Hi,
I am 54 yrs old (sorry for the long pause but reading that was a bit of a gut punch) and would like to gain as much size and strength as I can before hormone production is only a memory and my entire goal becomes holding onto what I have. I will make this as short as possible. It all started when I was a wee little boy. I had a sever injury to my right glute and developed a very strong compensatory pattern. I got reasonably strong but could not gain much size in my upper body. I now know that I never gave myself any time to recover. I have a high metabolism, am never idle and have eaten what others feel is absurd amounts of food but do not gain fat or muscle easily. I have always had a passion for fitness and nutrition. I am not one to have dessert have always opted for more food. My diet consists of about 8 out of 10 nutrient dense meals (protein, fat and carbs (a lot of veggies and need more starches)) When I was young I learned what good form was from researching using resources like SS and always looked at muscle mags as comic books. I used resources like Beyond Brawn, Starting Strength and the list goes on, I do know what good form is and was able to teach several people like friends and family how to lift but when it came to my own form I never realized that my movement patterns were off due to my compensatory pattern. My right side (which is dominate is actually weaker) when I hit my early 30’s everything went downhill and I began to notice that my right side moved much different than my left. I ended up atrophying a lot of muscle on my right side. I spent 15 yrs of pushing hard thinking if I got stronger I would fix everything and ended up stronger with the same ratio of imbalances and in more pain. It was not until I stopped pushing through the pain and regressing my movements that I actually began to make progress. I have been doing corrective exercises and mobility work to gain stability for the last couple years and am ready to focus on strength, power a hypertrophy now.
I am a skinny 54 year old and don’t have time to waste on programs that do not give me a high ROI. I do not think a 5X5 is the best program for me I feel I need more volume at this stage but it is just my opinion. I would like to have a program with a focus on compound lifts but addresses my weaknesses which I will list.
Upper back - so that I have a descent shelf to hold a barbell.
Lower Traps - I have a hard time keeping my chest up with the ribs down. I was thinking Zercher squats and face pulls
Adduction - I think I created an imbalance focusing on excessive “Knees out!” opposed to keeping tension on adduction while using the glutes to screw my feet into the floor.
Under developed Obliques and Lat on my right side
Over developed Sternocliedomastoid on my right side
I used to be okay at pull ups but was doing them with a twisted posture and using more of my left side
I liked the Best Damn Workout but not sure if I should get to some reasonable numbers in Squats, DL, OHP, BP and Rows to ingrain basic movement patterns before doing a routine that uses such variety in exercises to hit these same muscle groups. I feel doing the basics more often will allow for a faster acquisition of the skill. I know grip and arms will get enough work with these movements but would like to do a finisher or two each workout that focuses on these areas.
I am open too and greatly appreciate all suggestions
I like it! I have a C2 rower I can use in place of the Airdyne.
Should I do the corrective exercises I currently do with the assistance sets or in a separate session with my stretching?
Does it matter what type of deadlift I do? I have a trap bar would this be as effective? I also have KB’s is doing unilateral movements as effective?
Is doing a few extra sets to target my underdeveloped areas a good idea?
Anything wrong with a set or two tri’s a couple days a week in the assistance work or will that hinder my pressing progress?
Is it detrimental to do a few sets of some grip work either at the end or in between main lifts?
Is there anything I should adjust due to how many times I have traveled around the sun other than trying to get more sleep?
Thank you for your time I know it is a priceless resource
For some of the assistance he recommends single leg movements, so yes.
The hardgainer program uses 50-100 reps for assistance. That is plenty of volume. Instead I would concentrate on doing the reps correctly. 100 reps done wrong, will just ingrain a bad habit.
Just do them as a finisher.
I would not do them between sets.
Start light. The percentages make it seem too easy at first. But… It will sneek up on you and kick your ass.
Be sure to eat enough protein/calories to be in a small protein surplus. I would also consider some joint support supplements to help lessen the damage from heavy lifting.
I am torn between the two
5/3/1 I like that you hit both horizontal and vertical presses
9/5/1 I like the power aspect
Which of the two is more likely to add size for most individuals?
when I asked about the extra sets for the underdeveloped areas I meant just one side to try to catch up to the stronger side.
When factoring in my age and history of compensation is it better to use a 1 RM or a weight I can do with reasonable and perfect form for 3-4 reps and add a little weight to start?
Should my rest be between 1 and 4 minutes depending on how taxing the set was?
Are the Assistance movements rotated or should I pick one and stick with it for the cycle?
Neither program runs to infinity. Just pick one, do it as written, then repeat with the other.
You mentioned you’re skinny and have a few miles under your treads: I for sure wouldn’t add extra work.
For the max question, I think @ChickenLittle already nailed that one: start light. You don’t want any individual day to be something you can’t accomplish.
The rest break time will kind of take care of itself. When you do something hard, like squats, you’ll need more rest; when you do side raises or curls, you won’t need so much.
For you, I would absolutely stick with a set of assistance moves. Don’t give yourself anything else to worry about.
There’s really not a ton of right or wrong answers here: it’s just finding something you can stick to for a lot of weeks.
If you can handle it do it. Since you have already stated that things are out of sorts I think it’s more important to concentrate on doing the exercises correctly. Getting that good mind muscle connection.
Just calculate your 1 RM.
Yep. I like 3 mins between main movement sets and just do whatever I want on the assistance.
Pick one and run it for a couple of cycles.
@simo74 said it best. Get to work! The number one killer of gains on this forum is overthinking shit. There are things you will only figure out AFTER you get going.
We all have imbalances 99% of the time the only person that sees them is ourselves. If you can function like a normal human being at 54 then you are ahead of the game. Yes, it’s good to work on these things but not to the extent that you let that hold you back. Don’t overthink it. Pick heavy shit up, and put it down and pick it up again. When it gets easy, make it harder, and do it some more.
Years ago a friend ran 5/3/1 after about 6 months of SS and if I remember correctly is was 5x5, 3x5 and 1x5 is this one staying with 5x5 because it is for hard gainers?
Sorry for so many questions. I am trying to iron out the details to avoid the mistake I made of just lifting without addressing the issues that got me in the mess I was in. The undeveloped areas I refer to are not an acceptable 10-15% imbalance found in average individuals. I actually atrophied a significant amount of muscle on my right side. Though the corrective movements I have been doing for 2 years have made huge progress my right lower leg, oblique, lat and trap are noticeably different and my right sternocleidomastoid is about 3 times the size of my left. The Pt I was working with believes this was due to the SCM trying to stabilize the spine when the other muscles were not able to.
The Ortho wanted to replace my right knee saying there was nothing I could do to alleviate the pain. I chose to work on strength and mobility and now about 85% of the pain is gone. The issue was a lack of ankle dorsi flexion, short and weak Psoas and quad. I only had about 80 degrees of knee flexion on my right leg. I now have about 140 degrees and still making progress. This led to a severe movement pattern which I addressed using kneeling squats with a KB. Would barbell kneeling squats for my main lift and unilateral as an assistance to address the lower leg imbalance and mobility issue be acceptable in this program until I can nail proper form through out the entire range of motion?
I am now able to hold proper posture in my everyday life but under load my body wants to revert back to its twisted state though not nearly as significant as before. If I use a manageable load this happens during the last 20% of end range of motion.
The only exercise in this program that is 5x5 is the bench press so I am not understanding what you are referring to.
If you want to run it, good. If not, that’s fine too. For some reason you are nit picking the program. If you don’t want to run it that’s fine, find something else. It was just a suggestion for a good program.
I do want to run the program
The article you linked shows in weeks 2 and 3 it is %x5 reps except for the last set is this accurate or should they be %x3 and %x1 respectively?
I’m sorry. I honestly don’t think I can help you.
The is THE simplest program ever.
You get a notebook and a calculator.
Plug in your numbers.
Do a little math.
Go to gym.
Put in the work.
Magical things happen.
I appreciate your efforts and if you can’t help I understand. I am going to do the program. Maybe I am missing something but when I look at the program you linked it has %x5 for Squat and DL all three weeks is this accurate or should they be %x3 and %x1 in weeks 2 and 3?
Do you feel kneeling squats for the main lift and unlilateral squats as an assistance acceptable until I am able to keep proper form at the end range on a back squat?
If you’re struggling to understand 5/3/1, I recommend you buy 5/3/1 Forever.
The book details JW’s philosophy and the 5/3/1 system, and it provides programming templates that can keep you productive in the weight room, quite literally, Forever.
It’s one of the best $40 purchases I’ve ever made.
if you look at the link it deviates from the 5/3/1 protocol and lists all 3 weeks as 5 reps I am only asking if this is correct for the hardgainer or is it a typo