Return from 10 month layoff

[Bradley Gish]

I have been weight training for several years and an intermediate level lifter (considering that I don't compete) I have been on a 10 month layoff but now have plans to resume training. I am aware that using a program of LP will be the quickest route to obtain my previous levels of strength. I know I should reenter conservatively, however I'm not sure how conservative I should be in choosing my weights. I have noted the example in PP3 of the ex college football player. I noticed his starting point was really conservative, but also taking into consideration his layoff was a decade whereas mine was only ten months. My question is, using my last 5*5 PRs prior to the layoff which are:
Squat: 365*5*5
Bench: 225*5*5
Press: 145*5*5
Power clean: 195*3*5
DL: 465*5
Using these, what would be an ideal starting point and is it necessary to take small incremental jumps in weight verses somewhat more moderate jumps considering strength is a resilient quality and therefore I should obtain my previous levels of it at a fraction of the time it took the first time around.

[Michael Wolf]

There's really no point in guessing where to start. Do what you'd do if it were the first time you ever trained. Ramp your sets of five and titrate to the first set that involuntarily slows you down. Don't let your expectations based on previous strength, or your ego, get in the way here. When the bar starts to slow even slightly, that's it. However, unlike your first day, this will be the end of the workout for each lift. Just find your working weight for squat, press, and DL by ramping sets of 5 till you find it, and then shut it down.

If you do it right and don't try to go too heavy right away, you'll be able to take larger jumps to get back to where you were. Over the next several workouts, you'll ramp up both total volume and intensity, giving yourself time to readjust to things.

So, for example, on workout 1 you do as follows for the squat: 95x5, 135x5, 165x5, 185x5, 205x5 - slows down, stop here.
Workout 2: 95x5, 135x5, 175x5, 195x5, 220x5x2
WO 3: 105x5, 145x3, 185x2, 210x5, 220x5, 230x5
WO 4: Warm-up then 230x5, 240x5x2
WO 5: Warm-up and then 250x5x3

And so on. This is meant to be an illustrative example, not The Bible on how to do it. You might start higher or lower than 205. You might be able to take more larger jumps, pr fewer. But in general, I've found it better to err on the side of less aggressive initial work from a long layoff. Don't be unnecessarily conservative, but most people with a decent training history like you have, tend to want to be more aggressive than is needed or productive at the beginning of a return.

The main takeaway points are to find your working weight like you would when first starting the program, and ramp up the volume over a number of workouts as you simultaneously ramp up the intensity, rather than jumping right back into it. You should be able to reacquire the strength much more quickly than it took to first acquire it.

[Bradley Gish]

Thank you for the insight on getting my program re-launched. So basically, I'll be incorporating the Starr 5x5 using progressive sets over the first several workouts until I reach a point to where the bar speed ultimately slows (the weight begins to become heavy). So this will be the determining point to which I will establish my sets across work set weight for the next workout, and pretty much I am assuming that I will use perception in order to make the appropriate incremental increases from that point on, until progress eventually stalls, at which time I'll convert back to weekly periodization. This was very informative and beneficial to my knowledge of strength training. I'm very eager to resume training. Just waiting on my new pair of squat shoes to get delivered and then I'll be back in business!

[Tom Campitelli]

This isn't a Starr 5x5 so much as a gentle reintroduction to an abbreviated linear progression.