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Comment by grudg3 | Hacker News Reader

What would you recommend to someone older to start with? I've done SS in my late 20s but I do feel like I'd like to try something new as I get closer to 40 and considering some exercise. Context, I wfh, am overweight and extremely sedentary. At the moment have been purely working on my diet but exercising is next.

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Honestly you should start again with starting strength or a beginner program like it if you haven't been actively training in the last few years. Go slow, start with the bar, let the increases happen until you hit a wall where you need to reassess. Listen to your body. Once you're back to "intermediate", i.e. 6 months to a year of reasonably consistent training, you can transition to a different program or just maintain at 2x a week if you like where you've ended up.

That's in addition to very gradually adding some sort of cardio like walks around the block. Being sedentary is going to be more of a struggle to overcome than strength - you will find that the strength you used to have will come back quickly when you start training again, but as a guy in the exact same boat, the cardiovascular side is the tough part. I am getting strong again really quickly but I am getting winded half way through a strength workout, let alone actually trying to jog.

https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-ro... worked great for me despite being 40+, overweight and sedentary for the prior 14 years.

I wouldn't recommend any changes to it, other than taking it easy if you need to.

The biggest struggle I had when I was totally out of shape was just how tough even a light workout was. It's fine to take it easy and not increase the weights you're lifting aggressively, for instance. Or even to go to the gym twice a week instead of three times. If it's not an easy and fun part of your life you'll fall off the wagon.

Basically you can be a physical wreck at 40, to a degree that a 23 year old guy can't even comprehend. All simply because you didn't exercise.

Just keep showing up regularly, doing the compound lifts SAFELY but heavy enough to tire out your muscles, and eating your protein (100g+ daily, there are formulas to calculate it precisely).

It might take a little longer for us older sedentary guys but everything will come together.

A good personal trainer (or physical therapist if you start hitting issues?) is absolutely worth it if you can get one, one advantage we older guys have is we're more likely to have the spare cash for this.

For my job, I was fit and strong until 28, COVID gym closures and a career change later into wfh tech I was 31 and out of shape and verging on unpleasantly so. I was worried if I could get back into shape easily, but did the below. Only hard part was the discipline tbh, as I started at very low weights/just the bar in some cases.

If you’re familiar with SS, what worked for me was a modified version. I threw out the linear progression and squat 3x times a week goals, and focused on lifting 3x a week come hell or high water and hit 5+ increases if I was able. 30-60 days of that, you’re back at an easy point to decide to get “really fit” or just stay active.

Day 1: squat 3x5, DL 3x10, lunges (the second week, DL 1x5, squat 3x10)

Day 2: bench 3x5, press 3x10, push-ups (swap bench and press same as above week 2)

Day 3: row 3x5, pull-ups, arms/w-e else.

I’m nowhere near when I was strong but my numbers make Me feel ok about things now, as I know I’m now out of the dangerzone of out of shape AF

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