The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40 Paperback – December 1, 2016

I’m kind of mind blown by this book, I can’t put it down. I am 71, an insulin dependent diabetic, and a rock climber living in the desert. I didn’t take up climbing until I was 65, so I receive constant comments about how strong I am and how incredible it is that I am climbing at this age. But my strength on the rock has predictably declined, and both knees have become inflamed and painful. I have definitely plateaued as I don’t have the upper body strength to do more of what I want. I’ve given a lot of focus to diet and sleep, but the last thing I expected to be doing was strength training with barbells.There’s no other way to look at this other than I am generally deconditioned from head to toe and soon, if I don’t work hard to turn this around, I will not be able to climb. So I’m all in.When I’m not climbing, I am out hiking and scrambling, but I have noticed that all this aerobic work is actually making me weaker and this is discussed in great detail in this book. Hiking is wonderful, but it does not build muscle or strength.The authors of this book continually say that this is not a how-to book and that we must have the companion book and also seek coaching from an expert, and that is exactly what I will do. That squat looks deadly to me, but I suspect it will be the most useful exercise I can do– – I just may have to work up to it with the “adaptation exercises”. I’ve never been able to do a chin up in my life, but again there are some exercises that can meet me halfway.One of the biggest aha moments I have had is understanding that muscle is an endocrine organ that produces its own growth hormones so just having more muscle means we also generate more of the wonderful anabolic hormones that decline so precipitously with age.Over the past couple of years, my health guru has been Dr. Stacey Simms, who specializes in fitness for women and it is her constant mantra that we must “lift heavy sh*t”. So the barbell prescription looks like it fits the bill perfectly. Once I am really into this program, I will come back and update my review.

A strongmans guide to less strong men with an urge to age strongly.

At first glance, it's not an easy book to understand from the get-go, because it covers different circumstances. An over-40 weightlifter may not have the same routine as over-50 and so on. Also, once you move from novice to intermediate, there isn't a one size fits all program, so it covers the various modifications. If you're an experienced weightlifter that doesn't want to read any of the basics, then this book may not be for you. Likewise, if you're an older beginner, and just looking for a program without putting any thought into customizing it -- well this book isn't for you either.This book is great for someone that may be new to strength training at an older age, and appreciates some of the basic knowledge. And also willing to read through some of the technical details so you can come up with a customized program for yourself.I read one negative review where someone criticized the book for recommending the Texas Method to older intermediates. That's not exactly true -- it offered the Texas Method for those Masters up for it -- but also offered modifications to the method that may be more appropriate for older athletes. It's the modifications that matter.I especially liked the sample logs and programs that the book provided. I found myself following the program for my age bracket, and progressing just as written.Yes there are YouTube videos that cover some of these exercises, and all other sorts of material on weightlifting. But none of them are complete. I find myself using this book along with Starting Strength along with the free Mark Rippetoe Art of Manliness YouTube videos. They all have something to offer along with the many other countless videos out there -- but this book has been an immense help.

i'm 49, with a kinesiololgy degree and 30+ years of weight training, and i've zero injuries and can do weighted chin-ups. so i'm speaking from experience in this review.there's a handful-- seriously, maybe 5-- of genius strength trainers out there, and it can easily be argued they all stem from Mark Rippletoe, as do the authors. what the authors do in this book is, by section:1) lay out the case for strength training as a superior exercise modality for the aging reader (all readers are aging, btw)2) IDs the exercises the reader should employ in a strength training regimen3) provides several programs to employ to build strengthpart 1 is perfect. dr sullivan does a masterful job of laying the case for weight training, and i dare say he, along with arnold schwarzenegger, are the 2 best evangelists for weight training i've seen---and sullivan is making the case medically. --anyone who questions what to do to get in shape wont after reading part 1part 2 and 3 i take some issues with. while part 3 is great (!) for giving programs and philosophies and expectations (great work by the authors here) on how to keep slinging iron as you age (which is what i bought it for), there's a handful of gaps:1) dealing with injuries---as you get older you will get injured just getting out of bed. this is not covered at all. and anyone familiar with rippletoe knows he just says "its part of the game". nonsense. ---IMO the authors should compromise more on the Rip way to adjust to an injury prone master athlete (think rep ranges 6-8 instead of 3-5). strength is still developed, with lower risk of injury. i also see no mention on prehab type exercises (spider crawls, band pull aparts) which are imperative for injury prevention. anyone starting strength training in their 40s+ is in dire need of starting with prehab exercises concurrently with the big stuff2) exercise selection: its quaint to think barbells are the solution to every problem. its also sure to cause injuries. a simple substitution of dumbbells for barbells for the prescribed exercises is the answer. ---eg: barbell bench press gives me strains, dumbbells never do. should i tear a pec in pursuit of strength or be happy with 80+% of the benefit with 99% less risk if i use dumbbells? the degrees of freedom that dumbbells provide equal lower risk of injury. and while the book stresses safety (great job by the authors), this is a huge oversight by baker.3) movement patterns: really ties into 2---people dont need to be strong in the barbell press, they need strength in horizontal and vertical pressing patterns. (and pulling patterns, and squatting and hinging).these are the primary things keeping me from giving this book 5 stars. but if you're a novice ~ 40yrs old or older and unsure what to do when you go to the gym (or afraid if you should), this book is a goldmine of wisdom and will change your life