Masters periodization - possibilities for improvement?

[caveman]

Greetings,

I've been a long time member here, got derailed by COVID and a variety of life changes but am back on the wagon and have been lifting regularly since Oct 2023. I will turn 49 later this year and am definitely noticing differences in how my body is responding to training than it did in my early 40's. I ran a linear progression and recently switched back to a program that worked really well for me before my hiatus.


Week1
M - Intensity bench 1 x 8, OHP 3x8 at 85-90% of OHP intensity, lat pulldown, bicep and tricep accessories
T - Intensity squat 1 x 8, accessories front squats 2 or 3 sets of 8, sumo deadlifts 1x8
W - rest
Th - Intensity OHP 1 x 8, bench 3x8 at 85-90% of bench intensity, inverted rows, bicep and tricep accessories
F - Intensity deads 1 x 8, squats 3x8 at 85-90% of squat intensity, accessories usually after volume squats I'm done
Sat - rest
Sun -rest

Week 2 same as week 1 except load is increased so target reps are 5 for everything

Week 3 same as week 1 except load is increased so target reps are 2 for everything

Week 4 is a deload week if I feel like I need it, otherwise I repeat week 1 adding 5-10lbs depending on how difficult the previous weights were.

A few notes -
Front squats and sumo deadlifts had a positive effect on my back squat and conventional deadlift performance back in the day.
Elbow pain is a concern, so I have to adjust bench intensity and volume sometimes to avoid prolonged deloads while it calms down

Current numbers
1RM squat around 365
1RM dead around 415
1RM bench above 300, but probably a little shy of 315. Might give it a go in two weeks if 1x5 is encouraging
1RM OHP 185 all time PR set 2 weeks ago

I've been sandbagging on squats and deads a little, because I have had some injuries in the past and I'm not in any particular rush to reach any specific goals. I am getting more confident and comfortable to start working near my limit.

My best ever numbers were
squat - 440 x 1 and 405x5
deads - 500
bench - 315
OHP - 185 set recently

Just wondering if there were areas for obvious improvement?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Stop doing sets of 8, and your biceps and triceps.