TacticalBarbell.com

So I’m 64, 5’10’, 170, I had a health scare about 4 years ago and got down to 139 pounds. Started lifting on a linear progression program about a year ago. Deadlift wet from 80-190, squat 65-142.5 , bench 65-115, and ohp 55- 94 , all x5 . I Damaged meniscus in left knee and tendon in right forearm is inflamed. So even though I don’t have big lifts like many here would it be beneficial to change my program to operator or operator I/A or should I try to keep increasing my lifts on a linear progression program ? Also any advice in working around the injuries and soreness I mentioned ? Thanks, love the books, I’ve read all 4 and miss conditioning which I am restarting. Many thanks - Pill

Hey Pill, welcome. While you are here you might like a read through this thread. http://tacticalbarbell.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42

If your lifts are still moving up I'd stick with the linear, but that won't last long probably. You might consider moving to Zulu, the frequency might suit you better. Don't know what to tell you on the forearm, maybe train the opposite side of that forearm? Or it may be grip related?

TB - thanks for replying, been out of pocket. I think you're right on the wrist. I may be bending in back when not paying attention. I bought some wrist wraps as a corrective. I looked at Zulu and like it. Question since bench and press use a lot of the same muscles as well as deadlift and squat , would it be better to put 48 hours between sessions rather than back to back days ? Also I may continue on LP but TB looks attractive to me as I'm not lifting heavy ( for me) each workout but go from 70% up to 95 %. It looks to me like less chance of injury. My only question would be can one increase strength gains like this in a reasonable amount of time vs an LP approach ? thanks in advance for any responses .

Pill, you don't have to do both bench and press. And if you do, you can do them both on the same day if you prefer. Many have done them on back to back days submaximal, everybody is different. As for loads, you've describe Zulu I/A, at your stage I'd suggest plain Zulu. Also it would be a good idea for you to use a training max. At 90%, that puts the 70-90% at a 63 - 81% (which is really the sweet spot) to start. As for rate of progress, when you are in the over-40 club a LP only lasts a short time. So even if you could make faster progress that way, it is only for a few months at most. Not much in the big picture. With Zulu or any of the TB templates you should be less likely to crash and go backwards. But either way you go, there shouldn't be much difference in a year.

Thank you TBP