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
took a sleeping pill last night after some terrible sleeps. got 8 hours but woke super groggy. sleep walked through the gym this am
wide grip pull downs 3x13-70kg
isometric seated close grip row 3x12-130kg
seated cable row 3x13-70
chins 3x8
barbell curl 3x8-35kg ss with
hammer curl 3x8-15kg
preacher curl 3x10-40kg
I really enjoyed doing wide grip as the first lift in my session - not sure why I've got away from it.
weight remains 2-2.5kg more than before I started the TRT 3 weeks ago.
3 hours sleep last night. Went to poker after work, basically to play an hour to get my parking for free and got talked into playing a satellite for a wsop event in town next month. Ended up binking a $2.5k ticket but the satty finished at 1.40am. Home 2.30 sleep 3, awake 6. Bah!
Leg extension singles 3x12-42.5
Deadlift 4x8-130kg
Power clean 4x3-75
RDL 3x10-75
Skillcrushers 3x14-40 ss with
Close grip press 3x20-40
Really dumb to do cleans after deadlift
Incline DB Bench 3x10-30kg
seated Machine Press 4x11-90kg Pause
Flye Machine 3x15
Barbell Press 4x8-40
Lat Raise machine 3x12
Shoulder Press Machine 3x12
I got unexpectedly hammered last night and then slept terribly. Up from 3.
I did go to the gym, but I really shouldn't have. Ended up doing a half session and even that was a struggle
3x10 pull ups
4x11 140kg seated isometric close grip row
3x11-45kg preacher curl
meh
also, I've really lost my nutritional discipline the last 3 weeks since I started trt. Too many carbs, too many snacks. Really need to get my **** together
I've been enjoying my leg days far more the past few weeks since I've gone back to two legged stuff and put some more weight on. That wasn't the plan today but training from 5.45-7 on a Monday night means it's a challenge to find machines/stations to use
500m row warm up
Hack Squat 3x10-120kg
Leg Press 3x8-230kg
Deadlift 3x8-140kg
Dipe 19,18,16
cardio day yesterday
DB Incline Bench 4x9-30kg
Isometric Bench machine 4x8-90
DB Flye 3x10-22.5
seated DB press 3x11-22.5
Lat raise machine 3x14
wide grip pull down 3x11-70kg
neutral grip medium width pull down 3x12-70
seated isometric close grip row 3x11-130kg
chins 3x8 ss with
back extensions 3x10-15kg
barbell curl 3x9-35kg ss with
hammer curl 3x8-15kg db
on Friday am I did 5x10 pull ups, 5x20 dips
on Fri pm, all day Sat and all day Sunday I did gummies, drank booze and ate super unhealthy food.
today, after selling my house at auction (which is totally ****ing nerve wracking, omg) I went to the gym. couldn't knuckle down so I treated myself to some power cleans
pull ups 3x10
neutral grip pull downs 3x13-70kg
Power Cleans
3x60
3x70
2x75
2x80
2x85
2x85
thought about going up another 2.5 or 5 but it would have been super ugly and managed to turn off the adreanlin
2.5 hours sleep last night was not ideal. It did mean I was up nice and early for the gym though
DB Bench 8,8,7,7-32.5kg
Isometric Machine Press 3x10-70kg pause reps
Machine Flye 3x14-52kg
Press complex - 1 Press, 4 Push Press, 2 Push Jerks, 1 Split Jerk 40,45,50,52.5,55
2x5 Push Press 55kg
3x12 cable lat raise
single leg alternating
leg extensions 4x10-47kg
leg curl 3x9-25kg
leg press 3x8-130kg
then
hip thrusts 3x14-170kg
skullcrushers 3x11-42.5 ss with
close grip press 3x20-42.5
isometric chest supported wide grip row 3x10-140kg
wide grip pull downs 3x10-36
close grip cable row 3x13-67
chins 8,7,8 ss with
back extensions 3x10-15kg
barbell curl 3x9-35kg ss with
hammer curl 3x10-14kg
preacher curl 3x10-42.5kg
Incline DB Bench 3x12-27.5kg
Isometric Bench machine 3x10-80kg
DB Flye 3x12-20kg
Seated DB Press 4x12-20kg
all fine
Knee has been giving me grief so I took the lower body easy today
All single leg alternating
Leg extension 4x11-45kg
Leg curl 4x12 20kg
Calf raise 3x14-75kg
Then
dips 23,20,19
Tricep push down 3x12-38kg ss with
Tricep extension 3x11-25kg
day off yesterday. today I couldn't get into the gym til 5.30pm and as ever, it was crammed full of teenagers at this time. had to compromise the workout and eventually quit early
neutral grip pull downs 3x15-70kg
seated chest supported isometric close grip row 4x12-130kg
pull ups 3x10 ss with
back extensions 3x12-15kg
hang power cleans 4x8-60kg
meh
DB Bench 4x12-30kg
DB Incline 3x11-25
Pec Machine 3x12-59kg
Seated DB Press 4x11-22.5kg
Lat Raise 3x12, last set did drop set
all good
got into the first working set of leg curls today and something weird happened in my hamstring on the leg with my bad knee. Not a tear and probably not a pull. Hopefully a cramp or if not a slight strain. Really need to get my knee looked at
did 4 sets of leg extensions before deciding not to train my legs any more. Did the rare all arm day
Preacher Curl 4x11-42.5kg
Barbell Curl 3x11-35kg ss with
seated Hammer Curl 3x9-14kg
Dips 3x20
Tricep Push downs 3x12-35kg ss with
Tricep Extensions 3x15-25kg
I think I've decided to stop trt. 6 weeks in and I'm 4kg heavier than when I started. Starting to feel bloated all the time and not enjoying it. My nutrition hasn't been brilliant but I think most of the weight is water and I'm not getting enough benefits to persist with it...particularly right now when I'm still not sleeping.
I'm tempted to stop now, but also thinking maybe I should do a 2 week period of eating at a defecit and being far more disciplined, just to see if I can drop some of that weight before I quite the trt.
neutral grip medium width pull downs 3x16-70
wide grip pull downs 3x11-67
deadlift 3x8-130
chest supported close grip isometric rows 3x11-130kg
pull ups - some
shorter session because I did my arms yesterday, so no biceps.
hamstring felt ok-ish in the deadlifts
single leg alternating leg extensions 4x11-47kg
hack squat 4x8-130kg
deadlift 3x5-140kg
tricep push down 3x12-35kg ss with
tricep extension 3x15-24kg
skullcrushers 3x11-40kg ss with
close grip press 3x22-40kg
hamstring feels ok after the cramp/pull earlier in the week. I wasn't game enough to do leg curls or any glute/ham focused stuff but the deadlifts felt fine so maybe it was just a cramp, even though I can still feel it
45 mins recovery. 15 mins stretching and 30 mins easy bike riding.
neutral grip pull downs 3x13-70
wide grip pull downs 3x13-67
isometric chest supported close grip row 3x13-130
barbell shrug 3x18-100kg ss with
back extension 3x11-15kg
barbell curl 3x12-35kg ss with
hammer curl 3x7-15kg
DB Bench 3x9-32.5kg
Isometric bench press 3x8-80kg pause
DB Incline 12,9,8-25kg
machine lat raise 3x15-37kg
seated DB Press 3x12-20kg
kettlebell raises 2x10-28kg KB
I suspect that you're correct in that as the DLs were fine, you're probably good to go on the rest of if next time.
leg extensions 4x12-47kg (single leg alternating)
hack squat 4x10-120kg
deadlift 3x8-140kg
hip thrust machine 2x20-130kg
ez bar skullcrusher 3x15-40kg ss with
ez bar close grip press 3x20-40kg
