"The Iron never lies to you... The Iron will always kick you the real deal... by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain."
Longtime competitive powerlifter, now an old fart in my 50's as well...and still competing.
Could not agree with Vox more:
"Decline is inevitable, but decrepitude is not".
From what I have seen, it is *very* doable to stave off decrepitude for as long as you are able to move, even if you can't match the younger you, or all of the 20-something knuckleheads, rep-for-rep and pound-for-pound:
So long as you can avoid injuries. Let me repeat: SO LONG as you can AVOID INJURIES.
This means pay attention to your body, and how its recovery times change as you get older. 50 year olds simply cannot train like 20 year-olds and expect to get the same results / avoid injuries. This is true regardless of whether you're a swimmer or a weightlifter, deep into steroids / PEDs or not.
Somewhere down the page, Vox reminded as guy to NOT skip warmups. Sage advice: skip proper warmups at your peril. If you don't learn to adjust your routine to your body...your body will eventually adjust your routine for you...in a manner you won't be happy with.
I've run the experiment a few times over the years, comparing the 1RM calculators to my actual 1RM. The actual numbers aren't important, but what I have noticed consistently is that the 1RM calculators tend to underestimate a true (properly warmed-up-to) One Rep max by about 3-5%.
For me personally, the estimates are a bit closer in the 3-5 rep range.
I have also seen the same with 1RM-indexed workout plans like the Buckeye Bench routine (would recommend BTW)...they undershoot by a couple of percentage points as well.
It’s been a joy to follow the through line of these SSH observations. To scale out and see the macro at play has helped me from laughing at the seeming absurdity (I realize it was me who was coping), and instead appreciate these roles, and accept their stengths and weakness based on that.
Small anecdote or a SSH observation.
Context: we work in a small efficient landscape team that does high end work. 1 moral alpha (Taurus, great with assests) leads by example, Christian, community man. 1 young bravo (Aries, there is a fire theme, we get shit done) who is great, but worries I will or others usurp his leadership. 1 young omega (Aries, all the way), he is our heart, our relief, at once the least useful and most valuable, always wanting things to be equal and all are supported, heard.
It’s Christmas and we gather our partners and wives for a dinner. We arrive last I am given the seat next to our alpha. The normal charismatic and boisterous of the omega is gone, the bravo is in the mind observing and waiting to be addressed. Attention turns to me, the alpha and I while pulling others in conduct the dinner order (alpha is paying the bill for the business). The dinner carries on in this manner, as if the alpha and others are really taking great interest in me and my wife (given, I’m the shortest tenured so the attention is understandable, this is my first meeting most of their spouses). Due to our young kids we leave first and the party decides to do so as well. The following morning the alpha pulls me aside discreetly (as if by happen-stance) and says ‘ I never would have imagined your wife would be like that, I thought she would be just like you!”
These situations have consistently happened to me. How I conduct myself or who I live with confounds others to no end. To me it makes perfect and obvious sense.
The conversation continued into offering a bigger leadership position. I expressed I can lead quite naturally, however I was concerned our bravo may not take to it unless I can be his delta while he takes the reigns, so I reassure my boss I will take whatever role is needed for me to alleviate him, so he can continue to find us great clients and jobs, and said that I would be comfortable doing it from behind so long as the work, the morality, and the goals keep in sight. He looked at me curiously through this, again as if he didn’t understand it. Then a second look, as if suddenly he realized he really needed me, and he likely would not understand me.
Food for thought! My actions may have gone this way without the SSH observations made possible through this blog and vox day, however now I cannot help but see it, rendering the structure very easy to trust. Walking lighter these days, thanks VD.
"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."
I suppose we'll just have to grin & bear it then...
>It could be that age permits high reps at the lower weights, but precludes lower reps at the higher ones.
Rippetoe recommends the opposite, high-intensity for low volume, FWIW. His reasoning is you have less capacity to recover from workouts, and high--intensity is better for maintaining your existing strength.
If you're still young enough to make positive progress, this will apply less (or not at all).
Starting Strength was my introduction to lifting and I remember Rippetoe saying that.
Your ability to recover from volume, at higher weights at least, decreases as you age. But the nervous system and muscle's ability to exert a maximum force, is easier to maintain. I.e. old man strength.
Tendons and various muscle tweaks also take longer to come back from though. I don't know where the balance is.
It's a testosterone thing. Peak-testosterone men, at age 22 and on steroids, are going to respond better to high volume. Hence the bodybuilding-style workouts with high volume. Most men should do sets of five, and most women should do heavy triples.
50 crunches pre-workout, but mostly getting kicked in the stomach a lot. We had a weekly drill that involved taking 40 roundhouse kicks to the stomach, 20 each leg.
You're not going to be able to fight regularly. So, something in the judo-jujitsu mode is probably more useful Stretching is vital. The striking arts are a young man's game due to the damage involved and the recovery required.
It’s good you didn’t speak. The man is correct about the use of the machine. I don’t think your assumptions are even correct, You seem to think that higher = harder/more effort, which is not true.
If you’d like to test it, try outputting the same wattage at the lowest resistance for the same amount of time.
Option (1). Who cares what the instructions are for the newbies? If you have experience, then obviously the instructions don't apply to you. It was literally an introductory class, ergo everything in it doesn't apply to advanced individuals.
Never forget that you're not the Reality Police. And nothing he said was wrong anyhow.
Explain in private that you know what you're doing and aren't going to hurt yourself and he'll be cool. Muscly men are very enthusiastic about this hobby.
There is no proper place because there is zero need to do this. Unless he's an officious Gamma, he'll observe that the advanced guy obviously knows what he's doing and will leave him to it.
The question is this: why do you feel any need to discuss it? The guy gave a recommendation to beginners. It's not a rule. There is no sign it will be applied to everyone. So where does this urge to talk about yourself and your special boy abilities come from?
An encouraging read, by Henry Rollins: https://archive.today/tlZbe
"The Iron never lies to you... The Iron will always kick you the real deal... by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain."
Longtime competitive powerlifter, now an old fart in my 50's as well...and still competing.
Could not agree with Vox more:
"Decline is inevitable, but decrepitude is not".
From what I have seen, it is *very* doable to stave off decrepitude for as long as you are able to move, even if you can't match the younger you, or all of the 20-something knuckleheads, rep-for-rep and pound-for-pound:
So long as you can avoid injuries. Let me repeat: SO LONG as you can AVOID INJURIES.
This means pay attention to your body, and how its recovery times change as you get older. 50 year olds simply cannot train like 20 year-olds and expect to get the same results / avoid injuries. This is true regardless of whether you're a swimmer or a weightlifter, deep into steroids / PEDs or not.
Somewhere down the page, Vox reminded as guy to NOT skip warmups. Sage advice: skip proper warmups at your peril. If you don't learn to adjust your routine to your body...your body will eventually adjust your routine for you...in a manner you won't be happy with.
I've run the experiment a few times over the years, comparing the 1RM calculators to my actual 1RM. The actual numbers aren't important, but what I have noticed consistently is that the 1RM calculators tend to underestimate a true (properly warmed-up-to) One Rep max by about 3-5%.
For me personally, the estimates are a bit closer in the 3-5 rep range.
I have also seen the same with 1RM-indexed workout plans like the Buckeye Bench routine (would recommend BTW)...they undershoot by a couple of percentage points as well.
"Women will...without permission"
True, true....apologies in advance.
It’s been a joy to follow the through line of these SSH observations. To scale out and see the macro at play has helped me from laughing at the seeming absurdity (I realize it was me who was coping), and instead appreciate these roles, and accept their stengths and weakness based on that.
Small anecdote or a SSH observation.
Context: we work in a small efficient landscape team that does high end work. 1 moral alpha (Taurus, great with assests) leads by example, Christian, community man. 1 young bravo (Aries, there is a fire theme, we get shit done) who is great, but worries I will or others usurp his leadership. 1 young omega (Aries, all the way), he is our heart, our relief, at once the least useful and most valuable, always wanting things to be equal and all are supported, heard.
It’s Christmas and we gather our partners and wives for a dinner. We arrive last I am given the seat next to our alpha. The normal charismatic and boisterous of the omega is gone, the bravo is in the mind observing and waiting to be addressed. Attention turns to me, the alpha and I while pulling others in conduct the dinner order (alpha is paying the bill for the business). The dinner carries on in this manner, as if the alpha and others are really taking great interest in me and my wife (given, I’m the shortest tenured so the attention is understandable, this is my first meeting most of their spouses). Due to our young kids we leave first and the party decides to do so as well. The following morning the alpha pulls me aside discreetly (as if by happen-stance) and says ‘ I never would have imagined your wife would be like that, I thought she would be just like you!”
These situations have consistently happened to me. How I conduct myself or who I live with confounds others to no end. To me it makes perfect and obvious sense.
The conversation continued into offering a bigger leadership position. I expressed I can lead quite naturally, however I was concerned our bravo may not take to it unless I can be his delta while he takes the reigns, so I reassure my boss I will take whatever role is needed for me to alleviate him, so he can continue to find us great clients and jobs, and said that I would be comfortable doing it from behind so long as the work, the morality, and the goals keep in sight. He looked at me curiously through this, again as if he didn’t understand it. Then a second look, as if suddenly he realized he really needed me, and he likely would not understand me.
Food for thought! My actions may have gone this way without the SSH observations made possible through this blog and vox day, however now I cannot help but see it, rendering the structure very easy to trust. Walking lighter these days, thanks VD.
"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."
I suppose we'll just have to grin & bear it then...
>It could be that age permits high reps at the lower weights, but precludes lower reps at the higher ones.
Rippetoe recommends the opposite, high-intensity for low volume, FWIW. His reasoning is you have less capacity to recover from workouts, and high--intensity is better for maintaining your existing strength.
If you're still young enough to make positive progress, this will apply less (or not at all).
Starting Strength was my introduction to lifting and I remember Rippetoe saying that.
Your ability to recover from volume, at higher weights at least, decreases as you age. But the nervous system and muscle's ability to exert a maximum force, is easier to maintain. I.e. old man strength.
Tendons and various muscle tweaks also take longer to come back from though. I don't know where the balance is.
It's so n=1. Some people respond better to high volume, others to high intensity.
Even that changes as you age, most likely.
It's a testosterone thing. Peak-testosterone men, at age 22 and on steroids, are going to respond better to high volume. Hence the bodybuilding-style workouts with high volume. Most men should do sets of five, and most women should do heavy triples.
Weightlifting is the best savings account for old age a man can make.
You were SHREDDED in your hay day. What exercises did you do for you core?
50 crunches pre-workout, but mostly getting kicked in the stomach a lot. We had a weekly drill that involved taking 40 roundhouse kicks to the stomach, 20 each leg.
What’s your advice on continuing or starting martial arts as you get older?
You're not going to be able to fight regularly. So, something in the judo-jujitsu mode is probably more useful Stretching is vital. The striking arts are a young man's game due to the damage involved and the recovery required.
Very helpful. Thank you.
It’s good you didn’t speak. The man is correct about the use of the machine. I don’t think your assumptions are even correct, You seem to think that higher = harder/more effort, which is not true.
If you’d like to test it, try outputting the same wattage at the lowest resistance for the same amount of time.
Option (1). Who cares what the instructions are for the newbies? If you have experience, then obviously the instructions don't apply to you. It was literally an introductory class, ergo everything in it doesn't apply to advanced individuals.
Never forget that you're not the Reality Police. And nothing he said was wrong anyhow.
You did the right thing already keeping quiet, and he gave good advice for novices. He didn't say he'd ban you for it ("should be avoided")
Explain in private that you know what you're doing and aren't going to hurt yourself and he'll be cool. Muscly men are very enthusiastic about this hobby.
There is no proper place because there is zero need to do this. Unless he's an officious Gamma, he'll observe that the advanced guy obviously knows what he's doing and will leave him to it.
The question is this: why do you feel any need to discuss it? The guy gave a recommendation to beginners. It's not a rule. There is no sign it will be applied to everyone. So where does this urge to talk about yourself and your special boy abilities come from?
Sure, that's a legitimate inquiry. No question.
Always do a warm-up when maxing.