Obese middle aged guy's journey to get in shape

[jrickner]

44 years old. 6ft 0in. Currently 283lbs. Fat and out of shape and generally uncomfortable all the time.

A little ancient history..
Used to be in better shape a couple of decades ago (5 years in the US Army), then had a knee injury that made me somewhat immobile for a few months. I continued to eat the typical American diet with special emphasis on sweets, beer, and meat, which resulted in a slow but steady accumulation of fat until I ended up at 351.9lbs on June 2, 2016 (my fattest).

Recent history..
I have been starting and stopping diets since my fattest day. Early this year I started dieting more seriously and recording my eating in the MyFitnessPal app (1800 cal/day, 182g/day protein, 156g/day carb, 59g/day fiber, 57g/day fat (on average)). Then I joined a globogym on June 14. I asked my young cousin Nathan, who is an avid powerlifter (click here for his USAPL page) what sort of excercising I should be doing to get in better overall shape and lose my load of fat. He recommended that I read Starting Strength. Great book. Even before I finished the book completely I bought The Barbell Prescription because I am an older guy. This stuff makes real sense. And now I have the SS app and I'm doing the movements. Also, I have not changed my diet since I started SS.

Jul 16 work sets
Squat 115 x 5 x 3
Press 65 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 135 x 5 x 1

Jul 19 work sets
Squat 125 x 5 x 3
Bench 115 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 145 x 5 x 1

Jul 23 work sets
Squat 135 x 5 x 3
Press 70 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 155 x 5 x 1

Jul 26 work sets
Squat 145 x 5 x 3
Bench 120 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 165 x 5 x 1

Jul 30 work sets
Squat 155 x 5 x 3
Press 75 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 175 x 5 x 1

Aug 01 work sets
Squat 165 x 5 x 3
Bench 125 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 185 x 5 x 1

Aug 04 work sets
Squat 175 x 5 x 3
Press 80 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 195 x 5 x 1

Aug 06 work sets
Squat 185 x 5 x 3
Bench 120 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 205 x 5 x 1

Aug 08 work sets
Squat 195 x 5 x 3
Press 85 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 215 x 5 x 1

3 weeks in and here are my thoughts so far:

• I feel great. And by great, l specifically mean that l feel *lighter*. Getting out of a chair or up off the floor seems to require noticeably less effort. Movement in general seems to require less perceived effort. That is a huge deal to me and cannot be understated.
• I was losing about 2-2.5 lbs a week with diet and silly globogym machines prior to using the SS app. My weight loss has stalled after beginning SS. Still at the same 283lbs since my first SS workout. This may just be a normal weight loss plateau that I need to push through, or possibly the result of gaining identical muscle mass to the mass loss from fat (unlikely). Or maybe someone is force feeding me in my sleep. I know that you cannot gain muscle without gaining some fat and that my caloric intake is wildy insufficient for sustained muscle/strength gains. But I am obese and becoming not obese is a priority alongside getting strong. On July 3rd (before SS), I used my globogym's high-tech electro-zappy-gizmo-scale that said I was at 289lbs and 42.7% body fat with 94.8 lbs of skeletal muscle mass. After my 12th-15th SS workout I'll ask to use that machine again and see if my body fat% and skeletal muscle mass numbers are moving in the right direction.
• I'm getting coached on my lifting form from my cousin, the powerlifter that recommended SS to me. What I am struggling with is is getting the bar lower on my back. When I start my squat warm-up sets, getting my hands behind the bar and my shoulders/back under the bar really hurts my shoulder joints and it takes me a while to be able to get the bar securely on my back. It feels like an impingement of some sort, but the more I try and squeeze my body under the bar, either I eventually get used to the pain or something in my shoulder loosens up over time and I can start and even complete the session. But the next session, I have to start all over again with wrenching my arms behind the bar slowly and working up to being able to hold the bar on my back. Anyone know what causes or can be done about this?

[Mike Longnecker]

Welcome!
While I can't help with the flexibility issue, I bet that when you get on the scale your muscle mass will have gone up, causing your bf percentage to drop a bit.

[carson]

Good steady progress. A Starting Strength coach may help you with the squat situation. I have the same problem. I've been working off and on to get a low bar squat for over 5 years. Not yet, but I keep at it. In the mean time I use a safety bar.

[Adam Levine]

Great job!

I'm in a situation similar to yours - in my 40s, overweight and on a diet that shouldn't be used with the program.

If my first five weeks go as well as yours, I would be thrilled. Gives me hope. I'll be watching your log for sure.

[jrickner]

Aug 10 work sets
Squat 205 x 5 x 3
Bench 135 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 225 x 5 x 1

milestone day😃 I got to use 2x45 plates on my bench and 4x45 plates on my deadlift. Feels Hanz-n-Franz manly to use 45 plates. Deadlift is getting hard to keep my overhand grip. Hook grip hurts. So I will try over/under grip next time.

[Geoff Bischoff]

I'm glad to see you making this move. Being stronger truly makes everything better, and all of life becomes easier!

I switch-grip every deadlift I do, for better or worse. I switch-grip at 135, for goodness' sake. Keep your biceps removed from the equation to avoid tears, progress slowly, and you'll likely not have a problem staying switched.

G

[jrickner]

Aug 13 work sets
Squat 215 x 5 x 3
Press 90 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 235 x 5 x 1

Using switch grip on deadlifts now. Solved the grip issue. Still struggling with the shoulder mobility issue. Started using the stretch excercise in the following video and will report on my results. YouTube

[Mr. Bingley]

great progress! try to keep using the double overhand grip in all of your warm ups to build the grip strength and yes hook grip s from satan

[jrickner]

Aug 15 work sets
Squat 225 x 5 x 3
Bench 140 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 245 x 5 x 1
Feeling good.

[jrickner]

Aug 17 work sets
Squat 235 x 5 x 3
Press 95 x 5 x 3
Deadlift 255 x 5 x 1

This session was hard. Struggled a bit. Shoulder stretches helped my shoulder mobility problems. I am beginning to see evidence that +10lbs to squat every session will need to be reduced to +5lbs in a few weeks. I think once I reach a 265lb squat I may do an eight week period where I lift only to maintain strength while cutting more calories and increasing cardio. Then on to another 8 week cycle of strength building. Rinse, repeat until I get to my desired goal weight/ body composition. My ultimate goal is to get in a shape where I can safely skateboard again. I need to be both stronger and lighter if I’m going to do an activity that involves falling down.