Frequency of PR's For Older Lifters

[Browndog]

Andy-

How often would you expect a lifter to establish new PR's given the following:
Male, 58 y/o, 6'3", 210lbs
Reasonable diet and sleep
Running Karl's 5/1 program 2x/week
1 day per week conditioning
2 days a week of racquet sports

Current 1RM
Sq - 320
DL - 425
B - 225
P - 155

I'm finding that my Est 1RM plateaus for a period of time and then jumps a bit, followed by another period of plateauing - lather, rinse, repeat.

Is this typical for "older" lifters or is it a function of conflicting priorities (sports vs. weights) or a programming issue?

Any thoughts?

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Well obviously older lifters will struggle with recovery more so than younger lifters, but by and large the same rules of Nov/Int/Adv training apply. As you become more adapted to the stress, you will PR less frequently.

I really don't know enough about your history to know what is the appropriate rate of progression for you.

Watch my video on SS.com and pay attention to the part about "post novice" programming. Particularly, how I use rep PRs in lieu of weight PRs for most weeks.

PPST3 will expand on this at length.

[Browndog]

Andy-

Thanks for the response.

I am eagerly awaiting PPST3.

[Walter Palmer]

You've got some pretty good numbers for your age and weight.

Andy is right, of course, about the fact that it depends on where you are at in your training progression/potential in regards to testing PR's. But, just to give you an idea, I'm 50 and I only really test my PR's now 2-3 times a year (usually in competition) because it takes that long to make the gains necessary to move on up without compromising recovery. YMMV.