December 16, 2024
Synecdoche Edition
On Starting Strength
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Training Past Your Prime –
Rip discusses training by older lifters, covering how the process of gaining strength remains the same as for younger lifters, but differs in some important ways that must be considered to yield the best outcome. -
Finishing Workouts in a Reasonable Amount of Time by Andrew Lewis –
“Where does the time go? I got to the gym at 7am. I had to squat 3 sets of 5, press 3 sets of 5, and finish with a single work set of deadlifts. But it’s 9:30am, and I’m just now leaving the gym…” -
How to Use a Bent Bar –
Rip talks about how poor steel and misuse lead to bent bars, but how they can still be used productively for training some lifts. -
Bending Over Too Much In The Squat? –
A quick tip from Starting Strength Boise coach John Dowdy about the correct way to bend over in the squat. -
Type 2 Diabetes –
In the first installment of our series on Type II Diabetes, Dr. Jonathon Sullivan discusses the basics of the disease: What it is, how it happens, why it’s bad, and how it seems to be getting worse. - Weekend Archives:
Spiritual Training – The Linear Progression by Geoff Bischoff –
If you’ve spent much time reading here, you probably know someone you’d desperately like to see get into strength training, but who views it as inferior to other forms of self-improvement… - Weekend Archives:
Strength Training for People My Age by Mark Rippetoe –
I was born in 1956. That makes me “old.” Granted, I’m pretty beat up these days. I’ve had my share of injuries, the result of having lived a rather careless active life outdoors, on horses, motorcycles, bicycles…
In the Trenches
At Fortitude 405 in Oklahoma City, OK, Bill cues Lewanna “thumbs back” to get the lats involved as she pulls 167 lb for a heavy single. [photo courtesy of Chase Lindley]
TC Chappelear made the trek from West Virginia to Starting Strength Columbus for the squat and deadlift camp led by SSC Jarret Beck. Here is TC squatting 225. There is no substitute for in person coaching. [photo courtesy of Graham Guthrie]
Eric Wannemacher learns the correct start position for the deadlift with the help of SSC Jarret Beck. Eric was one of seven attendees at the squat and deadlift camp held at Starting Strength Columbus. [photo courtesy of Graham Guthrie]
Mallika Desai joined her father at the squat and deadlift camp held at Starting Strength Columbus. Here she is taking the deadlift start position under guidance of SSC Jarret Beck. [photo courtesy of Graham Guthrie]
Meet Report
Fivex3 Training raised $3500 this year for the Music Therapy Program at Gilchrist Hospice of Towson at the 6th year annual Stronger Together Partners Strength Meet. Linda Weaver, age 59, and her son, Devere Weaver, age 32, teamed up to win 1st Place in the Open Category. Linda finished with a 85lb Press and a 250lb Deadlift (pictured below), a PR! Devere finished with two PRs – a 475lb squat and a 295lb bench, captured below.
Get Involved
Best of the Week
Middle-age lifter With bad knees
RustyB
Hey folks!
I’m a 45-year-old, slightly overweight novice lifter. I recently had an MRI on my knees, and it showed chondromalacia patellae (knee arthritis).
I just wrapped up my first month at a Starting Strength gym, and I’m making good progress with box squats. Thanks to the way the low-bar squat is taught, my knees actually don’t bother me that much during the lifts, especially once there’s weight on the bar.
My question for the group is: Is it possible to keep getting stronger and progressing on the program, even if my knees never really improve? They still hurt during everyday tasks, especially when I bend down and put weight on them.
If anyone here has dealt with this issue, I’d love to hear about your experiences and what I might expect. It’s OK if this is just part of getting older and having bad knees—I’m just curious to know how others have managed this.
Thanks in advance for sharing your insights!
Mark Rippetoe
You don’t have “bad knees.” You got the same knees that all sedentary people have, and squats done correctly will fix them. You’re doing fine, just keep at it.
RustyB
Thx Rip. Will do. I love the coaching I’m getting at Starting Strength Orlando!
Rednek
I had the same problem, probably from doing stupid stuff like running when I was younger. At times, going upstairs felt like a knife had been inserted under my kneecap. I can’t say when it happened, but after following the SS method the pain disappeared and now at 72 I can run upstairs 2 at a time.
Best of the Forum
Programming question for a masters novice female
CommanderFun
So I’ve recently taken on coaching my mother through a novice progression. It’s been going well for a couple weeks. Been doing a standard first stage novice program, though I’ve halved the weight jumps due to considerations she is both female and an older lifter. Doing remarkably well nonetheless, she was able to squat right out of the gate with a lighter bar, no need for some kind of work-up to it. She’s at the point now where her deadlift is definitely about to fail in the next workout or two. In the sample in the grey book, the programming change made is to alternate between pulldowns and the deadlift on workout days. I am debating whether she would personally benefit from a lighter deadlift day. I think she could potentially benefit from more deadlifting practice, but 3 heavy deadlift sessions a week is obviously at the point where she’s starting to get fried. So I guess the real question is, should I give the deadlifting muscles more of a break with an alternating pulldown session, or give her more chance to practice her deadlift with an alternating light deadlift session?
Mark Rippetoe
If she’s been training for a couple of weeks and her deadlift is about to fail, you fucked something up pretty bad.
CommanderFun
Well, I started her off light, and we did 5 pound jumps for a number of sessions. Bar speed is getting fairly slow and she’s having to take short breathers between reps. I feel like another 5 pound increase or two can potentially present a problem and I want to err on the side of caution here. Maybe I used the term “fail” incorrectly, by “fail” I mean I think within a workout or two of continuing to bump the deadlift up 5 pounds every time, she is probably going to end up missing rep 5, or at least have to take a more extended breather to get it. In examples in the grey book it shows adding a lat pulldown alternation after 2-4 weeks when progress gets slower. This was for a 55 year old male in the example, but it seemed applicable here. For all the older lifter examples it seems to show a lat pulldown alternation with the deadlift being added early on.
CommanderFun
Are you saying I should have switched to smaller jumps than 5 pounds before alternating with the lat pulldown? I can’t really control her diet, though she’s been putting in the effort to get more protein in. And I’ve been increasing her rest interval before doing her deadlift work set, as well as having some breaks between the warmups since some of those can fatigue her too.
Mark Rippetoe
Five pound jumps usually works fine for 6 weeks, unless you started her too heavy. But if she’s getting stuck you’ve got to do something, so that the jumps to 2.5. If she won’t eat, it’s not your fault. But that’s not usually an issue in the first 2 weeks.
CommanderFun
It’s been 3 weeks looking at the training log. She admitted to me today she’s had some days where she was kinda slacking on the eating. So we discussed some ideas for getting more protein in. I shared some of my own tricks, like a big 16 ouncer of milk with any meal I think might come up a bit short on protein. I stressed carbs are also important, but she seems to think she’s good there. Also trying to sell her on creatine, but I’ve still got to combat some weird boogeyman myth she heard about it damaging your kidneys. Is there anything in The Barbell Prescription about it? She just bought it recently, I haven’t had a chance to look it over myself but asked to borrow it after she’s done with her first read through.
Mark Rippetoe
Apparently, she doesn’t regard you as an authoritative source of information about training. Maybe you should come to a seminar and get your SSC. Might help
Credit : Source Post
