At 41 years of age, some might say that's it's time to take it easy and leave those PRs in the past where they belong, just like democracy and reading-comprehension. I say to those people: fuck right off. Sure, it may take all the willpower in my being to get out of bed in the morning, but I'll be damned if I give up lifting heavy. At a bodyweight of 193 lbs, I just bench pressed 265 for a double and squatted an ass-to-grass single with 350 (and I crushed it). Now those numbers aren't exactly earth-shattering, and indeed, they pale to what I did just a few years ago, but I'm a little lighter and there definitely is a difference in the recuperative abilities of a 38 year old and a 41 year old. At 38 I benched 315 and deadlifted 405 for 9; now a max set of deadlifts for 10 would probably cripple me for a week due to the muscle knotting in my traps brought on by farming and weightlifting for almost two decades. As you age, you got to train heavy and smart, and it's that latter factor that so many of us who like to push ourselves miss. To compensate for my dwindling recovery, I only train three days a week now, focusing almost exclusively on the squat and bench press. No more low bar squatting--it tears up my hips, and I've finally cured my hip shifting tendency by squatting ass to grass. Here's the basic routine:
Monday: High bar squat, working up to either a heavy single or rep set usually surpassing 70 percent of my one rep max.
Do the same for bench press, but cycle between four variations: touch and go, paused, close-grip, and low incline.
Do two sets of twelve rows and curls.
Wednesday: Do the same arrangement, but if you did a single on Monday, focus on a rep set for Wednesday or vice versa.
Friday: Once again, repeat the workout, switching between either a heavy single set or a rep max set in the 70 percent range. Alternatively, you can do multiple heavy singles, or work up to four sets of five pyramid style. Add deadlifts on one of these days.
The point is not to beat yourself up with a lot of volume. I can't do three sets of ten or five sets of five across anymore. By focusing on one hard set, you're still pushing yourself while hopefully accumulating enough stress to grow. I try to increase my hard sets by five to ten pounds weekly, but sometimes you'll know that's not possible. Accessory work is limited to rows and curls because we ain't got time for any of that other shit. I don't find that overhead pressing is necessary for increasing your bench or even for general shoulder health, but I also don't live a typical lifestyle. Because I'm a farmer, I'm constantly picking up fifty pound weights all day, as well as lifting things over my head, so if you're sedentary, you might need more accessory work. At some point, you got to figure out what works for you.
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