One on, two off

[scottster]

In PP, Rip suggests that a cadence of one workout followed by two rest days might be appropriate for lifters over 50 who have trouble recovering.

Assuming the A/B workout split of squat, press, deadlift, and squat, benchpress, pull-up/chin-up, how would you vary volume and intensity?

[lou t]

In PP, Rip suggests that a cadence of one workout followed by two rest days might be appropriate for lifters over 50 who have trouble recovering.

Assuming the A/B workout split of squat, press, deadlift, and squat, benchpress, pull-up/chin-up, how would you vary volume and intensity?

that's a huge question because there are so many things to know about what kind of training have you do and what are your short and long term goals? What are your main lifts you want to progress?
I may not know you well enough to provide you with any insights unless you want to provide some background.
In the past of done A/B/C (B would be accessory work light stuff) but I did all lifts each session and alternated volume and intensity...so if I did high volume squat, I would do high intensity deads and than flip that on the next session....not sure if that's what you're looking for...FWIW..I don't keep a fixed training day....I go by how I feel...for the most part my upper body can handle a lot more volume so I only need in most cases 1 day of rest....lower body need 2 days rest in most cases...but there are times I will make game day decisions whether I am recovered adequately....I've learned over the years to listen to my body vs. a calendar.
Some guys do well on a fixed schedule....

I am running with a 5 week pendulum type cycle..this incorporated volume early in the cycle and swings into intensity......if your interested I can share more about it...

[bob g]

Before varying volume and intensity I'd suggest setting a fresh baseline by doing the program as you are now but with the 1 on 2 off schedule. Gauge your recovery before changing other variables. Assess these results and if you are still gassed (missing sets or reps) reduce volume a bit. We older farts tend to handle intensity better than volume. I'd guess that your top sets will hold steady or keep growing with these macro changes to your routine.

[John Watson]

In PP, Rip suggests that a cadence of one workout followed by two rest days might be appropriate for lifters over 50 who have trouble recovering.

Assuming the A/B workout split of squat, press, deadlift, and squat, benchpress, pull-up/chin-up, how would you vary volume and intensity?

I'm 51, and I'm doing this exact workout.
I've been microloading 1.25 lbs increases on squat, bench, press, 2.5 lbs on clean, and 10 lbs on deadlift.

Yesterday's deadlift jump from 315 to 325 was too much, I got 4 reps. So I rested and did another 3 reps to add volume. Will be going to 5 or 7.5 lb jumps from there.

My press at 110, last rep of 3x5 felt slow so I did a backoff 4th set at 105.

I think I could do bigger jumps on the squat, but I don't want to stall, it works out to 2.9 lbs a week of gains. It's been feeling easy lately, I'm at 270x5 plus 260x5x2 backoff sets ( I keep the intensity high, backoff sets are 96%) I might try to throw in a single 2.5 lb jump and see how it goes.

To your question, I'm not varying intensity, but I just started adding volume. As long as gains come every session, this is still linear progress, and there is no need to alter the training.

Recovery is great on 1 on 2 off programming, but I don't think i would alternate Texas Method 1x5 intensity, and 5x5 volume. Maybe I would do 2x5 intensity, and 4x5 volume alternating if I got stuck, without a medium day. Gradual change.

Like they say in PP it's just a guideline, titrate, find what works. It's just a guideline of principles and take it from there.

My gains are still pretty linear, from session to session. Gonna milk that as long as possible.

[scottster]

I probably should have started microloading a while ago - this is a great tip. So your baseline is 1x5 for each exercise at 100%?

[John Watson]

I probably should have started microloading a while ago - this is a great tip. So your baseline is 1x5 for each exercise at 100%?

Who me? No. I do 3x5 on everything except deadlifts, which normally are 1x5, and squats are not a 5RM with 2 backoff sets. The first set is heavy, but probably not a 5RM, although as I increase weights it might become one (?) donno.

My favorite thing about 1 on 2 off is I can move an exercise forwards or back one day, and still have a day off.
Sometimes I just squat, if I'm short on time, and do pressing/pulling the next day.