel like my bench and press are puny relative to my squats and deads....or is this the norm?
• Since I don't really have any sports aspirations, are power cleans even worth it....or should

I move to chins instead?



Thanks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. Actually, no. We have no trouble getting pretty much everybody parallel. Knees out does this. SEARCH FUNCTION

2. It's a little slow.

3. The norm for a former cyclist.

4. Power cleans contribute to the deadlift. That's why they're in the program. Read the book.

[Slatts]

Thanks for the response, Rip.

I had someone spot me the other day on the squat and he told me I was actually getting below parallel.

The major issue I have with the power clean is my inability to rack with elbows out. At this point I'm not even getting close - even with releasing some fingers. In SS, you point out that wrist and tricep flexibility can often be a challenge. I have an injury from HS football that still causes pain and limits flexibility in my right wrist I'll use some of the stretching exercises you recommend to see if that gets me closer.

Thanks again. It's a great program.