After a long period of time with just minimal strength training due to severe arthritis, the new meds have the arthritis beaten down and I've been lifting again with heavier weights.
Last summer, just two days after 65th birthday I benched 305 pounds for four reps.
I have since backed off and am building self up to another try at 315 pounds for this summer. I'd like to get 5 reps from it.
I am not nearly the strongest guy at the gym, but I easily the strongest guy age at the gym.
Is there some formula that is accepted as what you are able to do at older ages as compared to what you were able to do when younger?
I used to pop off sets of 10 reps with 325 pounds when I was in mid thirties.
Age and strength
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
Re: Age and strength
Hi Packard, good to have you back again.
In truth I don't think there are any hard and fast rules, as it depends on many things including how someones testosterone has dropped post-forties, how growth hormone may be affected, how the body continues to metabolise food, in terms of thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary actions, insulin production, gut absorption rates etc and it's probably a case of people are unique so there's many varations, rather than very specific changes based on being either mesomorph, endomorph or ectomorph.
That said you may be aware of muscle memory as it's known, which is not actualy memory, but a situation where atrophied muscle that can be trained back to previous levels recovers quicker.
This is due to a stretchy membrane surrounding muscle called a fascia, that expands in direct correlation to muscle growth, but generally does not shrink back to previous dimensions when muscle atrophies, so when the muscle is growing again there is no resistance from the fascia, allowing for more rapid muscle growth, that is until the muscle becomes flush with the fascia again, then should any growth beyond pre-atrophy levels occur the resistance aspect of the fascia comes back into play.
You can be proud of not giving up on yourself and i'm proud of you, because I am aware of how much you've dedicated your life to your body in these ways for years and I appreciate how much it may have been hard to take, when your attempts to continue this were severely hindered or even completely stifled, so you deserve a lot of credit for not giving up on yourself and mentally and emotionally accepting the circumstances as the norm and not something to be overcome, or having any ability to be overcome.
If there are any hard and fast calculations or scientific methodology, that can applied to your circumstances regards recovering past ability, then I am not aware of such things, so it's maybe just a case of taking each day as it comes and continuing to test yourself, from the standpoint of being conservative, not pushing yourself too hard and also maintaining a level of self belief.
I'm sure you'll be able to recover the kind of ability you're saying you're aiming for.
GOOD LUCK Packard, because you're a good man and don't stop trying to care about yourself, because you ARE worth it.
In truth I don't think there are any hard and fast rules, as it depends on many things including how someones testosterone has dropped post-forties, how growth hormone may be affected, how the body continues to metabolise food, in terms of thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary actions, insulin production, gut absorption rates etc and it's probably a case of people are unique so there's many varations, rather than very specific changes based on being either mesomorph, endomorph or ectomorph.
That said you may be aware of muscle memory as it's known, which is not actualy memory, but a situation where atrophied muscle that can be trained back to previous levels recovers quicker.
This is due to a stretchy membrane surrounding muscle called a fascia, that expands in direct correlation to muscle growth, but generally does not shrink back to previous dimensions when muscle atrophies, so when the muscle is growing again there is no resistance from the fascia, allowing for more rapid muscle growth, that is until the muscle becomes flush with the fascia again, then should any growth beyond pre-atrophy levels occur the resistance aspect of the fascia comes back into play.
You can be proud of not giving up on yourself and i'm proud of you, because I am aware of how much you've dedicated your life to your body in these ways for years and I appreciate how much it may have been hard to take, when your attempts to continue this were severely hindered or even completely stifled, so you deserve a lot of credit for not giving up on yourself and mentally and emotionally accepting the circumstances as the norm and not something to be overcome, or having any ability to be overcome.
If there are any hard and fast calculations or scientific methodology, that can applied to your circumstances regards recovering past ability, then I am not aware of such things, so it's maybe just a case of taking each day as it comes and continuing to test yourself, from the standpoint of being conservative, not pushing yourself too hard and also maintaining a level of self belief.
I'm sure you'll be able to recover the kind of ability you're saying you're aiming for.
GOOD LUCK Packard, because you're a good man and don't stop trying to care about yourself, because you ARE worth it.