Hey Jordan or whoever will be replying!
I’m lucky enough to have gotten my parents into strength training and it’s going pretty well so far. My father is about 62 and my mother is 58. They are currently going through the novice linear progression, about 3 weeks into it. I’m reading the barbell prescription where Dr. Sullivan recommends the lat pulldown, bodyweight row or chinups when backing off the deadlift. My challenge is not having access to a gym at the moment so they are working out at home. So chinups and lat pulldowns are not possible to perform right now. We’re using a homemade rack so doing bodyweight rows can also not be performed safely. I was thinking of making them do barbell rows, so I was wondering if it is okay to make them do so and if yes, should they do barbell rows the way you guys recommend or the conventional way where you only move your arms? Forgive me if this has already been adressed in another post but I didn’t find anything. Thanks
Any form of barbell rows is fine, but can you clarify what they need an “alternative” to?
Just because someone is 58 or 62 does not mean they need special exercise selection.
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Thanks for quick reply!
I’m just following the novice template for master lifters from the barbell prescription. They have been doing program 2A from the book: 1.Squats 2.Bench/Press 3.Deadlift for about 3 weeks now. Usually the power clean comes into the picture after this, but Dr. Sullivan recommends not doing the power clean for someone in that age range.
So, in program 2B, which is the program I’m going to implement now, Dr. Sullivan recommends 1.Squats 2.Bench 3.Deadlift in Workout A and 1.Squats 2.Press 3.Lat Pulls or BW Rows or Chins in Workout B. I’m just wondering if I can make my parents do Barbell Rows (the starting strength technique or the conventional technique) instead of Lat Pulls or BW Rows or Chins in Workout B in program 2B, as I don’t have the necessary equipment for any of these at the moment. If there are any other exercises that you can recommend with just the barbell then I will be more than happy to know.
Ah, ok. Sure, barbell rows are fine.
Glad to see that you are working with your parents and that they want to train. I’d highly suggest you check out our Beginner’s Prescription and the the At Home Template material as well. We are not associated with the book you are referring to so we’re not really in a place to follow specific programming input based on that. We’d have our own training suggestions as outlined on our site, and as Austin mentioned, there isn’t a program needed specifically for an age as much as you begin training as is reasonable for your entry point and goals.
Thanks Austin! Just finished a session with barbell rows. It went good!
Thanks for the input Leah! It’s great to see my mother who had to start with a broomstick now squatting with the barbell! I will definitely have a look at the templates.