Strength Gains

[Wfd144]

Wanted to share a success story. I am a 48 year old Firefighter. I did crossfit at a local box for 3 years. It got me in great shape but I felt my strength was lacking. Last September I started The following training cycle.

Day 1: Bench Press/Back Squat/Occasional Deadlift.
Day 2: Some sort of "traditional" crossfit WOD
Day 3: 30 Minutes of Jog, bike, stairs, rowing, etc

Basically the Operator 1 A protocol.

I would take a day off as needed.

My Bench has increased 50# and Squat has increased by 40#.

I attribute this to increasing volume of the main lifts and just my body adapting to the movements. I realize these gains will level out eventually but I'm going to ride this train as long as it is showing results.

[WallBilly]

Nice!

[29bearcat]

Great job! I like to hear these stories. Plenty of people around the firehouse that don't want to lift heavy anymore because they are "too old".

Not to threadjack, but what is the normal strength gains per month on bench or squats? I know nutrition, sleep etc will have an effect. Is about 5 lbs a month fairly common?

[J-Madd]

Wanted to share a success story. I am a 48 year old Firefighter. I did crossfit at a local box for 3 years. It got me in great shape but I felt my strength was lacking. Last September I started The following training cycle.

Day 1: Bench Press/Back Squat/Occasional Deadlift.
Day 2: Some sort of "traditional" crossfit WOD
Day 3: 30 Minutes of Jog, bike, stairs, rowing, etc

Basically the Operator 1 A protocol.

I would take a day off as needed.

My Bench has increased 50# and Squat has increased by 40#.

I attribute this to increasing volume of the main lifts and just my body adapting to the movements. I realize these gains will level out eventually but I'm going to ride this train as long as it is showing results.

Excellent. That's how it's done!!!!!!

[Green2Blue]

Congrats!

Great job! I like to hear these stories. Plenty of people around the firehouse that don't want to lift heavy anymore because they are "too old".

Not to threadjack, but what is the normal strength gains per month on bench or squats? I know nutrition, sleep etc will have an effect. Is about 5 lbs a month fairly common?

There is no normal. The longer you do it the harder it becomes. Other than my squat, which had some injuries and technique issues involved, I haven't hit a PR in at least 5 years. Granted, other things have improved in that time like body comp and conditioning. Strength will not linearly improve for very long. The longer you do it the more you have to battle for every pound.

[DocOctagon]

Wanted to share a success story. I am a 48 year old Firefighter. I did crossfit at a local box for 3 years. It got me in great shape but I felt my strength was lacking. Last September I started The following training cycle.

Day 1: Bench Press/Back Squat/Occasional Deadlift.
Day 2: Some sort of "traditional" crossfit WOD
Day 3: 30 Minutes of Jog, bike, stairs, rowing, etc

Basically the Operator 1 A protocol.

I would take a day off as needed.

My Bench has increased 50# and Squat has increased by 40#.

I attribute this to increasing volume of the main lifts and just my body adapting to the movements. I realize these gains will level out eventually but I'm going to ride this train as long as it is showing results.

Great job! Did you force progression,retest, or a bit of both?

[Ten8]

Well done!

[Aelian]

Wanted to share a success story. I am a 48 year old Firefighter. I did crossfit at a local box for 3 years. It got me in great shape but I felt my strength was lacking. Last September I started The following training cycle.

Day 1: Bench Press/Back Squat/Occasional Deadlift.
Day 2: Some sort of "traditional" crossfit WOD
Day 3: 30 Minutes of Jog, bike, stairs, rowing, etc

Basically the Operator 1 A protocol.

I would take a day off as needed.

My Bench has increased 50# and Squat has increased by 40#.

I attribute this to increasing volume of the main lifts and just my body adapting to the movements. I realize these gains will level out eventually but I'm going to ride this train as long as it is showing results.

This is great for any age, but even more impressive considering you're 48 and already experienced. I also really like how minimalist you keep your cluster. Hard for many people to shake the notion they need 5 lifts and 6 planes of motion to make big strength gains.