I've run HLM at age 50, but I do more volume than the "Older Client" setup Andy mentions in that article. Maybe older means 70?
I.e. I like 4x5 on heavy day, but sometimes as ramping sets rather than sets across.
Hi, i'm a late novice anticipating the transition to intermediate programming (6'2, 220lbs, 37). I think a short period of slow dieting on HLM would be appropriate for me, after which i imagine i'll settle into a 4-day split. Has anyone tried Andy Baker's old-man tm-flavoured hlm, as described Heavy-Light-Medium | Andy Baker ? Looks promising.
I've run HLM at age 50, but I do more volume than the "Older Client" setup Andy mentions in that article. Maybe older means 70?
I.e. I like 4x5 on heavy day, but sometimes as ramping sets rather than sets across.
53, just started a cut and running HLM but with more volume than mentioned in this article. 1 top set and 4 backoffs (5%) on heavy day, 2x5 on light and 3x5 on medium.
When I wrote that article the client example was 67 years old I believe. All HLM programs are templates and models and exact sets/reps etc can and probably should vary from one person to the next. Adding or subtracting a set here or there, adjusting %'s, etc is always expected. That being said, that particular model and the concept behind it is effective.
Thanks guys, looks like i can expect to tolerate more volume. As i add volume to medium day, should the intensity come down so that it doesn't become another heavy day? Or should i keep a couple of heavy triples and add backoff sets?
OK, I'm off next week on vacation but this week my squat has been very stubborn, so I'm excited about changing things when I get back. I think this TM-flavoured HLM is not enough stress for me at this point, so I'll try to derive something from Andy's HLM video.
M: heavy squat, medium bench, light pull, chins
W: overhead press, light squat, heavy pull
F: heavy bench, medium squat, medium pull, pullups
Heavy lifts 5 sets, medium lifts 4 sets, light lifts 3 sets, except for pulls. Treat OHP as a heavy lift.
I do like the idea of an intensity set plus back-offs for heavy squat, heavy bench and ohp. Do I need to keep the back-off sets on the heavy lifts heavier than the medium sets across? eg. for the squat:
M: 150 x 5, 140 x 4 x 5
W: 120 x 3 x 5
F: 130 x 4 x 5
Or should Monday's back-offs be at 130, and Friday's sets be 140? I guess I should just try it.
I haven't had much luck learning to clean, so I'll try GHR and rows for light and medium pulls, both for 2-3 sets of 8, and stick to one set of 5 for the deadlift.
Optionally, I might add volume to chins/pulls with the lat pulldown (this has been working well for me for a few weeks), some dips on Wednesday and higher-rep overhead presses on Friday.
I think David's suggestion to increase the volume gradually is pretty sensible, but this is my target. Please let me know if anything about it is stupid
On heavy day I would back off enough that you get the volume in, but not so much it doesn't feel like work. For me, today, that's 5%.
I don't think you've made any egregious choices but I am not a coach. You will just have to see how it goes and adjust. That's one of the things I really love about this... tinkering.