SS and middle age lifters

[Nockian]

Do you take video of your lifts to review? That's really important for me in my quest to be my own coach.

By reviewing my video between sets, I discovered and cleaned up a flaw in my LB squats last night. The third set was a lot better than the first, thanks to the self-check.

Re: deadlift -- it's supposed to feel heavy! So long as you aren't rounding your back (video again), this is a good lift to really push hard. You might find that with the right grip you can go a lot heavier than 225, though it may require laying down for a few seconds at the end of the set :-)

I don't video yet. If I start feeling something is wrong then that's an option, otherwise I can clear up the major messes from the book. I'm progressing steadily at DL and my grip isn't slipping and no pains, but even at 225 I could do with a little sleep.

[Nockian]

I'm 72, started SSLP at 69. Trained 3 days a week for about 6 months, then changed to a 4 days per week, H/L program. By the time my lifts became competitive for my age and size, I was pretty burned out, but I think I'll stay at 4 days per week with more frequent volume deloads, keeping intensity high. At this point at your age, my guess is that you probably don't need more recovery time, based on my experience. I'd look at all the other factors first. You haven't mentioned your programming. Are your increments too large? You can't do 10 lbs per workout very long. 5 lbs on squats and deadlifts, and 2 1/2 lbs or less on bench and press, are plenty. How is your form? I know that was a block for me. Diet? Sleep? Before cutting down days, I'd introduce a lighter day on Wednesday. Just my opinion, based on personal experience.

I prefer to lift for living rather than live for lifting if you know what I mean. I'm very moderate with my increases and micro load on two of the lifts and then 5lb on the others. Form is pretty good on all lifts, though I struggled initially with the squat, but have that sorted now. Sleep pretty good. Good, healthy diet. I doubt I get even close to Jason's 200g protein per day. I tend to monitor my daily weight and fat percentage to tell me if I'm over/under eating. I've seen a steady progression from 147 to 152 with no change in body fat, so I'm probably fine with calorie intake and I'm not going to start obsessive macro counting. Sleep pretty well, get 8 hours a day or there about, but when I was doing 3 days I found I didn't sleep at all well-overheating and muscle aches.

Like you say, a lighter day mid week I think might work, but I'm going to order the barbell prescription book.

[Charlie Davies]

Quoted for truth. I really wish I had done this when I started lifting. I was absolutely convinced I was hitting parallel every time, because I could feel it. I was so wrong! It took me about five months working with a SSC to re-learn to do it properly and get back up to the weight I had been quarter squatting before. The bad form was so strongly ingrained, that unlearning it has been a long and tedious process.

When I *stop* using video for a few months, then start again, I *always* find that my squats have gotten shallow. It's a constant struggle to stay below parallel. It just "feels" right to stop a little higher.

[Nockian]

Barbell Prescription-awesome. Should have bought this right from the beginning. It answers every question perfectly. In case anyone reading this in the over 50s category, just buy it because it's as necessary as a power rack and the barbell.

[Taylor Grayson]

You don't need BBP yet. Just follow the SS program. That's what I did at 49 and it worked fine for a few months.