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I was 51 yesterday! I’m not sure I understand your point. More sets means more weight - obviously. This all presumes that, as you lift heavier, you can actually lift it. Failure is part of the process. Fail three times and the weight drops by 10%.
I think (don’t quote me) that if you plateau on StrongLifts you move to a 3x5 plan.
I’ve been doing it on and off for about three years and haven’t properly plateaued. Due to injury, work, holidays etc i had to stop. Depending when you can start back, the weight will drop - either back to the beginning or a substantial drop from where you left off.
I think you can set the StrongLifts app for 3x5.
The last point is - why are you doing it?
StrongLifts and Starting Strength are for strength training. There will be other plans for other goals. My friend, who is younger, stronger and fitter then me does weights to maintain strength and improve conditioning. He does more reps at lighter weights for this although his ‘lighter weights’ are close to my maximum!
TGR-
I was 51 yesterday!
Happy belated birthday ☺
I’m not sure I understand your point. More sets means more weight - obviously. This all presumes that, as you lift heavier, you can actually lift it. Failure is part of the process. Fail three times and the weight drops by 10%.
If strength if being able to produce a force against a load, your 1RM. For the same amount of gym time/suffering, your probably going to be stronger from higher intensity (weight) and lower volume(total reps). I used to do 6x25 bodyweight squats most mornings but that didn't make me strong. Strong Lifts puts more emphasis on volume compared to higher intensity with Starting Strength
The last point is - why are you doing it?
I started repairing windows and doors for a living. One of my first jobs was for a tripple glazed patio door, which was close to impossibly heavy.
I've had back pain regularly for the past 20 years and was always careful/worried when lifting something. Or sneezing wrong.
Being way stronger than previously, it aso helped blag and enjoy a 37 mile and 44 mile hilly ultra with a stupidly low amount of training miles.
StrongLifts and Starting Strength are for strength training. There will be other plans for other goals. My friend, who is younger, stronger and fitter then me does weights to maintain strength and improve conditioning. He does more reps at lighter weights for this although his ‘lighter weights’ are close to my maximum!
If your not strong, you can't do light weights for conditioning, because they are actually heavy 😃
user69121
But the sessions with 5 sets will cause more stress (than 3 sets) on your body which will take longer to recover from.
So your probably not rested enough to maximise the days with a single set... Or if you try adding extra weight then you won't be able to keep that for 5 sets.
Considering 3x5 Linear Progression and 5x5 with 1x5.
Over two sessions, they would both contain 6 sets and at the same weight would give the same tonnage.
100kg 5x5 2500kg
100kg 1x5 500kg
3000kg total
100kg 3x5 1500kg
100kg 3x5 150kg
3000kg total
But if 100kg is all you can manage for the last rep of your fifth set and 2500kg is the maximum your capable of recovering from, your adaptation will stall as your not fully recovered for the single set and 100kg becomes your ceiling.
If you were only doing 3 sets, you could probably do 110kg and should still be able to add a kg each workout for a while as you can fully recover from the lower stress of 3 sets.
Cue 15 weeks later
Tuesday 140kg 3x5 2100kg
Friday 141kg 3x5 2115kg...
Do you need that 5th (or 4th) set? Or could you use that time and effort recovering a bit better and add a little bit more weight next time?
Im 48, not particularly athletic and don't need the explosive force, plus the amount I could Power Clean isn't worth while
https://barbell-logic.com/5-linear-progression/