In general, at what age does the pendulum swing from gaining strength to struggling to maintain what you have? Approaching the end to another year, its typically the time I reset the goals. And as I get older I tend to sometimes psyche myself out that if I don’t reach X goal this year it may be too late. I know there are physical freaks out there who seem to never back-pedal. But for us normal folk - what have others experienced as you age in to 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s in your training? What strategies do you use to continue progressing and hitting your goals? And if you did hit a wall, when did it happen?
54 and still hitting PRs.
No PEDs or HRT.
I look at Powerlifting records by age group to get a sense of how lifters progress as we age.
It seems the mid-60s is where it becomes a challenge strength wise…
Managing recovery is the biggest issue from the 40s on.
Edit - I think anyone can get decent beginner gains at any age, but I don’t know of many elite lifters over 50 competing in open categories.
My basic measure of decent strength is 1x BW OHP, 1.5X Bench, 2x Squat, and 2.5x deadlift. All raw.
Those measures can be found fairly easily in the 50s crowd, but thin out significantly from the mid 60s onwards.
To me it is personal. At 56 i can improve because i started real late but avoiding injury is high on my list. So my focus is more on exercising being healthy, happy, lean and progress is not at the top of my list.
Thanks OP, that is encouraging to know. I do not compete, but I have transitioned to more of a strength / powerlifting program recently and just my nature is to always try to progress in some area. I understand everyone’s goals are different & personal to them. Hitting PR’s is what keeps me motivated to train. And yes recovery and injury prevention has been a more prominent focus over past couple of years. Thanks for chiming in.