HLM Question - late 40's

[stallone]

Got back into lifting last January after pretty much a 20 year hiatus and am now the strongest I have ever been after 150 workouts over the past 12 months.

I attempted training in 2019 but after 10 weeks I re-injured a lower back disc issue I have had for 20 years only squatting 150lbs and could barely walk for 2 months. However this time around since I started with only the bar and worked up I have avoided re-injuring the lower back and although there is pain there daily, my back is the strongest it's ever been.

Started with Stronglifts with just the bar and worked up for 4 months. Took a week off then Texas Method for 1 month (didn't like it). Took another week off, then Bigger Leaner Stronger 5 days a week routine for 4 months but developed a lot of tendonitis and overuse injuries (tennis elbow, tendonitis in both shoulders, in quadriceps etc) so took 2 weeks off which really helped, and started HLM based on Andy Bakers video explanation on Youtube. GREAT program and did that for 10 weeks straight and now taking 1 week off as it was getting very hard and my tennis elbow was starting to flare up a bit. I decided 6-7 days off completely vs deload to make sure tendonitis gets a chance to rest. Shoulders are fine, its just my elbow and a hamstring tendonitis in one leg that I developed on HLM that is still there, but I know with time and strength it will disappear.

After rewatching the videos a few days ago, I realized I was NOT doing HLM but rather HLH - My medium days were identical to the Heavy day with exception of 1st top set - the back off sets were identical.

My progress on HLM

Week 1 - Week 10

Bench 210x4 - 235x4
Squat 245x5 - 290x6
Deadlift 340x5 - 370x5
OHP 115x4 - 125x4 - this is the lift lagging behind the others

5'10" 47yr old, 199 when I started HLM, 204 today - was 234 last January, want to get down around 180-185lbs and hit 315 bench, 405 squat, and 495 deadlift this year. Got down to 191 during Bigger Leaner Stronger late summer but built more muscle and some fat since then.

By checking Strength Levels site, I am either at intermediate strength for all by OHP, or between intermediate and advanced. My Squat and Deadlift are at all time highs, my best bench was 255x5 and 225x12 almost 30 years ago so almost there.

Based on those last lifts, I just hit the 1,000 lb club as well based on estimated 1 RM as follows:

Bench - 267
Squat - 336
Deadlift - 416
Totals - 1,019

My 10th week HLM (HLH) which I just finished last week was:

Monday - Squat 290x6, 4 sets 265 x 5, Bench 4 sets 215x5, Chinups - 6,4,4
Wednesday - Squat 3 sets 240x5, OHP 125 (4,4,4,4,3), Deadlift 370x5, 305x5
Friday - Squat 4 sets 270x5, Bench 235x4, 4 sets 215x5, Deadlift 315x5

My projected start after I noticed the 2 Heavy days is as follows:

Monday - Squat 295x5, 4 sets 270x5, Bench 4 sets 205x5, Chinups
Wednesday - Squat 3 sets 245x5, OHP 5x5 125, Deadlift 380x5, 315x5
Friday - Squat 4 sets 255x5, Bench 235x5, 4sets 215x5, Deadlift 3 sets 315x5

Are these the proper adjustments to make or should I make further adjustments?

Thanks for everyone's help on this....

[Mark Rippetoe]

By checking Strength Levels site, I am either at intermediate strength for all by OHP, or between intermediate and advanced.

Practical Programming for Strength Training, 3rd edition – The Aasgaard Company

[stallone]

Thanks Mark,

I picked up the physical book and the Kindle version.

[TommyGun]

Thanks Mark,

I picked up the physical book and the Kindle version.

Practical Programming defines novice, intermediate, and advanced in terms of ability to recover from the applied stress. Not in terms of absolute weight on the bar. Agree/ disagree?

[J. Killmond]

Practical Programming defines novice, intermediate, and advanced in terms of ability to recover from the applied stress. Not in terms of absolute weight on the bar. Agree/ disagree?

Agree. That is the "Theoretical Approach" described at the beginning of Practical Programming (p. 5-7).

However, as commonly noted in the forums, failing to recover in 48-72 hours is often the result of factors that should be corrected and not the result of reaching the end of the novice stage.

Weight on the bar can be a clue to this. If a lifter's deadlift has stalled, but is less than 2x his bodyweight, lack of progress may in fact be due to recovery issues. But rather than concluding that it's time to move to intermediate programming, the low amount on the bar probably means recovery itself needs to be fixed. Hence, the typical suggestion to review the following classic:

The First Three Questions | Mark Rippetoe