Strength / Weight Training

Same for me … but 20kg plate is heavy .
It made me sceptical of any weight weenie purchases though

I get the theory makes sense but yeah your knees will hate you after a while. And I love my knees and back

Probably a bit off piste but when I was a lad in Oxford I was recommended to go to the Morris Motors weight lifting club where Olympians were part of the team. I was told that when they competed in Eastern Block countries bars of chocolate were exchanged for PEDs - the irony being that the person who ran the club was also an olympic weight lifting judge !!!

Weighted walking with a weight vest or weight in a pack is really good, and since it's low impact good on knees etc too. When my gym was close enough to walk (about 10-15 mins each way) I put 15kg + my workout gear in a backpack for the walk.

Of course once you start running, not great on the knees.

put 15kg + my workout gear in a backpack for the walk.

That's just my normal gym kit in the bag. (Overkill Jim)

At what point do I stop StrongLifts?
I’ve been going it a few months , definitely stronger , but failing at OHP and bench now.
Not sure I really need to be stronger at 59 , can you adapt it to lean up a bit ?
I’ll still carry on the squats and DL because I like them , but maybe not at the higher weights

OHP is the killer. It’s never easy. Someone else could advise on a different program. But, you should know, failure is part of SL. The weight drops and you try to progress onwards - it’s hard to get your mind to work this way. I need to start back at it but multiple injuries have prevented it. Old age isn’t much fun 😁

At what point do I stop StrongLifts?

It's a linear progression.

You stop when your run out of weights.

Or when you want to move into a maintenance. Lift on feel. More if you feel strong, less if you need more recovery. Lift because you enjoy it.

As TGR said, failure is built into StrongLifts (and pretty much any linear progression program. if you add weight to the bar every session, eventually you're not going to be able to move that weight for the intended reps), so you take weight off the bar and build back up again.

Things to consider include all of the factors outside of your workouts, particularly, are you sleeping enough, are you eating right, basically are you recovering properly. These things will influence your ability to progress.

I would say if those things are in check, if I remember correctly, generally it's when you have to deload a movement 3 times that the linear progression may no longer be the best way to progress that movement, and moving onto a more intermediate program may be the way.

Just because StrongLifts doesn't work for you anymore doesn't mean strength training is over. Stronglifts is kind of a bastardised version of the Starting Strength program, which is very much positioned to get you started in barbell training, with the idea that when you're done with that you move to a different program.

If you're not as bothered about progressing anymore, of course you could just get in the gym and move some weight. You could also try a totally different style of training. PPL, PHUL, higher reps, lower reps, whatever.

I’ve been doing a various of sl. Instead of 5 reps I do 7. It definitely makes a difference and I’m progressing through the weights slowly but surely.

I want to get a bit leaner so I’m going to lower or remove some carbs from meals and try and get a balance.

I started stalling on stronglifts - probably because I was going to the gym on 4 consecutive days and not resting properly - and decided to mix it up a bit... I still have one "heavy" set in there but the subsequent sets drop the weight and increase the reps, still add on 1 or 2 kg onto each set every time to keep the progression going but it's easier to manage.

In fact, my single "heavy" sets (6 reps) are getting to the point of failure now so i'm going to chop them into 3x2 to keep it going.

I wouldn’t say it’s not working , I’ve definitely got a lot stronger and at my age I know resistance training is key .
But I don’t really need to be any stronger but I would like to lean up and keep the muscle , diet led I know .
Hopefully when the weather improves fasted riding will drop a few KG .
It’s just SL is taking me places I don’t need to go , but I do train because I enjoy .
Keen to avoid injury and happy to maintain .
I’ve been doing stretch and yoga classes which have helped with lifts bizarrely and I can touch my toes for the first time in 20 years .

SL isn’t easy once the weights go up. Also, as they go up, the time to complete goes up by quite a bit. I have a feeling there is a SL variant which reduces the reps but I’m not sure.
Perhaps, your question doesn’t have an exact answer if you are only stalling on two exercises. You can keep stalling and the weight drops/ rises / drops. There are a couple of other assistance exercises on the app which may help too.
Don’t worry about age, I played squash with an 81 yr old last week and I have met a world champ lifter in the past. He was deadlifting around 200kg at 70 years old!

Just on the age thing -

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You’re right about the time it takes , definitely need that 3 mins as the weight goes up .
200kg at 70 … jeez

This is the guy I mentioned

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/eighty-three-year-old-ernest-is-tuff-by-name-and-tough-by-nature-deadlifting-almost-500lbs-3080767

Back in the gym, squats this morning. Feeling the pain already and almost immediately - is this bad? Have I hurt myself?

If you get the pain immediately after or during the lift yeah you might have hurt yourself...

Hmm. I was able to squat okay, could have done another set for example. I wonder if it's to do with mobility/range of motion - I'm going too low under the weight or something

Skull crushers are fiddly and annoying. What are decent alternatives?

Diamond push-ups: This exercise emphasizes all three heads of the triceps muscle and is the most effective move for that.
Kickbacks: This move also targets all three heads of the triceps, but not quite as much as the diamond push-up. This exercise is also easier, so may be more user-friendly than the push-ups.
Triceps extensions: Including this exercise means you have a move that emphasizes the long head of the triceps muscle, a nice complement to the other exercises.
Triceps pushdowns: This move emphasizes the lateral head of your triceps, again a nice complement to the other exercises.

1. Close-grip Bench Press
   
2. Rope Tricep Pushdown
   
3. Tricep Dips (Advanced)
   

I've had a really enjoyable progression triceps dips over the last six months or so. Used to really struggle but managing 4 or 5 sets of 10 now days, depending on how fresh I am.

dips fan as well

but it does put more strain on your elbows

JM press is skullcrushers for people who don’t hate their elbows

JM press

Im going to give this a big go! Time to strengthen my BP!