64 And Looking For Fitness Advise

[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.

[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!



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.