52 years old, starting over after long lay off -- 2 or 3 x/week?

[JohnKreg]

Hmm, I was all eager to see if I had any novice linear progression left in me, but when I read the new book and PPST, I seem to be seeing a rather strong bit of advice to be careful of frequency at my age. Most liberal was something like -- 3x for the first couple of weeks, then drop down. Am I an idiot not to take this seriously? What should I look for as a sign that I should be lowering the frequency from 3x to 2x/week?

I assume there's a probabilistic spread of some sort, here -- but I have no indication that I have especially good genetics (pathetic 14" VJ, for example) -- any advice on how to approach? I'm a big guy and starting light -- 6'4"/245 lbs - Squat 225, DL 250, BP 160 after a couple of weeks. Thoughts?

[Smyth]

I started SS at 51 years old with no barbell training in my background. I did the normal novice linear progression in SS 2nd and 3rd edition. I went 3 times a week for quite a while, but eventually went to longer breaks. I'm reading barbell prescription now, but I am currently doing only one or two main lifts a day, 3 workouts per week. So Sunday, bench, Tuesday OP and deads, Thursday Squats. I throw in some chins and sled work, but those are pretty much it. I tried power cleans and loved them but I think it may have given me golfer's elbow (which I am rehabbing now with chins).

Bottom line, do the 3 per week LP until you can't, then adjust.

[texasplumr]

I'm 63 and I stayed on a three day schedule way too long. There's some golden advise in that book.
My progression had stopped and I was really frustrated until I read The Barbell Prescription. I then switched to a two day schedule and started progressing again.
My old body just can't recover that quickly. You're 11 years younger than me so you might be able to go a little longer than me. But at some point you'll stop being able to add weight and then you might want to think about it.

[JohnKreg]

Thanks, guys -- nicely bracketed feedback . I just had a great third workout of the week, so I think running this standard progression as long as it lasts is the answer -- as you said -- I guess I hope it's "just" not being able to add weight that shows me it's time to ease up in terms of frequency. Wish me luck. This last workout did correlate with an excellent night's sleep the night before -- wonder how long I can keep those up?

[wb416]

I'm going on 52 doing a linear progression, mostly every other day, except for schedule interruptions. I've done a deload after a seminar last weekend to work on some details, but will stay on every other until I can't. When my recovery was lagging, I addressed it with better sleep and a lot more calories/protein.

YMMV

[Fiddler]

I started at age 69 on the basic novice progression. Switched to 4 days per week heavy / light after a few months. Still gaining after a year.

[wb416]

I started at age 69 on the basic novice progression. Switched to 4 days per week heavy / light after a few months. Still gaining after a year.

These are the kind of stories that I like to hear and give me inspiration for my future!

[Deepsky3539]

Looks like I'm the young guy here ... Started my LP at 49 (around July), turned 50 last October and my SSOC coach just converted me to full fledged Intermediate programming this week. Did 3 days a week on LP, Advanced LP and will continue in to Intermediate. I can say that I don't feel over trained in any way. I eat 3600 calories a day and I get about 7 hours sleep a night.

[Charlie Davies]

When Monday's workouts are consistently better than Wednesday or Friday's, you aren't recovering enough in 48 hours.
That's your cue to either cut volume or frequency.

Adding a light squat day on Wednesday (advanced novice) is the most popular fix.

I prefer to just take 2 days off after every session, for a "9 day week". This isn't too inconvenient with a home gym.

[JohnKreg]

When Monday's workouts are consistently better than Wednesday or Friday's, you aren't recovering enough in 48 hours.
That's your cue to either cut volume or frequency.

Adding a light squat day on Wednesday (advanced novice) is the most popular fix.

I prefer to just take 2 days off after every session, for a "9 day week". This isn't too inconvenient with a home gym.

Thanks, that's helpful. So, missing reps on Friday, extra springy on Monday -- may want to start a light day on Wednesday or switch to 2x/wk.

Given my excess poundage and age, anybody care to venture what I need to be doing calorie-wise to maintain the most gains before hitting any kind of wall? (From my own reading, I think I can afford to essentially maintain -- but I am often shocked by the calorie numbers that are recommended and wonder if I am missing something about the demands of this early phase...).