Opinions on my lifting programme? Male, 52, general fitness

[joshlete]

I'm 52, skinny, never done much exercise in the past, and started lifting in the last year. 5 months on Starting Strength (modified as per The Barbell Prescription). Have since moved on to a programme I've evolved for myself over the last few months, but haven't yet put fully into practice.

Goal: Maintain strength in old age, avoid getting fat and generally keep fit. I don't have much time in the week, but weekends are flexible.

Diet: I intend to do a cut/bulk cycle: 500cal below my maintenance, until 15% body fat, then 2 weeks at maintenance, then 500cal above maintenance until 20%. Repeat. I've been on a cut for 21 weeks now to get from 21% to 17% (fat measurement is bioelectrical but hey). About 1.7g/Kg (0.8g/lbs) of protein per day.

I sleep about 6.5 hours a night (time in bed is about 7 hours).

My programme is based on some of the recent studies on high vs low reps:

Sunday

Squats: 5 x 5 (5min rests between sets)

Bench/OHP: (alternate weeks): 12 x 3 (30 sec rests)

Deadlifts: 1 x 5

Face pulls (for rotator cuffs): 20x

Monday

Squats 12 x 3 (@60% of Sunday, 30sec rests)

Bench/OHP: 12 x 3

Chins: 3 sets to failure (5mins rest between)

Face pulls: 20x

Thursday

Squats: 12 x 3 (as Monday)

Bench/OHP: 12 x 3

Deadlifts: 1 x 5

Face pulls: 20x

Any opinions/tips welcome!

 

[souheilzeit]

@joshlete As a lot of people have observed, full body back-to-back is going to be rough, and possibly counterproductive. If I were you, I'd Make Sun/Mon a lower/upper split, doing Squats and other leg accesories on Sunday, and Bench/rows/shoulders on Mondays, with Deadlifts and secondary squat/bench on Thu. That should be plenty for your needs.

 

[joshlete]

@souheilzeit OK yes - I was wondering about the recovery time issue. TBH part of the key to me doing this successfully is going to be time per workout too, so that might work out well.

 

[saspian]

@joshlete I'm in agreement that either switch to a Sun, Tue, Thr schedule to provide recovery time. Or make Sun/Mon a Push/Pull split. As Thursday has the most rest and recovery time, do an intense super-set full-body workout. I'd add bent-over rows and lat pull-downs / chin-ups / pull-ups, and possibly dips.

As for optimizing for time, I prefer super-sets. I can do a push, pull, and legs routine with minimal rest time between sets. What would take over an hour to complete, I can do in about 30 to 45 minutes.

 

[swainkas]

@joshlete Lifting full body back to back isn’t ideal. But if you’re recovering and progressing keep at it.

 

[joshlete]

@swainkas Well SS was back to back and I progressed OK-(ish), but plateaued eventually (although not on my DLs). Hence this new plan. But I think I might drop the DL on Thurs as that might be too hard.

 

[chadfrommudvayne]

@joshlete I don't think I fully understand the 1 x 5 deadlifts. The greyskull routine has this in it too. What's the point of loading up the bar once for 5 reps? I'd honestly get more of a workout putting weight on the bar than only doing one set for 5 reps. I'm not knocking the routine, but maybe I'm missing something here?

 

[christian_girl_323]

@chadfrommudvayne Deadlifts are highly stressful and a single set of 5 is enough to cause an adaptation (so you can deadlift 5lbs more every time you do them as a novice). So why do more? For example in the Starting Strength program you start with deadlifting every workout, so three times per week. As you progress you can only do them every second workout and eventually you do them only three times per month (always just a single set of 5 not including warmups). This is well justified as if you do more than that you wouldn't be able to recover and would fail to add 5lbs on the next scheduled deadlift. Its simply too stressful otherwise. More reps at lower weight is not reasonable if you are trying to increase strength (unless you are no longer a novice).

 

[chadfrommudvayne]

@christian_girl_323 Excellent explanation. Thank you.

 

[tim10001]

@joshlete More deadlifts needed! 1x5 is weird, you're not going to scheive much with that. Nothing works better as a compound than them, particularly for posture and posterior chain strength, so use them.

At 52, you'll need more recovery time, back to back workouts will not help you much, space them out a bit more.

What are you doing for Cardio/fitness?

 

[chadfrommudvayne]

@tim10001 I had a similar question on that below. I understand the exercise is highly stressful, but if done correctly with proper form I can hardly believe 5 reps will produce solid results, 3 times a week. Granted, I'm half the age of OP so I understand. Depends on your goals and it might be an unpopular opinion, but Arnold or any of these pros didn't get in shape doing 15 reps a week...

 

[tim10001]

@chadfrommudvayne I saw your question, figured it was worth reiterating.

No, 15 reps a week is not gonna do shit in my opinion. It's really not that stressful of an exercise, more complex perhaps, but I don't think its really anything that needs to be treated as anything all that special. I'm 47, not a tremendous gym goer but I do consider deadlift as an important component of any strength training regimen. My 2c anyway

 

[joshlete]

@tim10001 As to the high vs low rep thing, I linked to a recent study (there are others) that indicate high reps/low load may be better for older people to get the same results as low ones. In my programme however, I am mixing it up with a low rep/high load on Sunday. And my DLs are always high load.

 

[tim10001]

@joshlete Yeah, as an 'older' person I am thinking lower load is actually a better approach, mainly to avoid injury if anything else. I've found my capacity for load has diminished for my shoulders, so thinking I need to look at greater rep work.

 

[joshlete]

@tim10001 This article is also on the subject that inspired my high rep approach. It cites a couple of studies too, so I think it may not be your usual bro science.

 

[tim10001]

@joshlete Nice. Thanks. Great read, and makes a lot of sense. Making me rethink my approach to my chest and shoulders, which are now protesting with load.

 

[lessgritma]

@joshlete I'm not as "older", but I'm 46 and have had no issue doing progressive overload using Phraks GSLP. I also added 2 sets of dead lifts. I played a lot of sports when I was younger but never lifted. I'm the strongest I've ever been in my life and I feel like I have a lot of progress still to make.

 

[joshlete]

@tim10001 Cardio is interesting. I was doing low-impact HIIT on rest days when I was on SS, but I'm going to drop that during my cutting and put it back when I'm bulking. The idea is that I might need to burn off some of the fat I'll be taking on when in surplus.