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Tagged: Too old
This topic contains 7 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by Force of Nature 225 2 years, 7 months ago.
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I’m curious about when a man “Reaches his prime” I don’t think it really exists until the body stops naturally producing testosterone.
For example: I’ve played football for 10 years, wrestled for 8, and was in the military.. but lost to a race with a 55 year old.
I’ve powerlifted.. thought I was the shot at 25 but was embarrassed by a 45 year old..If I wanted to play in the nfl…
Is it really all in my head?
Does a man really never reach his peak in athletics?Does a man really never reach his peak in athletics?
Your peak is Different then other Men’s peak for all types of reasons (IE: genetics, training length, diet, age, drugs etc.)
You can’t compare your achievements, or lack their of, against another man because we’re all on different levels at different times in our lives, and we all bring different genetic packages to each sport endeavor.
If I wanted to play in the nfl…
Is it really all in my head?ONLY the absolute BEST in the world make it to the professional level of any sport.
If you don’t have the correct genetic package to BEGIN with there is no amount of training, hard work, and drugs that will bring you up to the world class level. Remember, your hardest competition will be world class athletes that HAVE the correct genetic package, AND are combining that with training, hard work, and drugs as well.In a World of Justin Beibers Be a Johnny Cash
Anonymous14Former College Athlete here. If we are talking injury free, 26 is peak for Athleticism (explosiveness)for most, strength maybe around 30=35. Most baseball players (hitters) pre-steroid era all start fading around 32-34, so hand eye may be on the decline by then, along with fast twitch/explosive movement beginning to fade as well. Not many old sprinters around… Now if we are talking endurance it is mostly about training, I have seen old men kill younger guys in endurance sports like running/cycling.
If you got beat by an older guy in a race and you were a former powerlifter/football player no big deal. Was he smaller and in way better shape? Was it a race more than 20 yards? lol There are no fast 55 year olds in sprints, but they can still kill younger guys who are less talented or out of shape when it comes to distance. And if he has been running a lot and you have been sitting around for a decade even if you are 15 years younger I would not be surprised if he could beat you at any distance. He also could be a bit of a freak, maybe he was super fast when young and has stayed injury free and in shape all these years and still has something left in the tank…
Former couch potato here:
I never had an ‘athletic peak’. Spent my youth developing a very enjoyable but largely unhealthy “sex, drugs & rock’n’roll
” lifestyle and focused entirely on enjoying myself. That being said, despite all that I never became a fat guy and was tall and skinny.When marriage hit – the drugs stopped…. the rock’n’roll stopped and inevitably after a while the sex stopped too. I developed some fine habits of sitting on the sofa doing absolutely nothing and eating pretty crappy food. I put on a few kg’s but still remained within ‘acceptable normal limits’.
When marriage finally cracked the s~~~s and it became time to re-assess life (aged 41) – I made the conscious decision to get fit instead of watching TV. I promised myself I wouldnt watch ANY tv or waste any time on facebook etc etc for at least a year and would use the time to do something constructive with my life.
2nd Oct 2013 weighing 93kg I strapped on a pair of trainers, stepped out the door and ran 2.5km around the block. It took me about 25 minutes and I came back gasping for breath and aching all over. I realised I was in a bad way and needed to put in some work. Knowing my own mind I set some goals and made them public to try and keep me honest:
5km in 30 minutes
10km in 1 hr
Half marathon in 2 hours
Marathon in 4 hours.I drew up a program of gradual increases in distance and forced myself to run at least 3 times a week. After 6 weeks I went to a local parkrun, busted my ass as hard as I could and came in with the 5km in just under 30 minutes! What was more remarkable was I was beginning to enjoy getting out there and doing something positive.
After 10 weeks I broke the 10km goal by 3 seconds on my first attempt – I was NAILING this running thing! Sure I’d never set any world records – but I was doing ok and this was actually fun! I signed up for a half marathon in March 2014 and stepped up the training. When race day came it was a hot Brisbane day, I foolishly enjoyed sitting around the race precinct in the sun for a few hours before the 5pm start. No doubt I was already a little dehydrated and the exertion proved to be a bit too much. The first half of the race I ran well and confidently but the second half I deteriorated. I stumbled over the line in 2:11 and ended up spending about 4 hours shivering and sweating in equal amounts as my body struggled to come to terms with what I’d made it do. Despite all this I was fired up to do it again and get it right. 6 weeks later I went to Sydney for a cooler morning trace and finished a lot more comfortably in 1:55! I was back kicking goals and now I FELT like a runner.
in 2015 after lots of training with a group of great guys in a squad I signed up with, I toe’d the start line of the Gold Coast Marathon. Just 20 months after I’d first got off that sofa I ran a marathon and finished in 3:57 proud as punch fitter than I’d ever been at the age of 43. (Incidentally the winner of that race, Kenyan Kenneth Mungara with a time of 2:08 was also 43 – pretty much proving that in endurance events age doesnt have to be that much of a barrier!).
In the time since then I’ve run more marathons including Berlin 2015(4:09 with sickness), Gold Coast 2016(3:46), Chicago 2016(3:38), London 2017(3:36) and in a few weeks time I’m running Gold Coast again and hoping to get under 3:30.
There’s no doubt that at age 45 I am fitter and healthier than I have ever been before (and now down to a ideal race weight of 72kg) – I dont know where my athletic peak is. What I do know is I havent found it yet!
What happened to me and what I see in a lot of men is this:
Highschool and college – youth on your side. All the guys are ripped and in great shape with little or no need to train. I was a beast in college, small waist – big biceps and ran my PFT of 3 miles in 18:51.
Post school. Men stop working out (in my observations) from 23-30ish. Then they get up one morning and see a fat f~~~ in the mirror and wake up. (Some never do and they are doomed to fat f~~~ism forever).
Late 20’s – early 30’s men get back into working out. And let me tell ya – it is a long road back!
I transitioned from pushing heavy weights (rough on the shoulders and joints) to more of a real-world or useful strength. There is a buzzword for this and it escapes me right now.
So why did that 55 year old beat you in a race? That SOB trains. I run trails with guys that are in their 60s (I’m in my 40s) and these guys are incredible. Strong, fit (not like skinny little Kenyans who run marathons). These guys run mountains. And these guys are disciplined in their training but more important: they love it. They are big and strong – not little road running guys who are skin and bones.
These guys look at it like adventures. “Hey, lets run XYZ mountain – 20+ miles up and down the mountain”. And we make a morning of it. Then go eat like hell and drink beer.
One guy started running at 50! He is mid 60’s now and he smokes my ass.
So -I was very verbose – but you can continue to reach “peaks”. Like another poster said, explosiveness wanes – but being strong and running distance can be done well into your older years.
Example: I ran 178 miles in 2015. I ran 1100+ in 2016 and completed a 50k at a respectable pace. You just have to get out and train. Pick your sport/activity and work hard at it and have fun doing it. You will hit peaks.
What are your goals?? What are you wanting to accomplish?
In the time since then I’ve run more marathons including Berlin 2015(4:09 with sickness), Gold Coast 2016(3:46), Chicago 2016(3:38), London 2017(3:36) and in a few weeks time I’m running Gold Coast again and hoping to get under 3:30.
There’s no doubt that at age 45 I am fitter and healthier than I have ever been before (and now down to a ideal race weight of 72kg) – I dont know where my athletic peak is. What I do know is I havent found it yet!
Great work! Those are some incredible marathon times.
Clyde Aikau was surfing Waimea big wave contest last year at 66 years.
Bernard Hopkings was fighting for light heavyweight world champion at 50 vs. unbeaten fighter who already put a guy 6 feel felow in his previous fights.
Long distance endurance cycling events are packed with guys around 50 and 65+ is not a rarity. 50 is even better than 20 in endurance if you trained and lived properly.
Peak exposivness, power, sure, twenties. But peak mental endurance, stamina, … very few limits there.
The choices we make, not the chances we take, determine our destiny
Yes I think that when you are young, you are able to keep strength a lot more easily because your joints are younger. I have been lifting for about 12 years not and I must say that when I was in my early 20’s, I could focus more on heavy barbell training and not have issues. Now it seems like heavy barbell training has caught up with me some. My joints pop a lot more and I’m just not as mobile/flexible as I once was. I think as you age, you need to put more of a focus on stretching and injury prevention techniques. You may have been able to get away with not warming up or cooling down when you were younger but as an older man, you need to place more of an emphasis on this. For me, longevity in weight training is the focus now.
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