44 year old - just introduced to Starting Strength

[artgood]

First of all - wow! I didn't know what I didn't know when it comes to strength training. All I know is I've been an overweight runner for 25+ years and I'm as week as can be.
Thanks for creating this website along with the books and videos. Can't wait to dive in!

My question:

I bought the "Starting Strength" book and have begun to read it. Should I read "The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40" after it, or should I start with it since I'm over 40.

Probably a dumb question to most, but I'm very, very new at this.

Thanks!

[autumnal]

I would say definitely read the SS book first. It has a ton of information, and I mean A TON. It will give you a strong foundation to understand the material in the Barbell Prescription. Once you get to the intermediate stage, the Practical Programming book is really good one to have also.

[Fiddler]

Begin with Starting Strength. I began in my late 60s, before Barbell Prescription came out. Did the recommended progression as close to by the book as I could, got some form corrections by a SS coach (3 hours away), and ended up after a year or so, as strong as I had ever been in my life. I got Barbell Prescriptionn when it finally came out, and it's got lots of useful information in it, but you definitely need to read Starting Strength first, IMHO, if for no other reason than that it has the best description about how to perform the lifts.