Deadlift Recovery Time for a (Somewhat) Older Lifter

[Treg]

Hey, Rip and all the coaches. Thanks for the great books and all the help online. I'm a 54-year-old male and have been doing kind of a modified version of the novice progression, because I find I need more recovery time between heavy squat or deadlift workouts. I had been making good progress deadlifting once per week, using smaller plates once I got over 315 lbs. But as I've made my way up to the 345 lb. range, I've found that I need to do a backoff period every time I hit a new set of 5. E.g., after doing 345 lbs. for a set of 5 a few weeks ago, I found that the following week I could only do 1 rep at 347.5 lbs. Same when I finally did hit 5 at 347.5 lbs. - the folloing week, I attempted 350 and could only do 1 rep.

If the 2.5-lb. (total) increment was too large, I could see only being able to do 4 reps the next week, or maybe only 3 with a good attempt at the 4th one. But I can generally only do 1 rep the week after hitting a new 5 rep max.

So I've decided to back all the way off to 315 and space deadlifts out to about once every ten days. And I'll probably start using even smaller increments once I get back up to 335 lbs.

My question: Generally speaking, is 10 days too long to go between deadlift workouts? I've been thinking I could add a lighter deadlift workout (set of 5 at 80-85%) once a month, sort of as active recovery, and I'll experiment with that. But I'm also interested in the more general question of, all other things being equal, how long can a guy my age go between deadlift workouts without detraining.

I apologize in advance, as I'm sure I've violated every posting protocol. Please have pity on me.

Thanks!

[Michael Wolf]

I hate to disappoint you, Treg, but you didn't violate any posting protocols here. You asked a specific question, respectfully, and gave us at least some of the background info we need to answer it. A breath of fresh air, in fact.

I'd also like to know how your squat programming looks and when you're performing it, relative to your DL, but it's not at all weird or unusual for a 54 year old man to need 10 days between adding weight on the DL in the late stages of LP. Try continuing to DL once per week, alternating weeks with a set of 5 at 80-85% of your max one week and the next week, add 5 lbs to your max. When you can't keep adding 5 lbs bi-weekly, continue to do the set of 5 at 80-85% one week, and keep adding weight the next week but drop down to a triple and see how long you can keep that going.

These aren't meant as long term plans, as this will run out eventually too, but it's a reasonable way to try to finish out your modified (somewhat) older lifter LP.

[Treg]

Michael, thanks very much. Very helpful. I really would have thought two weeks was too long to go between heavy deadlift workouts, even with the lighter sets in between. Good thing I never experimented with that on my own, though, right? This stuff is better left to the professionals.

Prior to switching to the DLs-every-10-days-or-so plan, I was on a very simple weekly program:

Mon: Heavy squats, light press, chinups.
Wed.: Heavy press, chinups.
Fri.: Deadlifts, light squats, light press and/or chinups.


The current plan is a 4-week cycle in which I deadlift heavy 3 times, squat heavy 5 times and squat light twice:

Week 1
Mon.: Heavy squats, light press, chinups.
Wed.: Heavy press, chinups.
Fri.: Deadlifts, light squats, light press and/or chinups.

Week 2
Mon.: Heavy squats, light press, chinups.
Wed.: Heavy press, chinups.
Fri.: Heavy squats, light press, chinups.

Week 3
Mon.: Deadlifts, light squats, light press and/or chinups.
Wed.: Heavy press, chinups.
Fri.: Heavy squats, light press, chinups.

Week 4
Mon.: Heavy press, chinups.
Wed.: Deadlifts, light press, chinups.
Fri.: Heavy squats, light press, chinups.


First time through the cycle, I muddied the water by doing a very heavy (@95%) "light" set of deadlifts on Mon. of Week 2, which I think sunk my heavy DLs in Week 3. Also, I only backed the weight off on the heavy deadlifts to 335, which is not much of a back-off. I'm now in Week 1 again and plan to do DLs at 315 on Friday.

With occasional interruptions due to technical issues (getting used to using the belt once I got over 265 lbs., for instance), I'm still making linear progress on squats, using 1.25-lb. plates

I'll probably go through my 4-week cycle again, then try your suggestion for the following 4 weeks. Wouldn't want to just automatically follow the advice of a guy who can deadlift 600 lbs. without exhausting all my own theories first.

[Treg]

Sorry, also meant to ask - I remember reading in the Practical Programming book about eventually going to heavy sets of 3 very late in the novice phase, and have had that in the back of my head. I was hoping that was still a little ways off in the distance, but maybe not.

Once I start doing heavy sets of 3, should I also do a backoff set of 5 at 90% (in the same workout), just to add some volume at the heavy end? Or treat that heavy 3 just like it's a heavy 5 - just do the 3 reps, and that's it till next time?

Thanks again.

[Michael Wolf]

Michael, thanks very much. Very helpful. I really would have thought two weeks was too long to go between heavy deadlift workouts, even with the lighter sets in between. Good thing I never experimented with that on my own, though, right? This stuff is better left to the professionals.

Two sets of 5 at 80-85% might be warranted on the lighter day, but I'd guess that you can squeeze some more progress out of pulling a PR every other week for a while. This is already not strictly the by the book LP anymore, but for a 54 year old who has already done that and made progress, it's a reasonable thing to try.

I'll probably go through my 4-week cycle again, then try your suggestion for the following 4 weeks. Wouldn't want to just automatically follow the advice of a guy who can deadlift 600 lbs. without exhausting all my own theories first.

Flattery will get you everywhere, sir.

Sorry, also meant to ask - I remember reading in the Practical Programming book about eventually going to heavy sets of 3 very late in the novice phase, and have had that in the back of my head. I was hoping that was still a little ways off in the distance, but maybe not.

Once I start doing heavy sets of 3, should I also do a backoff set of 5 at 90% (in the same workout), just to add some volume at the heavy end? Or treat that heavy 3 just like it's a heavy 5 - just do the 3 reps, and that's it till next time?

Thanks again.

Start by just doing the heavy/PR triple and call it there. Once you can't add weight to a triple every other week, with 1-2 sets of five at 80-85% of estimated 5RM on the alternate week, then a more complicated plan can be called for, or you could just run it down to a double and single and find an actual max at the end of this. Then you can base a more true Intermediate program off of that max for your next cycle.

[Treg]

Michael, again, this is all so helpful. Your plan looks a lot better and more sustainable than my every-10-days approach, which I was clinging to just so I could deadlift heavy three times per month instead of just twice, and which probably wasn't going to work for very long. I'm going to deadlift heavy the next couple Fridays, then switch to the biweekly plan at around 335.

Thanks so much!

[Walter Palmer]

Wolf has covered most of the major points but I would just add that planning a deload week every 5 weeks or so for an older lifter is not a bad idea either. That does not mean a week off, just a lower stress to help alleviate accumulated fatigue. When I'm in a three months programming block, we just add that to the plan to avoid overtraining which absolutely sucks because of how long it takes to remedy.

[Tom Campitelli]

I think the word "overtraining" should be used with great care.