64 And Looking For Fitness Advise

[RONK]

Hi.I'm 64 and would like some advise on getting fitter.I'm 6' and about 160 lbs,I lost 20-30 lbs over the past months due to stress(divorce).I've been working out with dumbbells for the past 5 months,currently doing rows,triceps press alternating every other workout with overhead press curls 8X5 and pushups(to failure)s three days a week,squats 6x6 and running or sprinting three days a week on leg day.I'd like to do more.my diet is terrible,i don't eat enough,stress again.I'm trying to focus getting more protein and less carbs and fats.My testosterone is good.I'd like to gain more muscle which i understand is harder to do at 64.I'm fairly lean but still have some fat.I want to be healthy and live as long as possible.I do take vitamins.I'd prefer not joining a gym,as least yet.I'd like to incorporate other pieces of equipment than just dumbbells.thanks for the help as always.

[hufnagel]

Bro, it sounds like you're already doing more than 99% of people your age, or younger! :D

https://darebee.com/images/guides/bodyweight-exercises-chart.jpg

chart I keep at home, that I desperately need to start doing more of. that's my best suggestion.

[RONK]

hufnagel,thank you.I can do more,I want to do more.Nutrition is a big issue with me,when I'm stressed,as I often am now,I don't eat.

[Dave Williams]

What's your testosterone level? You want it around 1000 IME.

I agree you're doing more than the vast majority of people your age.

[03RN]

Are you talking with a counselor or therapist? I think if you started to work on the stress everything else might start falling in place.

Stress raises cortisol which lowers testosterone and raises bodyfat.

[RONK]

Dave,the urologist said my testosterone was high(I'll see if I can get a number).
03RN,I've spoken to an attorney,once the divorce is over so will my stress.
Thank you all again for the continuing help.

[Duces Tecum]

I'll turn 77 in mid-July, so my contribution to this thread may not be entirely appropriate for a younger man. Keep that in mind, please.

No longer do I worry about minutia, preferring instead to apply the Pareto Principle and it's 80%-is-good-enough approach. To that end I do, most days of the week, a kettlebell program consisting of a single upper body push, a single upper body pull, something for the legs, a bit of cardio and call it good.

The workout syllabus consists of:
Pushes: Overhead press / horizontal press / dips / Get-up. Pick one.
Pulls: Pullup / Row / High pull. Again, pick one.
Legs: Squat / Lunge / Deadlift / Loaded Carry. Pick one
Cardio: My body responds differently to long, slow aerobic work than it does to, say, the short and intense anaerobic stuff. That said, the treadmill bores me. I mostly do kettlebell swings or, occasionally, snatches.

Example workout:
Overhead press / pullups or chins / loaded carry / KB swings

The details may not appeal to you, but I hope you consider the whole-body-large-lifts principle.

[RONK]

Duces Tecum,thank you.I am very interested in doing whole body lifts with some accessory work.The details are what's confusing to me.I know what I'd like to do but don't know how to do a program around it.I hope someone will be able to help.

[blues]

Duces Tecum and I have a very similar protocol...but I've broken it up a bit for my lazy 68 year old butt:

Following warm-up with sandbag and / or kettlebells:

Monday: Kettlebell, Sandbag, and Dumbbell Squats (standing on cinder blocks for added depth), - Bench Press with dumbbells - Bench Row with dumbbells

Tuesday: Cardio on Concept2 Rower...either steady state or intervals

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Sandbag shouldering, Kettlebell and Dumbbell Deadlifts (standing on cinder blocks for added depth) - Dumbbell Overhead Press, Sandbag Lumberjack Press, Single arm Kettlebell Press - Bent over heavy Kettlebell Rows

Friday: Repeat Tuesday with Concept2 Rower

Weekend: Off but for yard work and such.


When I get bored with the rower I substitute kettlebell swings alternated with a variety of sandbag exercises into a cardio routine that works the entire body.

[RONK]

blues,thank you sir.What do you do for reps/sets?Do you/can you increase the weight in the sandbags?What do you do about progression as far as the kettlebells?

[blues]

blues,thank you sir.What do you do for reps/sets?Do you/can you increase the weight in the sandbags?What do you do about progression as far as the kettlebells?

I have PowerBlock dumbbells which adjust from 5 to 125 lbs each...and have had them since the mid 90's.

I have three sandbags...35 lbs for warm-ups and cardio, 60 lbs and 70 lbs for other movements.

I have five kettlebells: 35, 53, 71, 88 and 106 lbs. I can use them singly or occasionally will use two different weights together to make the body compensate for an uneven loading.

(I also have olympic weights, but I've been concentrating on "functional training" the past several months to do something different.)


As far as reps...instead of the 6-8 I'd focus on when lifting heavier with olympic weights, I concentrate on reps in the 6 - 12 range, with an occasional foray up to 15 for something like deadlifts.

The biggest problem with dumbbells can be getting heavy bells into place for a given movement, so if you go with a higher rep range you can avoid potential pitfalls or injury.

There are many theories on strength training, but there is ample science backing the progress that can be made with the ranges indicated. Plus, I'm no longer looking at setting personal bests...I'm just trying to stay strong and fit until I breathe my last.

Sandbags are adjustable, but not something you would do during the course of a workout. Better to have a couple that accommodate what you intend to do.


I generally do between 3 to 5 sets per body part...so on the press for example, I might do a couple of dumbbell press sets, followed by sandbag lumberjack press, and then kettlebell press.

You can have some fun with it. You don't have to do everything in a completely regimented fashion.

[Parf]

I've become a huge fan of the Starting Strength method. I don't know if you have Facebook, but the video is of Dale, who trains at the same gym I do. I'm watching lots of people who started out by lifting the empty bar put on a bunch of strength.

https://fb.watch/5_2Cv6zgO8/

[NoTacTravis]

What's your testosterone level? You want it around 1000 IME.


Can you shed some light on what your experience is that you are getting this number from?

You don’t list a unit of measurement but this sounds suspiciously like the 1000 ng/dL number that the TRT crowd often (incorrectly) bandies about. It is based on the hypothetical upper limit of an 18 year old male athlete who still has his elevated puberty levels and hasn’t settled into his functional adult levels typically.

The .gov health website numbers list a more realistic healthy adult male range of 350-750 ng/dL.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255853/

As a reference point, when I was in my early to mid 30’s and at my leanest I was 5’10” and 170 lbs and hovered between 3.5-5% bf as tested by skin fold and BIA. My testosterone levels were in the mid to low 500’s (ng/dL), considered “normal” and capable of supporting 4 hours a day of hard competitive grappling training.

Although I don’t have a huge sample size, I do work in the nutrition and S&C industry and the only people I have seen with test levels in the 800-900 ng/dl range were the over 30 TRT crowd that attained those levels through injections or creams. Moreover, their docs considered 1000 ng/dL too high and looked to maintain the 800-900ng/dL as an upper limit.

I've never seen a natty guy over 750 ng/dl personally. Have you?

[Duces Tecum]

Duces Tecum,thank you.I am very interested in doing whole body lifts with some accessory work.The details are what's confusing to me.I know what I'd like to do but don't know how to do a program around it.I hope someone will be able to help.
blues offered a splendid program, especially for an advanced exerciser. If you'd feel more comfortable with something to get you started, you might consider Pavel Tsatsouline's "Kettlebell: Simple and Sinister". There are two editions. The more recent Revised Edition is the better one.

The program explicitly tells the reader exactly what to do and when to do it. It's a beginner program, but not exclusively for beginners. It uses minimal equipment, just one or two kettlebells. And it benefits the body enormously.

https://smile.amazon.com/Kettlebell-Simple-Sinister-Revised-Updated/dp/0989892433/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tsatsouline&qid=1623087023&sr=8-1

[blues]

Another good book for the basics of working out with dumbbells, sandbags, kettlebells is "Push, Pull, Swing" (https://www.amazon.com/Mens-Health-Push-Pull-Swing-ebook/dp/B00K8DSRN6/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=push+pull+swing+ebook&qid=1623088107&s=books&sr=1-1) by Myatt Murphy.

It has descriptions and images of the various exercise movements, and also a number of workout suggestions at various levels.

Though I've read through a few of Pavel's books, I just can't get past his schtick...even if there is substance to some or much of his intended message, Comrade!

[Dave Williams]

Yes, I've been injecting testosterone for about twelve years. I'm using 200ml/mg week, and seven days after injection I'm at 900ng/dl. I figure I'm at 1500 ng/dl at peak. And I feel GREAT. I've referred many friends to testosterone and they feel GREAT also.

It took me years to get this all set up. Doctors typically won't care if you're at say 400, they'll say you're in the "proper range" or some other BS. If so, you gotta find a new Doctor. A lot of Doctors are clueless/afraid of testosterone.

It's a very individual thing, how one person feels may not necessarily match how another feels at a certain level.

Yes, I have seen natural people over 750, a coworker tried to get a script for testosterone and his was over 900. He's a beast.

I know people who take more than me, and they are impressive in the weight room let me tell you.

The next thing I may look into is HGH. I dated a lady who took it, and she says it's a wonder drug. She was a weightlifter.

I don't know why you would put any stock into what .gov thinks after all the shit they screw up.



Can you shed some light on what your experience is that you are getting this number from?

You don’t list a unit of measurement but this sounds suspiciously like the 1000 ng/dL number that the TRT crowd often (incorrectly) bandies about. It is based on the hypothetical upper limit of an 18 year old male athlete who still has his elevated puberty levels and hasn’t settled into his functional adult levels typically.

The .gov health website numbers list a more realistic healthy adult male range of 350-750 ng/dL.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255853/

As a reference point, when I was in my early to mid 30’s and at my leanest I was 5’10” and 170 lbs and hovered between 3.5-5% bf as tested by skin fold and BIA. My testosterone levels were in the mid to low 500’s (ng/dL), considered “normal” and capable of supporting 4 hours a day of hard competitive grappling training.

Although I don’t have a huge sample size, I do work in the nutrition and S&C industry and the only people I have seen with test levels in the 800-900 ng/dl range were the over 30 TRT crowd that attained those levels through injections or creams. Moreover, their docs considered 1000 ng/dL too high and looked to maintain the 800-900ng/dL as an upper limit.

I've never seen a natty guy over 750 ng/dl personally. Have you?

[NoTacTravis]

I don't know why you would put any stock into what .gov thinks after all the shit they screw up.

.gov isn't my sole source. But a reputable one for the sake of this discussion. (It's a pistol forum not a bodybuilding one). You can find that range listed pretty much at any top tier source on the subject.

I don't moralize on testosterone and HGH use. I would definitely consider them if/when my body's natural abilities to produce it were failing. At the current point of research I would not look to maintain my level that high. I would personally consider that a rather large long term health risk and a spike to 1500 ng/dL would freak me out. But everyone has a their own comfort level for risk and pushing the envelope in the fitness world.

However, there is a lot more to things than simply finding a doc willing to elevate your levels and "make you a beast" that would contribute to my advice to someone to start down that road.

Personally, IME, there is a distinct rift between the workout advice that should be given to natty athletes and ones on "extracurriculars". Combat sports are filled with guys on TRT looking to boost their levels to whatever they can get a doc to sign off on that "feel great" at those high levels. Not all have maintained that health long term.

At this point though we are likely to veer this thread into more of a chemistry thread if we continue down this road. My point to the OP remains that "NO, you do not need to be at 1000 ng/dL to make progress on a workout program. If you are within a healthy range there is plenty of great, safe, and healthy progress to be made with a basic lifting program and quality whole food nutrition without embarking on a personal chemistry program. And that telling a 64 year old man that he needs to be at 1000 ng/dL is incorrect and a bit ridiculous."

[RONK]

Parf,thank you.I started watching Starting Strength videos and enjoy Mark Rippetoe.If I could combine Starting Strength with a program similar to blues and Duces Tecum,that would be ideal to me.It would seem to address basic strength and functional fitness.

[Dave Williams]

So you have no experience taking it but want to be considered an expert on it because of what you read. Got it.



.gov isn't my sole source. But a reputable one for the sake of this discussion. (It's a pistol forum not a bodybuilding one). You can find that range listed pretty much at any top tier source on the subject.

I don't moralize on testosterone and HGH use. I would definitely consider them if/when my body's natural abilities to produce it were failing. At the current point of research I would not look to maintain my level that high. I would personally consider that a rather large long term health risk and a spike to 1500 ng/dL would freak me out. But everyone has a their own comfort level for risk and pushing the envelope in the fitness world.

However, there is a lot more to things than simply finding a doc willing to elevate your levels and "make you a beast" that would contribute to my advice to someone to start down that road.

Personally, IME, there is a distinct rift between the workout advice that should be given to natty athletes and ones on "extracurriculars". Combat sports are filled with guys on TRT looking to boost their levels to whatever they can get a doc to sign off on that "feel great" at those high levels. Not all have maintained that health long term.

At this point though we are likely to veer this thread into more of a chemistry thread if we continue down this road. My point to the OP remains that "NO, you do not need to be at 1000 ng/dL to make progress on a workout program. If you are within a healthy range there is plenty of great, safe, and healthy progress to be made with a basic lifting program and quality whole food nutrition without embarking on a personal chemistry program. And that telling a 64 year old man that he needs to be at 1000 ng/dL is incorrect and a bit ridiculous."

[NoTacTravis]

So you have no experience taking it but want to be considered an expert on it because of what you read. Got it.

Incorrect.

I have experience NOT taking it and know what can be accomplished without it.

I also have professional experience bringing amateur athletes to PR’s and professional athletes to the top of their sports without needles and know what can be done without TRT.

I have however seen tons of guys using roids as a crutch for their cr@ppy nutrition and inability to be consistent over time.

[blues]

Parf,thank you.I started watching Starting Strength videos and enjoy Mark Rippetoe.If I could combine Starting Strength with a program similar to blues and Duces Tecum,that would be ideal to me.It would seem to address basic strength and functional fitness.

Rip is definitely a character. I spent a good year or two following his program to the best of my ability based upon the equipment I had on hand. I definitely made gains in strength and the poundage I was lifting. Eventually, I just needed a change, mentally and physically. Had I had a better setup to follow the plan, I might have continued with it.

I used to enjoy some of the give and take with him, he is an acquired taste, and if you find his methods appealing, I highly recommend "The Barbell Prescription" (https://www.amazon.com/Barbell-Prescription-Strength-Training-After-ebook/dp/B06Y4LXFCK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) by Jonathon Sullivan, M.D. It is based on the Rippetoe methodology but adapted to masters class, senior trainers such as we are. It is a great book and I recommend it unreservedly. I've had numerous email / PM discussions with Sully and he is a gem.

That said, I don't think that the Rippetoe method and what I sketched out above are really a great fit. The Rippetoe methodology requires adherence to their principles and methods. (Sully does discuss the tools he recommends for the limited cardio called for under the Rippetoe training method, and the Concept2 is among the devices recommended, along with a handful handful of others.)

I think you'd really need to consider one style of training or the other to get the best results. Or, come up with your own hybrid...as I often do, but don't expect the same results. (You'll still be fit and stronger, however.) There are many roads to Dublin.

[UNM1136]

Double tap.

Damn time out. Maybe I need more bandwidth with two teens home from school for the summer.

pat

[UNM1136]

Another good book for the basics of working out with dumbbells, sandbags, kettlebells is "Push, Pull, Swing" (https://www.amazon.com/Mens-Health-Push-Pull-Swing-ebook/dp/B00K8DSRN6/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=push+pull+swing+ebook&qid=1623088107&s=books&sr=1-1) by Myatt Murphy.

It has descriptions and images of the various exercise movements, and also a number of workout suggestions at various levels.

Though I've read through a few of Pavel's books, I just can't get past his schtick...even if there is substance to some or much of his intended message, Comrade!

Not a kettlebell book, but I remember the furor caused when this (https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Strength-Stronger-Competition-Dominate-ebook/dp/B005Q6M79A) was published. Wouldn't pay Dragon Door prices though. Kindle price was just right.

I got the book a couple of years ago and read it. I need to read it again, now that I think about it. I was very, very impressed with the tag team writing and training info. I also rolled my eyes at Pavel's theatrics, but this is a more grown up book. Everything I have read by him since then has been much more...mature.

Since his break from Dragon Door, he has changed his style. And, apparently, he and Dan Johns are now on the outs, but I have read them each praising each other since.

pat

[UNM1136]

Another book that Dragon Door hyped and I bought years after it published on Kindle.

Strong Medicine (https://www.amazon.com/Strong-Medicine-Conquer-Athletic-Potential-ebook/dp/B00UO5H5PE/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Dragon+door+marty+gallagher&qid=1623097130&sr=8-1).

Written by a former military physician and a "name" powerlifting coach, I was blown away by the detail on aging mechanisms and how to reset some of them. I was so impressed I bought the wife a copy. She was so impressed she recommends it for her diabetic patients in her clinic who are active/interested/capable.

Very easy to read, very plain language. I have read this one 3-4 times, with a lot of referencing, and am very pleased with my purchases.

pat

[blues]

Dan John is an industry in his own right. He comes out with books basically endorsing a variety of methods as the best way to achieve such and such at the time of his publishing it. He's likable and clearly someone who has excelled personally in the strength field, but I find the fact that he endorses so many different sides of training as the way, that he is actually saying that there are many legitimate ways to become stronger and fitter. And I agree with that.

Pavel has covered deadlifts as the way, kettlebells as the way, and pretty much buying his books as the way. He and Dan John are opposite sides of the same publishing mill coin. Likable, but, I dunno...it's like sitting in on a coffee klatsch. It puts me off a bit.

The Rippetoe / Sullivan books are much more informative and comprehensive, imho, and books like "Push, Pull, Swing" are much more approachable for someone who wants get the gist of what it's all about, get to training and open the door to more information as progress is made.

Just my two cents.

[UNM1136]

The Rippetoe / Sullivan books

I'll give them a look. I did enjoy Strong Medicine much, much more, despite its length. Also, the Amazon star ratings are fairly impressive.

pat

[blues]

I'll give them a look. I did enjoy Strong Medicine much, much more, despite its length. Also, the Amazon star ratings are fairly impressive.

pat

Pat, I think you should have a look at the Sullivan book. I really think that you and your wife will both get something out of it. Just remember, that it is based in Rippetoe but modeled for those of us over 40. It really is excellent. Sully is also a very funny, witty guy.


A link to his videos (https://www.youtube.com/c/GreySteel/videos), GreySteel. He has separate videos specifically related to "Starting Strength" (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sullivan++starting+strength) on youtube as well.

[Doc_Glock]

Pat, I think you should have a look at the Sullivan book. I really think that you and your wife will both get something out of it. Just remember, that it is based in Rippetoe but modeled for those of us over 40. It really is excellent. Sully is also a very funny, witty guy.


A link to his videos (https://www.youtube.com/c/GreySteel/videos), GreySteel. He has separate videos specifically related to "Starting Strength" (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sullivan++starting+strength) on youtube as well.

I like Rippetoe and Sullivan, but their relative de emphasis on cardio is borderline malpractice, IMO. It's important, and one does not get decent cardio from lifting weights, even with HITS type sets. Or kettlebells for that matter.

I am not replying to you personally blues, but rather to Sullivan and Rippetoe and their methodology, which otherwise is amazing at making you strong. I would add some sort of "chronic cardio" to the prescription is all.

[Mark D]

Couple thoughts:

1) for someone having trouble maintaining or gaining weight, a low carb and low fat diet is counter productive. You need calorie-dense foods. e.g. fats and carbs. Calories are king at this stage. (I'm assuming there aren't any underlying health issues that don't jive with carbs or fats).

2) Rip is interesting and I admire his commitment to life-long strength. But his emphasis on big, heavy lifts is sub-optimal for a lot of athletes who are older and/or carrying a lot of orthopedic injuries. And his aversion to cardio has already been mentioned.

3. Divorce sucks. Try to be good to yourself, and spend time in supportive environments - whatever that means for you (with friends and family, in nature, around animals, etc. etc.)

[blues]

I like Rippetoe and Sullivan, but their relative de emphasis on cardio is borderline malpractice, IMO. It's important, and one does not get decent cardio from lifting weights, even with HITS type sets. Or kettlebells for that matter.

I am not replying to you personally blues, but rather to Sullivan and Rippetoe and their methodology, which otherwise is amazing at making you strong. I would add some sort of "chronic cardio" to the prescription is all.

No offense, taken, Doc. I completely agree with your analysis, Doc_Glock

You'll notice that there are very few "svelte" denizens of the Rippetoe camp. LOL. I'm not planning on getting shredded, I like beer and snacks too much for that, but I also don't feel like looking like a bear preparing for hibernation.

Which is why I've modified and tuned my training toward the "functional training" side of the equation...with more of an emphasis on strength, endurance and cardio.

I do think that one can get a good cardio workout from kettlebells and sandbags if one creates a routine of moving from movement to movement with little to no rest over a sufficient period. That said, these days I'm getting it mostly from the Concept2 and using those other tools during my other training sessions.

At this point, it's all about building, maintaining and conserving for me. I'm not going to be 30 something "blues" anymore...but I'm still better than a lot of thirty something others. I have to be realistic about where I am, and where I will be heading.

I do routines that are sustainable for me...and that I can continue to look forward to doing into the nebulous future.

[David S.]

I spent most of 2019 and 2020 doing the lite variation of the Starting Strength method with no supplementation. Two days a week instead of three, and I didn't eat nearly enough to make the gains that I could have. I am a fan of the program. The beginning of this year, I stopped lifting and started BJJ. During the warm ups, I found I was barely able to do full push ups and sit ups, let alone the partner drill sit ups. Cardio isn't great, but isn't terrible either.

I'll agree with Doc Glock. It's not the panacea that I bought into.

I think there's a lot of value in a lifting program, especially for a sixty something individual. I also think it should be a supplemental activity instead of the main focus. If I had the last two years to do over again, I'd have started BJJ then, and done a basic lifting program on the side. Funny, I'm pretty sure that's what Cecil and Larry L told me to do all along. :rolleyes:

[RONK]

Mark D,thank you and everyone again.I do have a health issue,a recent blood test came up that I was borderline prediabedic,so that's why I'm trying low carb and fat.I also seem to gain fat quickly.I was very overweight as a child and young adult,300 lbs at one point.I've managed to keep the weight off by being careful what I eat.

[Totem Polar]

Bro, it sounds like you're already doing more than 99% of people your age, or younger! :D

https://darebee.com/images/guides/bodyweight-exercises-chart.jpg

chart I keep at home, that I desperately need to start doing more of. that's my best suggestion.

If the body weight exercises on that chart float your boat, then you (and RONK) might like this guy’s stuff:

http://igorvoitenko.com/from0to100

He’s a likable guy from the Ukraine, who has been on this fitness vid kick for a while. The workout series on his site are free, quick to knock out each day, and largely consist of shit straight from that chart, organized into 28-ish day chunks. I *literally* finished his “ultimate summer physique” series (30 days) today. I was doing it because I got hella bored with my old workout program, which I will detail for RONK, below. I’m 53, btw, and at my rock-bottom fighting weight of 154lbs—about what I weighed in HS. I like Voitenko’s upbeat video presentation, and I like the mindless, low impact quality of doing the videos for 20 minutes or so each day. The only real warts are that it’s not super-challenging, like some of Pavel’s kettlebell stuff, or hitting the squat rack on 6x10 day, and the back exercises will *never* replace pull ups, let alone bent rows, but it was cool to have something quick to do every day as a framework to hang hiking/rucking around.

My old workout: the back story is that I was sort of following Craig Douglas’s plan on weights at the university gym (bench, squats, dead, cardio; four week program with 6x10, 4x8, 3x6, 3x3 and repeat the next month) in 2019, but things went sideways with a combination serious health scare with my wife and then the whole covid shutdown. So what I had been doing of late for the shutdown is a little bit of rucking during the spring/early summer months, and then a home workout, as follows:

Squats, with a 40lbs kettle held goblet style, 5 sets of 20reps.
Pull ups, after each set of squats. Sort of odd, but I do 1, then 3 on the next circuit, then 5, etc. more on this in a sec..
Crunches, 5 sets of 50 slow reps
Pushups, 5 sets of 30, with pushup bars
Kettlebell swings, varies, last was 5x12 with 50lbs amazon basics kettle, but 2-handed
Another pull up round, with, 2, then, 4, etc.

To cool down, I did a few solo jits movements on the floor, eg. 10 per side of:
Step backs
Kick throughs
Shrimps
Hip bump


So, basically a circuit of pull ups, pushups, squats, crunches and kettlebell swings, 5 sets of each, 1 set per round, 5 times through the circuit, except for the pull ups.

The deal with the pulls ups is this: I’m just not fit enough to blast out reps like the days of my youth, so I end up doing these pyramid sets, interspersed twice in the circuit, with the first set being a single pull up, then the next being 2. Then on the second round, I do 3 and 4, respectively. Then 5 and 6, and 7 and 7 and then 6 and 5, 4 and 3, 3 and 2 and 1 at the end. It ends up being 56 pull ups. Now that I’ve followed through with 30 days of Voitenko’s stuff (which includes archer push ups) I’ll probably start to look at this guy’s ideas:

https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Warrior.../dp/0938045555

He’s advocating one armed push ups and single leg squats, under tension.

I’m not there yet, but what he says makes sense. You can download a kindle sample of that book for free to get the gist upfront, FWIW.

At any rate, it’s a work in progress, but at least I’m not backsliding. I might do Voitenko’s “sally up” push up challenge, because I have an inner frat boy to placate, and augment with the kettle bell stuff and pull ups again. Along with an ass-ton of mental health forest bathing/hiking for the rest of the summer.

For what it’s worth. I (re)started out +/-5 years ago (post ECQC #1) with waaaaaay less than half of those reps (eg. 5 sets of 5 push ups, for real) and just added 1 or 2 each week until I adapted.

I am no exercise guru, but I know a few. If you can’t go back and read everything that Larry L wrote on TPI, at least take Craig D’s quote to heart “almost anything will work if you do it long enough, consistently enough, and hard enough.” As a formerly chubby music prof wearing 3 inch larger pants than the last jeans I bought, I am here to vouch that Craig was spot fucking on.

JMO, OMMV, listen to others here first, etc...

[Leroy]

A lot of people interept the Starting Strength program incorrectly. To get the full understanding you need to read Starting Strength and Practical Programming. Starting Strength is meant to be a 3-6 month program and is very strigent. No cardio, eat, sleep. It is a newb strength program. Once you finish the novice linear progression options open up in intermediate training.

Basically get as strong as you can while you can (young and untrained) and then you can fuck around with whatever you want later. I have not read up on SS for older populations.

Rippetoe had said that he has nothing against cardio, he just has a problem with it intefering with strength training.

That being said, I don't agree with the program 100%. I have some issues maintaining progress on DLs and Squats concurrently (but I'm 38). I have a hell of time with the SS power clean technique and making progress. I also really enjoy cardio work and do it when it won't fuck with my squats. I do agree that if I want a better overall life strength training trumps cardio for day to day usefullness (diet is probably more important than both) from my personal experience.