all posts post new thread

Other/Mixed 40+ year olds: at your age, do you find yourself stop pushing for PRs?

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
Luis T. Gonzalez said:
Well... I will be 40 in two years. I don't really pursue PR's as much as I'm setting goals to where I want to be i the future. I experience PR's and I hope that as I get older I can continue to do so. I would prefer to challenge myself with things whether it is a competition or taking on a challenge in my own backyard. From my perspective, when you say "pushing for PR's", it makes it sound like attempting to always increase like the AMRAP or die motto. I think it is smart to set some realistic goals and work towards them. I certainly hope I don't become the type of person who thinks I'm too old to set some realistic goals for myself.
Click to expand...
Lol. As you post a video of swings with a 56kg bell last week, just another light day. Just messing with you buddy.
 
There's also something to be said for what conditions your PRs were set in. I was a well-trained college athlete, and I know there are some things that 20-year-old me could do that I'll never be able to do again. But, at the same time, there's things 48-year-old me can do that young me couldn't do.

I still train for progression, not maintenance, and I hope I always will - even knowing that I'll probably never get back to some of those peaks. What I'm always learning and adapting to as I get older is how hard I can push, and how often.
 
I don't really have any glory days of active youth so almost everything I do now is a PR. Testing after every program is a way of knowing what to do for the next program. I have no plans to compete but at 40+ I think hypertrophy and generally being able to do some kind of weighted endurance (kettlebell work) seem like worthwhile health goals and the strength that comes along for the ride is just plain fun. I have seen elderly people who do not have muscle, cannot endure, and do not have strength. The opposite is better and you make a choice for the future with your choices today.
 
Kenny Croxdale said:
Lifting Light vs Heavy Things

Lifting Light Things increases Strength but not to the same degree as Lifting Heavy Things.

Research has demonstrated that Strength gains are optimized with load of 85% plus of a 1 Repetition Max.
Click to expand...

We're both talking about the same thing. Marty Gallagher is discussing using disadvantaged leverages so that a light weight becomes 85+% of your 1 rep max.
 
In reality it's going to vary by person based on when you started training, how often you train, injury history, propensity for injury, how smart you train, how good you are at listening to your body, and genetics. Also if you are using any sort of *ahem* "assistance. Obviously if you started later than most, have great genetics, low propensity for injury, and are on hormonal assistance beyond where you'd be naturally, you can easily keep hitting PRs into your 50s.

I like this video about training as you get older and think it explain it pretty well:
 
Steve Freides said:
I just looked at some of my numbers - when I'm deadlifting and not peaking for a competition, the three weights I use most often are 74%, 79%, and 85% 1RM, and it's mostly the lower two weights if I'm doing sets of 5. When I read things like this, it makes me think maybe you're just going too heavy too often.
Click to expand...
id agree with this. I lift with 70 year olds that still pull double bodyweight. They don’t push hard all the time and only peak once or twice a year.

I don’t think anyone has much longevity doing “chaos and pain” training long term. Sensible training should take into account your recovery ability.

I’d encourage people to check out Odd Haugen if they feel age is a factor. Pretty sure at 73 he is still the only person that can clean and press one of the heavier Thomas Inch dumbbells

Or even take a gander at Steve’s open powerlifting profile. Steve Freides

Line go up
 
I'm in my 50s and (compared to my 20s and 30s) I'm a lot more selective about the physical goals I set for myself and the approach(es) I take to get there.

There are some athletic things I did in my teens and 20s that I will never ever attain/surpass again. Period. And probably some strength numbers that I hit in my late 20s/early 30s that I won't hit again - but I think I can give some of them a run for their money even now with (more) intelligent planning and diligence.

Some goals will be reframed as "Best lift since <year>" or "Most reps w. <poundage> since <year>". And then sometimes, because I've never focused on a particular lift, it's easier to hit PRs (like Axle DLs - never did those when I was younger). We'll see.
 
Boris Bachmann said:
Some goals will be reframed as "Best lift since <year>" or "Most reps w. <poundage> since <year>". And then sometimes, because I've never focused on a particular lift, it's easier to hit PRs (like Axle DLs - never did those when I was younger). We'll see.
Click to expand...
This, here. I’m 60 and my heaviest lifts are (fond) memories. Like Boris, I shoot for heaviest X, fastest Y, most Z, etc at age or for a particular year. For instance, we had a max deadlift day at my CrossFit gym, it was my first time to deadlift as a 60 year old so my “Post 60 PR” is 435.
 
Definitely still pushing for PRs at age 56. Weightlifters take many years to mature into what they can do in the sport. I'm four and a half years into weightlifting and 3 years into competing. Sometimes I feel like I'm riding the age-related decline at the same rate as the skill/strength incline, but I AM making improvements, albeit very slowly. Hoping to set some new PRs in snatch and C&J at USA Masters Weightlifting National Championships on Thursday.
 
It really depends what kind of PR it is and the systemic impact.

I'm 54 and I hit a 10 year PR (i.e. bested what I did at age 43) in the overhead press last year.

[Although that wasn't a lifetime PR, compared to what I did at 25.]

But I'm much more cautious about squat and deadlift PRs because it just takes so much out of me.

However, I keep making gains in the competition Olympic lifts, but I only push that edge when I'm in competition prep. Most of the time I practice in the 70-80% range.

The bright spot for me in terms of gains is my bench press, basically because I never bothered to try to get any better than 100 kg / 225 lbs for reps (i.e. combine test), so now that I'm kinda-sorta trying to push the weight up and reps lower, I'm making gains.
 
Anna C said:
Definitely still pushing for PRs at age 56. Weightlifters take many years to mature into what they can do in the sport. I'm four and a half years into weightlifting and 3 years into competing. Sometimes I feel like I'm riding the age-related decline at the same rate as the skill/strength incline, but I AM making improvements, albeit very slowly. Hoping to set some new PRs in snatch and C&J at USA Masters Weightlifting National Championships on Thursday.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

Although it sometimes feels weird relative to normies.

I had a neighbor visit my basement dungeon to lift with me recently and he (55) was shocked that I was hang snatching, snatch DLing, and front squatting.

He thought it was absolutely bizarre at any age, let alone 50+.

Said he had never seen anyone in person, ever, doing any of it.
 
Last edited:
watchnerd said:
Ditto.

Although it sometimes feels weird relative to normies.

I had a neighbor visit my basement dungeon to lift with me recently and he (55) was shocked that I was hang snatching, snatch DLing, and front squatting.

He thought it was absolutely bizarre at any age, let along 50+.

Said he had never seen anyone in person, ever, doing any of it.
Click to expand...
As far as contemporary norms go, it is bizarre. The only time I see anything like that in person is if I intentionally practice KBs in a mirror.
 
OliverZ said:
I'm almost 42, I know that's not old,
Click to expand...
I am 40 and need to give you a little pushback on that. 40 is old. Not grandpa level old, but still old. Half of the journey is already done. Which is perfectly fine. But calling 40 "not old" is some strange modern phenomenon that needs to make room for a more realistic assessment of age.

OliverZ said:
but injuries and joint issues have been piling up as soon as I hit 40 years old (I've only been lifting since my late 20s). Injuries are becoming more frequent and a lot easier to occur. I now find myself halting my pursuit of PRs and now lift for maintainance. Now, this is not to say I'm weaker, in fact I'm the strongest I've ever been, and I know I am still capable of breaking through current PRs and set new ones - it's just I know it will come at a cost if not managed with the level of care that it deserves, and on top of that I think I'm done with trying to break my body in pursuit of new PRs.

My training goals have changed of late, focusing on maintaining strength and improving my conditioning. I still train hard, but I do so within my limits.

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on this and more broadly on continuing training as father time starts knocking at our door.
Click to expand...
I just change the style of my training. I don't push PRs anymore, but I let them happen. It seems to me, that you are doing something similar.

In my younger years, I tried to squeeze every ounce of performance out of each training session. The progress can be faster that way if you can recover well. Most of the time, training with a conjugate system, I built my base and was pretty peaked. Now, I just build my base. Strength training within 70-80%1RM, zone 2, medium intensity with my circuit trainings, GTG + exercise snacks to increase training volume. Within the next weeks, I will most likely once again become the strongest version of myself, just because of patience and base building. But it is rather a byproduct of seeking the optimal training and not anymore because of me being a reckless maniac.

However, I think it is a fountain of youth to keep up the focus and (mental) intensity in life and therefore in training. The moment you slow down, death get a grip on you.

One of my favorite quotes from Whitefang by Jack London:
It is not the way of the Wild to like movement. Life is an offence to it, for life is movement ; and the Wild aims always to destroy movement. It freezes the water to prevent it running to the sea ; it drives the sap out of the trees till they are frozen to their mighty hearts ; and most ferociously and terribly of all does the Wild harry and crush into submission man — man, who is the most restless of life, ever in revolt against the dictum that all movement must in the end come to the cessation of movement.
Click to expand...
I train as serious as ever. I just train a bit more clever.

So, in a way, yes: I stopped pushing for PRs. But I never stop pushing in training and life.
 
I’m 41, but I definitely set goals. Not ready to give up goals half way in my life.. That’s part of the fun I think.

I really want to press the 40kg kb. Preferably double. I also want to get the Sinister title.
Age is just a number. If you work smart and are consistent, everything is possible.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom