The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40 Paperback – December 1, 2016

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.

***Update review: I have seen the error of my ways. #1 after years of working out on nautilus machines I realized I was not stronger in basic things like picking stuff up off the floor. I revisit this book and it is a revelation. #2 now I have been doing the program for about 6 months. I'm getting stronger every week, and my body is functioning better as a whole--less back pain; better knees etc. #3 I stick by 1 comment I made earlier: you probably need a coach. Stiffness in my hips and a lack of awareness of my lower back extension led to some form issues on squats and deadlifts. I hired an online SSC and he is helping me with these issues. Expensive but worth it to this 60 year old guy.I'm leaving my crappy original review below to remind myself that the mind can change and wisdom is an evolution much of the time.OK...I get the point, and for what it is worth it is good content. But what a ton of detail! I know that alone should not affect the review, but there is a lot of reiteration too.Two small quibbles other then the excessive detail:Is any exercise truly safe;? He talks about doing exercises like squats and deadlifts, and while he spends a ton of time and detail going over each exercise and the proper form, when he says a free weight exercise is truly safe it is a stretch. I buy the idea that everyone needs to do it, but to do it well is a process requiring coaching or lots of practice of form without weight before building up.Second, he disparages machine workouts. While I realize that there is a cult following on either side, it would be interesting to see a debate between the author and Ellington Darden. I think objectively there are features to machines that make them safer for beginners.