Another round of Old Man Conjugate is up today and we are talking about sets, reps and exercise choices.
It seems that how many sets and reps should I do and what exercises should I do them on is the biggest question about strength training asked across most populations. When people ask me they hate the answer.
“It depends.”
I’ll try to explain it and then decide I should have just said 5 sets of 8.
But it does depend.
It depends on:
- What are you trying to achieve
- What is the timeframe
- What did you already do
- What is your level of experience
- What are your physical limitations (injuries, mobility, etc)
The last one is the biggest for Old Man Conjugate.
Why?
Because most older, more experienced lifters' needs are different than a younger ones.
Simple.
Today we will look at Max Effort, Accessory and Assistance work.
Let’s go over Max Effort work first.
In the Old Man Conjugate system, I have found that my nervous system recovers just fine from taking 1 rep maxes on my main lifts, but, my joints do not. After over 40 years of hard training, they get beat up a little sooner and take a little longer to recover, you probably found this out too.
So how do we maintain and even build strength?
Simple.
I’ve found a few different options that work.
Option 1:
Use the same exercise for 2-3 weeks, a 2 Board Close Grip Bench for example.
- Week 1: 5RM
- Week 2: 3RM
- Week 3: 1RM
Option 2:
Use a different exercise over a period of weeks with a similar scheme.
Here is a sample 9 week wave for bench presses.
- Week 1: Bench with chain 5RM
- Week 2: 2 Board Close Grip Bench 5RM
- Week 3: Floor Press with Chain 5RM
- Week 4: Bench with chain 3RM
- Week 5: 2 Board Close Grip Bench 3RM
- Week 6: Floor Press with Chain 3RM
- Week 7: Bench with chain 1RM
- Week 8: 2 Board Close Grip Bench 1RM
- Week 9: Floor Press with Chain 1RM
This option can beat you up a little since are taking a 1RM for 3 weeks at the end. BUT, since it’s Old Man Conjugate, if you are feeling beat up, you can always change the plan.
A good substitute would be that if you were felling beat up on Week 9, maybe do a 5RM again and beat Week 3. Or don’t take a max at all.
The same idea can be spread over more weeks to allow you to take a 1RM every 4-6 weeks.
On to Assistance work.
In a typical Old School Westside style training block you would do 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps HEAVY on an exercise to build the main lift.
A Safety Bar Good Morning is a great example of a squat or deadlift Assistance exercise.
For me, my clients and my training partners, we have found that the volume and tonnage of doing this catches up quickly on the joints when paired with frequent one rep maxes, so, I don’t do it.
My Assistance work is almost always based off of my recovery and nagging injury.
Here is a sample of what I do on Bench day to stay as injury free as possible:
Week 1:
Pin Press 4 sets of 5 reps as heavy as possible (AHAP)
Week 2:
Pin Press 3 sets of 3 reps AHAP
Week 3:
Bamboo Bar Incline Bench
AHAP for 1 sets of 15-20, 1 sets of 12-15, 1 set of 10-12, 1 set of 8-10
Week 4:
Close Grip Incline Bench
This will follow a similar pattern as Week 1-3.
Sometimes we switch exercise weekly too.
Lastly, Accessory Work.
Accessory work is your bodybuilding style work. Common rep schemes are 3-6 sets of 8-12 reps depending on where you are in the program.
This doesn’t work for me. I’m an idiot and will always default to a set of 5-8 AHAP no matter what.
That’s just dumb.
Yes, using HEAVY sets are good and they work, but my joints just can’t take it.
I’ve found that my biceps and shoulders seem to take the biggest beating (Don’t forget, I don’t squat or deadlift-if I did I’m sure I’d be adding my hips in that list).
I have also found that higher reps work better as higher reps are easier on the nervous system and force more blood into the muscles. Higher reps also require lower weights, and again, this is easier on the older lifter.
Exercise choices matter here as too.
NOTE: On all exercises, choose ones that you can do with no pain and as full a range of motion as you are capable.
I do a lot of cable work and body weight for Accessory because many exercises are almost impossible right now. Barbell rows are a good example, dumbell rows too. Getting into a hip hinged position to do them is something that flares up my injury so I find things I can do.
Cables and Spud Inc. straps fit the bill for me.
I use the Long Ab Strap and the Double Spaghetti Strap for most stuff.
*You can’t buy a Double Spaghetti Strap yet, Spud made it custom for me. I hope he sells it because it is fucking awesome.
I said earlier that your goals are the driver when choosing what to do.
My goal is a bigger bench and to attack my weak points on it. A second goal is NOT making my hip worse!
A bigger bench needs more strength, more mass, less injury and more ability to recover from the training.
This is why I do what I do.
To make a muscle grow you need to train near failure but training to complete failure is a poor choice for older lifters. So we train to near failure.
We do this with working to a heavy set of 6-8 sometimes on Assistance work for the first exercise per body part.
Think dumbbell bench for pressing, and a row for pulling.
After a heavy set to near failure we will either continue with the same exercise or do a second and up the intensity.
This is done by doing drop sets and/or adding in active rest, or both.
Here’s an example of something we do a lot:
Standing Cable Rows-work to a HEAVY set of 8.
Drop the weight by one or two plates and do a few drop sets.
Let’s say we worked to a set of 8 and hit the whole stack (about 200 pounds).
Drop to 180 and do as many as possible (AMAP), drop it again two plates and do AMAP, drop again and repeat until you can’t do any more.
This will usually be around 4 drops for us.
I’ll also do a few pullups between sets here, and on all Assistance exercises for the day.
Or, I’ll add in a mobility exercise for Active Rest. This will be a day to day choice depending on where you need the work.
Maybe a Shinbox for hip mobility.
Key Takeaways:
- Find work that you can do
- Don’t hit one rep maxes every week
- Use heavy 3’s and 5’s to your advantage-volume makes you strong
- Use the Bandbell Bar-a lot
- Train to near failure on Assistance, not complete failure
- Do another exercise or a mobility drill between sets of Assistance work
- Don’t be afraid to change the plan based on how you feel-but don’t be a pussy!
That’s all for this week.
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Vincere vel mori
C.J. Murphy
February 25, 2021
