Don't underestimate old guy strength

[mt terry d]

I confess I havent read the whole thread but, looking back, I'd say 36 was in the middle
of my prime years.

I had to chuckle to myself when I saw the age of the OP after reading the thread title

Not criticizing at all here. Hats off to all who do their best to keep their health at whatever age.

 

[Zdub02]

So what was the outcome?! @Lil-Rokslider

That old man strength claim a victory?

 

[Watrdawg]

He’s doing CrossFit AND strength training AND cycling 30 miles a week. Amazing that some guys think this is possible. If you are moving that kind of weight at that age you need to weigh 220, and take 7+ days in between heavy days to recover from that level of stress.

I’m sure that guy has totaled over a 1,000 lbs on a barbell at some point in his life. But it ain’t happening at 60 and 165 lbs. Not even remotely possible unless he has Olympic athlete level genetics.

I was born in 1964 and yes its definitely possible. Yesterday I ran/walked 3.5 miles in a 35lb vest in 45 minutes. Today 7.94 miles bike ride in 32.29 minutes avg speed 14.67mph. Definitely not embellishing anything.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

So what was the outcome?! @Lil-Rokslider

That old man strength claim a victory?

He bailed! So I guess I won

 

[handturkee]

I'm not that old. Only 36. But my fitness has definitely fallen off a bit in the last few years.

That being said, I still do the "Murph" workout every year. I've been getting gradually slower since my peak at about age 31.

Well, this young guy (23) that works for me started talking some friendly trash about beating me at Murph, and called me old. He's never done Murph before, and he's not a real impressive specimen, but he does some running and lifting a few days a week.

Anyways, I went with it. I agreed with him that I'm getting old and I've lost a step in my old age. I told him that he should come over this year and do Murph with us, even though he'd probably beat me. Then I started training with an extra fire that I haven't had in a while. It's been fun to have some extra motivation, and push myself a little harder, and I think there's a chance that I get a fair bit faster this year.


Anyways, that kid doesn't know the fire he lit, and he won't till memorial day. He keeps talking smack at work, and I just smile and agree with him.

At the risk of sounding hippie, I'm a believer you can manifest your reality. I am 45. A couple years ago I went to the gym pretty steady with no real results. I had succumbed to the belief I was old so what kind of results could I expect? At one point I changed my attitude to: " **** getting old, I can get bigger and stronger than I ever have." The gains I saw in that attitude shift were amazing. I put on 29lbs, mostly muscle in 6 months. From here on our I don't let aging be an excuse.

 

[pacoalcracker]

When I was 58.5 I was benching 265x3, deadlifting 520x4 and squatting 505x4...thats almost 1300 pounds for reps. Since I did not compete, I did not know what my 1 rep maxes were, nor did I care. 5'-5" and 205. A lot of the young guys at the gym would just stand there watching me work the iron.... especially on my heavy day when I would rack-pull 750 for 3 or 4 reps. Thats a lot of plates. I retired from work at that age and stopped lifting altogether thinking I powerlifted for 8 years w/o a single injury so better to quit while I was ahead. Now, 5.5 years later at 64 I'm back at it teaching my 38 yo son who wants to learn. Ive been lifting for around 5 weeks now but starting out again I was amazed at how weak I had become, struggling with 35-40% of my old weight numbers. However, 5 weeks later I'm progressing and up to 50%. My goal is to get to 75% by Thanksgiving and very close to those old numbers by the end of 2024. I highly doubt I will match the old numbers. Age takes a toll, even though I have no ailments. Surprisingly, I'm visually regaining muscle mass. I had flexed but not pumped 18" arms at 58.5 with 15% BF...not bad for a little old guy. Zero juice, then and now. I kicked many a young guys asses then, and I will again very soon. Lift 3 days, cardio 3 days and 1 total rest day. If I can just get to 1100 pounds at that same 205/15% BF I will be very happy. I like the West Side Barbell methodology for powerlifting but need to be smarter about it now due to my age...but Louie Simmons was no spring chicken.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

When I was 58.5 I was benching 265x3, deadlifting 520x4 and squatting 505x4...thats almost 1300 pounds for reps. Since I did not compete, I did not know what my 1 rep maxes were, nor did I care. 5'-5" and 205. A lot of the young guys at the gym would just stand there watching me work the iron.... especially on my heavy day when I would rack-pull 750 for 3 or 4 reps. Thats a lot of plates. I retired from work at that age and stopped lifting altogether thinking I powerlifted for 8 years w/o a single injury so better to quit while I was ahead. Now, 5.5 years later at 64 I'm back at it teaching my 38 yo son who wants to learn. Ive been lifting for around 5 weeks now but starting out again I was amazed at how weak I had become, struggling with 35-40% of my old weight numbers. However, 5 weeks later I'm progressing and up to 50%. My goal is to get to 75% by Thanksgiving and very close to those old numbers by the end of 2024. I highly doubt I will match the old numbers. Age takes a toll, even though I have no ailments. Surprisingly, I'm visually regaining muscle mass. I had flexed but not pumped 18" arms at 58.5 with 15% BF...not bad for a little old guy. Zero juice, then and now. I kicked many a young guys asses then, and I will again very soon. Lift 3 days, cardio 3 days and 1 total rest day. If I can just get to 1100 pounds at that same 205/15% BF I will be very happy. I like the West Side Barbell methodology for powerlifting but need to be smarter about it now due to my age...but Louie Simmons was no spring chicken.

Louie Simmons was/is on a lot of drugs. He’s also pretty banged up now.

 

[Poser]

I'm not fan of Crossfit in general and will probably never be uncritical of bouncing deadlifts off the floor, kipping, random exercising, rapid box jumps for conditioning, olympic lifts for time and not bench pressing for upper body strength, HOWEVER, when you look at the statistical data for injury, Crossfit has no greater injury rate than people of the same age going to the gym or playing adult league sports.

My GF plays adult league softball and the amount of torn ACLs, meniscus injuries and even torn rotator cuffs during games is almost laughable. You take an aging, untrained population and have a sudden spike in physical demands without a sequenced progression (otherwise known as "training"), then you will have injuries.

As far as tendons and joints, they can and do respond to stimulus and get stronger over time, albeit much slower than muscles. You can keep them strong and even make them stronger following a logical progression of increased stress, recovery and adaptation. Randomly stressing that tissue beyond what they are adapted to is going to come at a higher risk for injury, particularly as you age. This is why former D2 baseball players turned accountants who refuse to acknowledge their dad bod blow their achilles tendon sprinting to first base in beer league softball games.

 

[JDT1982]

I am 42, and I am definitely not as strong as I was in my late teens, 20s or early 30s. I work out consistently 3 to 5 days a week, but I go for more reps with a lower weight. It seems to help with all of the aches and pains. I can only imagine how my body will feel 20 to 30 years from now.

 

[dtrkyman]

I’m 52, was turkey hunting with a 23 year old this spring, we cover 80 miles on foot in 5.5 days.

He kept up quite well for a flat lander, he called me old one morning and later that evening I proceeded to smoke him going up a mountain side to get back to the truck before dark


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pharmseller]

He bailed! So I guess I won

Rub his nose in his own fear every chance you get.




P

 

[yfarm]

Turned 71 last week. Daily workout is 11 miles on the bike, 100 pushups, 100 reverse crunches, 40 lateral leg lifts. 7 days a week.

 

[pacoalcracker]

Louie might have been using "gear", in the top competition tiers who isn't, but his methodology for powerlifting strength progression is legendary.

I don't care what age you are, strength training is the shit...period. There is no disputing it and I don't care how many letters you got behind your name. Done right with a bit of intensity you really don't need much, or any cardio. Jack LaLane weight trained right up to the day he died at 96...and at 90+ he could still do 100 pushups, lifted weights 1.5 hrs EVERY day and swam for an hour every day. Died because he wanted to work out while having pneumonia and said no way to seeing a doctor. He was the REAL fitness BOSS, not Arnie. He did more for fitness than anyone before, or since. CF.....its an OK alternative depending on what your goals are but not for me. Proper warm ups and common sense keeps injuries in check.

 

[Watrdawg]

When I was 58.5 I was benching 265x3, deadlifting 520x4 and squatting 505x4...thats almost 1300 pounds for reps. Since I did not compete, I did not know what my 1 rep maxes were, nor did I care. 5'-5" and 205. A lot of the young guys at the gym would just stand there watching me work the iron.... especially on my heavy day when I would rack-pull 750 for 3 or 4 reps. Thats a lot of plates. I retired from work at that age and stopped lifting altogether thinking I powerlifted for 8 years w/o a single injury so better to quit while I was ahead. Now, 5.5 years later at 64 I'm back at it teaching my 38 yo son who wants to learn. Ive been lifting for around 5 weeks now but starting out again I was amazed at how weak I had become, struggling with 35-40% of my old weight numbers. However, 5 weeks later I'm progressing and up to 50%. My goal is to get to 75% by Thanksgiving and very close to those old numbers by the end of 2024. I highly doubt I will match the old numbers. Age takes a toll, even though I have no ailments. Surprisingly, I'm visually regaining muscle mass. I had flexed but not pumped 18" arms at 58.5 with 15% BF...not bad for a little old guy. Zero juice, then and now. I kicked many a young guys asses then, and I will again very soon. Lift 3 days, cardio 3 days and 1 total rest day. If I can just get to 1100 pounds at that same 205/15% BF I will be very happy. I like the West Side Barbell methodology for powerlifting but need to be smarter about it now due to my age...but Louie Simmons was no spring chicken.

Definitely have to be smarter at our age. Diet is a big part of it for me. I don't watch carbs too much and I try to take in 150-200grams of protein a day. I pretty much stick to Protein, beef, pork, fish and chicken, vegetables and fruit. I'll throw in carbs as needed and they are usually with dinner. Other than that I also make sure to get at least 8-9 hours of sleep a night. I was almost at your weight, 195, but that was too much for me. Getting down to 165 is about perfect for me. Although I have definitely lost strength. Working on slowly getting it back. Bench will never be the same though since I tore my pec. I don't push it like I used to. Not going through that again for sure!

 

[Idaho_Potato]

I was born in 1964 and yes its definitely possible. Yesterday I ran/walked 3.5 miles in a 35lb vest in 45 minutes. Today 7.94 miles bike ride in 32.29 minutes avg speed 14.67mph. Definitely not embellishing anything.

That’s all fine. I was more interested in seeing a squat, deadlift, and bench totaling 1,000. Not a mirror selfie.

 

[mtnbound]

54 and still doing Conjugate 3/4 days a week plus conditioning work 2 days. For me, the speed/dynamic work is crucial to maintaining joint health and mobility.

 

[chasewild]

It's a bummer he bailed, but also, he quit before he even started. You need not concern yourself with that lack of character.