Novice LP for older lifter, not a complete beginner

[Jyri Kosonen]

Hi Brent!

First, thank you for taking the time to help on this forum!

So, my question(s) concern starting the NLP as a) an older lifter and b) someone who's been lifting for some years.
My stats are: age 46, height 5'11'', weight 208 lb. I have not been program hopping and I have done my best to follow each type of programming (e.g. Andy Baker's intermediate templates) for long enough before changing anything, but I do not think I have gotten optimal results. Therefore my thinking is that maybe I should seriously go back to the very basics and try to drive the numbers up with LP.

My most recent lifts are (and PRs, all done within last 12 months except squat):

DL 2x4x378 / 2x3x388 (PR 2x400)
Bench 3x4x245 (PR 278)
Press 4x161, 6x156 (PR 178)
Squat 5x245 (PR 330; I am working it back after some time doing the high bar. I think I need a form check also to make sure I am not terribly off with the technique.)

Based on the above, if I was to start the LP, what kind of starting point would you recommend, take something like 10-20% off the recent weights for 3x5?
The deadlift being quite a lot higher than squat at the moment, would the advanced novice alternating deadlift with SLDL and back extensions/chins be better option than 2-3 times a week?

And because I like to think ahead, when the inevitable stall comes, would it then be advisable to move directly to advanced novice template and use the different methods to prolong the LP there (top set of 3 or 5 + back-offs, 3x3), instead of resets and trying to milk 3x5 straight sets? I dont' mind the grind but I don't want to crash and burn either.

[Brent Carter]

2-3x wk might be a lot for deadlift at 46 years young at that load but I have been wrong on this before. I think you play the first couple weeks by ear regarding DL frequency.

When you are getting close to a stall I would go ahead and move to more advanced programming and start your transition to HLM by going one top set and back offs then eventually you only do the top set once a week because that's all you can realistically manage and BOOM you are basically HLM.

10-20% back off is fine for beginning your LP again. Usually I just have the lifter titrate up till bar speed starts to stall and that is the starting point.

[Jyri Kosonen]

Thanks Brent, much appreciated! I'll see how it goes.