What's your workout and why?

[David Mary]

I'm only 40 and I can't do that any more.

 

[The Aflac Duck]

Unless of course you care to answer my question above, which I will paraphrase: who do you know (of) that is over 45 years old, has always been and is still able to both train with the intensity of, and recover like a twenty year old?

You should come to my gym. Plenty of old dudes moving weight at volume. Of course anyone will reach the point of aging where you physically can’t do what you use to do, that’s obvious, but there’s no magical turning point in age where you just stop progressing. Jay Cutler is 48 and that dude is still an absolute monster Genetics, lifestyle, and so much more goes into it.

 

[David Mary]

I believe that for sure. But I think Maxwell's point was that someone who had trained for 4-5 years properly, and consistently, would have reached about their maximum levels of attainable strength and musculature, beyond which the only meaningful gains come in the form of improvements in new movement patterns or improvements in technique/efficiency. If one wanted to take issue with his using the specific age of 45 years as the absolute cut-off period, fine. I accept that it would vary from person to person. But each person does have that natural cut-off point, if they live long enough to attain it, that is.

Now let's take me, for example. I used to train fairly consistently, and well enough, but not extremely well. My best squat was around 335 or so. Let's say that I coast along until I reach my cut-off point (let's call it 45 for the sake of discussion) never increasing that 1RM. But then at 45 for some reason, I decide to go at it hard (midlife crisis let's say ), well, I certainly do believe that I could increase my squat over, say, the next five years, from 335 to, say, 405, over the next five years. And perhaps I could even hit 595 by the time I'm 60. BUT in order to do so, I would have to train more consistently, and conscientiously than I ever did when I was younger, not to mention have excellent nutrition and sleep habits (the latter of which all of Bladeforums knows I do not, if they have ever noticed some of my post time stamps ).

However, to tie this in with what I believe Maxwell is saying, had I been training consistently and regularly all along until now, I would already have achieved my 600 pound squat, and likely wouldn't go much past that for the rest of my life, no matter how well I continued to train.

 

[Jimbo302]

Thanks for the advice. I didn't, and won't.



The majority outcome? So, what, you know of someone who is over 100 years old, and still putting up beginner level gains of 10-20 pounds per month onto his or her squat? Must be up to, what, 30 plates per side by now? Probably more, but I haven't done the math.



Oh you believe. I see now. I don't see how you can say you were not argumentative though. You the one who came out swinging against Mr. Maxwell's article, basically calling him a hypocrite. Yes, you did. If you don't realize it, then look at what you said:



Which is exactly what he was admonishing against doing. So you are saying that he is, "for the most part"(!) doing the exact thing he said not to, which is the definition of a hypocrite. My feathers are not ruffled at all, but it is no skin off my nose to respond and refute your unjust treatment of the man, which as you have now admitted, is based only on a general belief. One which defies the known laws of nature... Unless of course you care to answer my question above, which I will paraphrase: who do you know (of) that is over 45 years old, has always been and is still able to both train with the intensity of, and recover like a twenty year old?

My apologies, it's not my intention to get under your skin, just discussing topics on a forum to pass some time. I wasn't aware it was a sensitive or personal subject for you.
That said, your response is obviously irascible, and have no interest in arguing on the internet with you.

 

[David Mary]

I said you gave thoughtless and inconsiderate public injury to a man whose words and ideas have helped others, and you called me irascible for it. What's there to argue about?

How do you like to train?

 

[Richard338]

It depends, if i have work, I have the gym. The gym is 5 minutes from the clinic. Monday is generally chest/triceps, Tuesdays Legs, Wednesday Back and Bicep, Thursday Legs, and Friday Assorted upperbody. This year, I focused a lot more on my bench or specifically my incline bench and am approaching 205lbs 1rm. The other year I focused a lot more on my back and was able to do weighted pull ups with a 45 plate. I work out because I like getting stronger and improving my overall aesthetics. Also, being in health care, lets you see what happens when you dont take of your body. Covid and my patients who have moved on to work from home showed me what happens if you just let it go.

I take it that you are constrained to M-F. As a former powerlifter my spine hurts thinking about doing legs/back/legs on three consecutive days, but it depends a lot on what you are doing specifically.
We used to format fairly similar to your week:
M bench/Tris
Tu legs
W off
Th shoulders and assorted
F back
Good luck in the new year.

 

[mrknife]

I take it that you are constrained to M-F. As a former powerlifter my spine hurts thinking about doing legs/back/legs on three consecutive days, but it depends a lot on what you are doing specifically.
We used to format fairly similar to your week:
M bench/Tris
Tu legs
W off
Th shoulders and assorted
F back
Good luck in the new year.

fortunately, legs workouts are usually the first to get skipped if things come up , thanks, likewise!

 

[Richard338]

I believe that for sure. But I think Maxwell's point was that someone who had trained for 4-5 years properly, and consistently, would have reached about their maximum levels of attainable strength and musculature, beyond which the only meaningful gains come in the form of improvements in new movement patterns or improvements in technique/efficiency. If one wanted to take issue with his using the specific age of 45 years as the absolute cut-off period, fine. I accept that it would vary from person to person. But each person does have that natural cut-off point, if they live long enough to attain it, that is.

Now let's take me, for example. I used to train fairly consistently, and well enough, but not extremely well. My best squat was around 335 or so. Let's say that I coast along until I reach my cut-off point (let's call it 45 for the sake of discussion) never increasing that 1RM. But then at 45 for some reason, I decide to go at it hard (midlife crisis let's say ), well, I certainly do believe that I could increase my squat over, say, the next five years, from 335 to, say, 405, over the next five years. And perhaps I could even hit 595 by the time I'm 60. BUT in order to do so, I would have to train more consistently, and conscientiously than I ever did when I was younger, not to mention have excellent nutrition and sleep habits (the latter of which all of Bladeforums knows I do not, if they have ever noticed some of my post time stamps ).

However, to tie this in with what I believe Maxwell is saying, had I been training consistently and regularly all along until now, I would already have achieved my 600 pound squat, and likely wouldn't go much past that for the rest of my life, no matter how well I continued to train.

If you train consistently and intensely focussing on powerlifting, most people reach about 90% of their potential within 5 years. Absolute strength can go higher if you switch weight classes. Avoiding and addressing injuries are the biggest things for longevity. I shot for the moon and carry some damage...

 

[Jimbo302]

I said you gave thoughtless and inconsiderate public injury to a man whose words and ideas have helped others, and you called me irascible for it. What's there to argue about?

How do you like to train?

Perhaps I misread your tone, then. Public injury just sounds humorous, as I criticized the idea of an absolute, such as there is only one possible fitness outcome for people above a arbitrarily chosen age.


I train five days a week, 1.5hr or more a day, once in a while twoadays. I alternate strength maintenance, cardio, core and flexibility, while adding task specific exercises like rucks, trap lift, weighted carries, and endurance tasks.

 

[David Mary]

That's pretty awesome. Assuming by burpees you mean burpees and not squat thrusts. My question is did you do the squats before the burpees? If so you must be a sucker for pain.

I once did 50 burpees in two minutes flat. By burpee, I mean full pushup, then jump with hands overhead, not just the plank and then stand up (squat thrust) that so many gym goers call burpees. That was ten years ago. I need to get back into burpees. Thanks for the reminder M mike9199 .

 

[Locutus D'Borg]

I'm 72. One day I do push-ups (multiple sets), curls, shoulder presses, etc. with dumbbells. And squats without weight and then with dumbells. Second day, only sit-ups. Lots of them. Third day is rest. Then repeat. And I walk up hills, etc, usually every day. Gotta keep my scrawny body in shape. lol

 

[Houlahound]

I'm 72. One day I do push-ups (multiple sets), curls, shoulder presses, etc. with dumbbells. And squats without weight and then with dumbells. Second day, only sit-ups. Lots of them. Third day is rest. Then repeat. And I walk up hills, etc, usually every day. Gotta keep my scrawny body in shape. lol

Congratulations, your physique is better than an obscenely high percentage of males in their physical prime.

You are an inspiration.

 

[sgt1372]

71 here. My current "routine" is to row 10k meters/day 5 days/wk for 1 hr/day on my Concept 2 Rower. Just hit the 10 Million meter mark!

Use to do a lot of weight lifting and cross training exercises until my rt elbow detriorated to the point that I couldn't do pushups/pullups anymore w/o causing severe pain in the elbow. Can still do lower body lights (like squats/dead lifts and leg lifts w/elbow straps in my safety cage but no more bench presses, OHPs or curls. I also use to hike 3-5 miles w/about 1k ft elevation changes in a couple of local parks but haven't done much of that recently either.

Have gotten my wt down to and kept it as low a 150-155 w/a BF% as low a 10-12 % (as measured by hydro and DEXA) for a couple of years when I was obsessive about working out and controlling what I ate/drank) but gained 15# back in the past yr to 170 which seems to be my "set point."

I know I can get back to 155 if I quit drinking alcohol (which is how I lost wt before) but I'm not motivated to do that at the moment.

Rowing keeps me fit enough and also seems to keep my wt in check at 170 for my 5'8' frame.

 

[Locutus D'Borg]

Congratulations, your physique is better than an obscenely high percentage of males in their physical prime.

You are an inspiration.

I'm not sure I inspire anyone. But having spent 21 years in the Army, I've been conditioned (no pun intended) to exercise when I wake up each morning.

Hey, though, on a separate but related subject, I discovered a cool way to fall asleep. Instead of counting sheep (yeah, we used to do that), I try to picture in my mind, and count, each of my knives. By the time I reach the GECs I conk out.

 

[David Mary]

My workout is a fifteen minute bike ride to the shop and back each day I go in. I also have my squat rack rigged up for wide grip bodyweight rows at the moment, since I have been neglecting my upper body pulls. I once did a set of 20 legit strict pullups weighing about 200 pounds (neutral grip on hanging bars). Now I'm lucky to get eight in a set, at the same weight... working on it...

 

[CDHumiston]

30 Minutes a day jumping around like a fool to Rock music and then 5 minutes on the inversion table.

That's it for me. I'm 62 at 5' 8" and I weigh 150. Feel pretty good all-around, could work out harder, buy why?

 

[3D Anvil]

I got me one of them fancy Tonal gyms. Yeah, it's obscenely expensive, but it's no gimmick. It's actually a great machine if you have a limited amount of space. After working out on my own for decades with just free weights, it's good to have the guided workouts with a variety of trainers. Definitely got me out of my rut, doing the same exercises day in and day out. Forced me to do more of the stuff I often short changed, like legs and core.

Wife uses it too, and in fact it's saved me money, because she was doing the personal trainer thing.

 

[Houlahound]

Started doing high rep slow motion bodyweight squats, tried getting 100 in over the day every day. Was going well but knee joints nearly exploded by end of week. Think I will get a stationary recumbent bike instead, looks like they will take a load off the knees.

 

[David Mary]

100 slow squats in a single day is no joke!

 

[Houlahound]

100 slow squats in a single day is no joke!

In sets of 20 spread out 5 times over a whole day is achievable for most people that don't have major physical issues.

The expectation is you get in more than 100 with time eg a very boring video on YT a guy does 500 straight.