Programming Modifications Suggestions for Older Athletes

Pain & Rehab Forum [Moderated]
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I’m 56, 5’10", 190 lbs. I’m coming back from a very bad ankle fracture (for the second time, very bad luck).

I broke the ankle the second time in January 2024 and I had two surgeries this time around (three the first time I broke it, five total). I started training with light weights again in late August 2024 starting with 65 lbs squats. Since mid-October I’ve been training seven days per week alternating between weights on one day and aerobic training the next, with two scheduled breaks over that time.

In January 2025, I switched to a linear progression based off an old spreadsheet I made years ago based on SS. My program has been to add two pounds to my lower body lifts and 1 to my upper body (not the usual higher amount).
I’m currently at 236 squats and 315 deadlifts. I haven’t stalled out yet, but I’m really feeling the inflammation in my shoulders and upper arms and it’s affecting my process. My upper body doesn’t seem to like the way I do low bar squats but they’re the only squats I’m able to do with the limited ROM in my ankle (and I haven’t figure out how to fix them). But I keep grinding out the reps.

I’m getting to the point where even though it’s only 2lbs added per workout, at 3.5 days weight training per week, it’s adding up. I put the work in training outdoors all autumn and winter to get myself back to where I am now. I don’t want to flame out and injure myself. But I want to keep going.

I don’t really know where on the scale I fit between beginner/ intermediate, especially for my age. Based on the information I’ve provided:
a) I could use some recommendations on where to go from here. What program?
b) if there’s anything I can or should do to adjust my programming for my age.

For example, do the Beginner Template phase 2 but do this for 2 days instead of three.

I would still like to progress my strength, endurance, and general hardiness (a bit of hypertrophy would be nice as well). I saw a powerbuilding program on the BBM site; I don’t know if that’s appropriate at my current level or how to adjust it for my age. But I like the sound of it.

Thanks for taking the time to read and/ or comment. Any helpful advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

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Pinnsvin,

Thanks for the post and welcome to the forum. I appreciate the added information here as well. Let’s see if I can address some of your questions.

I personally favor categorizing lifters as either trained or untrained (beginners), as I think adaptation rate (e.g. how fast someone gets stronger, gains muscle, etc.) is dynamic in all stages of a career. As best as we can tell, strength gain isn’t linear. Rather, strength improvements look more like a staircase, where average strength performance stays about the same for a bit of time, then increases to the next average. On top of that average strength level, performance varies within ~5% of a “baseline” day-to-day, making small improvements (or reductions) in strength mostly “noise” vs actual improvements.

Instead, what I really want to know is whether or not someone has been training consistently for a period of time, and what they’ve been doing. Yes, various performance benchmarks gives me a better idea of how well-trained an individual is, but it doesn’t influence/inform my subsequent programming too much. In any case, you would fall into the trained category.

Next, adding weight to bar doesn’t necessarily drive more strength, hypertrophy, etc. Instead, there is a relatively wide range of viable intensities that all work about the same. As a practical example, it’s highly unlikely 80% 1RM works better for strength compared to 75% 1RM if performed for a similar amount of volume. In fact, when things are too heavy, as indicated by being closer to failure, those efforts can cause worse results by causing too much fatigue, subsequently reducing performance, increasing the risk of overuse injury, and so on…all while not actually producing greater strength gains anyway.

In your current program, it is likely that adding 2lbs per workout does not match your current adaptation rate. Adding weight and the effort becoming harder is not really indicative of getting stronger, as a true strength increase would be able to lift more weight for the same reps, over the same ROM, at the same effort level. From here, we would progressively load the individual as strength improved. As you get stronger, you’ll have to lift more weight. Lifting more weight before the strength adaptation has declared itself is not viable.

With all that out of the way, I would favor hypertrophy 1, swapping the low bar squat for high bar for at least one training block, and make no adjustments for your age. Your post implies that you may be suffering some early signs of an overuse injury with the low bar squat and near maximal sets of 5-reps. I think swapping to high bar and adopting some different rep schemes for a block would allow you to train hard, still improve your strength, support muscle growth, and expand your physical proficiency. I predict you’d do well with this template :slight_smile:

Just my 0.02

-Jordan

1 Like
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Awesome, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to share your expertise and give such a detailed and thorough response. Very much appreciated.
I purchased the program and I will start Friday.
Thank you,
-=Ole

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Awesome. Looking forward to seeing how you go!