The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40 Paperback – 1 Dec. 2016

I am a member of Mark Rippetoe's YouTube channel and also have both his "Starting Strength Version 3" and "Practical Programming for Strength Training" books. At the time of writing this I am 61 years of age and recovering from a broken shoulder, so when I saw "The Barbell Prescription" show up on Amazon, I dug a little deeper. I discovered that the author(s) have been coached by Mark but also have many, many years of practical and scientific knowledge that has helped them put this book together.I have "messed" around in the gym for as long as I can remember and whilst I made small gains, they quickly went after I stopped training. Encouraged by Mark's book, last August I went full on with "The Program" and was making satisfying progress until my injury (not in the gym!) on the 29th December 2016. It has taken over three months to get to a point where I have enough movement back in my shoulder to continue.Then I saw this book and a brief summary of it's contents and it was perfectly suited to my age, my lack of shoulder movement (and pain) and my general fitness level. This is a long book, so value for money is incredible, but it goes way, way beyond that. In the first few chapters, you get to learn what makes the body tick. It is detailed but written in a way that the "average joe" can understand.I am now just under half way through and about to start Chapter 18 which describes the program for the (older) Novice, Intermediate and Advanced trainee. In the previous chapters, the exercises were detailed and variations of those exercises for the weak, immobile and the less confident person. It is surprising how an exercise can be changed but still do what it is supposed to do (albeit to a lesser degree)This is a wonderful book and a very interesting read. The author has a sense of humour and it shows by the way in which he describes the average franchise gym. You'll need to read the book yourself to see what I mean!

If I had to describe this book in one word it would be 'comprehensive'. That's exactly what it is, a comprehensive rationale and exposition on why all adults and older adults in particular should start a programme of strength training.Jonathan Sullivan and Andy Baker make a compelling case based on the overwhelming evidence from research that building strength and sustaining strength throughout the life course could just be the most important thing we could do to maintain our indepence and sustain a high quality of life.In part two the authors present the four, yes, just four prime exercises that such a programme can be built upon. A refreshing change from pretty much any other book on strength training let alone one aimed especially at older adults or coaches intending to work with older adults. Some people may look askance at such a simple programme but the reasoning presented is compelling and is grounded in the experience of the authors work with older adults.In part three the book offers in-depth explanations of the considerations of programming for this particular population and impressed me most.Throughout the book both authors demonstrate a deep sense of empathy and understanding of the challenges faced by 'master athletes'. The attention to detail on how to work sympathetically with each person as a unique individual upon whom life has had a chance to exact a certain toll in terms of health and wellbeing is to be applauded.I would recommend this book to health professionals, coaches, instructors and to member of the public wanting find out about strength training with or for older adults.At this time in 2020, the book was first published in 2016, the importance of strength training has started to find more traction with health professionals and coaches. Alas, strength training may have a way to go in terms of throwing off the 'gym bro' image it has accumulated. This could be the biggest challenge faced by health care and fitness to convince older adults and especially older women to start and make strength training a part of their lives.Here in the UK, the four Chief Medical Officers guidelines for physical activity have placed strength training front and centre in their recommendations for all populations. Perhaps not in the terms laid out in The Barbell Prescription but it's a move in the right direction never-the-less.I wonder how the book and it's message has been received by health professionals and fitness professionals who may not have considered older adults as being suitable for a programme of rigourous strength training as suggested in the book?I hope the authors might return to the subject again in a decade's time to revisit the evidence and how their manifesto for maintaining health and wellbeing into older age through the simple process of progressive strength training has developed in the health and fitness industry.Don't be put off by this hefty book, dig deep and get stronger in the process of taking on it's prescription.

I can’t recommend The Barbell Prescription highly enough.It sets out and evidences the compelling reasons for strength training and cardiovascular conditioning, then tells you how to do both.Wading through the disorders likely to be experienced by people who don’t train as they get older, I was saddened to find that I could put friends' names to most of them.I’ve been weight-training for years and I’ll admit I had difficulty seeing myself as an older lifter (I’m 57 and the book is for over-40s). Once I got past that, this book reinforced what I knew already but also taught me a lot of new stuff. A lot.Dr Sullivan writes well and is enthusiastic about his subject (although a UK reader may need Google to pin down a few Americanisms). He’s also got a sense of humour, which helps.Our problem is that medical science has greatly extended the length of our lives, but it hasn’t done as much to increase the quality of the extra years it’s given us. If you’d like to improve the quality of your life, I’d recommend this book. In fact, I’m going to borrow a quotation to describe it, because the words fit my feelings so precisely:“Buy this book. Read it until it falls to bits, boil the remains and drink the juice. It’s that good.”

I found the information in this book very useful and practical. I found it quite difficult to keep reading through all the clinical type information. I learned a few good points from this book. If you are really interested in a very detailed description of the medical elements of training, then this is the book for you. I got bored and skimmed through those parts, but the information contained in the book is very helpful. It is true to the title. The barbell PRESCRIPTION.