Age and Training Volume

[Meshuggah]

For all of my fellow lifters 50 and over...
Do you make better strength gains with more volume or less?

[Alberto Velazquez]

G.Ren, I'm 43. And no doubt for me, I'm making strength gains with less volume.

[Meshuggah]

I'm starting to think less is more as well. My body seems to take more time to recover being an old guy.
I will be 51 in August and my current max's are: Squat - 375 / Bench - 255 / Deadlift - 505 / SOHP - 165

[skipbeat]

your deadlift is relatively huge

[Meshuggah]

your deadlift is relatively huge

Thanks. It's my favorite lift, plus my Sons (28 & 22) both Deadlift 500+, so I had to join the club.
My goal is to keep increasing my Deadlift and do 600 before I'm 60, as well as increasing all the lifts.

[Clint Merrill]

I (age 63) have tried a lot of different published routines, and I generally do better on a bit less volume than specified. I also like split routines, if I have the time for 4 sessions a week (2 upper, 2 lower)

[Les Hahn]

I (age 63) have tried a lot of different published routines, and I generally do better on a bit less volume than specified. I also like split routines, if I have the time for 4 sessions a week (2 upper, 2 lower)

I'm the same way. I have been using the ideas of TM, but I split the work up. I am not as old as some of you (34 at the end of this month), but I too have used a little less volume and made gains. Here is the way I look at it. Using the idea behind TM, the volume day is just there to prime you for your intensity day. If you can get away with doing 3x5 for volume day right now, and still make gains on your intensity day, why not do it? Eventually you may have to change what you are doing, but if you can benefit from doing less, it is worth giving it a shot.

I have done 4x5 (4 sets of 5) on my bench, and that worked for a long time. I am also now trying 3x5 for squats.

[Kyle Schuant]

I'm only 11 days off 41, and find that I and people older than me seem to do well on more volume - but at lower intensity. For example, if a lift's 1RM is 100lbs, we do better doing reps with 50-80lbs every day than 80-100lbs 1-3 times a week, with 15-25 total work reps in squat, and about 10 in everything else. Thus Dan John's Easy Strength concept. Frequent lifting under 80% of 1RM, combined with figuring out the new 1RM and changing the exercises every couple of months.

It's more difficult to make almost daily sessions, of course, than 2-3 a week. But this is balanced by the fact that as the lifts are all under 80% max effort, so you don't need a heap of rest between sets. So I guess it'd only be convenient for someone living alone with no big commitments, or someone with gym equipment at home, where they can be in and out in half an hour.

I've not seen whether this would work for advanced lifters - I'm guessing not - but it seems to work well for beginner and intermediate lifters.

[Gwyn Brookes]

I'm only 11 days off 41, and find that I and people older than me seem to do well on more volume - but at lower intensity. For example, if a lift's 1RM is 100lbs, we do better doing reps with 50-80lbs every day than 80-100lbs 1-3 times a week, with 15-25 total work reps in squat, and about 10 in everything else. Thus Dan John's Easy Strength concept. Frequent lifting under 80% of 1RM, combined with figuring out the new 1RM and changing the exercises every couple of months.

That would really fry me - but I'm also juggling lifting with 12 hours a week of jujitsu, aikido and sword. I'm liking lower volume higher intensity right now. (I'm 42.)

[Kyle Schuant]

Gwynn, I find myself thinking of the saying, "the goal is to keep the goal the goal." If you spread yourself among four different physical activities you won't get nearly the same results as you would focusing on one, and may in fact burn out physically or mentally. And the same goes for all the other goals if life, too.

To my mind, this is the main issue with being older, you just have more stuff in your life.