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
3x9 leg curl 20kg *single leg
3x11 leg extension 47kg single leg
4x9 leg press 250kg
6,5,5 deadlift 140kg
3x12 skullcrushers 42.5kg ss with
3x20 close grip press 42.5kg
My very first interval since the beginning of Feb last year. Did a 1k warm up and then 3x1k 4r
Had no idea what to expect, given I’ve done no cardio at all apart from an occasional walk and I just wanted to make it morale building and not brutal, so figured I’d aim for 3 at 2.00/500. That ended up being easier than I thought it would be so I did each interval 10am a faster. The final one stung.
I might try it again next week, use the 2nd interval split as the 1st one and then try to do the final two at 1.50 or a little faster
day off yesterday
first day back at work today and managed to only get about 4 hours sleep, so the 6am gym didn't feel easy. got through it ok though
wide grip pull downs 3x13-70kg
neutral grip, medium width pull downs 10,10,11-77kg
close grip rows 4x10-77kg
shrug 3x14-120kg
preacher curl 3x9-45kg ss with
hammer curl 3x9-15kg
machine preacher curl 3x12
leg extensions single leg 3x11-47kg
leg curl single leg 2x10-20kg
hack squat 4x10-120kg
leg press 4x8-270kg
ez bar skullcrushers 3x9-45kg ss with
ez bar close grip press 3x20-45kg
dips 20,18
decent rowing for being untrained cardio wise, how tall are you?
holy **** I just read higher up (and also found out you used too row a lot more)
that's a lot to go through, good to see you're still keeping at it
- finally agreed to split with wife
- discovered she had been having an affair with a bloke from rehab
- discovered she was a coke addict
- discovered she had siphoned 6 figures into private accounts to fund this addiction
- had to renovate and paint a 5 bed house with basically no money due to above, handling all trademan negotiations, management, supervision etc
- had to live with stealing, lying, addicted wife for 9 months while doing this because no money for her to move out
- had to run a busines
jfc..... Reminds me to not get married ever.
good on you for continuing to do any training at all dealing with this nightmare.
holy **** I just read higher up (and also found out you used too row a lot more)
that's a lot to go through, good to see you're still keeping at it
Thanks. I got quite good at rowing, from an age group perspective. Probably peaked in late 22, but rowed most of 2023 as well. Lost momentum about 12 months ago as I separated from my wife. I didn’t have the mental fortitude and ‘want’ any more to embrace and endure the pain. It was a fun few years though.
Your frame and strength is very well suited to rowing. Have you done much?
jfc..... Reminds me to not get married ever.
good on you for continuing to do any training at all dealing with this nightmare.
Thank you.
To be honest, I think training was one of the most positive things in helping my handle it all. Structure, endorphins, me time, something to help me maintain and improve myself etc. I didn’t break any records last year, but just showed up consistently and (by my standards) looked after my diet and limited alcohol
Thanks. I got quite good at rowing, from an age group perspective. Probably peaked in late 22, but rowed most of 2023 as well. Lost momentum about 12 months ago as I separated from my wife. I didn’t have the mental fortitude and ‘want’ any more to embrace and endure the pain. It was a fun few years though.
Your frame and strength is very well suited to rowing. Have you done much?
Only during crossfit so never really long distance
I aim for 1:45/500m when I'm in decent shape, or maintain 1cal per pull
Assuming it's mostly height related lol
height is very useful. and then in both indoor and on the water rowing there are 2 weight classes....above and below 72.5kg so weight & therefore strength are differentiators too.
ultimately (Monte & Arjun may have other opinions?) erg rowing is about two things....wattage per stroke, which is a combination of your stroke efficiency and power output and then the number of strokes per minute which is more about conditioning.
But stronger, longer athletes can generate the same power in fewer strokes which is an advantage. On the water rowers need to be strong & light ideally to help buoyancy and of course rowing technique is more important, but erg rowers don't have to worry about weight. The world record holder in my divisions is a 6ft 9 130kg former South African international rugby player
I've been crippled with bad sleeps this week - am moving house next week and the amount of admin is mind boggling.
managed to get a 75% session in this morning. I might also try to do some cardio this pm, purely as a sleep strategy
DB Bench
2x6-35kg
3x11-30kg
DB Incline Flye/Bench superset
3x10/8 22.5kg
seated DB Press
3x10-22.5kg
Snuck into the gym for a very quick second session. I remember reading that getting your heart rate up for 15 mins is very good for sleep, so I did a quick interval session. I think I could only manage another 2 at this pace, so of course, there’s no fitness there yet, but I enjoyed it
Wide grip pull downs 3x13-77kg
Close grip pull downs 3x12-77
Chest supported wide grip row 3x12-130kg as with
Back Extensions 3x10-20kg
Barbell Curl 3x13-35kg ss with
Hammer Curl 3x9-15kg
Absolutely love these neutral grip bars that we have in this gym
Close grip one is even better
single leg
leg curl 3x8-20
leg extension 3x11-47
then
hack squat 3x8-120kg
leg press 3x8-270kg
RDL 3x10-80kg
Dips 25,20,18
I did the thing I try very hard not to do ....training Push on a Monday....and I paid the price - even at 6.45am it was almost impossible to do what I wanted to do. Monday really is International Chest Day for gym bros
Isometric Machine Bench Press 4x11-80 paused
Machine Isometric Incline Press 3x10-60 paused. weird machine and won't ever use it again
Dumbbell Bench 3x9-27.5kg
Standing Barbell Press 4x9-40 as shoulders were fried from the Incline machine
3x10 mins 2r
Early am and I went into this session really just to do 30 mins seat time. I treated the first one as a warm up but then surprised myself in the last rep by actually enjoying pushing myself and I did the last minute at 1.46/500. Hurt a little! Still baby steps with the erg but good to do a little conditioning work and my body and system respond so well to it.
I think for the next month or two my plan is going to be a 4 day rotation which goes
Pull
Legs + short sprint row interval
Push
Row, alternating between a longer interval session like this and then a sprint interval
I’ll mix in a rest day as and when I feel like it or when life gets in the way but likely 1 rest day per week.
Moving house tomorrow and there’s been an avalanche of work today - getting into new apartment and getting as much of the packing done as I can.
Hence, didn’t have much time to train but needed to do something for mental health reasons, so did a half session
Wide grip pull downs 3x14-67kg
Close grip rows 4x12-72kg
Seated DB curl 4x11-15kg
Good luck with the move, man; hopefully things go as smoothly as possible and things settle down a bit in the coming weeks.
And nice row the other day!
Move was a very long day - I did 13 hours non stop so that I had the kids’ rooms all set up as well as lounge, kitchen and bathrooms.
Yesterday spent 8 hours moving stuff around and filling a huge skip with all the accumulated rubbish and clothes and furniture and bedding etc that I’m not taking with us. Incredible how much a family of 5 accumulates - we had 36 large plastic tubs to throw out that were all full. Also had to break down and flatten a lot of furniture for the skip
Managed to get to the gym at the end of yesterday, basically for a mental health break
Leg extensions 3x9-50kg single leg
Leg curl 3x10-20kg single leg
Leg press 3x10-130kg single leg
Power clean 3x3-75 (this was a mistake - legs were fried)
Tricep push downs 3x12-36kg ss with
Tricep Extensions 3x12-24kg
Then did a 10 min sprint row
2 min warm up then 4x250m 1r
2.1/500 faster than 2 weeks ago but planned it badly and went way too fast in the first one
Tried a Reformer Pilates class today (the one on the machine). I bought an intro pack at the local place 6 for $50 seemed pretty good by Pilates standards. A lot of it seems to be mimicking weight training movements and my leg and tricep DOMs from yesterday made those parts harder. I am sure my core will be very sore tomorrow but I’m not sure it’ll be a long term thing. Felt a little seasick moving up and down the bench thing while watching a screen. Idk - the kind of thing I’d maybe like to do once a week or so
This afternoon was tired from that and the exertions of the last week so did another deload level session
DB Bench 12,12,12,8,10 -30kg
DB Flye 3x13-22.5kg
DB Press 3x12-20kg
