Age and Iron

Decline is inevitable, but decrepitude is not

A number of readers are participating in the Bench Calculator test proposed last week. I was disappointed with my results, as I went for 10x 205 pounds, but only managed 7. After backing it down to 185, I was able to do 12 repetitions; the calculator predicts a range from 253 to 257 pounds, so I’ll give 255 a try next week.

Two interesting observations, for varying degrees of “interesting” that largely depend upon whether the reader is lifting weights yet or not - though if you’re not, you should be!

First, it appears that benching 255 at the age of 55 is considered to be the equivalent of benching 340 at the age of 25, which is borderline elite in the 165-180 range. Since my max of 325 at the age of 29 and the lower end of that range was also borderline elite, this suggests that a man can keep up his relative strength over time even with a moderately desultory workout routine.

275 would appear to be excessively optimistic, if the calculator is correct.

Second, the strange thing is that my dumbbell shoulder press hasn’t declined very much, if at all. The most I ever did was at the age of 27, when I had a trustworthy starter/spotter and did standard pyramid at 10x60, 8x65, 6x70, and 4x75. And I only ever did that once. Yesterday, without a starter or a spotter, I did 12x40, 12x45, 12x50, and 10x55. It felt surprisingly good.

Anyhow, perhaps I’ll give the pyramid a try at 55-70 after testing how accurate the bench calculator prediction turns out to be. It could be that age permits high reps at the lower weights, but precludes lower reps at the higher ones. Only one way to find out!

Dumbbell shoulder press is great for women too.

Remember, there is nothing you can do to more reliably increase both your SSH rank and your attractiveness to women than hitting the weights. But a word of warning. Women will grab your arms, your chest, and your shoulders without permission once you pass a certain threshold of perceivable fitness.