OK some background.   I just turned 47.  I've been dropping weight since September.  Was about 320 (331 at my last physical of June '13)  Was 258 as of last week.
I tried several "exercise" and "workout" plans.  Had a personal trainer for a while (over the past 3 years on and off).  I finally had a few wake up calls that got my attention and I got serious about my health and conditioning.

I've lurked in this forum for about a year.  Also at BB.com.  I finally picked up Starting Strength (mainly from seeing it mentioned here so much) and Practical Programming for Strength Training.  Started reading Rip's website.  Ripped out the carpet in my living room, put down fake wood flooring, put stall mats on top of that.  Spent a lot of time on Craigslist and gave Rogue a decent chuck of coin for a rack and barbell.

I started lifting two weeks ago and I'm hooked!

Things I've learned:

Bro-science is everywhere and most people are interested in selling their products and NOT help you with your health/fitness goals.
Diet is king!  Once you have that under control, it makes life MUCH easier.
Research EVERYTHING!  If you found out about it from an Internet pop-up ad...it's a LIE!  
This place actually has a few folks that know WTF they are talking about!  

So that's part of my story....

....AND GO!

So what did you put in?

And a big yes to researching everything, even anything that Rip posts about.

Nice! Good luck!

Pics of gym?

I'm 49 and at our age, focusing on healthy joints and mobility should be a priority.  Proper form and technique should be as important as your diet. Each workout should begin with a dynamic warmup

I do a pre-workout routine similar to this every day, regardless of what type of workout I'm doing and I also do it to start my day on non workout days.  eta: Where I differ from the this video is, I do joint mobility drills first, before doing anything else and I start from top down, where as the video starts bottom up



This youtube channel has great videos for maintaining healthy joints while lifting...

http://www.youtube.com/user/JDCav24/videos

Sounds like you're on the right track.

How long have you been single?

Thanks guys!

I get a pic of the gym up later....I only have some crappy cell phone pics right now.

I put in a Rogue RML-690

I bought 2 bars  a Men's B&R Bar for me and a Bella Bar (15kg) for my wife.

My plates, dumbbells, dumbbell rack are all Craigslist finds.

Barney, I am with you 100%!  I have some knee and elbow history.  And while the goal is to get stronger and in better condition, staying injury-free is the over-riding factor.   I'm taking my training slow, not adding weight too aggressively, but still adding.  I generally do extra warm-up sets with the bar only.   I'll look at those videos.  Thanks for posting them.

GUNGUY,

Not single...who do you think I got to install the flooring?     I'll post pics of the Mrs. when I get her to start using her bar.  She is actually on-board for the whole thing.  We are recent empty-nesters (and LOVING IT!).  I tell people this is my mid-life crisis.  It is cheaper than a girlfriend or a sports car and has my wife's approval!  

I wanted to point out that the video I posted (in my earlier post above) is a good example of what most people call a "Joint Mobility" routine, though the guy in the video calls it a dynamic stretch.  There's many variations of joint mobility routines and you can customize one to fit your needs, such as more focus on your knees and elbows.  Where I differ from the above video is, I do joint mobility drills first, before doing anything else and I start from top down, where as the video starts bottom up.  If for some reason I had to give up every form of fitness training except one, I would keep the mobility training.  I don't want to grow to be one of those stiff old geezers that can barely move.

In case you're curious, for an overly long winded explanation of why you're doing what the other video demonstrated in only 10 minutes...

What equipment do you utilize in your home gym and what does your lifting routine look like?

I'm pretty much doing traditional Starting Strength.  So barbell, plates, rack, and bench.  I use a belt on my working sets for squat and dead lift.

I'm still in the early stages of my progression so I have no numbers to brag about but I am making progress and I am not aggravating any old injuries.

Just looking at the last 2 weeks of logs I was surprised at how much weight I've added, but I intentionally started light.

I do have dumbbells, resistance bands, a dip station (part of the Rack when I bought it) and pull up/chin up bars. (also part of the rack).  Some of that will get programmed in as I progress.

That's winning at life

Good for you man. America would be better off more people followed your lead.

Mark,

I love it!  It is a BEAST!  Pic is below.  My only complaint was with the assembly.  Rogue sends a set # of nuts/bolts/washers for this rack.  Their instructions and pictures on the website have some discrepancies...so I ran out of washers because I used them where I thought I should!    All of the hardware is available at lowes/home depot/etc.   I picked up the extras and finished.   Assembly is actually easy but it will take at 2nd person to assist when you stand up the two sides to attach the fat/skinny bar in the middle.  Let me know if you want any other pics.

This.



I'm thinking I would be single with the quickness if I moved my power rack to the family room.
Is that a slab floor? seems like a lot of weight for standard joists but I'm not a structural engineer either. I would expect a bit of cracking drywall joints.
Nice job on making your health a priority.

Yes it is a slab.  We ripped out the old carpet...it needed to go anyway, and put in the fake wood vinyl tile.  Stall mats on top of that, then the rack.  I will with this rack so I would NOT have to anchor to the foundation.  

I didn't want to do that in the LIVING room of the house in case we sell.  Rack weight is about 600lbs before bars and plates.

I have dreams of my home gym....   It's going to cost me THOUSANDS... and it is going to come from Rogue.

I will be able to do CrossFit in my garage!

Stick it out in your garage unless the bonus room is on a concrete slab.  You want to be able to drop weights onto it, and if you are working Oly, you will need to be able to drop weights onto it.

That is an AWESOME setup. Op I wish you the best in this change!