I'm an older guy and starting a new strength training program. I haven't done any training in a decade. I am not looking to compete - I just want to improve my strength and health.

Last time I used Reebok nanos - which were ok, but they didn't provide a enough support for squats, deadlifts, etc. (My ankles aren't great due to previous injury.)

Anyone have a good recommendation or two for good shoes given what I'm looking for?
Thanks!

I am 6’2” M 220lbs. That puts me in the overweight BMI category. I m just starting my NLP and I am wondering if I need to worry about gaining mass or just eating enough to maintain my current weight?

Elbow hurts (inside - on and around the bony part).

The first time I noticed it was ~2 months ago, while ‘locking’ elbows while performing the shrug. My guess is that it is not the ‘squats’, because the ‘trigger’ seems to be OHP instance.

I’ve heard about the chin-up protocol - could someone point me to an article on the website or confirm what it is?

• 30% of max reps
• 20 sets
• 1 minute rest
• how many days a week? I could do daily, if that would accelerate the recovery process.

Anything else I should be doing? Thanks.

Hey everyone, I started Starting Strength NLP (Phase 1) on January 13, 2025, and wanted to share my progress so far. I weighed 58.5 kg (129 lbs) at 5'11" when I started, and now I’m up to 60.6 kg (133.6 lbs)! The bar I’m using is 20 kg (44 lbs).

Week 1

I started with an empty bar (20 kg) and by the end of the first week, my lifts were:

• Squat: 3×5 @ 25 kg (20 kg bar + 5 kg plates)
• Overhead Press: 2×7 @ 25 kg (20 kg bar + 5 kg plates) (form broke down in the last set)
• Bench Press: 3×7 @ 25 kg (20 kg bar + 5 kg plates)
• Deadlift: Not attempted yet
• Chin-ups: 2×4, 1×2 (failed last rep)

Progress by the End of Week 2:

• Squat: 3×5 @ 35 kg (20 kg bar + 15 kg plates)
• Bench Press: 3×5 @ 30 kg (20 kg bar + 10 kg plates)
• Overhead Press: 3×5 @ 25 kg (20 kg bar + 5 kg plates)
• Deadlift: 1×5 @ 45 kg (20 kg bar + 25 kg plates)
• Chin-ups: 3×5 achieved!

By the end of Week 3, my progress is:

• Squat: 2×5 @ 45 kg, 1×5 @ 55 kg (20 kg bar + 35 kg plates)
• Bench Press: 3×5 @ 35 kg (20 kg bar + 15 kg plates)
• Overhead Press: Stalled at 25 kg (20 kg bar + 5 kg plates), struggling to progress------- I have tried doing with 10 kg plated (30 kg total) but am not able to do more than 1 rep.
• Deadlift: 1×5 @ 57.5 kg (20 kg bar + 37.5 kg plates)
• Chin-ups: 2×4 (regressed slightly)

Weight Gain Update

• Started at 58.5 kg, now at 60.6 kg—+2.1 kg in 3 weeks!
• Eating more, but not able to do GOMAD.

Thoughts & Takeaways

• Squat & Deadlift are progressing steadily.
• Pressing movements are getting harder.
• Weight gain is happening, but not sure it’s enough.

Would love any advice, especially on Overhead Press. Hoping to push my squat past 60 kg soon! 🚀

I’m 17M, 5’10, around 135lbs, like 12-15% bf. I haven’t been to the gym in a while and I’m getting ready to go consistently so I’m ready for summer. Basically I’m wondering what my target weight should be and what my daily calories/macros should be if I’m going to the gym 3-4 times a week. Any advice is appreciated I’m as good as new to this

I am 5'10" 162 lbs, 45yo ultrarunner, looking to increase strength and power, injury resistance, avoid muscle mass loss as I age, increase general physical wellbeing. I do 6hr of cardio per week now and that will increase to something like 12 hrs in the summer. I don't want to put on much if any mass, but wouldn't mind altering my body composition by ~5%. Is starting strength a bad choice for me?

Or have someone observing you!

I’ve just started working out in my home gym. I had been really happy with my squat form and progress although an old knee injury had started to flare up. Before that I was working in a gym and got feedback from my friend a very experienced and accomplished powerlifter.

Anyway I videoed myself the other day and was shocked to e see how high I was squatting I honestly believed I was squatting below parallel easily. So off came some weight and reworked my form. I was pretty disappointed for a minute but it just goes to show the tricks our brains and bodies can play on us.

Any sense of where I should be aiming for at a height of 6’6”. Highly ectomorphic, light skeletal built. Never particularly athletic. Does this change if I’m in late thirties?

Curious what the distribution is like here. I'm still very underweight, but 5'9" 172lbs as of this morning.

I was reviewing my training and I noticed that my 3x5 bench press is 90% of my one-rep max.

Is this typical for a man with several years of training?

Could it be a sign that for someone with this 3x5 to 1rm ratio could benefit from training lower rep sets such as triples or singles to eek out a bit more neural efficiency for a higher one rep max?

For squat 3x5 is 83% of the one rep max.

Hi all, I've been doing Madcow for seven weeks (Stronglifts 5x5 five weeks prior to that). Currently squatting 245 high-bar.

Just picked up a copy of Starting Strength and read about low-bar vs high-bar squats. It made a lot of sense to me so I did low-bar on my light day this week. Felt great! I want to switch.

I think it would be better to get used to the different technique at a lower weight. Does anyone have any thoughts on how much I should deload?

In what order should these be implemented when the deadlift becomes too heavy for a double-overhand grip?

Thanks

I've been doing starting strength consistently for 2 months.

My current weights to date are:

Squat: 80kg Press: 44kg Bench: 50kg Deadlift: 92.5kg

I have a fat belly from tears of binge eating and drinking which I want to loose, but rip says to eat A LOT of calories. When I put myself in a calorie deficit of 1700 per day I noticed I struggled to lift the weights. I've upped my calorie intake to between 2000-2300 per day because I want to build muscle but I also want to loose this beer belly.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Do I just need to get over having a fat belly if I want to get stronger?

I'm 5'11 and start off at ~150 lbs, 1 year later I'm at 166 lbs. Most recent numbers (5x3) benchpress: 60kg, deadlift: 90kg, OHP: 36kg, squat: 70kg.

My body weight percentage is 20% (according to my Withings scale). My arms are still extremely skinny but I have a bit of a stomach now.

I wasn't intentionally bulking for the last year, just trying to eat enough protein. I'm wondering if I should cut, bulk, or maintain now. I am separately adding in accessory exercises to get bigger arms so I don't look so out of proportion

This is the worst hour I’ve ever had in a bathroom im in awe of the capabilities that it has on my bowels

Starting SSLP phase 1 after progressing to an Intermediate phase too quickly. I was basically doing a modified texas method split, doing 5rms, and never actually starting with the ss 3x5 linear progression. I made good progress, but after reading and learning more about SSLP, I know it's probably going to be better in the long run. Someone suggested I take a couple weeks worth of weight off, really practice form and run phase 1 which I completely agree with. I'd really like to prevent detraining as much as possible in the proccess, so I had a couple of thoughts. The split I was doing, I was progressing in chinups, weighted dips and back raises among other things, so am planning on programming them in for a little extra volume until things start to feel a little heavier. Also, I'm wondering if I could decrease my rest between sets (instead of 3-10 minutes, shoot for 2-3 minutes). The 2 weeks backoff in weight is going to be a guesstimate because I didn't only do 3x5's, I also did 5x5s, 5RM and 5x3s.

Does anyone think keeping a couple accessories and decreasing rest time could help?

I’ve been lifting consistently for 5+ years. 6’3, 210lbs, current maxes sit around 290 for bench, 405 squat, 475 DL (haven’t pressed much). I’m interested in SS, but wondering if there’s a point in it, or if maybe there is some value in doing an NLP even if it doesn’t run very long. Does anyone have experience/tips with this? I’ve read the blue and gray books, but it’s been a while.