relative to your size?

Height and Weight?
Can you currently bench press your weight?
How many rep's?
Your age?
Most you ever benched and age you achieved your lifetime best?

Unfortunately, age has taken me from very strong young man to a reasonably strong old man. And when I say I’m a reasonably strong old man, that’s measure against other old men. Time is your friend and your enemy.

I usually get my lawyers involved when I have to answer that many personal questions.

Height and Weight? 5’ 9” 205 pounds
Can you currently bench press your weight? Yes
How many rep's? 8-10
Your age? Almost 52
Most you ever benched and age you achieved your lifetime best? 315 for 4 reps , somewhere in my 30’s , I weighed around 225 pounds then

6’ 3” 235 48yrs

I don’t pick up anything heavier than my wife.

79 years old. I can lift a large Margarita - no problem.

When I was 19, I could bench 300+ for 3 reps and squat 550 for 5 reps. Then I had back surgery (unrelated to lifting) and had to relearn how to walk without dragging my left leg. Now, I can do 400 modified pushups every other day (basically I use the massage table at a lowered height and do the pushups leaning on it...I cannot put pressure on my left leg due to varicose veins) and am working on doing 1000 before I turn 49 in April. I'm 48, 6'0" and 234 pounds. I will probably never be able to do a normal bench press or squat again just due to the damage from the back surgery, but I am pretty freaking strong still. I surprise the kids I work with every day because they can't get over how strong I am. I had some Kinesiology students ask me if they could do an evaluation on me for a project. I passed with flying colors. What they didn't know is I stretch regularly and since it was summer, I was swimming 2 to 3 hours a day.

Quit trying to impress the kids. That only leads to pain. I arm wrestled some college ball players during Christmas last year. All of them were bigger and stronger than me. My nieces husband is 6’5” 255. I never lost but my arm hurt for a month. I’m retired!

6’4” 275lbs 46 yo
Have a jacked up shoulder so I can’t lift a ton anymore
Used to be able to bench my weight back when I was younger, and smaller, lol

Who cares about the bench press? Never ever used weights on a routine basis. Quit working out at 37. At that time, I woke up, did 100 push ups, 200 sit ups and then jogged 3 miles or so. Was still playing competitive amateur bball. It was easy being 6'3" and looked rather lean at 225 - nobody thought it was that much.

Haven't done that for 27 years now, but can still go down with 40 -120 sacks and offload into the various feeders by my my lonesome. Have "grown" to 255 pounds. Never thought I would wear 40X36's. People seem surprised when my shirt comes off as I look like the Pillsbury dough boy. I'll never get back to 225. 240 could be more realistic. It's been "thought" about. We'll see.

I work out 3-4 days a week and have since high school, with the exceptions of taking 6 months off here and there.

Bench press with a straight bar was not in vogue with the guys I started training with so never really ever maxed on a bench. At my best I was repping 80lb dumbbells 4-6X’s. Now I’m repping 60’s-65’s

Not a big guy at 5’6, I fluctuate between 150-155 lbs. yes I can straight bench my weight

Bench press is just one indicator of strength but not an overall measure. I know guys who can bench insane amounts but can’t do 3 overhand pull ups. Others can squat a truck but can’t do much on a shoulder press.


At a few months shy of 38, I’ve finally accepted the fact that I’m not 25 anymore, a few injuries were sobering reminders of that.

These days I’m concerned about overall fitness and health, not winning Mr. Olympia. I stick to a fairly basic routine, nothing fancy and I watch what I eat.

54 5’ 10” 160 pounds

Not sure what I could bench now, haven’t even tried since high school. I can still open most jars though. The tough ones I get my wife or son to do it.

46 yrs old/5'11"/245 lbs

Not a big man but have always had good upper body strength.

No idea what I can bench now & don't care, but when I'm taking care of myself eating right/weight training & power walking with a loaded pack 4-5 days a week my healthy/looking good weight will be 230-235 lbs/no gut.

I'm out of shape pretty bad right now and getting back after it next week. Have to be careful now as I've got some injuries that are a real bitch to get over if you over do it on the weights.

74 yrs old, 6'2" and cycle 240-270#. I eat too much, and drink WAY too much but can still pack elk out of the hills by myself, without calling the kids for help. That hurts for 3 days!!

Not even a fraction of what I could do 40 years ago in the Army….

Started changing my life when I was 16, quit smoking and started lifting light weights (sand filled and cheap bench) around 20 started getting more serious about working and eating kind of healthier, was going to the gym 6 days a week for 2 + hours mainly pushing free weights. For as much as I worked out I was not very strong, max bench press max 340 Squat 425. Peak height and weight was 5'10 3/4" 196 lbs.
Slowed way down in my mid 30's.

Now with age and gravity working against me; 68 years young probably 5'10 1/2 and 215 lbs.
Light work outs 3-5 times a week with dumbbells' at the house and going to the fitness center.

Pretty sure I can bench my weight once, after that all bets are off.

You eat as good or better than anyone I know!

340 lbs is alot of weight. I know very strong, fit guys that never hit much over 300# at the same height/weight. Putting up that much weight is an accomplishment.


Like shooting distances and fuel mileage, these type threads are gonna be filled with a lot of wind. Don’t minimize your achievements

Not in as good as I wish. I’m 80 yoa, 6 tall ft and 200 lbs. About 3 yrs ago, I spent 25 days in ICU with a busted colon. Sent me home and told me to sit on my butt for about 60 days. I lost a lot of muscle tone. When, they said OK, I started walking, lifting light weights, etc. I got back in shape and felt good.

Then arthritis set in to my legs, lower back, and thumbs. If I bend forward from the waist, the pain sets in for the day. Have to be careful and do 2 extra strength Tylenols 3 times per day. Most days, I walk a mile. Doc says if I stop walking, I may become non ambulatory. Not gonna let that happen. About a dozen times a day I work with light weights, rubber straps and squeeze grips while sitting on my butt in a recliner watching TV. If I can’t have legs, I want arms and hands.

Avoiding self pity. That stuff is too easy to come by. Heck, most of the 1942 models aren’t around to get arthritis.

I’m 76 now. Don’t lift now. I am afraid of wrecking my shoulders again. I did lift in high school and college and through my working life. I wish I still could. But, I am active.

1.5 x your body weight is a great measure. You owned it!

I’m really not all that active. And walking a mile per day and then heading to the recliner isn’t helping me. This arthritis is a real bitch.

Wanting to go to my rural property and do some rifle shooting on my range. But, going to have to build or find something that will allow me to shoot without bending my back. I have some back braces but they don’t do much good.

Come see me Dave. I’ll put you on a chainsaw or you can work the tractor and grapple while I work the chainsaw. I’m taking down dead cedars. And I have beer and other adult beverages as a reward.

And, I have a bog pod tripod you can use for upright shooting on my 100 yard range.

12 oz. curls isn't a bad work out.

Interesting replies, thanks for all the responses.

It is hard to determine what really is an objective measure of upper body strength. The # of push ups relative to age is a good one that anyone can do anytime. Or another good one, how long can you hold a plank.

ONE of the standards at the combine is # of rep's of 225 lbs on the bench press.

For non- professional athletes, I personally felt that the # of rep's one could pull off of their body weight was a good objective measure. Look at some stat's on the average male. Not the average male that works out but the overall population. Being able to bench 1.5x your body weight is a huge leap over the average male. My work out group was former linemen. BIG guys, one would regularly get a rep 450. I think he weighed 275 lbs, That was + 100 on me. No way I could ever move 450 but we worked out together, did the same stuff, just different amount of weight.

the Combine isnt really about measuring strength as much as advertising revenue and seeing who took it seriously and prepared. One of my old team mates is now the head strength and conditioning coach for an NFL team. Talking with him, the NFL programs arent a recruiting tool like college, they are focused on getting starters through a long 17 game season injury free(or quickly recovered). They are looking for functional strength and conditioning,

Vo2max(capacity to work) is better indicator of health and fitness than any thing with a focused hypertrophy goal.

Rich Forning to this day is an exceptionally fit athlete with ridiculous high v02max. Even 10+ years his senior I can currently beat or with some time and training change can re-beat all his PBR’s. With all this said, even being stronger I couldnt compete in any fitness exercise out side of max lift weight. Bench rep max with 225 is perfect example. I could beat him one initial time in a day, but if we were going for max reps in a day…. It would be very embarrassing for me, hell would of been the same way if I was at my peak fitness of early/mid 20’s , He trains for vo2max first, Strength and function second, he does no hypotrophy training.


Vo2max testing, is best measure of fitness.

Yeah this is a weird thread, not trying to offend but who says the bench press is any indicator of strength? And it is such a limited factor for just a few muscle groups. I would offer the clean and jerk as a more functional test of overall strength, you have legs in there, upper body back, shoulders, arms, its the whole package for actual muscle strength, but it does incorporate a lot of movement and stabilizing muscles in the core which so many people are lacking.

Anyway, I would much rather be an in-shape wickedly high stamina kind of guy than worry about what I am benching. I haven't benched in forever, don't plan on it anytime soon. As BOBO said, I would much rather focus on my ability to perform via aerobic activity that also incorporates strength and muscle work than strictly anaerobic weight lifting. Increase you body's ability to function, the strength will come with that for what you need not to make you look good in a mirror. .

My post was narrowly focused on upper body strength.

Overall fitness, that's what it's all about in life for the ability to do the things most of us here want to do well. I go through different phases/goals. As for overall fitness, for me I was at 175 lbs, 49 yoa, very low body fat, running/cardio work, lots of core work and upper body work.

Strongest I was: at 55 yoa, 6', 180 lbs, benched 260, 2 reps that day I maxed. The next week I held a 15 minute plank. From then on, dialed it back and got back into running as well for a goal of more over all fitness over just strength.

Now, running bores me, so play a lot of pickleball, light upper body work and 12 oz. curls. I'm 61, snow ski right there with my grand son and do anything else I want.

Sorry, didn't see that in the original post....

Strongest I was, 17 yo 130-140#, benched 225 3 times. Since then (was a senior in HS) haven't gotten back on the straight bar bench.

Best shape I was in was in 2008 (mid 30's) when in Iraq with AF. Got to where I was doing full body weight work out on machines, then running 5K on treadmill, then spin class 30m, followed by Ab class 30m three times a week. On the off days from that I would go to the pool and swim 2 miles with varying amounts of distance vs sprint swims. At the gym I would regularly sweat off about 7-10 pounds of water, never weighed myself when in the pool, but i knew I was sweating in there too.

Came home from that and could not sustain that level of working out with three littles and a wife. In Iraq I had a lot of down time in between playing MASH and used it to my advantage.

Most replies on here are guys talking about how strong they USED to be. Not how strong they currently are. It's pretty obvious most guys are in peak physical shape in their late teens to mid 20s. Some exceptions, but priorities shift and metabolism slows down.

I'm much more focused on staying close to a certain weight than I am lifting weights, so I'm much more dialed in to cardio. I've been doing Peloton cycling workouts (and subsequent stretching workouts) since 2019. I've currently got a 50-day workout streak going right now. I still can lift all I need to at home and in the field, but cardio is way more important to my overall health and it allows me to hike all day while hunting in the Rockies.

You held a plank for 15 min at 55 years old?

40 years old
6 foot 2 inches
275
I can bench 315

In my 20s I was 220 and could bench 325

My bench hasn’t gone down much but my legs are a lot weaker. I could squat 600 in high school, no idea now but I know it’s a lot less.

I’m less concerned with strength these days and more with the fact my cardio is horrible.

That's strong, real strong. Close enough to 1.5x your body weight for me.

I'll tell you, being 61, you really want to start focusing on core and cardio now. You don't want to get a hernia; I've never had one but a lot of men my age have. Also, I always worked my shoulders hard, not with heavy weight but a lot of the right kind of rep's of light weight. Everybody I know but myself has had shoulder surgery.

Yes

Not as strong as I used to be but stronger than most. Are we putting a THF tug of war team together; if we are pretty sure I'd get a spot on the rope...

Figured this would turn to a one upper thread real quick lol. Strength is not defined in a weight room but I get it’s a good measure. I don’t take as good of care of myself as I’d like to but I do ok I guess. Diet and life on road is my downfall. I work out 3-4 times a week at home with body weight exercises and some free weights. I do a lot of pushups and dips. I love doing dips, my fave! I’m 43 yo, 6’3” and weigh in at about 215-220. I can bench my weight but not much more. I’ve never been a heavy lifter.

39
5' 9"
185 Pounds

Not very strong or not as strong as I used to be. I despise working out, I have a very active lifestyle and focus on that more than working out. I have a home gym and a stationary bike that I use sometimes but haven't really lifted weights since high school. Didn't like it then, and don't like it now. Even back then my upper body strength was lacking, but my legs were and still are very strong. I'm not even sure we ever maxed out, if we did I don't remember it, probably because my max was embarrassing LOL.

I got really comfortable in my late 20's and drank A LOT and ate like chit, think the heaviest I was around the 230 mark. When I hit 30 years old I started focusing on weight loss and keeping it off, 9 years later I'm down 45 pounds and could probably use another 10 pounds off, but have no problem keeping it off.

I'm much more healthy with great numbers across the board on my physical and bloodwork. So whatever I'm doing seems to be working because I have high BP and Diabetes on both sides of my family. This is all I'm really worried about, being healthy and being around for my son while he grows up. Play tag with a 5 year old for 2 hours straight, its a hell of a cardio workout LOL.

I had to take a couple of years off from lifting due to neck surgery. Disc replacement. Best decision I ever made. Total success. Before I started working out with weights again I did what you're doing, push ups. It only took a few weeks to get to 50 without a pause. There was also a time that I didn't have access to a gym for a few months. Push ups, planks, bicycle kicks, that was all I did and really liked it. You can do push ups while on the road, or anywhere else. What you're doing is good exercise. Remind yourself that the average person doesn't exercise at all.

damn, thats pretty stout. Congratulations!

Most men can't hang more than about 2 min

Most probably can’t do more than 2-3 pushups either lol

Thanks, I didn't mind the question. I did planks for years.

a 2 min plank is the standard benchmark for general fitness. The average man probably can't do 2-3 pushups or plank for 30 seconds. By most men I meant "average semi-fit guy" not the average 35-40 year old off the streets

40 years old

5'9 - 165lbs

I can bench roughly 225 or so.
I can do about 50+ push ups without stopping.
If I had to guess I could bench my body weight for 10-15 reps.
Squat - 300+
Dead lift 350ish

In an Austin bar with my daughter while she was at Texas State. Couple of guys wanted to impress her, so they start talking to me about working out. One of them asks me if I do planks, I answered, "Yes, some". He fell for it. He challenged me right there in the bar and we dropped, head to head. At nine minutes the place is going crazy and he's shaking like a bird dog passing a peach seed. He dropped about 15 seconds later. He was a collegiate gymnast from Wisconsin wearing what looked like his sisters jeans. I was in boots and Wranglers. I got up, put my hat back on and told him, "Don't Mess with Texas". Place went absolutely wild, and we drank free the rest of the night. I like to party.

I guess I just didnt understand and really still dont the questioning line. I dont think the upper body gauge of strength is solely pushing away. Its pulling to and away in multi directions with holding added in there.

for what ever reasoning here you go, majority of our PRB’s will be in our 20’s

Current Mid 40’s 6’ 220-240 depending on season. Sept Im normally 220lbs and increase during season until Feb, then start training for the mountains again and decrease

Bench PBR was Junior in college 425
rep max was Senior in College durning pre-combine training of 24 or 22 I cant remember.

Today- havent barbell benched in 15 plus years. Only chest I do(outside of pushups) is incline rep 110lb dumbells for 3x10 and normally make 2x8 for last for a total of 5x -6x’s. Its the only exercise I train via reps and not time. Its also the only weight machine type movement I do. I do lots of Timed kettle bells, dumbells, and sand bag/ball work.

I only train from Feb-Aug, My focus is training for mountains.

There's no real deep "questioning line" reasoning to try and understand, just a conversation not unlike what I have with people that I work out with in person. I never said Bench Press was a measure of fitness, only that it was ONE objective measure of upper body strength.

gotcha,

Correction on the bench press, it was 335lbs back in the days.

The only bench pressing I have been doing for many years now is with 25 & 35 lb dumbells on my patio, do three sets of fifteen reps, start off with 25 #, then 35# and back to 25#.
Decided to go to the gym today and just see what I can do on the bench, struggled hard with 185 lbs. and decided to not even consider 225 at this time.

However it did give me the embarrassing motivation to work a little harder at increasing my weight strength to at least one rep at 225 without reducing sets or reps for I am after core strength mainly!

I can’t bench for chit. The most I’ve ever bench pressed was 300 one time. I could squat 515 when playing ball. My biggest goal in life was to be able to whip my father. He was the toughest and biggest man I ever knew. I never was able to whip him until he was 70 and I was 45. You might ask why we still fought? I’m 6’3 254. He’s 6’5 300 and a bad man. He hit me so hard it knocked the breath out of me one day. I realized I was stronger and hit him in the rib s. It was a hell of a fight but the forearms to the head finally did it. How sad is that?

I talk about how bad a man that old bastard was. I remember him when I was a kid at “Dos Amigos.” In Odessa when I was a kid. We were eating dinner in there when I was a kid. These guys kept cussing in front of us kids. Dad asked them to stop and they mouthed off. My old man whipped them badly. Broken arms and bad chit.

This was a subtle yet effective way for Only to flush out the weak among us.


I love talking about fitness personally. It’s a great change of pace from caliber arguments and telling lies about fuel mileage.

you mean big boys vs little boys

I look at it more just as general health discussion. Movement is life.

Watching power and body builders try to tie their shoes is entertaining

Why would I do that? (you mean big boys vs little boys ) I'm neither.

I'm thinking of another. Current age, current time in the 100 meters. Here's a better idea, someone throw one out there.

Just messing with Brandon. Always someone bigger, Im at the mid size against my core group of friends. Id be at lower end if I wasnt friends with Txshter

Brandon stays healthy getting into and out of his truck

Man that ain’t no lie

I took it as more of a weight jab…

200 push-ups / day
200 sit-ups / day

mountain bike every sat & sun morning

that's enough for me

Look at Ronnie Coleman today…dude can hardly walk. That’s not health.

I really admire guys like Mark Sisson and Tony Horton ( the beach body/P90X guy ). Those are healthy, fit guys. Being juiced to the max and being able to rep 350 lbs is just hurting yourself long term.

well played

I get together once a month for lunch with a bunch that I graduated from high school in 1960. Yep, I’m 81 yoa. It’s about 2/3 female because they generally out live us. About 3/4 of the guys are in fairly good shape no matter what our age. The females; not so much. Dang near all of the surviving guys do some kind of working out; lifting, cardio, walking, etc. What we can do is somewhat limited due to common sense. Some, like me, do all 3 on a daily basis but occasionally miss a day due to weather, doctor appointments, something comes up or just don’t want to do it that day. Of interest, none of us is grossly overweight. We also don’t try to make a mile walk a cardio event. Just glad that we can keep getting to the finish line.

I wonder if thats because of menopause. When i was a kid, most of the elder women in my family were on the heavy side. Not every one, but alot of them. My grandma and all her sisters were pretty thin though.

^^^
Sounds like a Herschel Walker workout program.

I use to do 50 push-up every morning but stopped doing it several years ago.
You inspired me to see how many I can do, so I just got through doing 20 legit push-ups, better than I expected
In about 10 minutes I will do my upper body on the patio with the dumbbells'.

That's a lot!

I used to wake up early and do 25 push ups and 25 sit ups every morning before working a 10 or 12 hr day. Then get off work and hit the weights on week days for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs then do cardio either power walking or on a machine on week days.

I was in great shape and felt great. Somehow down the line I forgot what that feels like.

TX85, I go to a city park that has a mile oval track . I rarely see a female or a younger man.

[quote=onlysmith&wesson]relative to your size?

6’2” 320 pounds. 43 years old. I don’t know what I currently bench press, wild guess maybe 275? I can still do 25 solid pushups for sure, maybe a few more on a good day.

Most I ever benched? I did a few reps with 365 in my absolute peak, I was probably 22 years old.

I did one single powerlifting meet in my life, the first legit 3 lift powerlifting meet at Fort Bragg, NC and tied for 1st place in my age and weight division as a heavy weight. I was 30-something and I don’t even remember my lifts but they were not impressive and I had not been in the gym for a long time. Maybe a 1200 or 1300 pound total I can’t remember but I could not believe i placed. I think all the truly strong older dudes stayed home. I might have been something like 300/400/500 pounds on the lifts might have been closer to 1100 pound total, tied for first place in my class. But i take people’s claims with a grain of salt after that. People lie.

These days i work too damn much to even think about lifting. For more than 4 years i walk 40 plus miles a week, literally pick up about 45 tons of boxes per week one box at a time, and drive about 2,000-3,000 miles. So screw the gym.

I might suck at bench press but i can rip the top off a can of rockstar without popping the tab and shoot a 94 pound bow with fingers. I couldn’t do stuff like that when i was an avid lifter. Plus in my peak jiu jitsu form I was crushing dudes that lifted much more than me. And got crushed by much smaller dudes until i started using technique before strength. So there is that.

I don’t do jiu jitsu anymore either. Or get in fights. There are so many things I would rather do than roll around on the ground with somebody, in real life or on a mat. I would as soon take a man’s life as get in a physical fight i kid you not. So i just avoid it!

Herschel Walker is a freak of nature. Much like Bo Jackson.

Dude does body weight only exercises on a diet that would starve a hamster. And looks incredible


I worked construction with a guy who was ( what I thought) rail thin. Always work baggy shorts, smoked like a chimney and I’m almost certain did a bit of meth. Was even missing teeth. Got hot one day and he took his shirt off, dude looked like he was chiseled out of a block of marble. I’ve known guys who worked out every day of their adult life who were not built like this.

Every so often you will meet a genetic freak.

I met several guys in the military sporting something worse than a dad bod that could hold a sub 6 minute mile for longer than 3 miles, and crank out 20 pull-ups.

I remember one guy in particular, ran ultra marathons. Dude had a bit of a spare tire, always knocked out 20 pullups. Ran like ten miles before PT in the morning and ten more after work, and smoked a pack a day and lived on McDonalds. Like a white David Goggins minus the cussing and plus a few extra pounds. Harder than woodpecker lips.

How does your routine go? How do you break it up, rest, etc.

Truly curious because I do roughly the same in sets of 30

Very random, I do sets of 25 throughout the course of the day. Typically 100 before lunch (11;30A) and 100 before dinner (6:00P).

That was part of my cousins pre breakfast work out while in prison. 200 push ups, 200 sit ups, 200 pull ups, 30 minutes of walls sits. He did this 5 times a day. When he got his 1 hour in the yard they had a stationary bike and some days he got use of the “track” which I think he said was a 10 foot wide 50 yard long cage where he would do sprint for an hour.

After 12 years he came out looking like a chiseled greek god. He went on the work at a CrossFit gym upon his release.

I’m strong enough to load appliances into a truck bed by myself, part of that is being smart enough to know how. Workouts have started to break down my body, and the 21 broken bones is starting to become a constant reminder of my youth.

Right now I’m dealing with a wrist that’s down to about 25% movement, pushups are done as I can get the hand to bend enough, as are most weights without a serious brace. Hell, sometimes lifting a coffee cup is painful. So I’ve resorted to eating healthier, daily vitamins, and playing with the kid everyday

“As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprize, and independance to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks.“

So it's a given he did it without roids or T therapy. Proof, it can be done naturally.

This is a great practice. On the push ups have you considered upping the rep's? 25 is prolly pretty easy for you.

Google Wes Watson.

YUP

I am not here to say you can’t get strong and lean without drugs. I know for a 100% fact you can get very very strong without drugs.

But the truth is you can have whatever kind of drugs you want in prison.

Steroids are not magic. They help you get bigger and stronger and leaner, faster. They help you heal and recover faster. But they are not going to increase your natural limits by much. Like 20 percent maybe.

Except for older people. When you endocrine system starts to decline, drugs like testosterone are gonna help you a lot more than a young healthy guy.

Muscle built on drugs will eventually be lost over time. You might think you have made permanent gains because you are doing cycles and only lose a little in between cycles… give it 5 years drug-free. You might be lucky to keep muscles gained on steroids and etc for a few months drug-free.

A good friend of mine actually lost about ten pounds on a cycle of testosterone. He is/was a genetic freak, sets of 6 on deadlift with 495 at a body weight of 170. I guess he did not have the appetite to keep up with the boost in his metabolism.

Another buddy of mine maxed out around 190 on tren and dbol, other heavy anabolics and would lose 10-15 pounds every time we had to miss a little sleep.

Of course we all know a couple of guys that are natural freaks that can not gain fat.

The point of explaining all this, is to say that it is kind of dumb to dedicate your life to achieving optimum physical performance. Or to even worry about how much you can bench. Jiu jitsu is a superpower and the gun levels the playing field for us all.

Much better to strive for a high level of stamina, and mental and physical toughness. You should be able to handle your own bodyweight and climb things, etc. Other than that learn to fight, and carry a weapon and learn to use it.

Some of you guys are very impressive. Keep after it as long as your body will allow it, because there will come a time when you can’t do what you used to do easily. Stuff wears out. I guess I was about 70, and hitting the tennis ball hard with one of the high school kids, when my right biceps went wonky. Doc said I broke my main biceps tendon, and I now had the “Popeye Deformity”. He said it was Ok and that the secondary tendon never breaks. Well wahoo for that, so I asked what had happened, and he said “ya wore it out”. Years of weight lifting, pushups, pull-ups, and tennis took its toll.

I don’t know what your long term plans are for your strength routines, but eventually you will need to quit the big weights and go for lighter weights and higher reps in prep for aging. I did that and it worked out pretty well for a long time.

I should have said, it *would be* pointless to dedicate your life to achieve optimum physical performance, unless you are a gifted athlete. In that case, take advantage of your gifts and see where it may take you in life.

The rest of is normal folk are better off to strive for mental and physical stamina and toughness.

Good Luck to you.

We sound like we lived similar child/teen years. I'm going to be 40 next month and I have so many aches and pains coming out of the woodwork. Although mine are more joint issues not broken bone issues. I swear you could look at my left ankle wrong and it would twist. When I squat down and then back up my left knee sounds like a rice crispies. SNAP CRACKLE POP...

Thank you but my time has passed. From before my adolescence up through about age 24, peak human performance was my top priority. By then i figured out I was striving for something impossible for me to achieve, that nearly destroyed my life. But about a 160 pound pot bellied blue belt in jiu jitsu completed dominated me physically, and changed the trajectory of my life.

To be honest i am getting old, fat, and cynical and should make fitness a priority. We should all make it *a* priority. But never top priority.

I did this in 2008. When I was fully released my left arm and most of the rest of me looked like a bony coat hanger.

I started with curling one of those padded pink 3 lb dumb bells my ex wife never used.

I have done a few stupid things, i am fairly sure i have fractured bones in both ankles. One time i crushed my tibia and ran over two miles with strawberry jam coming out of my shin, when they xrayed it they said “well when did you break your ankle?” Lol. I am sure they are both trashed.

Herniated disks? Almost all of them, more than once. Airborne all the way lol

Ouch! those look painful. I've actually never broken a bone before. I've had a cracked orbital socket and busted sinus cavity from being hit with brassknucks but, I've never actually broken a bone before.

That cracked orbital is no picnic. I hope that guy got felony assault for that, he deserves to be thrown under the jail. Brass nuckles are deadly.

Of all the injuries I have suffered in my life, broken bones, even 2nd and 3rd degree burns to my penis and groin, the most unbearable pain I have ever endured was working through an abscessed tooth, lol.

Abscessed tooth pain can be pretty darn bad.

I never pressed charges on him. It's a very long story and he was actually one of my buddies. I caught him out later on and he ran from me into a movie theater. He then fled and lived in Lubbock for a while. I saw him out one night (long time later) and he bought me a beer and we buried the hatched so to speak. I really don't think he was all there. A couple months later he hung himself at his mom's work so that she'd find him when she opened up her business the next morning.

And yea, so far the worst pain I've ever had was getting my tonsils taken out a year or so back. Absolutely trumps anything I've ever had to go through.

That was complete elbow dislocation. Pain and recovery was worse than any of the broken bone injuries I had. Zero use for a while. I did get to ride in a helicopter for the first time.

I bring up the injury because it totally changed my outlook on fitness in general. I did get back into lifting as a way to rehab my arm, but got so out of shape over all that I started running on an elyptical. I'd go uphill with resistance and finally built up to going flat out for 45 minutes. The years following this injury and the new type of work out got me in really good over all shape. I ran a Cave Man Crawl 2012.

How TF does one suffer 2nd and 3rd degree burns to the penis and groin?

Actually, I take that back. I do not want to know.

It’s a story that needs to be told in person. I will tell you it was *not* a combat injury and thank God. And everything healed nicely lol

How hot was the ‘hot mama’?

Seriously though, I really do think that many, if not most, of the athletic injuries we get or have is because we try to push past the pain. I can tell you that was my problem on several injuries. Tennis, for instance. When I was playing at a pretty high level and getting a little older but still in great shape, getting hurt or dialing down my level of competition just wasn’t an acceptable part of my plan. I had worked so hard to be at that level, I just couldn’t bear the thought of losing my edge. I took a lot of pain pills back then, while I was hurting myself worse. And it was that way with all the guys and gals on a team I was on. One night we were to play for a playoff spot, when my right elbow and shoulder just gave out, with a crunchy noise. I couldn’t play at all, and my team members, friends all, treated me like a quitter for causing the team to lose. If you are that serious about your athletics, you are too serious. If it hurts, let yourself heal.

I have no doubt ignoring pain from over use and strains/sprains would be the leading cause of muscle and tendon injuries, things tear more easily when they are weakened.

A lot of the time it’s just going too far, too hard, too long, too little rest. My ankles are so tore up from rolling them purely out of fatigue and exhaustion, i don’t think there is enough tension left in the ligaments and tendons to tear them. I roll them all the time now and never sprain or strain them. But they are just not super stable. Getting fat doesn’t help but they were already completely screwed.

I have put in a lot of miles carrying a lot of weight, if i told ya’ll the whole story no one would believe it.

As soon as you start talking about running two miles on a crushed tibia everybody rolls their eyes, and assumes you are just a compulsive liar. You just had to be there. That’s life.

63 years old. Still the same lanky 6’1” 195 pound 32” waist I was at 18. No PEDs of any kind ever. I have a set of free weights on the back porch. I lift but lift light. One body part a day and only work each body part once a week with six days for it to recover and try to eat decent. I work on the bleachers at the local football stadium to keep my legs and wind. After reading this thread I went out on the back porch to see. I put 235 on the bar and punched it five times. It felt heavy. Heaviest anything I’ve lifted in years. I have no clue nor am I concerned what my max is. Most important to me is I still feel pretty good and can still get out and enjoy the things I like to do without paying for it the next day. Use it or lose it.

This is how we should strive to be. Well done

Clear winner right here.

5’6.195. Always very strong,powerful legs. Both daughters were state champions in powerlifting,four surgeries later and doc has limited me to no more than 50lbs max fortunately the same weight as a bag of corn 😄

I am really trying to make some changes to my overall fitness. The older I get the less I really care about strength. I’m just kind of naturally strong and have a strong back as well but for long term health I don’t care anymore how strong I s am. I’m a firefighter so I do have to maintain a certain level of cardiovascular fitness or I’ll be taken off active duty but I’ve been borderline for some time.

It’s time for me to get my crap together and get in better shape for my long term health and career.

She must have been hot, real hot

Kidding aside, ouch.

Most men are strong relatively speaking. Fitness and strength are two different things. You can have a 40” waist and get out of breath after a 20 yard jog and be strong.

Do it for yourself Brady. At your age, you are still young enough to question whether you have more good years in front of or behind you? In the not so distant future that will no longer be something to ponder. Father Time will inevitably catch up with us all. Put it off and live large as long as you can.

Aren’t you 38 or 40 years old? That’s not old. Much too young to be throwing in the towel.

Ive migrated same way, I was burned out after college, and when I started focusing back on backpack hunts, I knew I needed to get more functional with a focus on endurance rather then hypertrophy. I focus on movement and cardio. I love sand bag work outs.

Brute force has a really good free online sand bag work app program. Being First Responder I sure they would give a discount on equipment. Very functional movement work outs.


here are a couple works outs as an example

I am 43. I don’t have time to work out. I know people say that is bs i really don’t care. I barely have enough time to get adequate rest. Plus i walk 40 miles a week, and i unload about 45 tons of freight a week. I would probably get results on one good strength work out a week.

I do a routine off and on with tractor tire snow chains. They weigh about 75 or maybe 80 pounds apiece. I can carry two in each hand for two minutes no problem. So the physical labor I do on a weekly basis is helping me maintain functional strength.

Try a farmers walk for two minutes with 150 pounds per hand. It is no picnic. Most *strong* people can’t carry a hundred per hand for two minutes. Think you can? Video or didn’t happen.

I lose my “free time” in the back of a 53’ trailer waiting on customers to receive. I do a little bit of exercise back there, mostly push ups, plus the unloading and walking, I am not worried about my general health and metabolism etc. My hand strength is better than most elite lifters, I can take care of myself.

I just don’t want to spend my one day off in the gym. I might pick BJJ back up though, I miss it a lot. One day of BJJ a week, with some hard rolling and open mat time, would be enough to learn or maintain the basics. But I would rather be shooting, hunting, fishing, or something that the kids want to do. Comic con, etc lol

I did do the workout and diet part of “75 hard” for about 90 days, and the cold shower part every chance i got. I got it from a meme and people in the group kept telling me all the little crap i missed so I kept re-starting. That was a mistake i will never make again. I am still recovering from it 🤣

Truth. Fitness is much more than strength. I don’t think I could lift much but I can do 30 Pushups at a time and walk a ways without stopping. I will let you know about my fitness levels when I start training for this years hunts in Montana.

Long as you can fill feeders and carry a gun. Nothing else matters, according to Thomas Jefferson.