Different Energy Systems and Recovery

[Thomas]

Thanks for all the help, advice and "content" you offer on your site. Many of the discussions take very bizarre, but not necessarily uninteresting, turns. Hopefully this question will be an "easy" one.

First, FYI, I have bought two copies of SS2d (one for the children), one of each edition of PP, a copy of Strong Enough and two copies of the DVD (again, one for the junior library.) In addition I have sent several copies of the DVD to friends and coaches of the children along with copies of Strong Enough and/or PP, so am trying to do my part for the Rippetoe retirement fund.

As you suggest/predict (in PP) might happen, having passed through the novice stage and into "intermediacy," and having worked the TM for a while, I am (dare I say it?) becoming a little bored. I am quite happy that I have made significant strength gains, but am afraid that training only with a barbell three times a week is getting a little stale. I have no interest in powerlifting or Oly lifting (and am in fact way too old to do for either.) It has been very interesting to have watched your systems work, even on a sexagenarian, and that, even in the face of my not overeating and never being able to sleep 8-10 hours more than the occasional Saturday.

Like many, I came over from CrossFit, but could never bring myself to think of that as a "sport," so now have no interest in going back to "CrossFitting." (It is a useful protocol for hotel gyms on business trips, but that's all.) What I miss are "field sports" (hiking, climbing, cycling, skiing, and (dare I say it?) running.) Frankly, right now, they have a higher "fun" aspect to them, and the weather is pretty nice here right now.

On the other hand, I'd like to "maintain" as much of my strength as possible, and would even like to progress a little, but as I am also about to go back to full-time work in July, and as that is likely to involve 10 hour days, I'm afraid my two-hour barbell sessions are only going to be possible on weekends.

What will be possible are short, hard, "tabata-like" early morning or evening C2, stationary bike, or running workouts, with possibly two barbell sessions on the weekend, and I think I read in one of your posts that your own maintenance schedule is as little as one workout a week. Did I read that correctly?

1. Please could you share your maintenance program, what combination of lifts you do, and whether you still try to increase the weights - even a little. You mentioned that you achieved a PB recently. Can a person reasonably (and safely) seek an occasional PB on a "maintenance" schedule?

2. May i infer, if one has to choose, that the OHP is more important than the bench press? (More of the body used? Less likely to over-develop the front of the upper body?)

3. Finally, given the importance of recovery to strength training when trying to gain strength, could you comment on its role in a maintenance program? Will one get anything out of (say) a hard two-day session on the weekend (squat, OHP / deadlift, bench) if one has already put in four or five 30 to 45 minute anaerobic sessions on a rower, bike or track?

4. Any general suggestions?

Thanks again,

Thomas

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. Recently I have been squatting heavy singles 3 days/week just to see what would happen, and I got pretty strong with sore knees. So this wek I'm going back to a more-or-less normal schedule, with squats/presses/pulls 1x/week and prowler/chins/presses 1x/week. Different weeks end up with different numbers of workouts, but 3-4 is normal. The PR press occurred at the end of the heavy singles, so it was useful and I'll probably do it as a 6-week cycle a couple of times per year.

2. Presses for old guys with bad shoulders make more sense than benches, for reasons I've described at length elsewhere.

3. The role of recovery in a maintenance program is the same, especially if you're doing a bunch of silly shit like four or five 30 to 45 minute anaerobic sessions on a rower, bike or track.

4. Stop overtraining your conditioning.