Reasonable Expectations

I know that there are a lot of variables but …

What would be reasonable expectations for growth in a lifter starting out “over 35”. Let say, starting out at 38 or 39.

  • skinny/fat type. Meaning easily gains fat but not naturally husky and muscular

  • average level of fitness with 5 or so year hiatus gaining lot of fat. Note: This is now gone.

  • relatively weak after 6 months of beginner training . 5RM’s: bench 165, squat 210, shoulder press 110.

Vital stats: 5 feet 6 inches, 160 pounds, 13% BF.

I’m curious what would be reasonable strength/lbm gains over next couple of years. Let me know if you’ve “been there/done that”.

Chub…

You can actually accomplish a helluva lot. I’m sure I’ll get dogged out for saying this, but buy the body-for-life book or check out their webpage for inspiration alone… and to see what someone your age can acheive.

I did the contest last year and had great results. Here are the results:

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;?id=550922

The key is to TRAIN HARD. And get your diet in line. You WILL get results if you do these things. The only way that you won’t get results is if you are inconsisten, don’t bring INTENSITY to the gym or don’t have a tight diet.

Also, don’t get carried away and try to follow the advanced programs on here. They are for people who’ve been training for a long time. Find something basic, like body-for-life, and stick with it for a while.

Otherwise you risk injury and burnout.

Check out Stuart McRobert’s book Beyond Brawn. The book is fantastic and has a good section on goals for the drug-free, genetically average trainee. These include pressing bodyweight strictly, benching 1.5 times bodyweight (raw), squatting two times bodyweight (legal depth, just a belt) and deadlifting 2.5 times bodyweight. This won’t happen overnight, but you should be able to accomplish these goals in a few years and build a really good physique along the way.

Chub,

Your numbers aren’t half bad actually, for someone who has only been training 6 months. You’re only 5’6" after all.

Do some extra studying on what to do for spinal stability and torso/core strength. Most people that don’t work out are weak in these areas. If you don’t give it extra attention now, you,re setting yourself up for problems later.

Barring injury, you can go a long way up.