To give a little background information i’m 58, 5ft 3 and weigh around 65kg.
The most i’ve benched is 86kg which was about 3 years ago when i was on furlow due to the pandemic. The program which has given me the best results having tried numerous things has been a basic power matrix, starting well within my abilty and adding weight gradually.
Having tested my bench today that number has dropped down to 76kg which is dissapointing. I have moved in with my new girlfriend which means i now have a 40 minute drive home after work after driving all day which leaves me a lot more tired than i’m used to which brings me to my question.
As i’m older and have less energy than i used to would i be better off using a ramping style of training ie increase the weight each set finishing on the heaviest set regardless of using a 5x5 style training or power matrix style or should i stick with a sets across approach or a pyramid style of training which is basically what the power matrix is ie you work up to a top set and then work your way back down again ?
Not to give a non-answer, and I’m very unfamiliar with the power matrix or its context within your whole program, but I’d say you’re probably well-served to try anything different if you’re no longer getting the results you want.
That said, this also sounds like it might be more a recovery problem than a training problem. You can’t control having to work or commute, but how is the rest of your life going? Stress? Sleep? Food?
What trainforpain said. Also, i have found that lowering squats to no more than twice a week is good.
The world has opened up to me since my sleep study. Where i was hitting a wall on all the lifts and doing endless deloads to no avail, i have a consistent trajectory up.
Prioritize sleep and if you need help, check out stan efferdine. Guy is an absolute fountain of knowledge and very forthcoming
If it were me (I am 50 for context). I would program in 3 week blocks with a deload at week 4. I would keep have the weight the same for all sets (other than warm ups obviously) and then increase the weight each week.
The number of sets and reps would vary depending on what the goal was.
For strength work I like reps to be a little lower, in the 3-4 rep range. It would look something like -
Week 1 - 4 sets of 4 - 75% of E1RM
Week 2 - 5 sets of 4 - 80%
Week 3 - 5 sets of 4 - 85%
Week 4 (deload) - 3 sets of 4 - 65%
I would then just add 2.5kg to each week and repeat.
This will work but you will need recovery and food to be in the right place.
Or you could just by 531 forever and listen to someone who knows what they are talking about.
I would echo Simo for the main 3-4 lifts when using them for strength (squats, deads, bench & overhead press). I would use a slightly different rep scheme but same concept.
If it fits the program I’m running, I will sometimes do a pyramid for supplemental and accessories, and still increase weight or reps at each “step” progressively.
I feel like this gives me necessary volume, all programmed 65% - 80% for efficacy, and also lets me “feel” the lift differently through various loads which I find beneficial for growth.
Because the majority of the supplemental work isn’t at the top of my effort & ability (but still within tried and true parameters for progress) I tend to recover easier than pushing multiple sets to the brink of failure as well.
Same BW here, a tad younger. Similar max bench here for same body weight. If a bigger bench is the goal then more muscle/mass will help. But what is your goal…?
Are you chasing 1RM maxes - maximise recovery, and fewer attempts in the 1RM range with more work in mid and higher rep ranges may be a better option with only occasional 1RM tests?
Thanks for everyones input it’s much appreciated, sorry i didn’t make it clear Raven my main goal is improving my 1 rep max.
I did try 531 but it didn’t really suit me and i didn’t really gain anything from it regarding my bench, for squats and deadlifts it was ok but as i say it didn’t suit me. I liked the format of the program Simo outlined but i do like to incorporate singles as they have proven to work very well for me in the past.
For those interested here is an outline of the power matrix program which really helped me improve my bench in the past.
Based off your 1 rep max and performed 3 x per week
79% x 5
86% x 3
91% x 1
96% x 1
91% x 1
91% x 1
86% x 3
79% x 5
after 1 week following the 96% set i would increase the next 91% set to 96%, then the following week i would do all 3 sets at 96% rather than dropping down and perfroming 2 sets at 91% then the following week i would add 2kg to everything and start over.
(note i was using paused reps when doing this routine and would hold the singles for longer than the multiple rep sets )
When i started this routine i based everything well below my 1 rep max so i made progress for a long time and it was using this that got me to an 86kg bench whilst weighing 63kg, where as in the past after trying out various programs the most i could bench was 72kg
Since then even though i lowered the weight and started over i’ve never got it back to the same weight. I tested myself recently and 76kg was my max.
I really like the routine as i enjoy performing singles, my issue is that i’m more tired due to my new lifestyle ie work and travel plus i’m older, this is why i was considering switching to ramping up to the top singles and leaving out the 3 and 5 rep sets that follow the heavy singles