Question re Older Lifter trying to follow PPST3

[This Old Man]

I thought about trying Texas Method but PPST3 says too much volume is not good for an older lifter and it also suggests working out 2/week instead of 3/week to provide more recovery time. Also, given the other demands on my time, it would be very difficult for me to work out 3/week and I would likely frequently miss workouts. I am a tax lawyer and I have 5 children. 2/week gives me the flexibility to shift workout days around if necessary but still get them in for the week. I haven’t missed a workout in about 5 months now. I want my routine to be sustainable. Can you reduce the volume on Monday and ditch the Wednesday recovery workout and still do the Texas Method?

Here's how I did it. First, I did volume day on Saturday, not Monday. The next day I would be a little groggy, and I can afford to do that on Sundays but not on a work day. Second, I only do two exercises on volume day, 5x5 squat and 5x5 press (overhead or bench), no other exercises and no warmup except for the usual squat/press the bar and work up to work sets. Midweek is Monday, and that's just a little assistance work, chinups and dips mostly. Intensity day is Wednesday, working up to one heavy set on the squat and press, and one set on the deadlift. Total time is about two to two and a half hours per week.

I tried advanced novice but just got injured. A couple of young guys I used to lift with took that program to a five-hundred pound squat, but come to think of it, they got injured a lot too. Texas method was just a lot easier on me, even though the weights I'm moving aren't that impressive. I would often keep the same weight for volume day for four or five weeks, but my intensity-day lifts would keep going up.

Five kids is awesome! I have four, and they keep me hopping.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

I think the recommendation of keeping volume day to two exercises is sound, especially for an older guy. Your squats can adequately drive your deadlifts if you are training them hard enough. If you want a little extra pulling volume, do it on the intensity day in the form of 1 or 2 five rep back off sets at a reduction from the weight of your one all out work set.

Ex: Deadlift 5 x 405; rest 5 mins: 5 x 365.

[dpinsen]

I thought about trying Texas Method but PPST3 says too much volume is not good for an older lifter and it also suggests working out 2/week instead of 3/week to provide more recovery time. Also, given the other demands on my time, it would be very difficult for me to work out 3/week and I would likely frequently miss workouts. I am a tax lawyer and I have 5 children. 2/week gives me the flexibility to shift workout days around if necessary but still get them in for the week. I haven’t missed a workout in about 5 months now. I want my routine to be sustainable. Can you reduce the volume on Monday and ditch the Wednesday recovery workout and still do the Texas Method?

Consider trying 5/3/1. You normally focus on one of the 4 barbell strength exercises per workout, but there's a variant where you can double up and do 2 workouts per week. I did that accidentally my first week trying the program. There's an app that helps with programming and tracking (supports SS too), called Big Lifts.

I'm 44 and have done the Texas Method. This year, up until a couple of weeks ago, I was doing a novice progression on bench and press, working back from shoulder surgery at the end of last year, and had switched back to TM for squats a couple of months ago. Ended up being too much volume for me. 5/3/1, so far, is less volume and lower weights, but much less rest time, so the workouts are quicker.

[AndrewN]

I may have misread the form cues in SS, but I pretty sure you deadlift with your hands.

I actually had some sort of capillary explosion or something a few weeks ago that gave me a sort of mini black eye, but there was no pain.

You might want to see a doctor.

I'm planning on seeing my optometrist in the near future but is there a type of doctor that you would recommend? Not sure my family doctor would be helpful but I'm thinking of going and getting a referral to an opthamologist.

Thanks,

Andrew

[Mark Rippetoe]

If you need glasses, see an optometrist. Why do you need a referral to an ophthalmologist?

[DoctorWho]

Just a quick thanks for this useful information in this thread about the squat driving the DL, microloading, and reps. And also a hat tip to johnnys, even if it is damming by faint praise. There aren't many lawyer jokes where patent lawyers come out on top.

[AndrewN]

If you need glasses, see an optometrist. Why do you need a referral to an ophthalmologist?

Hi Coach,

In my earlier post, I had said that I had temporarily stopped doing deadlifts. I had worked up to 260 x 5 but I found after my set was done at that weight I would have pain in my right eye that persisted for a while. I think from the pressure. George Christiansen had suggested seeing a doctor about it. I was asking if he had a suggestion as to which type of doctor would be best.

Regards,

Andrew

[Mark Rippetoe]

An ophthalmologist.

[BlackCoffee]

And on the first day Rip said

Be not afraid. Adaptation shall occur.

[paterfamilias]

Here's another old-guy TM data point:

I'm 48, 5' 8", 225lbs, and I've been doing a four-day split TM that isn't killing me too much:

Monday: Bench 5x5 (265 this week)
Tuesday: Squat 5x5 (365)
Friday: Bench 1x5 or equivalent (315)
Saturday: Squat 1x5 or equivalent (420), DL 1x5 (455)

I dropped light day a while back because it seemed like it was inhibiting recovery between VD and ID. Until a couple weeks ago, I was training both bench and press each week (Monday:Press ID, Bench VD; Friday: Bench ID, Press VD), but I'm prepping for a meet at the end of September, and it just got to be too much to recover from.

I am paying a lot of attention to nutrition and recovery, which I didn't used to be very good at. Without good nutrition and rest, this would be absolutely unthinkable.

If I had more time for weekday sessions, I could see stuffing this into two long, grueling workouts.