I am 63, and I love working out or training. Learning how to train. Recently I did a Bench press of 220 my best so far. also did a squat of 240lb and a trap bar dead-lift of 240. I’ve cleaned 170 at 177 179lb and pressed and cleaned 167.5 In a smith machine I got 175 with little to no training there. But when I push it i do end up sore. I try not to push more than 20% of my best lift, and most of the time its only 5 to 20% more so.
I’ve had 2 herniated discs one of which was operated on and the other healed on its own after 9 months. I’ve had quadruple by pass in 2005 and a few operations on my colon in 1990 and 1996.
In the last year or so I’ve actually gotten stronger but at my age there’s always the thought that I could be out of the gym, ( or my cellar) if i injury myself. I’ve learned how to back squat and keep my back very tight plus I squat to a box, just touch it at parallel. When I bench i keep my body tight and scapula are pulled back and down. I am not a big guy at 5’8".
I just started with the trap bar dead lift around 3.5 weeks ago. I hadn’t really done any dead lifting since i injured my disc in 1997. Technique is extremely important as is concentration on doing what one needs to do.
Currently I’m fighting a nasty head cold, no big deal but it just throws one off. As they say “shit happens” or “it is what it is” both of which don’t explain a thing. But at my age progress can be made but sets backs halt progress and take a longer time to recover from. It forces me to conclude that the human being is a being moving through time and that as its been said " there is a time for all seasons." I believe that comes out of the Bible and which the Birds sang about in the 60’s. In one sense growing old, allows one to see just how ephemeral life is, or how reality is in constant flux, as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus told us.
Well that’s it just wanted to introduce myself and specifically hear from guys in my age group.
[quote]silee wrote:
It forces me to conclude that the human being is a being moving through time and that as its been said " there is a time for all seasons." I believe that comes out of the Bible and which the Birds sang about in the 60’s. In one sense growing old, allows one to see just how ephemeral life is, or how reality is in constant flux, as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus told us.
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Wow, philosophize much? J/k.
Allthough I/m not quite your age yet, you should know you’re an inspiration in that you’re putting up those numbers at your age and size. Keep it up young man, and I’ll follow along, allthough maybe not so much with the philosophy - it makes my poor meathead hurt!
So you’re not big on philosophy ? lol ok ok… I can tell you that you can make gains as long as you work on your weakness ( although sometimes its not easy to know what your weakness are, unless you have a partner or someone who knows), vary your routine, and rest long enough in between sets. If you’re working on 85% and above of 1RM 3 to 5 minutes or longer is appropriate, to give your body time to restore the ATP and creatine Phosphate needed to make adaptations in strength.
Also and I am still struggling with this one; knowing how long to go with loads of 85% and higher before you do a easy session or a deloading session. That is crucial. We know if you push too hard without letting the CNS recover you will start to lose ground and get weaker.
For myself I can push workouts for maximum strength up to 4 to 5 weeks at 3 workouts a week that cover the entire body or the bench, standing pressing,& squatting before my body starts to stall. Also even though i might be doing or making progress I can get derailed my tweaking my hip or glutes or what have you. I am still trying to learn some things from Louis Simmons.
Yeah I’ll never be a powerlifter but its nice to know that one can get stronger. And its nice to know that if you use a thoughtful approach you start to see some method to this madness of just lifting without direction. And yeah there are a lot of pitfalls as we age, diminishing hormone production, diminishing power etc. But if this is something you see yourself doing then you do it, nothing more than that. If you see yourself as a stamp collector and get joy out of that then do that!! lol