Beginner Template for the Elderly?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Doc!

I recently got my mother (62) into barbell training, though we have yet to receive weights so I’ve basically just been showing her the ropes and how to bench and deadlift. However, she has PVNS, so squatting or doing anything that resembles the movement isn’t going to work for right now, and she also can’t walk out a press, so I’m having her do seated press. As pools begin to open, she will also get back into swimming, which was her main form of physical activity before and seemed to mitigate a lot of her knee pain. Anyways, I recently finished reading the Barbell Prescription by Dr. Sullivan and it seemed very logical, though I’m a little torn. I know Barbell Medicine and Starting Strength split, and I know you guys have very different approaches towards training. I just wanted to know if you would think the Beginner Template would suffice for my mother’s first program? Keep in mind, I’d have to modify the program by removing squats for the time being and using seated presses instead of regular presses. Should I just go the Starting Strength way with lower volume? Does it even really matter that much?

Thanks!

2

Getting her training is going to be more important than any other specific detail, including what specific program she runs. With that said, we have laid out the argument for our approach and feel it sets trainees up better for the long term. If she has a pain-related condition, developing the skill to autoregulate loading (e.g., using RPE) would be particularly valuable to learn from the start, rather than an overly rigid linear approach.

Finally – is she able to sit down and stand up out of a chair? If so, she can use that as her squat.

1 Like
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A couple of points that might influence your decision:

  1. The beginner template does offer numerous alternative exercises for each slot.
  2. Except for DL the volume by sets (not reps) is actually the same as SS in phase 1 if you’re not counting the RPE 6 sets. The subsequent phases do have a much higher volume. But if she does not in fact need the extra volume she’ll never make it out of phase 1 anyway :-).