Wolfe
Level 1 Valued Member
I am 56 years old.
I pulled a 500 pound deadlift in training in July 2016. In September 2016, I pulled 558 in a stone lift at a strong man competition and failed at 608. In June of 2017, I pulled 525 in a deadlift competition and failed about halfway at 550.
My current training usually involves deadlifts twice per week. I habitually do the following:
135x10,10; 185x5; 225x5; 275x5; 315x5; 365x5 followed by work sets with 405 up to 475. On the work sets I perform different set/rep schemes depending on how I feel. Sometimes I do singles with 30 seconds rest, sometimes ladders (1,2,3,2,1 or 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1), sometimes I do sets of 3 0r 5. If I feel like it, I may also do higher rep back off sets with 315 or 225.
I bench a couple of times per week. The bench is not a big focus but I would like it to increase.
I perform several sets of chest supported rows at the start of each workout. I use a machine to spare stress on my low back before the deads. My rowing goes up to 225 plus for reps.
I train at the National Institute for Fitness & Sport (NIFS) in Indianapolis, which is a fabulous facility with most nearly every piece of equipment you could think off.
NIFS has 50 yard of space for sprinting or sled pushing so I have recently added sled pushing to the workout. I am currently doing pushes of 60-80 yards 4-5 times with varying sled weights from 115 lbs up to 295lbs. The sled is working my legs hard and they are getting much stronger. I like the sled because it hits so many muscles at once and really pushes your conditioning to another level. I had read that the sled did not make you sore because of the lack of a negative portion to the movement which seemed counter intuitive (PC code for BS). The lack of soreness turned out to be true and the sled work does not seem to detract from my other training and actually seems to help recovery.
I mountain bike pretty hard 1 or 2 times per week depending on weather and schedule.
My daughter is 18 and often trains with me. She pulled 275 easily in the deadlift competition with me in June.
We are going to compete in a competition at NIFS in November and I plan to do bench and deadlift.
My progress from 300 to 400 and then from 400 to 500 went pretty well. The road from 500 to 600 has been much different and slower.
My age seems to mainly limit how often I can train more than how hard I can train. My bench has suffered as I have aged and much of that is from shoulder issues.
I am asking for input or ideas on how to program my lifts as I go forward, especially in regard to training for the upcoming dead/bench competition. I plan to pull at least 550, but I would really like to see 585.
The training that has gotten me to this point seems to have lost effectiveness and I need fresh ideas as to what to do next and what I may be doing wrong now. Sometimes you get too set in your routine and can't see the forest for the trees.
Thank you all in advance for any help or thoughts.
I pulled a 500 pound deadlift in training in July 2016. In September 2016, I pulled 558 in a stone lift at a strong man competition and failed at 608. In June of 2017, I pulled 525 in a deadlift competition and failed about halfway at 550.
My current training usually involves deadlifts twice per week. I habitually do the following:
135x10,10; 185x5; 225x5; 275x5; 315x5; 365x5 followed by work sets with 405 up to 475. On the work sets I perform different set/rep schemes depending on how I feel. Sometimes I do singles with 30 seconds rest, sometimes ladders (1,2,3,2,1 or 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1), sometimes I do sets of 3 0r 5. If I feel like it, I may also do higher rep back off sets with 315 or 225.
I bench a couple of times per week. The bench is not a big focus but I would like it to increase.
I perform several sets of chest supported rows at the start of each workout. I use a machine to spare stress on my low back before the deads. My rowing goes up to 225 plus for reps.
I train at the National Institute for Fitness & Sport (NIFS) in Indianapolis, which is a fabulous facility with most nearly every piece of equipment you could think off.
NIFS has 50 yard of space for sprinting or sled pushing so I have recently added sled pushing to the workout. I am currently doing pushes of 60-80 yards 4-5 times with varying sled weights from 115 lbs up to 295lbs. The sled is working my legs hard and they are getting much stronger. I like the sled because it hits so many muscles at once and really pushes your conditioning to another level. I had read that the sled did not make you sore because of the lack of a negative portion to the movement which seemed counter intuitive (PC code for BS). The lack of soreness turned out to be true and the sled work does not seem to detract from my other training and actually seems to help recovery.
I mountain bike pretty hard 1 or 2 times per week depending on weather and schedule.
My daughter is 18 and often trains with me. She pulled 275 easily in the deadlift competition with me in June.
We are going to compete in a competition at NIFS in November and I plan to do bench and deadlift.
My progress from 300 to 400 and then from 400 to 500 went pretty well. The road from 500 to 600 has been much different and slower.
My age seems to mainly limit how often I can train more than how hard I can train. My bench has suffered as I have aged and much of that is from shoulder issues.
I am asking for input or ideas on how to program my lifts as I go forward, especially in regard to training for the upcoming dead/bench competition. I plan to pull at least 550, but I would really like to see 585.
The training that has gotten me to this point seems to have lost effectiveness and I need fresh ideas as to what to do next and what I may be doing wrong now. Sometimes you get too set in your routine and can't see the forest for the trees.
Thank you all in advance for any help or thoughts.
I'm going to chase a record for two more meets, one this year and one in 2018, and then I'm going to give it a rest for a while, probably a couple of years, and chase a better overhead press and a few other things I'd like to accomplish.
