41-year man training

Hi,
after years of light circuit training-type of fitness stuff I have started to pile more iron in the bar. I’m now in a gym three times per week, one back (chins, DL, rows + biceps), one bench press (BP, tri’s, shoulders) and one leg day (sq, calves, leg curls), so each bodypart only once per week.
The max weights I use are 90-120% of my bodyweight of 185 lbs.
I eat like before but after suffering post-workout soreness I have started to take carbs+protein drink after each session (Twinlab Optifuel2). That helps.
With heavy ones I like 5x5, assists around 10-15 reps 3 sets.
I also do some light bicycling for cardiovascular purposes.
Can anyone comment if:
-a guy in my age should follow any special precautions?
-how about the once per bodypart per week, is that effective?
-can I expect much progress (age again)
-Can I loose fat and train like this? I feel I have 2 in excess in waistline.

Any comments welcome
Archie

Take a look at some of the workouts posted on t-mag. Convergent Phase Training for one. From you post it doesnt sound like you have anything too structured. Figure out what you want to do then go for it. If you are a beginner you will have an easier time losing fat and gaining muscle if you are not you will have to approach it differently.

If you want to lose fat, try MD6, T2 pro, and Androsol with a program like Meltdown Training in issue 173. If you want to gain size/mass/strength try Mag-10 combined with the Growth Surge Project in issues 182-184 or with one of King’s programs.

41!, Glad to see another old guy like me out there. I can say from experience that you can make great progress. I can also say that you need to stick with it, educate yourself and try new stuff. Keep that training and nutrition log religiously. Try not to take breaks longer than a week or so. Family time is good so it is hard with my kids to keep a regular schedual. I do best when I hit it at lunch or right after work. Diet is the easiest thing to control. Eat those frequent nutritous meals. Recovery rest is even more important at our age. If you are going for bulk you might allow 10 days between body parts and go for low rep higher weights. Good luck my friend! Precaution wise, I would say don’t injure yourself. Make advances at your own pace but always try to add a little weight during your bulking stage.

Do your kind of people even bother to ATTEMPT to read the back issues at T-mag, or do you always need the intelligent people to post you an entire generic diet and workout plan? There are so many factors in doing that. You NEED to read and learn, and experiment. Good luck.

I turned 43 last week and I’m in the best shape of my life, muscle-wise (as opposed to the cardiovascular side, when I was 17 and on the high school basketball team). One thing I have noticed is that 1x per bodypart, per week, routines don’t make me grow as fast as 2x. I do the following split: Mon & Thurs- legs and abs/Tues & Fri - chest, back and arms. This works great for me. Of course, everyone’s recovery times vary to some degree, so you may need the extra time. But give the 2x a week routine a try for a couple of months and see what happens. You may be surprised.

Good for you.
I am trying an interesting split right now.
On Day One-Back, Biceps and Forearms, Day Two-Legs, Day Three-Shoulder, Chest & Triceps, Day Four- Rucksack march, Day Five-either Body Comp, Fat Burning, or some other Heavy Duty circuit training, Day six-long walk and Day Seven-Off (Heck, If was good enough for the Big guy who am I to disagree).
So far I have either increased weight of reps in Key exercises (Bench, Presses or Squats) each workout.
Just to let you know I am a month away from forty eight.
Best of luck to you.