Starr 5X5 variant does it make sense?

[jw509]

I am earlier forties and doing about bodyweight squats now. My press and dead lift have failed and gone through resets. I have failed on squats yet but I am not recovering like I should be between work outs. No soreness but feeling fatigued more than I should. I read that for the over 40 crowd it might be better to go to intermediate sooner. I just moved to a light day and I feel a bit better today (day after light day) than I did before.

Since I am getting close to intermediate and may need to move there soon, I started research the options. I ran across this Bill Starr variant.

http://www.manlycurls.com/2011/07/th...ength-program/

It is created by an Olympic lifter who does this routine when he was not Olympic lifting. It is Starr's TSSS program with a tweak. Instead of adding weight each week reps are added each week.
Day 1 adds reps to the last set until 10 then 25 lbs is added for squat and 10-15 for bench and rows. PC are replaced by barbell rows.
Day 2 works up to 2 sets of 8 one rep is added to one of the last 2 sets a week then it resets to 3 ramp up then 2X8 at 25 lb more squat 10-15 for bench and rows.
Day 3 uses the exact same ramp as day one but with sets of 4 one rep is added to the first set the first week, the second set the second, etc. until you get to 5X5 then the it is reset to 5X with the same weight increases.
Every 4 week is a deload week with 2 work days.

Questions.
1. I am still a bit above my ideal BF%. Using the Navy method I am around 24% body fat and still need to come down about 4%. I started at about 35% and have lost 6.5 inches on my waistline. Would the extra reps help in this goal?

2. I am concerned about less frequent loading. 25 lbs every eight weeks on the squat is 3.125 a week. Starr's program would add about 5 a week. Might this mean fewer back off periods? If so the weight increases might equal out if you have a 4 week back off under Starr and no back off in the same period under this method. It gets a little less equal on the press and row in that 15 pounds every 8 weeks is 1.875 a week opposed to 5 lbs a week under Starr's program. Again that assumes no back offs.

3. Is this really a more advanced periodization program? It seems like the deloads happen quite frequently. Every 3 weeks one workout test 2 rep max and other is a light day with only one assistance exercise. Is this needed at the intermediate stage?

4. I like the program because I can sub press for bench presses. I can't always have a power rack for the bench in my busy commercial gym and even though I am only benching around 140 it is enough to be dangerous if I fail below the second set of pins on the bench press. If I had a reliable spotter this would be different.

5. I also have problems with flexibility getting my elbows up on power cleans. They seem to really affect my impinged shoulder. Bench press does as well as I get heavier. I know that the row is no substitute for the PC but at other 40 with a impinged shoulder (spurring in the joint neat the collar bone), I am not sure how much explosive work I can do. Also my sports activities are more like kick ball and beer league softball than competitive football (American or otherwise). So I am not real concerned about explosive strength. I want to be strong but maximizing strength for sports is not really an issue.

My goals right now is to keep increasing strength and get my BF% down to 15 to 20%. I would like to lose a couple of more inches around the waist while building up strength or at least maintaining it. My sports activities are most beer league type stuff so I am not too concerned about that. I like weight lifting as a hobby but I really don't have a desire to compete in Olympic or powerlifting meets. That could change in the future but right now that is where I am.

[Chebass88]

Wall of text post references wall of text article...

There is no reason why this program would NOT work, if you followed it consistently. It could mean an increase of 165lb in a year on the squat, not too shabby (***depending on where you start out***). And by consistently, I mean following it for at least 3 cycles, i.e., 24 weeks.

[BarryF]

Regarding power cleans, I wish I could do them. Perhaps with a more concerted effort, I would eventually be able to. As an over 40 lifter, I was hurting my wrist using too light of a weight to even be any where close to heavy enough to have a good training effect. I have done BB Rows, Pendlay style as a (poor) substitute. But, for me, progressively loading BB rows with a bit of an explosive nature, with a style that is easy on the low back so that it does not interfere with recovery from squats and deads, was better than powercleaning weights that were too light to matter but still injured me.

I think if an older lifter were to work more on flexibility, mobility, and maybe some coaching to get the form right, power cleans would be viable. I believe almost anything is doable if anyone has the drive to make it happen.

However, I have seen others(with experience) recommend other types of pulls as well in place of powercleans. Such as RDL's, SLDL's, snatch grip deadlifts, etc.

[jw509]

Thanks for the responses. Yeah power cleans can be a problem for a lot of people. I am not really sure you can learn them effectively without some coaching. I had a few sessions with a trainer was an Olympic lifter in college when I started the program. I wanted to make sure my form was right. She kind of didn't seem like she wanted to get into power cleans! It is a good lift but it takes some coaching and a lot of practice to learn. Most lifts you can learn with a little practice and some pointers. To many moving parts in the power clean. It certainly isn't easy especially when you are tried from squats and OHP/BP.