Strength/Size decline with age

[Skeletor]

Having recently had my 36th birthday i realised im not that far off the big 40 and starting wondering about how my strength and muscle mass will decline as i age. Obviously a mans natural test levels gradually drop over the years which would explain a lot of this but have recently noticed the large numbers of lifters hitting lifetime p.rs and still staying jacked at and well above 40 years of age.  Now i know currently over the last 2 or so years i have only got stronger and definately hoping to carry that on into my late 40s at least . Obviously had i taken up powerlifting at a younger age i may have been a heck of a lot stronger then than i am now but i cant change that now so what do you think are the keys to maintaining and building strength as you age.  Im guessing that a very large percentage of lifters will be supplementing with Testosterone as they age to combat the natural decline. Is this really all that would be required?  What do you think is the ideal age where the standard trained athlete is strongest? 

[HarryB]

My brother started competitive powerlifting in his late 30s as did one of my old uni mates. Both lifetime naturals and competing in natural federation and both improving every comp. My little bro at 41 squats and deads in the 300 range and benches in 200s and is aiming for a 320 squat and a 210 bench this year, like my he hates deads. Our other mate is the strongest he's been his whole life and he's been training since his teens. I think if you keep pushing your body it will respond but if you stop then it slows down. Sure test levels drop but that's more prevalent in sedentary types. 

[Skeletor]

Thanks Harry that's good to know and shows that if they can do it natty then anyone can. I'd always believed basicly just from seeing comments on the net that guys over 35Ish could never compete with guts in their twenties but from what I've been seeing lately it definitely seems to not be the case.  That's some good numbers your brother is lifting. You've been or are up around those numbers yourself yeah? 

[maccaz]

plenty of strong/competitive guys in quite a few sports go to late 40s.

i think things like taking care of injuries properly, prehab, recovery, etc become more important as when you have say 15 years of powerlifting years left, a 1 year setback for a recurring injury will take away from what you might reach.

[HarryB]

9 minutes ago, Skeletor said:

Thanks Harry that's good to know and shows that if they can do it natty then anyone can. I'd always believed basicly just from seeing comments on the net that guys over 35Ish could never compete with guts in their twenties but from what I've been seeing lately it definitely seems to not be the case.  That's some good numbers your brother is lifting. You've been or are up around those numbers yourself yeah? 

 

Well I guess now you can see there's a lot of "older" lifters kicking ass still. I am surrounded by 20 something juiced up guys at my gym. Haven't seen one single guy lift anything worthwhile ;) 

 

And yeah while I have lifted the same numbers as my brother, but I've never done it under the same conditions. (Cept bench, he's got a little way to catch my natty bench.)

[maccaz]

other thing skeletor, look at the results at pro raw. plenty of guys north of 30 years old.

 

[HarryB]

4 minutes ago, maccaz said:

other thing skeletor, look at the results at pro raw. plenty of guys north of 30 years old.

 

 

I think he's talking more about the natural guys? 

[Skeletor]

Natty or enhanced.  Just knowing natty guys can do it is a bonus and shows its obviously possible. 

[PETN]

37 minutes ago, HarryB said:

 

I think he's talking more about the natural guys? 

 

I think xplosive supplements sponsored athlete gymrat is a prime example of what can be acheived naturally in your late 30s

[HarryB]

As an older guy I don't worry about the declining test because I'll just take it so that's not a big deal at all. What really dictates how my training goes is injuries. If I manage my injuries then my strength for what it is fine. But I have to be a whole lot more careful now than I ever had to be in the past. That I'd say is pretty much the same for any older gassed up guy. 

[Bigken1985]

biggest thing would be staying injury free, look at Steve Lousich from canterbury as an example  Veteran of powerlifting. in his 50s smashing comps every year.  I almost think its easier for natty guys as they get older, as there is possibly less chance of really recking themselves than a enhanced lifter

[NZGator]

I didn't start powerlifting until I was 50 and I haven't looked back, I'm 53 now. I have had some pretty decent gains but after the initial gains things slowed down but I still have gains to make. I have been pretty lucky that I haven't had any significant injuries, mostly just aches. 

I haven't had any blood tests to check T levels but i would be willing to bet they have gone up or stayed steady over the past few years. I'm sure the wife would agree on that too....

I have also started dropping weight and added a good amount of muscle. I have dropped over 10kgs since last July and it cost me a couple of kgs on the platform but that will come back plus some soon enough.

As long as you pay attention to what your body tells you going well into old age should be easy enough... I plan on going for a long time yet.

[Englishman88]

19 hours ago, Skeletor said:

Having recently had my 36th birthday i realised im not that far off the big 40 and starting wondering about how my strength and muscle mass will decline as i age. Obviously a mans natural test levels gradually drop over the years which would explain a lot of this but have recently noticed the large numbers of lifters hitting lifetime p.rs and still staying jacked at and well above 40 years of age.  Now i know currently over the last 2 or so years i have only got stronger and definately hoping to carry that on into my late 40s at least . Obviously had i taken up powerlifting at a younger age i may have been a heck of a lot stronger then than i am now but i cant change that now so what do you think are the keys to maintaining and building strength as you age.  Im guessing that a very large percentage of lifters will be supplementing with Testosterone as they age to combat the natural decline. Is this really all that would be required?  What do you think is the ideal age where the standard trained athlete is strongest? 

 

Supplementing with test or natural hormone enhancers (luteinising hormone, testosterone, hgh) yes 100% but the thing most people forget is as we age our amino absorption becomes significantly lower so upping protein or supplementing with BCAA's particularly leucine will be very beneficial for older athletes. 

[PETN]

Never heard that before. Interesting if true 

[Englishman88]

1 hour ago, PETN said:

Never heard that before. Interesting if true 

 

Ill try find a link for you mate but yeah definitely true.

[Englishman88]

1 hour ago, PETN said:

Never heard that before. Interesting if true 

 

I'll try find more on the absorption too

[HarryB]

15 minutes ago, Englishman88 said:

 

I'll try find more on the absorption too

 

Can I take any products or do I have to buy the poliquin ones? 

[Englishman88]

13 minutes ago, HarryB said:

 

Can I take any products or do I have to buy the poliquin ones? 

Haha I'm not trying to sell his was the first link that came up. There have been numerous studies I don't follow bro science when it's my job 

[HarryB]

OK. .. there's nothing wrong with poliquin per se and as a strength coach he is second to none imo. 

 

I'm not sure what your reference to bro science actually means to be honest but I do know that pretty much all of the retards on the Internet can find a study to prove whatever theory they're pushing. Not sure why a contrived bias study holds more weight then anecdotal evidence? I want to prove something so I contrive a means to make sure my outcome sells my point and my supplements, programme or whatever... anyway I'm quite jaded generally and the decline in amino uptake requiring extra supplementation can be attributed to all kinds of things. So it's a cover all your bases type of advice vs being specific to ageing. The same applies to people under stress, people who are ill blah blah blah I'm sure you understand my point. 

[Monarchking]

40 is the new 20.

also I bet training age and smArts helps with gains #broscience

[Skeletor]

On 29/04/2016 at 1:00 PM, PETN said:

 

I think xplosive supplements sponsored athlete gymrat is a prime example of what can be acheived naturally in your late 30s

He's still making it rat style . Getting famous rat style to. 

[HumanPerformance]

I dont think you will notice any difference in strength Skeletor as you hit 40. From my experience its only in the mid 50s that strength really starts to drop off. Ive had clients like Phillip Puttick who came to see at 43 years of age and had never set foot in a gym before. By 48 he had the strongest legs and back in the gym by far and around the 3rd strongest on pushing movements, and he was a skinny 63kg Englishman when he started. Hes now 57 and comfortably sits around 102kg at about 12% (pseudonym knows him) I dont get him to lift heavy anymore as he justs wants to maintain. He hasnt trained his legs in over 4 years but last year there was a leg press competition in the gym and he wanted to show the young lads in the gym whose boss. So we trained the leg press twice a week for 4 weeks and he was back up to 500kg for reps (full ROM not these bloody half reps you see everywhere) . So his muscle memory has not diminished with age whatsoever.

 

Similarly client Christine Henwood (rebel) only started back at the gym  4  years ago (after a 20 break) and now at 58 is easily one of the strongest women in the country (you can see her deadlifting 140x10 at 68kg on my FB page). 

 

 

[Englishman88]

6 hours ago, HarryB said:

OK. .. there's nothing wrong with poliquin per se and as a strength coach he is second to none imo. 

 

I'm not sure what your reference to bro science actually means to be honest but I do know that pretty much all of the retards on the Internet can find a study to prove whatever theory they're pushing. Not sure why a contrived bias study holds more weight then anecdotal evidence? I want to prove something so I contrive a means to make sure my outcome sells my point and my supplements, programme or whatever... anyway I'm quite jaded generally and the decline in amino uptake requiring extra supplementation can be attributed to all kinds of things. So it's a cover all your bases type of advice vs being specific to ageing. The same applies to people under stress, people who are ill blah blah blah I'm sure you understand my point. 

 

Ahh ok sorry got the wrong end of the stick there thought you were just mocking my comment about amino absorption because I had referred to a poliquin site. But yes you are correct and I agree 100% that there are many other factors that can affect amino uptake aside from just someone's age which is what makes it hard for them to put a definitive answer to whether age affects amino uptake. By bro science I mean things that are suggested that have no research to back up the theory. Either way amino supplementation is vital to prevent catabolism imo 

[HarryB]

And I don't believe it is at all. Not specific amino supplementation. It's a bit of marketing hype. Especially for the vast majority who don't have the basics of their nutrition down let alone to be looking at the specific action of some aminos on recovery if you get me. I'm not saying they're useless but what I'm saying is... they're useless for 99% of the people who buy them. 

 

Is anecdotal evidence not evidence? It's a subject that's been beaten to death but what's your take on it. 

[Wookie]

Powerlifting if injuries don't get in the way - you could probably go well into the 40's before decline.

 

Weightlifting on the other hand you're out of luck due to explosiveness and flexibility declining.

 

Strongman you can do well in you'd just likely be lacking some potential explosiveness and speed from the 20's and 30's.

 

I think a large part of competing well with age comes down to not wrecking the body with big injuries.