Review my workout!

[Titan]

OK so I go to a convenient, small gym with no showers, but it's 24-hours and has nice new equipment. I paid for the personal trainer to come up with a workout for me. I am cutting lots of fat, At present I weigh 360. I'm 6'4", large framed. My rough goal is 300-320 by years end (4-6 inches off my 48" waist), and to be at my final target by the end of next year, probably 200-220 pounds, as I am a large frame and would like to keep muscle.

I was hoping for a simpler workout but the important thing is he gave me a plan and a spreadsheet so I have something to follow, I need that because I can't come up with it on my own. The main theme is a quick lifting routine that takes 30-45 minutes and focuses on heavy weight.

We went over it today at lunch and I did day 2, leg day. I am still trying to find the correct weight for my lifts, the theme is 3 sets of 12 for most things. We avoided squats as I am heavy and have had knee troubles before, so bw squats with the ball on my back are good for now.

Day 1 (upper body-push day, saturday as of now)

Flat bench chest press 3x12
Tricep Extension machine 3x12
Pec Fly Machine 3x12
Bosu Ball Pushups 3x12
Incline Bioangular bench press 3x12
ball crunches 3x20

Day 2 (leg day, tuesday)

Leg Press machine 3x12
Lunges 3x12
Leg curl machine 3x12
Body squats with ball 3x12
Monster walks 3x12 each leg (ankles resistance band)
side shuffles 3x12 each leg (ankles resistance band)
crunches on decline bench 3x15

Day 3 (pull day, thursday)
Bicep curl machine 3x12
Lat Pull down machine 3x12
reverse pec fly machine 3x12
seated row machine 3x12
bent over row barbell 3x12
preacher curls barbell 3x12
Planks 3x15

So each day has one core set. I did the legs today with leg press at 175, will do 205 next time. Leg curls at 115, and the rest is bodyweight. I had trouble with lunges as my shoes are too wide and I roll all of my weight to the big toe, and I broke my big toe on my left foot 4 years ago, I need to just roll to the ball.

What I was surprised from the PT is he didn't emphasize me to push for failure, just 3 sets of 12. If I get a good resistance on the first set, I will be tired by the third set. And I must say my legs were sore today and I like it. But not like I almost blew a muscle out kindof sore. I think that's ok to start, but when I get more fit will push for failure.

I also like the diversity of activity, it makes it well rounded. On days off I will do some cardio, either high intensity at the gym on the elliptical, or hiking. I also am a TKD guru and am getting back into kicking. I have been stretching my joints as my hips have been aching and I need to keep and eye on it, so I do some crescent kicks to warm them up.

Seem like a good plan? Thoughts? critiques?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

It's a personal trainer's regiment. With that being said, it looks terrible for your goals. It's overcomplicated, it has too many sets per body part, and most of these exercises are accessory exercises that are optional. I don't know what you want from us, Titan. The fat loss sticky is up with example programs for this reason. Personal trainers have to take a test to practice. They don't have to know anything about the human body and how fat is lost. Seriously, man, if you have to have the PT there for motivation, that's fine, but do one of the simple, compound-lift-based programs.

 

[joesmoke]

in my experience youd need some more running in there to reach those goals.

if you get back into full "kicking" shape, large sets of kicks can be a great overall workout. most kicks work muscles from all over the body.

 

[BeauJangles]

Just do bicep curls. They helped me drop 50 lbs and get a ripped body. If you swing enough when you do them, they'll hit your legs too. Perfect.


Real advice?

1) Get your diet in order ASAP. Read a few books, pick a long-term diet that works for you and stick to it. Your diet is critical to making fat loss work and to getting those results to stick. Like SociallyChallenged said, the weight loss sticky is a great read. Read it. Learning how your body works does wonders when you try and improve it.

2) If you want to "lift heavy" stop doing 3x12 sets. That's silly. Heavy weight doesn't mean "Oh, this is good for 12 reps" it means "holy fuck, I might not make it through my fifth rep. There are plenty of lifting workouts that help promote weight loss. Right now you're doing way too many lifts that build secondary muscles. What's worked for me is sticking to compound lifts and exercises. Not only are these exercises more effective, but they actually teach your body something. You become more coordinated, you get better balance, you understand how the various parts of your body fit together. That has benefits for your TKD and the rest of your life.

3) Along the lines of #2... your trainer is either misinformed or in denial. How can you possibly be "lifting heavy" if you're not working to failure? Failure is when the weight is too heavy, working towards failure means you're working at the edge of your physical capabilities.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: BeauJangles
Just do bicep curls. They helped me drop 50 lbs and get a ripped body. If you swing enough when you do them, they'll hit your legs too. Perfect.


Real advice?

1) Get your diet in order ASAP. Read a few books, pick a long-term diet that works for you and stick to it. Your diet is critical to making fat loss work and to getting those results to stick. Like SociallyChallenged said, the weight loss sticky is a great read. Read it. Learning how your body works does wonders when you try and improve it.

2) If you want to "lift heavy" stop doing 3x12 sets. That's silly. Heavy weight doesn't mean "Oh, this is good for 12 reps" it means "holy fuck, I might not make it through my fifth rep. There are plenty of lifting workouts that help promote weight loss. Right now you're doing way too many lifts that build secondary muscles. What's worked for me is sticking to compound lifts and exercises. Not only are these exercises more effective, but they actually teach your body something. You become more coordinated, you get better balance, you understand how the various parts of your body fit together. That has benefits for your TKD and the rest of your life.

3) Along the lines of #2... your trainer is either misinformed or in denial. How can you possibly be "lifting heavy" if you're not working to failure? Failure is when the weight is too heavy, working towards failure means you're working at the edge of your physical capabilities.

However, I'd like to mention that training to failure each set is a bad idea. It increases the risk of CNS fatigue and can hinder all goals, along with daily life. You may fail every once in a while, yeah, but don't use that as a template of how you're doing. Continuous progress is a better way to gauge things.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged


However, I'd like to mention that training to failure each set is a bad idea. It increases the risk of CNS fatigue and can hinder all goals, along with daily life. You may fail every once in a while, yeah, but don't use that as a template of how you're doing. Continuous progress is a better way to gauge things.

Oversimplification on my part. You are 100% correct.

 

[SlitheryDee]

He's got you doing a lot of work on machines. I think you could substitute many of those machine exercises with more effective free weight movements. For instance:

Day 1 (upper body-push day, saturday as of now)

Flat bench chest press 3x12 good. You could also occasionally do dumbell presses here
Tricep Extension machine 3x12 Replace with practically any freeweight triceps exercise. I'm a big fan of brain crushers and single dumbell extensions but there's lots you can choose from. I would also move this exercise down in the order so that it doesn't interfere other compound chest work
Pec Fly Machine 3x12 Replace with dumbell flies
Bosu Ball Pushups 3x12 I'm not sure about this one. Something tells me that going for regular pushups would probably be a better use of your time, even if you can't do very many at first.
Incline Bioangular bench press 3x12 replace with incline bench or dumbell press. Move up so that it follows Flat Bench Chest Press
ball crunches 3x20 Another one I don't really know about, but if it feels challenging and effective, keep it. It's a personal preference of mine to do ab work after cardio on an "off" day, but whatever.

People will say this or that about the reps, but I don't really think you should worry about that too much. 8-12 reps is supposed to be a good range for bodybuilding, and will net you a good mix of strength and endurance. From personal experience I can tell you that's more or less true. Just know that you have some leeway, and you might want to tweak the reps and/or number of sets a bit to suit you best (I usually go for sets of 10 on most things). Working to failure is not strictly necessary, but working hard is. You'll want your last set to feel right on the verge of failure at least. You can use progressively heavier weights on each set, or one weight that's heavy enough to get you there by the last set. I'm starting to think that using one weight may be more effective because all of your sets will be causing high muscle stimulation rather than just the last couple.


So for day one my substitution suggestion is:

Flat bench or dumbell press 3x10
Incline Bench or Dumbell Press 3x10
Dumbell Flies 3x10
Pushups 3xFailure
Freeweight Triceps Exercise 3x10 (Braincrushers, single dumbell extension, kickbacks, whatever)
Ball crunches 3xwhateverfeelsgood

I think this workout would be much more effective than what the trainer gave you, but it is by no means optimal. For one, I would feel like I was missing something without an overhead press in there somewhere. In my own "push" workout I drop the incline bench and do overhead presses instead. I also do weighted dips where you see flies above. I left those off of my suggestion in the interest of having closer freeweight substitutions for each exercise the PT gave you.

Anyway, that's just an example suggestion. Take it with a grain of salt. Hopefully that gives you some ideas though.

Edit: Also, both of the other workouts are in serious need of similar substitutions and reordering, but I'm too lazy to suggest them right now.

 

[NAC]

No one has mentioned Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe yet (although it is in the aforementioned sticky). The program is incredibly simple, and is proven to make people incredibly strong in a short period of time. Based on what you described, you are a novice and it will work for you.

5 exercises:

• squat
  deadlift
  bench
  press
  power clean

IMO - and my opinion is much less valuable than Rippetoe's - you can skip the powerclean if it is intimidating. It is difficult, and I'm sure you wont find much help learning it correctly at your gym. At least, avoiding the powerclean should not prevent you from utilizing the rest of the program.

I'm 35, on my second month, and simply love the program. I've done some body building routines in the past, never could get much results - I either didn't stick to it long enough, or didn't work out enough. But in 7 weeks of "SS", I am seeing real results. And feeling results. Oh, and for now I'm not doing powerclean's - but do plan to add them at some point. Enough to learn with just the squat & deadlift anyway.

Best free source of info on the web is the wiki:
http://startingstrength.wikia....Starting_Strength_Wiki
Also, the book and DVD are available at Amazon for about $20.

I can't recommend this enough. I really hope you look into it, and then give it a try. I'm positive that in two months or less you'll be glad you did.

 

[Titan]

Thanks for all the replies, guys! I'm just looking for some perspective as I've never dealt with a personal trainer before. He got me started with a written plan and I probably won't use him for anything else. I have enough motivation on my own.

I work with a lady who was a PT and she was thinking that maybe he didn't want to overdo it with me first, as people can run out of motivation if you start them out too hard. I have a mountain of motivation, but I must admit with how much effort it is for me to learn and adjust to a routine, having difficulty/injury with too much weight to start may crash my motivation.

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
It's a personal trainer's regiment. With that being said, it looks terrible for your goals. It's overcomplicated, it has too many sets per body part, and most of these exercises are accessory exercises that are optional. I don't know what you want from us, Titan. The fat loss sticky is up with example programs for this reason. Personal trainers have to take a test to practice. They don't have to know anything about the human body and how fat is lost. Seriously, man, if you have to have the PT there for motivation, that's fine, but do one of the simple, compound-lift-based programs.

Basically, I'm a guy who needs it spelled out for him, and most books are overcomplicated for me to figure it out. I do better when someone hands me an exact plan of "do this, do this, and this" that was the only way I learned to construct a good diet was from the exact protocol. Also, annoyingly, I learn better by talking to people than by reading so that's why I tend to ask a lot of questions, to get a good understanding, rather than just information overload. It's just my style; school is good for me with a teacher, but I don't learn from books at all. So I have my plan, it's a starting point, and something for me to focus on, work on setting goals, and improve with over time. I am not a big fan of motivational sayings, but one that has rang true for me is fail to plan = plan to fail. Just getting in the habit of a sticking to a routine is a tremendous accomplishment for me.

What I gather from everybody's feedback is this isn't the most effective cutting routine. But you have to realize I am very overweight and basically haven't lifted regularly ever. I have fiddled with weights before, but I'm learning my first structured routine. This feels a lot like how something might go in a HS or college gym class with all the variety. What the personal trainer was sensitive to is me starting out for the first time and having to workaround old injuries. My knees aren't bad, but just doing BW squats on my own has irritated my knees. I see this as a platform routine, one that once I've built up on for 3-4 weeks, I'll move to more strong-lifts. I think building up some general fitness and strength first is a good idea for me.

Here's my list of old injuries I have to deal with. I feel building up supporting muscle before doing very heavy weights is key for me to not hurt myself.

Right knee - never terrible with all the TKD and running I used to do, but I smashed it bad into a cement basketball court 14 years ago and it still pops (more like a deep clunk) if I extend it fully a certain way. I probably have cartilage damage, but it's never bad, I can tell when a storm is coming when my old-man knee aches. - So heavy squats are out first, I need to build up with body weight.

Right elbow - tore a tendon punching a fat kid in a TKD match 12 years ago. I had to lay off the arm for 5 months, and still warm up my elbows doing circles whenever I do pushups and sometimes it still hurts on the crux of the joint. So heavy arms is out till I build up to it. Also, I've always had wide shoulders and big upper arms but my forearms are thin and I have girlish wrists (with big hands) so I'm going to build up my wrists and forearms as a secondary goal.

Lower back joint - originally hurt 3 years ago by being too heavy after I broke a toe, it has been ok for a while but I need to be careful with my weight and build up before I can do dead-lifts. My toe has healed enough that I can flex it and do pushups and lunges, I just need to not put all my weight on one toe.

Right inguinal ligament (groin) - this was almost a hernia I got 2 years ago from shoveling plow snow out of the driveway. My dad actually did get a hernia in the same spot doing the same thing. I got x-rayed after 3-months of it still hurting and it wasn't a hernia, but we all know ligaments take forever to heal (like sprained ankles) and combined with my weight and activity it hasn't fully healed but is 95% ok. It does cause me to move asymmetrically and is the first thing that triggers my lower back to mess up. I really don't want to re-aggravate this, or worse, make it a hernia.

And lastly, I have to watch what is up with my left hip. Sometimes it's the right, but my left hip is giving a dull joint ache doing ab/aduction. I've been doing a lot of TKD stretches to warm that area up. I'm concerned as my dad had a degenerative cartilage disorder in his left hip which left him with none in his left hip and he needs new hip. It comes and goes and my guess is it's strain on my joints from weight. But if it persists I will have to get an x-ray to see if I got what my dad did. So this is another reason I can't do power squats to start.

/ end injury report

Once I'm built up, I'll do heavier weights and shorter sets, and probably work TKD cardio-kicking on days in-between. And I do know that kicking uses my whole body adn how to get a good workout with it.

What you have all shown me and I've taken away so far from this thread is to not do this as a long-run plan, but since I like the feeling of overall fitness I will still use my plan for 3-4 weeks to get into strong-lifting shape.

I'm actually quite sore from yesterday's leg day and I didn't push anything to total failure. And I covered a lot of muscles, quads, hams, gluts, and inner thigh.

Other notes, my diet is in good order, just not up for discussing that here.

Running is a good recommendation, again at my weight I need to watch out for my joints so the elliptical is great as of now I'm doing the equivalent of a jog, 2.5 miles in 30 minutes.

Again I appreciate the candor, it motivates me to transition to more power lifts in maybe a month. I just need to build up to it as I have old injuries and haven't lifted ever.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: NAC

IMO - and my opinion is much less valuable than Rippetoe's - you can skip the powerclean if it is intimidating. It is difficult, and I'm sure you wont find much help learning it correctly at your gym. At least, avoiding the powerclean should not prevent you from utilizing the rest of the program.

*facepalm* Sure, the power clean is big and scary, but it shouldn't be if you just have the bar. It's the most complicated and technical lift in Starting Strength, but if you don't do it you're missing out on a lot.

It's really not that hard to learn. You just need to be willing to spend five minutes every training session working on it, videotaping yourself, and asking questions. Don't be afraid of the power clean because you'll eventually get it and nailing your first power clean is a sweet, sweet feeling!

Titan -- Any work you do will be good, so I hope you didn't get the impression that anyone here was criticizing you directly. If what you're doing is working for you, you will see results, just know that they won't be as dramatic versus other weight lifting programs. If you really need someone to spell out another workout, here's what NAC was suggesting:

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
3x5 Power Clean

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Overhead Press
1x5 Deadlift

Alternate workouts every other day, three days per week --
Monday: Workout A
Wednesday: Workout B
Friday: Workout A

Next Monday: Workout B
Next Wednesday: Workout A
Next Friday: Workout B

Rinse and repeat. It's an effective program.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Typical globo gym approach useless isolation exercies on machines followed by more useless isolation exercies on machines followed by more useless isolation exercies on machines..........personal trainer should do their job and actually teach you how to lift weights

I guess if you are a total n00b it will get you going in the right direction. Something is always better than nothing.

 

[katank]

Any work you do will likely produce results as long as you are consistent. The primary concern is that you won't make progress as fast as you can. Starting Strength or Stronglifts will probably produce faster results.

One thing to note is that squatting properly is actually rehabilitative to the knee. I personally tore my knee up a few months ago but squatting w/ correct form actually helped it heal pretty fast. Biggest thing to be aware of is to send your hips back first while tilting torso forward. This will produce a vertical shin angle and result in virtually no shear force on the knee. If you try this, you'll most likely be able to squat pain-free. Forget about weight initially and just try to do these with proper form.

 

[Titan]

Originally posted by: BeauJangles

Originally posted by: NAC

IMO - and my opinion is much less valuable than Rippetoe's - you can skip the powerclean if it is intimidating. It is difficult, and I'm sure you wont find much help learning it correctly at your gym. At least, avoiding the powerclean should not prevent you from utilizing the rest of the program.

*facepalm* Sure, the power clean is big and scary, but it shouldn't be if you just have the bar. It's the most complicated and technical lift in Starting Strength, but if you don't do it you're missing out on a lot.

It's really not that hard to learn. You just need to be willing to spend five minutes every training session working on it, videotaping yourself, and asking questions. Don't be afraid of the power clean because you'll eventually get it and nailing your first power clean is a sweet, sweet feeling!

Titan -- Any work you do will be good, so I hope you didn't get the impression that anyone here was criticizing you directly. If what you're doing is working for you, you will see results, just know that they won't be as dramatic versus other weight lifting programs. If you really need someone to spell out another workout, here's what NAC was suggesting:

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
3x5 Power Clean

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Overhead Press
1x5 Deadlift

Alternate workouts every other day, three days per week --
Monday: Workout A
Wednesday: Workout B
Friday: Workout A

Next Monday: Workout B
Next Wednesday: Workout A
Next Friday: Workout B

Rinse and repeat. It's an effective program.

Thanks BJ I do appreciate all the attention, and thanks for spelling out for me. My mode is to tend to take things personally, but not in a bad way, I do come across that way I know.

Quick follow up question on that workout plan: is it better to do a circuit or do the same lift with each set in sequence doing breaks in-between? I would guess the latter as it's a pain in some gyms to rotate out on things like squats. I shoot for 90 second breaks. I would think you'd wanna get squats done first since they seem the most dangerous in terms of injury chance.

My gym is designed so practically anything can be done without a spotter. The bench station resembles a barbell bench, but are lever-action so you don't need a spot. They have one loose bar (two if you count the curl bar) in the whole place. They do have a lot of dumbells. They have a station you can do squats at which has a bar on guided rail so it always moves vertically.

So I guess if I get into powerlifting at some point, I should find another gym. There is a military academy 10 miles down the road from my house that might allow public use, and I could workout with cadets. And then I would have a pool I could use.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Let me address the injuries part of your post, Titan. Isolation exercises will actually increase the likelihood of injury due to the lack of engagement of stabilizer muscles. Also, you are NOT TO START HEAVY on a program like Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5. You start very light, perfecting your form, and increasing the weight each time. As for your knee and elbow injuries, if you utilize correct form and ice then after a workout, they will normally be fine. If your knee hurts after squatting, you are probably doing the squats wrong. If your squat form is perfect, your knees are in a great position and they get stronger and healthier as you go. As for your hips - it just sounds like they're on the verge of tendonitis, which might be aggravated by daily activity at your weight. Ice will help that a great deal.

And I just want to ask - you really accept the fact that you "can't learn" from books? Come on, man. You went to school all your life. You know that reading is an essential part of life. Rippetoe's Starting Strength will give you simple (and complex if you need it) explanations of everything. He is 100x more qualified than any personal trainer that could teach you. And not to mention, personal trainers often DON'T know the correct form and have you do an exercise that will rot your joints out.

A program, written by a professional, would be way more beneficial and would still meet all your criteria. You could even just watch form videos if you really hated reading the stuff. It's up to you, man, but I feel you're 1) setting yourself up for more injuries this way, 2) getting into a program that is less beneficial for you, and 3) just accepting what the personal trainer says because it's easier than researching it on your own.

 

[Titan]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Let me address the injuries part of your post, Titan. Isolation exercises will actually increase the likelihood of injury due to the lack of engagement of stabilizer muscles. Also, you are NOT TO START HEAVY on a program like Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5. You start very light, perfecting your form, and increasing the weight each time. As for your knee and elbow injuries, if you utilize correct form and ice then after a workout, they will normally be fine. If your knee hurts after squatting, you are probably doing the squats wrong. If your squat form is perfect, your knees are in a great position and they get stronger and healthier as you go. As for your hips - it just sounds like they're on the verge of tendonitis, which might be aggravated by daily activity at your weight. Ice will help that a great deal.

And I just want to ask - you really accept the fact that you "can't learn" from books? Come on, man. You went to school all your life. You know that reading is an essential part of life. Rippetoe's Starting Strength will give you simple (and complex if you need it) explanations of everything. He is 100x more qualified than any personal trainer that could teach you. And not to mention, personal trainers often DON'T know the correct form and have you do an exercise that will rot your joints out.

A program, written by a professional, would be way more beneficial and would still meet all your criteria. You could even just watch form videos if you really hated reading the stuff. It's up to you, man, but I feel you're 1) setting yourself up for more injuries this way, 2) getting into a program that is less beneficial for you, and 3) just accepting what the personal trainer says because it's easier than researching it on your own.

Once again, thanks for the keen attention, SC. You shoot straight and I like that, and I do take it to heart.

I hadn't thought about tendonitis on the hip but you may be right, from my old torn elbow tendon I know what that pain feels like and some times it spikes with sharp pain but is usually dull. Sounds like a tendon to me. I was just realizing my daily activity could be clutching in my Jeep and/or just my desk posture at work.

I'll bear in mind the danger of isolation exercises. The bottom line for me right now as I am starting out, I can't even do bodyweight squats without hurting myself. And a power clean? Forget about it. I am so out of shape physically and feel so off-center and uncoordinated from my weight and injuries that I need to build up to it. I will have bad form. The kicking and intense cardio I'm doing for now at my weight will help building stabilizers some ways, so for now I'd just rather stick to secondary calisthenics. At my weight, just doing cardio on the elliptical has shaped up my legs and back noticeably.

To answer your question, I don't mean that I can never learn from books; it's just not my preferred method. I only read in HS for english when they made me, and I graduated second in my class. Never read text books, and got 100s on all my physics tests. Same in college and I was the best programmer in my class. My college text books were an expensive waste. I work well in a structured environment with teachers. I go on intuition and how things sound, which is better for me to understand the conceptual idea of something. I never took notes. I usually would just attend class, put my feet up on the desk, and listen. I'm much better at "getting it" from people than from words on a page. I know it's a strange style but I'm a fairly smart guy and my approach is this: most of the obvious stuff is just chaff, and obvious to me, and I get bored. It's the odd secrets and general concepts that I want to know. I seek basic understanding, not knowledge. I know it's tangential, and I know it's annoying, but it's the way I work. It's efficient for me. Granted, I realize the human body is not simple to generalize on, so maybe I'm ill-suited to this task. I am thick-headed but eventually I listen and since everyone here thinks 5x5 is such a good program I'll probably give the book a look, especially since I would prefer a simplified workout. I know I'm strange, people are dumfounded that I don't read, but (for the most part) to me it's a waste of time. Especially considering how many crappy books are out there. I kind of learn through osmosis.

Personal attention does count a lot for me, so meeting with PT and discussing my goals and concerns about injuries and then follow a personalized plan, that carries a lot of weight. But what everyone says here also is well informed and carries weight with me too. That's why I'm asking. It would be the best of both worlds for me if I could find an in-person trainer that followed these well-researched exercise routines.

My bottom line is I'm always cautious and slow to change. I am pretty in tuned to my body and right now it is telling me I haven't lifted in forever and need to be careful. I'm not overdoing it, and I will probably shift into 5x5, and when I do, it will be slowly.

 

[NAC]

Regarding weight: You can start as light with Starting Strength. In fact, a similar program - Stronglifts (http://stronglifts.com/) specifies that you should start with an empty bar on all exercises. For SS, you are supposed to start at the first weight at which you move slower when doing the lift. And then just add weight every week. Although Rippetoe recommends that most people can add 10 or more lbs to squat & deadlift every session for the first few weeks - do what your body says and add less if needed. I'm mid thirties, am in no rush at this point to become Adonis, and therefore am going slower than I probably could. But so be it - I don't want to risk injury and am in no rush to deadlift a half ton in the Olympics. In fact, I intend to reach about a 300 lb deadlift, 250 lb squat and not go heavier.

Regarding being a beginner: Starting Strength is a heck of a lot easier than the program the PT described. Just look at it. The only exception is powercleans, which as I said, IMO shouldn't be a reason to not do the program. And I'm sure Rippetoe would agree - doing SS without powercleans is better than a hodgepodge of body builder routines.

Don't be intimidated by talk of people eventually getting into heavy heavy weights. You don't need to do it if you don't want. The program works so well that you can if you want, but you don't need to.

You never got into lifting before. I did on and off for 20 years, but that whole time I never got strong or fit - I just went to the gym and did what everyone else did. Eventually I'd quit for a few months/year before starting again. After starting with Starting Strength, and sticking to it for weeks, I can't believe how much better it feels, how much better it is. I'm sorry that this wasn't around 20 years ago, because ? quite simply it would have changed my life.

Go to Strenghmills forum. There are plenty of people heaping praise besides me. For example:
http://strengthmill.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6213
You can even post to Rippetoe's Q&A forum and he'll personally respond. Uh? beware that he'll be? very direct in his response.