Are your training templates suitable for someone turning 50?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi,
I’m turning 50 this year and am conscious that whilst I feel like I can still do stuff I could do 20 yrs ago that likely isn’t the case. I’ve noticed that pulls and strains take way longer to heal for instance. Anyway, I digress. I began Starting Strength which was interrupted by lockdown but I’ve been back in the gym for the last 3mths and feel like I’m almost at the end of that program. I’ve more or less stalled on the press and bench press although squat and deadlift are still climbing. I’ve started on a few assistance exercises to try and eek out this program a bit but I’m wondering if your programs are suitable for someone my age or would they need any tweaking/minor changes?

Squat: 225lbs
DL: 265lbs (grip is becoming an issue)
Press: 95lbs
Bench: 135lbs
Age: 50 (M)

thanks for your time,

Nathan

2

Hi there,

So in general there is enormous variation among individuals at any given age. There are 20 year olds who are completely untrained, for whom one of our more advanced templates may be inappropriate, while a more experienced 50 year old trainee may handle the template without issues.

We don’t think that age – on its own – should be a central consideration when it comes to programming, but rather an assessment of an individual’s training history, current programming and level of adaptation, and their individual goals/preferences/resources.

If you wanted to give some a shot, you could start with something like our beginner prescription, or the Bridge. There will be differences in the approach to training compared to what you’re used to, such that you will be performing absolute maximum effort sets far less frequently (if ever), while learning essential strategies to regulate loading based on performance, like RPE.

1 Like
3

Hi Dr Baraki,
Thanks for your reply. I’m reading through The Bridge program at the moment and am excited to move into a different phase of my training. I also found a couple of BBM YT videos that discussed lifting for older folks that were informative.

Looking forward to a seminar close to Dallas one day :slight_smile: