Staving off the decline

[Jimmer]

I'm 61, 5'11", 165 pounds, and a lifelong cyclist.

My goals are to improve my strength, muscle mass, and bone density. And ultimately, compression of morbidity (wonderful phrase, that).

I've been doing machines for three years with very few gains. Very recently I got coached by Paul Horn for two sessions, and am now raring to go on Starting Strength. Paul rocks, btw.

Here's my second solo workout (fourth overall, counting the two sessions with Paul), from 6/16/15. This was in the weight room of the college where I work.

Squat
45x5x2
55x5x1
60x3x1
65x2x1
70x1x1
75x5x3

Press
20x5x2
30x5x2
45x5x3

Deadlift
30x5x2
60x5x1
90x3x1
115x2x1
135x1x1
145x5x1

I was trying to follow the warmup progression that Paul had given me, but had to figure out how to do so with the available weights as I went along, and had to settle for some very rough approximations. For some of my deadlift warmups, I kind of improvised an RDL from the lowest hook position on a power rack, since the bar would have been way low if I lifted from the floor.

Also, my work sets on the press were supposed to be at 40 pounds, but to put that together I would have had to use plates with with 2-inch holes on a 1-inch bar, and had a feeling that wasn't a good idea. So I just used the standard bar and pressed 45 instead, and that felt fine.

Anyway, once I get as strong as a normal human adult, I won't have to scrounge around for such tiny weights to warm up with!

[artvandalay]

Welcome to the forum, and good luck. Warmups are only approximations anyway, and at your stage they are just as important for "greasing the groove" -- i.e., ingraining the correct movement pattern into your muscle memory -- as they are for warming up your muscles. I bet you will be shocked by where you are in three months!

[Agilic]

Awesome, look forward to seeing your progress. You're body will feel a ton better than it did while cycling, I'd imagine. Will you still be cycling at all during novice linear progression? How much weight do you plan on gaining, or is it a see as you go type thing? Be patient, small jumps, and you'll be strong before you know it!

[Mr. Bingley]

Be patient, small jumps, and you'll be strong before you know it!

this

[carson]

Get some bumper plates. They are the size of 45lb plates but weigh only 10 lbs. They are fairly inexpensive and you can use them for other lifts. Check with Amazon or Rogue or other places.

[SeanThornton]

Get some bumper plates. They are the size of 45lb plates but weigh only 10 lbs. They are fairly inexpensive and you can use them for other lifts. Check with Amazon or Rogue or other places.

I just started SS 2 weeks ago (log coming soon and I was in the same boat as OP. I had bought two of the 10 pound bumpers, specifically for DL warmups, but was very disappointed. They are WAY too flimsy, and you have to keep using them til the warmups get to 135 (a 45 plate on each side). Once you get to ~120 or so, the poor 10# bumpers are warping pretty bad.

After one week (3 workouts), I went back to the store and got "commercial grade" (their term) 15# bumpers, which are the same size as 45# bumpers (or close, at least). These hold up well (no warping), and after 2 workouts, I'm very pleased.

The catch is, your first warmup set is 75#. But after just 5 workouts, I'm at 185# worksets for the DL, so that's enough range to make the warmup sets work out alright.

The 10# bumpers were $1.40/#, and the 15# bumpers were $2.00/#, so I spent $28, and then $60 more. Save the $28, and just spend the $60.

Other helpful hint: I also bought a 15# aluminum Oly bar (shorter length), hoping to get my wife and daughter lifting (has worked with my daughter, so far .
With that bar, and the 15# bumpers, you're at 45#, which is the same weight as the first warmup set for other lifts which don't need bumpers.

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forums, Jimmer!

[Jimmer]

Thank you all for the encouragement and suggestions!

Agilic, I am planning to cycle, but just an hour once a week so my temperamental knees don’t get de-adapted to it. Also, I don’t have any specific goal for weight gain. I have to admit that, after decades of trying to stay as light as possible, it feels a bit strange to be gaining weight on purpose, but I understand the necessity of it and will see where it takes me.

Carson and Sean, I’ll definitely consider bumper plates. Paul Horn had me using them for deadlift warmups at his gym, and they worked great. Maybe I’ll buy some bumpers and a 15-pound bar and donate them to the college where I work out.

Thanks again to everyone who’s replied!

Jim

[57bergstrm]

Good to see you here, you will get really strong with SS.

[carson]

The word on the street is that the Pendlay bumpers are the best. If you buy them don't tell anyone. Pendlay isn't a good name around here. Still his bumper plates are good.

Nevertheless, you will find that gaining some body weight will help you get stronger. Do so in conjunction with lifting and it won't show around your belly. In fact I've maintained a body weight of 210-220 since starting lifting and my waist has gone from 44" to 38". One pound of fat weighs the same as one pound of muscle, so they say.

[Jimmer]

Saturday, 6/20/15

All weights are in pounds. (I wish these were kg, except the body weight!)

Body weight: 168 (up 3 this week)

Squat
45x5x2
60x5x1
70x3x1
80x5x3

Bench
45x5x2
55x5x1
65x2x1
75x5x3

Deadlift
45x5x2
60x5x1
90x3x1
120x2x1
135x1x1
150x5x1

The good news is that all the lifts felt fairly easy. And I finally squatted more than I benched!

Couple of issues:

My shoulders were still a bit sore from squatting last time, so I tried to ease them into the required position with some slow progressive stretches. I also used a wider grip than before. Those measures seemed to help, and I didn’t have as much discomfort while squatting as in my last workout. Two hours later, though, they feel sorer than ever, so I’ll be using ice and ibuprofen aggressively in hope that they’ll calm down before my next scheduled workout.

The facility where I worked out today only has hexagonal plates. (No bumper plates either, but I’ll refrain from complaining about that again.) So once I got to the work set, I had to reset after each rep, making it more like 5 sets of 1 rather than 1 set of 5. When I switch to deadlifting once a week instead of twice, I definitely won’t do it at this facility any more.

My right wrist is hurting a bit too. There was no oh-shit moment, so I’m not sure what did it. Ice packs all around! No one ever said this would be easy or pain-free.