Hello,
I am trying to find a new program to follow. The ones I’ve tried in the past all seem to burn me out before I make any progress, but the programs here seem more thought out and reasonable. I’ve lifted casually and sometimes with a routine for the past 15 years; despite this, my numbers rarely change.
I’ve tried a couple linear progression routines (mostly 5x5s, but one of 3x8s) and this is what seems to happen to me: I start out with a weight that is manageable. Then each week I add weight, but I don’t get stronger, and the bar gets heavier. After a few weeks I’m lifting maximal loads for every set until I start getting form breakdown, overuse and burnout. During these routines I spend every hour of every day sore, which left me wondering if all athletes live a life of constant painful misery. I would have assumed that athletes feel better than everyone else, instead of beat up and exhausted.
I’m very familiar with all the common lifts, although some lifts, like bench press, always seem uncomfortable at high weights like my shoulder is being impinged. I can squat OK, although I would not say it feels natural. I’ve currently been doing the main 3 lifts relatively consistently for over a year stretch.
Given that I’m basically a beginner in terms of strength, but a veteran in terms of gym time, which program would be better for me, the PowerBuilding I or the beginner template? My desire is primarily to become stronger, but that will require a lot of hypertrophy if I ever want large numbers.
My stats:
Age = 38
Weight = 200lbs
Height = 6’2"
Bodyfat ~14-15%
My lifts: (all 1RM, in pounds)
squat = 290 high bar, 320 low bar
bench press = 215 if I’m lucky, or with form breakdown
deadlift = 420
Lastly, I’d like to point out that I very often seem to get overuse symptoms when deep into a program, like painful shoulder joints, painful wrist, painful forearm bones. Arms going numb when I sleep, lower back pain when I sleep. This has always been the case, even when I was younger, but certainly isn’t better at my age. I’m hoping and praying all of these issues (stagnation, discomfort, injury) are due to poor programming or not understanding my program.
Thank you very much for your time.
