50th year PRs
Cliffs: I'm 50 later this year and am challenging myself to set as many lifetime PRs as I can
tldr
49yo male. 6ft, 90.5kg/199lbs. Grew up in London, now live in Sydney Australia.
Have long term sporting background. International representative rugby player at top tier sporting university and played semi pro into my late 20s. Also played varsity soccer as freshman at college, plus all the sports including track and field growing up.
The past 20 years since rugby finished...I've almost always exercised/trained and have always been fit but it's mainly been 'working out' rather than training. By which I mean I train hard when I go into the gym...but without any real plans or goals.
I had two serious sporting injuries that still impact my training - the knee reconstruction plus a torn & bulging disc in the L5/S1 region and after a really frustrating 3ish years of a cycle or injuring myself every time I tried to go hard for a period of time, I've cut the intensity of my training over the past 5 years. By doing this and giving up several movements (squat, snatch, squat clean), I've managed to stay active and training all the way through....albeit going through the motions for months and then more committed at other times.
But I find myself bored with my training and staring down the barrel of a major milestone as I turn 50 in the middle of 2021. And so I'm going to aim to reach 50 in great shape and to give myself something to keep me interested by aiming to break as many of my lifetime PRs as I can.
Realistically, I'm never running a sub 11.5 100m or hitting the roads to run a marathon again and I'm not squatting or o lifting heavy any more, so those ones are out. But I think the upper body lifts are within reach (I've never been 'strong' in those anyway, but they haven't dropped off much) and I think some of the cardio PRs are definitely do-able if I can commit to the pain...albeit I'm definitely scared of the pain
Simultaneously, my cholesterol levels have been rising the past few years and I'd like to drop some body fat...so I'm going to be adopting a better diet and substantially reducing my drinking
Here's a list of my PRs...some of them are relatively soft, in that I haven't really trained them for that long.
PRs within reach
Lifting
Bench 107.5kg (currently at approx 100kg)
Press 70kg (currently probably 67.5 but gym closed right now and my home gym ceiling is too low for me to do standing press)
Bar Dips 26 (guessing I could do 15ish)
Erg
1km 3.17 (guessing 3.30)
2km 6.59 (I did a 7.19 yesterday and it damn near killed me)
Assault Bike
100 cals 3.11
200 cals (can't find the PR but I'll be attempting one)
DEXA PR: 16.2% (I think I'd be 18% ish now)
PRs that are possible but not probable
Dead Hangs 18
Erg
500m 1.28 (est 1.32 right now - 4 secs is a HUGE difference in a 500m)
5k 18.43 (guessing 19.30)
Caliper bf% when playing rugby was 12.1 - which I'm guessing equated to 14% ish?
Other lifetime PRs fyi that we won't be attempting to break
Squat 165kg (in 1993)
Deadlift 170kg (2010)
Power Clean 105 (2015)
Snatch 82.5kg (2015)
11.5 100m
1.28 half marathon
This is about as far as I've got.
I haven't worked out an exact training plan yet - our gyms are closed for covid at the moment but I have a barbell, rack and bench at home plus an erg and a pull up bar so I can train most of the above. I generally get to the gym 4 to 5 times a week and aim to do at least one other 'activity' per day as well - I've got quite obsessive about getting 10k steps in since I've been working from home since March. And then I have a very sporty 10 year old son who I am helping get fit for his upcoming season - both soccer and rugby will start in March. So we're doing sprints and skills training too.
Next steps
keep things ticking over with no huge focus for the next 2 weeks, then after a week's holiday 13th to 20th January, I'll commit to a more detailed plan and improve my lifestyle.
I'm very heavy for me (most of my PRs were done with me weighing 83-85kg and I'm 90kg right now), so it's a good time to try to get some upper body PRs.
the cardio goals scare me and are the main reason I've started the thread.
I want to force myself to do more conditioning work but I know the pain I'm in for - that 5k row PR was done when I was peak crossfit and will be a total nightmare to get to from where I am right now.
I'll be getting a DEXA in late Jan.
I had my bloods done last month and will probably get another lot done before my birthday.
I may also add some additional fitness goals...just not sure what they'd be right now
sorry for the wall of text and sorry if you're unable to multiply kg by 2.2 to get to lbs
Surprised your upperbody looks that good with those babyweight lifts.
LDL 2.6 is not great, barely even passable (they will update guidelines eventually).. Higher standards please. I would say 1.3 is great and makes acsvd an orphan disease.
Now that you are going to get all T'd up, I would want to know if you have CAC score of zero (T increases chances of cardiovascular disease).. If not, then keep working on that LDL.
Back to cardio bro. Vo2max >50 equals 6 extra years of life, n
Is the CAC something I can add to my next bloods or just something to calculate some other way?
Re the baby weights, I’ve deliberately dropped them over the past 6 months as I’ve done more hypertrophy training and gone to mainly double figure rep amounts for basically the first time ever. But I had already been considering adding in a heavier focus on a main lift for each body part. So maybe you’ve spurred me on and I can at least add a 3x5-7 rep heavier lift for a while.
Looking good old man!
CAC is CT scan that measures calcified plaque in the blood.
You just tell cardiologist, "I am T'd up now and my LDL is over 2.6."
It might be zero but worth a look in 4 years after getting T'd up.
CAC is CT scan that measures calcified plaque in the blood.
You just tell cardiologist, "I am T'd up now and my LDL is over 2.6."
It might be zero but worth a look in 4 years after getting T'd up.
[emoji1635][emoji1635]
Tbh I’m thankful that I don’t (yet) have a cardiologist. But I will keep that in mind.
How is your weight loss going?
DHT…which is hair loss, chest and shoulder acne and potential hair thinning. Unlikely at these doses
Hair thinning occurs in plenty of men at naturally-occurring DHT levels. There are drugs like propecia that you and your doctor can consider. I think it's something like 2% of users have negative sexual side effects, so FYI there.
Hair thinning occurs in plenty of men at naturally-occurring DHT levels. There are drugs like propecia that you and your doctor can consider. I think it's something like 2% of users have negative sexual side effects, so FYI there.
thanks. touching wood but hair has stayed pretty much intact to age 53. at least 50% grey now but 95%+ still present. Will keep an eye on it though
35, 15% grey, 0 balding or recession.
pretty good. There’s not much rhyme or reason to the greying IME. I had the first few grey hairs above my ears in late 20s but stayed almost totally dark til mid 40s. Then it started spreading gently but really accelerated 2-3 years ago. Idk maybe because of life stress or maybe not?
had 2 days out of the gym Sun and Mon - Mon was a public holiday here - and I reckon I got through 15 hours work in the garden and around the house getting everything ready to go on the market. Huge effort but we are almost there now. The photography and a video are being shot this week and it should get listed on Fri, so long as the weather is good enough for the shoot. The way houses get marketed here involves 2x1 hour open home showings per week to which everyone is allowed to show up at the same time. So the first open home should be on Sat. But weather dependent and the shoot got cancelled today - because we have an ocean view, we need clear skies apparently. IDK. Just happy to be almost done
either way, I felt fresh at the gym. Went up in weights slightly and that's my plan for the next 6 weeks. Gym was busy and I couldn't get on the pec machine or on a bench to do flyes
DB Bench 8,7,7-32.5
Incline DB Bench 10,9,10-27.5kg
Isometric Bench press 3x11 paused sets 70kg
Seated DB Press 3x8-22.5kg
Lat Raise Machine 3x12
1 x 10 pull ups
wide grip pull downs 3x10-67
neutral grip medium width pull downs 3x12-70
chest supported isometric close grip row 3x11-130kg
barbell shrug 3x17-100kg
back extension 1x5-15...felt a tweak so stopped
chins 1x8
preacher curl 2x12-40 ss with
hammer curl 2x7-15
didn't play touch rugby last night for knee reasons but then had to carry 600kg of mulch from the road up to the top of my back yard, which is prolly 50m and 10m elevation anyway. so my knee was ****ed this morning but it was a great workout
I've decided to do 10 mins of mobility/foam rolling every day to help my knee issues so did that then....
500m row then alternating single leg.....
leg extensions 4x11-40kg
leg curl 3x10-20kg
glute extension 3x12-75kg
then
hip thrust 3x13-170kg
hack squat 3x8-100kg (knee wasn't great for this)
then
tricep push down/extension ss 3x12/15-35/24kg
had a late night at a work function last night and stayed the night in a hotel nearby. Didn't drink huge amounts but enough to **** with my sleep and I was up 5 hours post going to bed at 2am. Heroically went to the hotel gym, which was actually vg
DB Bench 9,8,9030kg
Incline DB Bench 3x11-26kg
seated DB Press 3x11-22kg
Press machine 3x12
didn't break any records today but happy to get something done
neutral grip pull downs 3x13-70kg
wide grip pull downs 3x11-67
close grip chest supported high row 3x10-80
close grip isometric seated row 3x12-120kg
barbell curl 3x10-35 ss with
hammer curl 3x7-15
preacher curl 3x10-42.5
good session. also 'good' is that my house is now on the market which means that all my renovation is done and I have my weekends back. still have to get the house spotless and fancy on Sat and Weds am for open homes but it's so liberating sitting here at 1pm on a Saturday and having the weekend clear to do things for myself. Might get myself back onto tinder now!
might also play poker - I played for an hour on Thursday before my work function and won $2400 ish! first time in 4 months and I've only played 13 hours all year. took my hourly from $15 to $200!
heroically dragged myself to the gym today on a hangover after a very boozy and really fun night
5 mins mobility work on my bad leg
4x11 leg extensions single leg alternating 40kg
4x10 leg press 220kg
3x8 RDL 80kg
3x10 leg curl single leg alternating 20kg
skullcrushers 3x11-42.5kg ss with
close grip press 3x20-42.5kg
5 mins mobility
also 'good' is that my house is now on the market which means that all my renovation is done and I have my weekends back. still have to get the house spotless and fancy on Sat and Weds am for open homes but it's so liberating sitting here at 1pm on a Saturday and having the weekend clear to do things for myself. Might get myself back onto tinder now!
might also play poker - I played for an hour on Thursday before my work function and won $2400 ish! first time in 4 months and I've only played 1
Awesome news all around! Good luck with the sale.
heroically dragged myself to the gym today on a hangover after a very boozy and really fun night
Not all heroes wear capes.
rest day yesterday, although I did jump on a stationary bike for 30mins UT3 last night because I'd wanted to go for a walk but it was raining.
I had some DOMS still after doing RDL on Sunday which shows they're hitting the hamstrings better than what I've been doing and I should probably re-introduce them more regularly
push
DB Bench 8,8,7-32kg
DB Incline 3x10-26kg
Machine Press 3x10-80
Machine flye 3x14-52
seated DB Press 3x11-22kg
cable lat raises 3x12
enjoyed the session
wide grip pull downs 3x12-65kg
neutral grip pull downs 3x13-70kg
close grip cable rows 3x13-70kg
barbell shrug 3x14-110kg ss with
back extension 3x10-15kg
preacher curl 3x8-45kg ss with
hammer curl 3x12-12.5kg
all good
2 week trt update
- I've put on weight despite eating the same - up 1.7kg. Guessing it's all water?
- not sure I've noticed any difference in the gym...perhaps I'm pushing myself a little harder, thinking 'now I'm on the test I should push more', rather than because I feel more capable. but the weights and reps are still the same.
- I feel a little hungrier too, maybe? Trying to eat more protein
- very definite mojo improvement. Less anxiety, improved sense of wellbeing, more headspace to think about attacking life again. albeit perhaps this is because I've finished renovating the house and it's one giant thing off my mind?
- i slept a ton better all of last week, which I was hoping was a perm/semi perm change. But I've had 3 bad days in a row, so perhaps not
- skin looks better. which it also did on GH
- huge increase in libido. my goodness! I'm thinking about sex the whole time!
All single leg alternating
Leg extension 4x12-40
Leg curl 3x12-20
Leg press 4x9- 110
Then
RDL 4x9-80
meh fine, but i totally forgot to do triceps. ridiculous
isometric machine press 3x9-80kg pause reps
incline db bench 3x9-27.5kg
machine flye 3x14-53kg
standing barbell press 4x9-40kg
machine lat raise 4x12
all fine. I had to do standing press because there were no benches near the dumbbell sections which was annoying. I used to really enjoy this movement but much prefer dumbbells now which...to be honest, I do on bench too
neutral grip, medium width pull downs 4x14-70kg
seated close grip isometric rows 4x12-130kg
chins 9,9,10
wide grip pull downs 3x15-60kg
barbell curl 3x10-35 ss with
hammer curl 3x8-15.
500m row
single leg alternating
3x11 leg extensions 42.5kg
3x10 leg curl 22.5kg
then
hack squat 3x10-110kg
hip extension 3x15-160kg
deadlift 3x10-120kg
then
dips 20,17,16
tricep extension machine 3x15
then went with my son to the sports fields and did 20 mins of sprint training. left quad didn't take too kindly to it, but I'm hoping to do it with him 1x a week through summer, both for me but also for him as he wants to get stronger and quicker for rugby league next year and he won't do the sprints without me
haven't deadlifted for months and really enjoyed it.
zone 3 cardio on Mon and then a full day off on Tues due to pressure of work. So I felt really fresh this morning...albeit 5 hours sleep the past two nights hasn't been ideal
DB Bench 10,8,8-32.5kg
DB Incline Bench 9,8,9-27.5kg
Isometric machine press 3x11-70kg pause reps
Incline Flyes 2x11-20kg
Seated Press 3x10-22.5
Lat Raise machine 3x10/10 39/25kg drop sets
also did 5x5 easy pull ups to ease shoulder impingement
