Help Choosing A Weight Lifting Protocol? page

[Chorlton]

Hi everyone,

Could I get some suggestions on the most optimal weight lifting protocol to follow please? I am 41, 5ft 8, 65kg and have a bit of a spare tyre and some visceral fat to lose but am otherwise not horribly out of shape. I have easy access to DB's a barbell and a bench as well as a chinup bar across the kitchen door.

My goal is to lose that visceral fat and gain good functional strength. I am not looking to bulk up particularly.

Mostly I do 3 sets of 8-12 reps - One big leg lift (deadlifts or squats or lunges) and 2 big upper body movements 2x a week. So typically my week may look like this:

Sunday
Squats
Chest press
One armed rows

Wednesday
Deadlifts
Kbell clean + press
Chin ups

This is okay, but in terms of time I tend to start at the weight I intend to lift and just do 3 sets at that level (in a circuit with the other exercises) but I can lift a fair bit more if I warm up to it of course. I like to lift more, but it means a workout could last 1hr or more if I do this, rather than the 30-40mins I think is probably optimal.

Can anyone offer comment or suggestion on this to help me find a more suitable structure to my goals?

[tfarny]

Run the Starting Strength program (buy the book, 3rd edition), do it twice a week if three times seems too much, which it might considering you are not going to eat as much as he recommends. 5-3-1 is the program I just switched to, short workouts, slower gains, more flexibility in exercises. If you are not at least squatting your own weight, you probably want to do Starting Strength for a few months.

[Chorlton]

Thanks tfarny,

I have SS (2nd ed i think) but the problem I see with this is that all those warm up sets amount to spending at least an hour lifting don't they?

[Dirlot]

Warming up is for safety (and the older we are the more we need it) so you would need to do that no matter what the routine.

[Chorlton]

I forgot to mention I am horribly imbalanced due to a lifetime of abuse to my body -- QL stiffness on left side, trapezius trigger points, scalene issues, unstable left shoulder... should I go on?

So if SS is the way forward, (with warmups!) then as Im now in the middle of my workout I remember why I cant do squats at home. I can't clean more than 35kg! So, with the imbalance also in mind Im swapping squats for lunges!

[Dirlot]

Lunges are a good exercise but if you are swapping then swap deadlifts for squats.
You an also follow Primal Blueprint Fitness or Convict Conditioning and work towards a one leg pistol squat.

[tfarny]

I forgot to mention I am horribly imbalanced due to a lifetime of abuse to my body -- QL stiffness on left side, trapezius trigger points, scalene issues, unstable left shoulder... should I go on?

So if SS is the way forward, (with warmups!) then as Im now in the middle of my workout I remember why I cant do squats at home. I can't clean more than 35kg! So, with the imbalance also in mind Im swapping squats for lunges!

Umm, ok - why does your low clean mean you can't squat at all? Is it that you don't have a squat rack and you have to clean a front squat? Back squats are the foundation of SS and are important lifts in every barbell program.
Another program you might consider is the Dan John 40 day program - it has other names, too. It's really simple:
4-5 days per week:
2 sets of 5 upper push (bench or overhead press)
2 sets of 5 lower (deadlift in your case)
2 sets of 5 upper pull (chinups?)
some "quick" move which in your case would be cleans since that's a weak area.
You work well under max effort, going heavy only about once every week or two by swapping the sets of 5 with a series of progressively heavy singles. You increase the weights as you "feel it" which if you're a beginner should be pretty rapidly as in 20+ lb / week for deadlift and less for the other lifts. Basically you should be lifting light enough that you can turn around and do it again the next day but heavy enough to at least do something. Workouts should be over in 45 minutes or less.
This is not really a beginner program but if you truly can't do squats, then SS isn't going to work. Heavy SS-style deadlifts are going to get really, really draining if you do them 3xweekly as Dirlot suggests.

[Chorlton]

Yes, it's because I don't have a rack. My bench was a poor choice, it's not even that good for chest press as the bars are a bit too narrow!

I really like the look of convict conditioning, but have not found a good online resource / instructions for this yet if anyone can share?

Dan John's stuff does seem a bit more than I want to do (bit complicated) but thanks for the pointer.

[Dirlot]

Lots of youtube videos and there is a facebook group. Even with my pistol squats I am still deadlifting..very primal move.

[Chorlton]

I'm reading the ebook now Dirlot, thanks. It looks like a good system for me. I agree, the addition of deadliest would be good, particularly as I have access to a bar.

Thanks a lot,