I just read The Barbell Prescription by Dr. Jonathan Sullivan and Coach Andy Baker. Dr. Sullivan is a “double doctor,” with a PhD in neurophysiology in addition to an MD. I learned about his work by watching the video “Lifting: Possible at any age» for John Claassen, who did his first powerlifting match at age 92, deadlifting 235 lbs! Dr. Sullivan was his coach and John trains at Dr. Sullivan Greysteel establishment in Michigan (I love this name). After watching this inspiring video, I found out that Dr. Sullivan had written a book and had to check it out.
The first part of the book is the why of strength training, the rest is exactly the movements recommended and detailed instructions for performing them. The first part argues strongly and convincingly that strength training should be central to any antiaging exercise prescription. There is a lot of emphasis on cardio training as we get older and strength training is often an afterthought. Dr. Sullivan believes this should be reversed. The two most important aspects of training for healthy aging are often referred to as “strength and conditioning,” and strength training provides the strength part and a good chunk of conditioning as well. Cardio’s contribution is more to conditioning, so he recommends it as a supplement to strength training. If you already have some kind of hobby or sport that emphasizes cardiovascular exercise (tennis, swimming, walking, running, cycling), etc., he recommends that you continue to do so. But you don’t and you start from scratch, he recommends high intensity interval training which is a powerful and time-efficient preparation method. I enjoyed reading this first part.
From the book’s title, it should come as no surprise that Dr. Sullivan recommends barbell strength training as the cornerstone of his exercise prescription. His basic movements are the squat, deadlift, bench and overhead press. He also talks about supplementing them with power clean movements. This is almost the same as Mark Rippletoe’s”starting force” routine (author’s both are also Original Strength Coaches). The powerclean is definitely a move you should learn with an experienced trainer or coach. Otherwise we can replace the row with the bar. Either row or clean or equivalent should be part of a complete program, in my opinion, because they provide a “pull” movement to complement the “push” of presses. This barbell recipe is the strength part of the program, and there’s also instruction on high-intensity interval training to help prepare.
My only criticism of the book is that Dr. Sullivan is somewhat dismissive of alternatives to barbell training, such as resistance bands. The lightweight resistance bands you see in sporting goods stores are admittedly inadequate for proper strength training, but so are the little two-pound weights in those stores. Just as you can get as strong as you want using fairly heavy weights, you can use heavy resistance bands. I have stations with sets of bands in my garage that can give my strength a good challenge, and they take up a lot less space than bars and a rack. But if you’re going to hit the gym, definitely the barbell is a great way to lift heavy. A major benefit of weight training is that you can accurately track your progress, like you know you deadlifted 200 pounds last week and now you can deadlift 205. With bands, you know you’ve progressed by adding an extra band, but it’s hard to tell how much. That’s enough for me, I only care about getting stronger or at least staying the same as my age, not losing weight.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. Part 1 is very inspirational and a good motivation to put proper emphasis on strength training. Even for people who have a sport or active hobby that provides cardiovascular benefits, it must be supplemented with strength training for healthy aging. I have some hiking and biking friends who don’t do this and are at risk of getting weaker as they get older. This book inspired me to take strength training more seriously instead of just treating it like a ‘chore’.
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I am a Mechanical Engineer born in 1953, Ph. D, Stanford, 1980. I have been in the CAE engineering field for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in outdoor activities and fitness. I have had both hips replaced and a heart valve replacement due to a genetic condition. This blog chronicles my adventures in staying active despite these bumps in the road. View all posts by BionicOldGuy
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