Back to Basics

Guys, I’m 45 and pretty much starting all over after long layoff. Have lost quite a bit of strength/mass due in part to age, in part to sedentary lifestyle, and also in part to some medical issues which i’ve been addressing separately.

Anyway, i want to undo the little wimp i’ve morphed into and get both some strength and mass back and have put together a simple full-body workout that is part bodybuilding / part strength training that i have been doing about 2 times a week ( i really seem to need 72-96 hrs recovery these days ).

I am trying to focus mostly on compound exercises and Frankly, the weights arent much, I’m basically using ( 135 - 165 ) for all power movements below and seem pretty stuck there, as don’t seem to gain strength very readily anymore so I figure maybe at my age I should focus hard on regaining some muscle mass for a while first and then maybe some strength improvement will follow.

Anyway, this is my current workout. I think it’s probably mostly on track but am looking for feedback on this full body workout in terms of volume/reps/exercises and any suggestions/adjustments i might want to consider :

full squats - 4 sets 10,10,8,8 reps
deadlifts - 3 sets 5,5,5 reps
bench - 4 sets 10,10,8,6 reps
bent-over-row - 3 sets 8-10 reps

very strict seated cable row - 2 sets ( for scap/shoulder health per Eric Cressey ) it does seem to really help with cuff health not to mention improved posture

and finally…
abs/low back ( hanging leg raises, crunches, hypers )

Thats about it… maybe throw in a couple sets of barbell curls once in a while for the hell of it.

Thanks for input
-Phil

That sounds pretty good to me, lots of recovery and basic exercises. To increase conditioning you could try compressing the rest periods, what Louie Simmons calls ‘dense’ training, this definetly works, I found that the weights I used dropped slightly at first but soon jumped back up with an increase in conditioning and decreae in bodyfat. The other things you could check on to maximise your progress would be your diet and cv work.good luck.