Old Dog in search of New Tricks

Well as any of you who have followed my log know, I'm into bodyweight exercises. However, as I've been using the university's gym to run in twice a week (my other runs are outdoors), I've been thinking more and more about doing some weight training. Specifically, I'm considering doing the starting strength program and have ordered the book to take a look at it.

My goals are simply to get stronger: my upper body strength is what I consider to be my weak point--I'm progressing with the bodyweight exercises, but it is slow going. Secondly, I am wondering about lower body strength, as the exercises I have now are pistol squats and GHRs, along with weighted lunge squats and deck squats. I wish to continue bodyweight exercises like pullups, dips, leg raises and handstand pushups and wish to continue running as well.

I don't know if the above is enough information, but I'd like to just get some feedback from those in the know about starting strength and whether or not it would be compatible with my goals and the fact that I'm an old man now. Any good advice will be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and I'll have to look into whether the gym allows explosive lifts.

 

if you want to get stronger the book is a good starting point, but do the programme as written otherwise its pointless getting it. Dont add anything to the programme or change the exercises being used

ie squat bench press one day dwadlift one day, then squat clean and pree the second day, dont add in hand start push ups, etc until you are used to the programme and the volume, likewise limit the cardio until you have made good progress.

Trying to do your routine now and adding in starting strength will just over train you and lead to poor gains in everything

 

Thanks, Icefield! I initially thought this thread was just dead in the water--glad to get a response.

You know, I hate your answer--which means you're absolutely right. I hate the idea of giving up my pullups--even though I suck at them (I kid myself by blaming my long arms). Isn't there a version of the program (I don't have the book yet--I think it's due in a few days) where you have a third day of training with pullups, or perhaps pullups were added in somewhere? If I have to do it strict for a few weeks/couple of months I will, but I'm trying to have a little of my cake, too.

Okay, rant over.

 

You can use pull ups instead of rows or cleans, I didn’t mean you couldn’t work your back sorry for not being clear

I meant if you start doing hand stand pushups, one leg squats GHR, running 3 or 4 times a week etc on top of the starting strength stuff you will see poor results, if you are doing pull ups keep it within the spirit of the programme, low reps and add weight

 

Okay, got ya. I do intend to do cleans--if the gym allows them and they have someone there who can teach me. As for the running, I won't increase mileage or speed and work on stride mechanics instead. The other exercises I can jettison temporarily (after all, if I get the funding to go do research in Brazil, I may only have bodyweight exercises to do then).

 

Was that your master plan all along?

 

Always have a plan!

Even if the plan looks like no plan at all!


Back on topic: I'm thinking I'll start this at the beginning of November. Now, the gym will be closed for a week in December, so I'm thinking that that week I can do some bodyweight exercises, but my question is this: coming back from a week off early in the program, should I move forward (which sounds counterintuitive to me) or repeat the previous week before upping the numbers? Or am I meant to wait until I after holidays to start the program?

 

Thanks, Frodo! That makes sense to me.

 

if you can do capoeira seriously, then you have the endurance and recovery capacity to do SS with additional bodyweight training on top of it, given enough food and sleep. your body will tell you if it's had enough and you should tone it down.

 

Will definitely take this into consideration, too. I think I will do the version that allows for pulls/chins to be added and then, as I get accustomed to the program, I'll add in more of the gymnastic bodies program that I've been on. I don't mind scaling back initially, but my capoeira training is definitely here to stay!

Thanks, FOD!

 

Handstands and cartwheels are great OHP warm ups

 

Well, I've got those in the bag!

 

You'll be killing it soon!

 

sorry but this isn't correct, if you are new to strength training and want to get strong you need to follow the programme as written and reduce all other stimulus. Otherwise you end up with mediocre results: you see this all the time, people not being about to squat more than 160kg, who cant deadlift 180or bench over 120kg because they spread themselves too thin. If you are unhappy with a part of your training you need to concentrate on that aspect and understand that you need to cut back on other things

 

I think that ultimately, I'm going to scale everything back (save for my capoeira training) when I start the program--especially as I don't know what to expect. The capoeira training is varied enough, hitting nearly all of the ranges of motion I'm accustomed to from the gymnastic bodies program. Running will be scaled back in terms of mileage in order to focus on stride mechanics. Once I can add in chins and pullups, I will. From there, I'll seek to add in prehab versions of bodyweight exercises while watching my progress with the program. I'm in no rush at the moment, but was just worried about letting go of pullups.

I'm not sure how far I want to go with the program (I know I'm never going to be a competitive lifter or anything remotely close to that), but I want to give it a fair go at learning it. Thanks, Icefield, for your advice.

 

uh, icefield, dormindo is not new to strength training. capoeira requires a LOT of strength for some of its movements, and as mentioned, he has done the stuff from gymnastic bodies. i don't know if you've ever done heavy bodyweight strength drills, but that crap is really hard. he will be fine for the most part, and will not suddenly implode and collapse in a bloody heap just because he did a push-up after squatting 60 kilos. when it DOES get too heavy, he'll notice, and he'll scale back the training, because he's not an idiot.

 

Thanks, FOD, though I'm sure at times that some of my own (and perhaps even my wife at certain moments) might disagree on my not being an idiot.

It's true that I'm no stranger to bodyweight training, having done it for a few years now. I've been doing capoeira for over fifteen years now, as well.

Because I'm new to this SS program, I'm going to start with a moderate approach:

I'm going to scrap the gymnastic bodies training for the first week of the program. I'll modify my other training in the following fashion...

Capoeira: will still train movement and footwork patterns, 'shadowboxing' type of play and combination drills, as these are primarily skill drills. Some of the things I do are in the old 'Member's Workout' thread. I will leave out the 'endurance' sessions that I've done in the past with the sole objective of pushing my conditioning.

Running: will still run, but will drop my mileage from 6 miles or so per run to somewhere within the 4-6 mile range, meaning that I will temporarily drop my speed for working on stride mechanics, footfalls, etc.

From there I will be listening to my body for the chance to work in pullups, dips, pushups. I will also be working on static holds like l sit and frog stand again if I feel I can take it without adversely affecting the program. I welcome this chance at experimentation, but do intend to approach it cautiously, even while acknowledging that I'm not totally bereft of athleticism.

Of course, I still welcome advice and am looking forward to ending the year trying something new.

 

Oh, also wanted to say that the difficulty of some of the bodyweight regimen is part of why I want to do this program. Would be nice for my bruised ego if I could do something where I could see the progression more regularly. Actually, I just am hoping to get strong enough to get past the sticking points in some of the routine, too, while satisfying my curiosity about the whole free weights thing.