On trap DLs does the poundage include the bar? My wife has been on a journey similar to yours but been at it a bit longer. She’s 68, 5’4” and now 125 after losing about 25 in about 7 months. Weight has stabilized for about 6 weeks, where she wants to be. She also does trap DL and is up to 205 now, and does sets of 12 very strict push-ups. Now wants to do pull-ups. Keep up the good work!
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It does include the bar. Thanks for the encouragement! 
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Has your wife always been active or is this a relatively new thing? I started lifting about 8 or 9 years ago but I I’m back and forth on the wagon. I’m hoping this one sticks. Lol
Yeeess! I’m so excited for you!
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We’ve been together for 17 years,and besides a stint of jazzercise in the 80s hadn’t been working out, and never with weights. She started going to the gym with me and really started to getting in to lifting. Didn’t really start actual lifting goals as a way to motivate herself until the last year or so. I’m really proud of her, looks great, strong. Works as a surgical nurse and is stronger than all of her coworkers that are bigger and half her age. She really enjoys it.
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I work in the medical field as well. I’m an ultrasound tech. The lifting certainly makes my job easier. And I am also much stronger than most of my coworkers. Lol. It feels pretty good as I am one of the older women in my department. I assume your wife came to the same conclusion I did, I never knew how good I could feel (or how bad I felt) until I made the change.
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I’m pretty excited as well. Looking forward to something different and something challenging.
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Challenges/goals are motivating. Without them, for me at least, it’s easy to slack off.
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That’s what I just told my husband. I need something to move toward.
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Have you done 531 before? I see you have the book but don’t remember if you have done it.
I am a big fan, will be watching your progress.
One of the many things I learned was to do the program. There are a lot of ways to get sidetracked. Early on with low TM’s hitting AMRAP PR’s might lead you to think it’s easy and you can slip in some arms here, some extra cardio there. I would suggest you get some guidance from the book or the experts here (not me) with respect to any customizations. For me, running BBB was challenging because I wanted to stay lean and that didn’t work, lol.
In for the ride - best.
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531 is where it’s at, and even when I am not following a specific version of it, I am always using some of the principles.
I even have my own specialized version, designed to supercharge your progress: 531 BBB EMB. But I am too lazy to run it anymore. Shoot, maybe I should! Anyway, I will happily sell you a copy of the plan for €5000, or it comes free with a subscription to my OF.
All that said, I am not sure 531 works well on a deficit, unless you do the super easy TM version, which is my favorite. But yeah, it wants calories.
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My husband has done this program before and has warned me of this mistake. I think I’m going in with the full knowledge that this will start with the misguided thought of it being easy and end with a humbling body slam down the road. I intend to start as light as is reasonable and follow the program. I hope you enjoy watching what could be amazing or possibly a train wreck. Only one way to find out.
I will Venmo you.
I’m going back to maintenance. Possibly surplus if needed (probably). Gonna see if my brain can handle the thought of weight gain now for a payoff down the road. We will see how much I can override my current thought process. Should be a fun challenge. My current thought thanks to a nudge from @s.gentz is to do this program now and a cut around the beginning of the year. It would be fantastic to have great tank top arms by late spring. My arms are my best feature so it’s nice when they are toned.
I really enjoyed this last year when I made the same decision (I mean, obviously, FOOD). I definitely threw weight back on, but I don’t think I ever felt completely out of control, and coming to a place where I felt pretty sure that I’d found “maintenance” was a big success for me.
I have to keep reminding myself to “keep the goal the goal,” which can change, depending, but I have a tendency to get swept up in new ideas, e.g. I am once again suddenly considering 531 because there’s so much enthusiasm in here. But then I remember that I love being told exactly what to do by someone who looks like Caroline Girvan, which is how I want to look, and that there’s no reason to switch.
So as I move through this, I whisper it to myself, “keep the goal the goal,” and then I try to remember what that is (lol). So right now, as the cold sets in and various posters talk about not progressing or feeling punk from the deficit and I notice that I also feel punk, I have to whisper it to myself again, especially as I AM progressing. I’ve just had to buy more weight and can now easily flex a delt.
I find it really helpful to have it as a mantra and a self-check-in. It helps with balance, which is an area where I struggle, and I suspect you will find it helpful, too.
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My plan is to stick to my current diet with slightly larger portions. Meaning that I’m not planning to reintroduce cheese or bread or junk food, but maybe a larger portion of meat, more veggies. Although I did add a 5 grain hot cereal to my morning and some homemade granola to my yogurt. But I’m planning to keep it clean. I just feel better when I eat clean. I’m thinking about posting my meals to see if anyone has criticism, but at the same time I’m not sure I really want criticism 
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It will be amazing.
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Exactly what I did. And pushed even harder on the protein. It’ll be good!
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Might be good, might go bad, either way we are about to find out. Lol
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10/16
Calories: 1519 Protein: 140 Carbs: 136 Fat: 35
143.8
Early morning walk. 3.08 miles.
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Listen, I am all for slow starts to 531, but you do actually have to lift something.
Also, your strategy to run this until the end of the year…feels too short a time period, assuming you are following some kind of 4 week cycle. First cycle will just getting your body used to the work. It will take 3 or 4 cycles before you are even getting back to your real maximums.
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Well sir, I’m starting Sunday. I am enjoying a short 3 day break.
Yeah. I thought about that too. Gonna try do do 6 cycles and see where that gets me. Then reassess. Also going to do 3 days a week of lifting instead of 4. That’s what I’m currently doing and it leaves me recovered enough to not feel too drained.
Edit: I think it will actually be a long while before I bother with a cut. I’m not (and never have been ) a bikini kind of girl. I don’t particularly care if I’m super lean. Just want to be strong and have a descent body composition. I figure if I’m training properly, recovering, eating clean and enough, those things should give me the results I’m looking for.
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