Thoughts on working out twice per week

[Boss281]

61 years old, 5'9", 155lbs, Squat 180, Deadlift 215, Press 80, Bench 135. Deadlift is getting tough, I think I have about 10-15lbs left in the squat, Bench is approaching max, Press is at limit and working on going up 5 more lbs. Eating well, sleeping "ok" (dog gets me up at 3-4am to piss, his prostate must be as big as mine since he's 15).

I've been doing the Rank Novice program about 6 weeks without interruption. As I approach my limits for doing 3x5s, I am finding that every other day 3 times a week is NOT enough recovery time. If I wait 2 or even 3 days between workouts, I'm fine. While retired, I do have a fun part time job that is now all day both Thursday and Friday, so I only have the other 5 days to work out.

I'm thinking of doing Saturdays and Wednesdays, giving me 2 and 3 days in between workouts (I'm leaving that Monday on my schedule albeit optional, depending on recovery). Since I have no coach, I don't do the power cleans. I'm thinking instead of once I start hitting the wall on deadlifts I'll rotate in barbell rows. I'm also interested in doing dips one day and pull ups the next. I've never had the real strength to do these even though I've felt fit most of my life, but my strength has increased enough that one assistance exercise per workout day seems doable. I can do 8 hanging pull ups and 15 dips!

Is this a sensible program that will allow me to continue to gain strength? I'd love to hit 300 dl, 185 bench, 95 press and 225 squat some day. Those are my goals, as I'm not sure what I'd be gaining pushing beyond that.

Thanks.

John

[TommyGun]

Boss, this appears perfectly legit if you are not recovering sufficiently between workouts, assuming you use those days for recovery. Be sure to not doing anything on those off days which interfere with your recovery.

Will you get as strong as quickly as a young 21 year old buck who can hit it hard every 48 hours? The answer is not a yes or no, it is "Who cares"? Your training is your training. You should still see progress.

[Boss281]

Cool. It just wasn't clear if a 48 hour/72 hour rest between workouts was counter productive.

[Mark E. Hurling]

As trainers get older many need more recovery time. Sometimes as much as doing three lifting sessions over a two week period. You can make good, albeit slower paced gains from such routines.

Bonne chance.

[Adam Levine]

Absolutely okay. It's even a recommended tactic listed in the Barbell Prescription for someone your age. You're totally on the right track.

One thing that never made sense to me though is why this tactic isn't recommended for younger people when they can't recover in 48 hours, but can in 72. Instead, they go to advance novice, light days, old man Texas method, or something else that involves more work/time in the gym.

[Mark E. Hurling]

One thing that never made sense to me though is why this tactic isn't recommended for younger people when they can't recover in 48 hours, but can in 72.

Maybe not in SS doctrine, but there are a few other training regimes around that fall under a general rubric termed "abbreviated training." These folks advocate 1-3 lifts in a session and twice a week routines or stretched out even further as I described above. The younger folks who need more recovery time also fall under a general rubric called "hardgainers" and are advised to train hard, but less frequently.

[Paulbfast]

Are you eating more than 2,000 calories a day?

Maybe you are at the end of NLP Get a SSC and then you will know.

[Boss281]

I easily put away 2000 calories, and watch the protein intake as well. As long as I can continue to make gains, even if the curve flattens just a bit...

[Barry Charles]

As trainers get older many need more recovery time.

Trainees too

[hondotbt]

I'm 55 and don't recover on a M,W,F. I do recover on 1 day on/2 days off OR just 2x week. Very stressful commute and job, inadequate sleep most nights, plenty of calories/protein. I'm still making gains and 2x week was the recommendation from an SS coach when I started for first NLP run back in 2014.