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Old Forum When does Strength Peak!

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spikemdjr

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I am looking for an answer from Pavel on this one. I have gotten responses from champions ranging from champion bodybuilders to world champion Olympic weightlifters. Ronnie Coleman told me his strength peaked in his early forties. Tommy Kono told me that strength can continue to improve in your forties, but speed and flexibility are lost. Reg Park's son Jon Jon Park told me that you peak in muscle maturity in your late thirties/early forties. I know we are all different, but I know that there has to be a point where we reach the top and it is then a slow downhill descension from there.
 
I will try to become stronger forever in body, mind, and spirit.

I was in my mid-40's when I began lifting.  I set some lifetime PRs in my early 50's but am close to breaking them now as I near 60.

You had a question about at what age one's strength peaks - why do you ask?

-S-
 
To me, this is like asking at what age puberty begins, or how long will I live.

Reading your original post, I'd say early 40's.  There is not a "point" but rather a range into which most people will fall, as with lifespan duration and other statistics.

-S-
 
Ronnie Coleman even though he is a bodybuilder told me that he believed an Olympic Weightlifter could peak in his early forties. Is it possible speed and flexibility can be maintained at a very high level at this age.
 
I always use Ellen and Cole as examples. Ellen--began training powerlifting at 40 and is still setting new PRs on the regular two decades later. Cole--began training for a front lever (and achieved it for the first time) when he was 60.

Lots of powerlifters peak in their late 30s and early 40s, even those who began training very young. This is more a possibility with static strength sports... you won't see a weightlifter winning olympic gold in his 40s.

High level strongmen tend to have shorter careers as well just due to inevitable injuries.
 
I have collected a lot of old Strength & Health magazines, and Norb Schemansky did his best lifts and won his last medal at age forty. In the July 1973 issue, they wrote an article on him at age 48. His lifts at age 48 were only 60 or 70 pounds off his best. He retired at age 44, but he claims that injuries such as a broken toe are what kept him from being in top shape at age 42 and 43. The Olympic sprinter Merelene Ottey's time in the 100 m at age 44 wasn't too far off from her best time at age 33.
 
Jim Schmitz who is the Olympic Weightlifting coach at the Sports Palace, told me that he was surprised at how young some of the weightlifting medalist are. Some are even in there teens. I know that you are going to be better in your early forties than you were in your late teens.
 
There is a 61 year old sprinter in Australia who runs sub 11 secs in the 100m. Not sure if that is the official record for his age group but he's maintained his speed pretty well and is headbangingly remarkable. There is a video of him racing some young whippersnapper on you tube.
 
It all starts going pear shaped after 30 when muscle starts going south and hair appears in your ears. If you keep up the training and invest in a hair trimmer then biology can be curbed to an extent both inwardly and To keep up appearances. As Aris said many strength athletes are riddled with injuries when the big 4 zero comes along, yet if you are fortunate with your health, be it genetics, luck or you take care of yourself, maintain that good health, be free of injury and forge a lifestyle that enables you to train then any set point can be shifted along a few years, decades even maybe. I'm 50 and have been amazed at the positivity here at strongfirst that age doesn't matter. According to wii fit I'm officially  a teenager of 19. That's good enough science for me, oh how I marvel at the technology these days! I was quite shocked when I read S&S where Pavel states that there are no compensations for age. Unfair, was my initial reaction. Deal with it and get swinging, he is saying. And, Pavel, thank you for that. That says so much.
 
That reply doesn't make sense. If you peak strength wise in late thirties/early forties, and your muscles come into there own then how is it downhill after 30.
 
sorry, know what you mean. Sarcopenia - age related degenerative loss of muscle mass starts at 30, some medical research say as early as 25. Use it or lose it?
 
You already appear to have an age range (mid 30's to mid 40's) nailed down by some expert practitioners (Coleman and Kono), does it really matter what Pavel says? No disrespect intended to the Chief.
 
Ben Dau, that's the point I was also trying to make - the answer is in his original post already.

-S-
 
I think it may be more of a case of not wanting to accept that one day it will be over and what I mean by that is in no way disrespect or insult towards the original poster of this thread because I of all people can understand wanting to find the " perfect routine/exercise/diet/lifestyle " that would keep us at our best forever. However I have sadly come to realize that it just is improbable.
 
The more you practice a particular lift or movement, the better you will get at it even if you do not have more muscle.  After practicing a lift for a long enough period of time, you will reach a point diminishing returns on the gains that could be attributed to skill.

When talking about guys like Coleman, who have used considerable amounts of performance enhancing drugs, questions about age become irrelevant.  When talking about the effects of age, only natural athletes are relevant.  Coleman achieved so much more strength and mass due to drugs that who could possibly know what he would naturally be able to do as he aged?  I suppose this is based on the assumption that you are asking when a natural man would peak in strength.

 

 
 
You can't deny that a man's T levels will climb early in life, reach a peak, and then begin to decline.  You can influence how quickly T levels decline, but you can't prevent the decline.  We all will grow old and die, and lose strength along the way.  You have to make peace with that fact.
 
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