Age and exercise

Climate Expert

This is for all of the older lifters and athletes here that have been training fairly consistantly since their teens.

Does training get much harder when you get older and in what way. Are there any other differences?
At what age did you feel you were starting to go downhill?

I've been thinking about this lately and I believe a lot of this age related degeneration is either due to lifestyle changes and testosterone depletion. Would you say a lot of the pro athletes start to underperform due to the years of abuse their body has taken and that mightn't be the case for an average person?

Maybe its just youthful optimism but I get the feeling that things will be now different in 15 years when I'm 40.

Hanley

All I can contribute is that I train with a masters lifters, older than 45, STILL getting stronger and hitting PR's. And drug's arent' the driving force behind him. He's been training for the last 20-25 years too, so it's not like he's a newb by any stretch.

BrianD3

Re: lifestyle factors, when you reach your 30s and 40s, jobs, wives, elderly parents, kids etc. may affect your training. You may just lose your focus, kids become more important than increasing your deadlift. People change and their priorities change. Even if physical ageing hasn't become a factor

Although a well organised and dedicated individual may be able to keep busting himself training from say age 18-45 while still having a happy family life.

From what I've read on the dragondoor forum many people experience a new vigour/motivation in their 50s and start to train harder than they have since their 20s or even take it up for the first time. Obviously when you're in your 50s physical ageing is probably starting to take its toll on things but still people can do impressive training and if they are going back to training after a long layoff, can regain much of the strength that they used to have.

Check out the following article on Jack Arnow, 64 years of age and still a chin up nut. He doesn't look his age although I suspect his hair may be dyed
http://www.beastskills.com/Arnow.htm
Mr Arnow is a wise individual and the article is worth reading in full

celestial

At age 66 Jack La Lanne towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida. The boats carried 77 people, and he towed them for over one mile in less than one hour. Today at age 94, he's still eating push-ups for breakfast....

IMO it's all about building a foundation of strength and fitness, which is what you are doing now. Keeping fit and strong through your 20s and 30s and 40s is an investment in your 50s, 60s and 70s and 80s - and longer than that perhaps. If you are fit at 40 it's a lot easier to be fit at 60 than if you are sedentary and unfit and then try to get fit at a later age...

Roper

I'm currently living my 31st year, and I can honestly say that while things like injuries are a little more frequent and take longer to heal, I'm stronger and faster than I was when I was 23. The reason being that I'm no longer subject to idiot coaches reading something in Men's Health and making us do it for the next month. These days I'm smrter. I don't do 110% in every session anymore and I don't feel like I have to kill myself every time I train, so I avoid injuries and fatigue, and my sessions are much more beneficial, even if I don't feel they are.

Age is another excuse. My Da played ball into his 40s, all he had to do was drop from senior to junior to keep going and enjoying it. There are guys in my gym rolling well into their late 30s and still going strong.

Degsy

I'm 37,never been or felt stronger.Making great progress in the gym and enjoying every minute of it.
The only downside is i tend to hold fat more easily than when i was younger.

kevpants

Youth is wasted on the young.

I'm 28 and have only stopped wasting my time at stupid training in the last year. I always thought I knew best when I knew shítall, I'd imagine a lot of the young guys today are doing the same.

I don't really understand why soccer players for example seem to be "too old" once they hit 30. Perhaps it's just that that sport takes it out on the knees, hips etc but there's no reason why you can't get physically stronger, faster and fitter in your 30's and 40's.