The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40

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.

There are many reasons why I can recommend the book, “The Barbell Prescription, Strength Training for Life After 40”. I suggest that it should be read by anyone, man or woman, over 40. I myself have purchased both the paperback and Kindle versions.Here are a few of the reasons why I recommend this book.1. Experience: The two authors, Sullivan and Baker, have years of experience of coaching the Masters Athlete and this adds to the credibility of this text. I must ask who better to write a book about the barbell prescription topic for Masters then two individuals with the combined credentials and experience that Sullivan/Baker have. They can take a complex topic and make it easy to understand and digest. Too often books written for and about the aging population are written at such a high level that you need a Ph.D. to decipher. This book is deep but the authors write it in a way that anyone can understand at first reading. This book with its layout and progression through the topic, with understandable descriptions, will allow the reader to quickly unlock the mystery of their aging bodies. It explains why barbell training is vital to be able to live a healthy life after 40.2. “Sick Aging Phenotype” explained: This new term as it is defined throughout and the book makes sense. The example of Will and Phil in Chapter 1 about two identical twins living very different lives is a shrewd description of what the authors mean by this term and why they believe strongly in the Barbell Prescription topic for aging adults. This chapter lays out the groundwork for the authors’ premise of barbell training to combat the aging process and what it takes to counteract the previous sickly outcome for most people over the age of 40.3. The book concentrates on the Masters athlete: Most barbell training books are aimed at the younger athlete. The Masters concentration allows the authors to make the differences clear about how an athlete over 40 can and should use barbell training as part of their regimen to counteract the aging process. Thus, Masters can live a healthier life as they age. The authors explain why, "Masters are volume-sensitive, intensity-dependent", why this is different than in younger lifters, and how to work with this principle in the Master athletes own training.4. The authors provide a clear explanation of the building blocks of a training program: The explanations about the Novice versus Intermediate programming is concise. Sullivan/Baker give complete descriptions of the Stress-Recovery-Adaptation cycle. Included in this description are whole chapters on each part of the cycle. They provide clear examples and explanation of training programs for the many different ages what constitute an athlete over 40.The purpose of this book is to present the information needed for the aging population to live by the premise that “Healthy aging is Strong aging”. The authors deliver on that purpose.If someone is looking specifically for a how-to book on how to perform the barbell movements, that is not the purpose of this book. As Sullivan/Baker state in the Introduction and Chapter 7- Elementary Iron, “This book is not intended to instruct the reader in the performance of barbell exercises.” It correctly points to, Starting Strength Basic Barbell Training 3rd edition, for performance and instruction of the barbell movements. Also in Chapter 14 – Programming, they state that, “This is not a cookbook. Read everything before you try anything.” I can say for myself that by reading this book I have been able to take advantage of all the information the authors provide. It was and is both helpful and eye-opening for myself and will be to others. The book makes it clear that being a Masters athlete can help one reach their full “genetic potential”, no matter what their age.As I stated earlier I recommend this book.

The Barbell Prescription is a must-have book for anyone past their early 40s who is dedicated to getting and staying strong.I don't have a lot to add to the top reviews here: they're thorough. I started barbell training in 2015 at 49 using Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training (SSBBT). 4-1/2 years later, when the gov't shut down my gym a year ago because of COVID, I deadlifted 480 lbs., squatted 415, and pressed 195 overhead. Have recently gotten back in my gym and am approaching those numbers again. Dr. Sullivan is correct when he notes that barbell training is Big Medicine and that lifting and getting strong in middle age is a veritable fountain of youth.First things first: I taught myself to lift using the SSBBT book, as I'm a DIY kind of guy. Get yourself a coach (online or in person) who uses the Starting Strength method and you'll be much more efficient in getting up the curve than I was.Secondly, it’s important to understand the difference between The Barbell Prescription and Rippetoe's Practical Programming (PPST) book. I’ve seen other reviewers claim that if you’re in your 40s you should buy PPST instead. I disagree. The Barbell Prescription has the same sorts of programs as PPST; following the more aggressive of these will suit those in their 40s. However, it also has excellent material on the biology of lifting and how our bodies respond to it, the considerations for aging lifters, and programming guides that are specific to Masters-age lifters. Programming for Masters lifters beyond the initial stage of lifting is different from that for younger ones and it's important that the lifter understand this early on. Accordingly, if you’re in your 40s I assure you that by your early 50s you will want to buy The Barbell Prescription. Do it now, understand what you’re bound to encounter as you reach your 50s, and save yourself duplicative expense.The Barbell Prescription was published in early 2017, after I'd moved into the intermediate stage of training. Accordingly, I didn't buy it for a long while because I was already using Rippetoe's Practical Programming book. That was a mistake because I was missing out on Sullivan's and Baker's programs specifically for Masters lifters. Buy the SSBT blue book for Rip's detailed explanation of how to do the lifts, and The Barbell Prescription for understanding how to tailor the programs as you progress into middle age.I also recommend drawing on the Starting Strength Web site, videos, forums and podcasts; on Dr. Sullivan's GreySteel Web site; on Andy Baker's blog; and on the Barbell Logic Web site and podcasts as you become an experienced trainee. These have excellent material (nearly all of it free) for learning and refining your techniques and programming. Rippetoe, Sullivan and Baker have done us an enormous service by creating a systematic template for staving off the deleterious effects of aging, and making us psychologically and physically as resilient as we can be.I'm living proof that this system works. At 55 I have the bone density, blood pressure, and blood-work panels of a 25-year-old, after all of these indicators had declined through my 40s. My doctor, who scolded me several years ago for discarding "cardio" exercise for heavy barbell training, gave up after a couple of years when she saw what my lifting did positively to nearly every indicator of my health. She just marveled at it all and told me to keep doing whatever I was doing to produce these results at my age.

Enjoy this book very much. Lots of good information to go along with the big blue book and Rippetoe's other stuff.

Best Exercise/physiology book for mid age to seniors. Authors have rehashed Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and made it more suitable for all looking to increase their health span. Beautiful combination of Science and the art with no B.S that you find on internet minus few sincere coach.

Per me che ho più di 60 anni libro con ottime procedure e suggerimenti. Valido anche per i piú giovani con gli aggiustamenti del caso

Pour l'initiation à la musculation, parfait et très complet. Si seulement ça existait en français, ce serait encore mieux et indispensable pour commencer ou continuer l'exerce physique.

..., so könnte man die Intention der Autoren Sullivan/Baker zusammenfassen.Ziel ist es, bis ins hohe Alter den Körper so zu fordern, dass die irgendwann unausweichliche Gebrechlichkeit möglichst lange hinausgezögert wird. Es geht nicht darum, die Lebensspanne zu verlängern, sondern den Jahren mehr Qualität zu verleihen.Mit der Empfehlung eines durchaus (individuell angepassten) schweren, auf jeden Fall fordernden Krafttrainings weichen die Autoren von der Vorstellung ab, ältere Leute sollten lieber nur spazieren gehen oder schwimmen, um ihre Gelenke nicht zu überlasten. Vielmehr gehen sie davon aus, dass auch alte Knochen von einer angepassten Belastung profitieren.Und wenn Kniebeugen erstmal nur darin bestehen, ohne Unterstützung von einem Stuhl aufzustehen, dann wird halt das gemacht. Der Senior auf dem Cover ist nicht das Maß aller Dinge, doch auch dieser Typ kommt mit dem Buch auf seine Kosten.Es handelt sich um ein sehr umfangreiches Buch mit vielen Trainingsplänen, genannt sei die Texas-Methode, und Variationsmöglichkeiten, aber immer werden Mehrgelenksübungen empfohlen, vor allem Kniebeuge, Kreuzheben, Drücken und Bankdrücken, nach Möglichkeit mit der Langhantel. Wer's verkraftet, mag Explosivübungen wie Standumsetzen oder Standreißen hinzufügen.Das Buch richtet sich nicht an Anfänger, die nachvollziehbare Übungsbeschreibungen suchen. Hier empfehlen die Autoren "Starting Strength", das gibt es auch in deutscher Übersetzung, sowie Unterricht bei qualifizierten Trainern.Auch die Ernährungsempfehlungen geraten etwas kurz und beschränken sich im Wesentlichen auf den Verzicht eines Kalorienüberschusses a la "Doritos, Donuts, Big Gulps". Naja, es geht eben um Training, nicht um Ernährung.Ein Kapitel widmed sich dem Ausdauertraining.Meiner Meinung nach fehlen Dehnungsübungen. Die werden schon von Rippetoe, einem Freund Sullivans, sehr kritisch gesehen.Mein Fazit: Ein tolles Buch für fortgeschrittene Amateur-Sportler, die sich mit Ernährung und Stretching anderweitig entwickeln, die hier aber gute Trainingspläne für lange Kraftentwicklung suchen.