Don't underestimate old guy strength

[dfanonymous]

I'm not even remotely old but I will add, I don't know where the idea that a man peaks between 18 and 25 even comes from. Maybe for how hard they can party and get away with it . But I know I am MUCH stronger now in my 30s than I ever was in my 20s let alone as a teenager. And most of the guys I've talked to about this mention the same thing, from 30-50 is/was maximum raw caveman power for them haha.

Of course I was a slow grower too, so that might be part of it. I'm a full 2 inches taller and much broader than I was when graduated high school. Grew another inch taller between age 21 and 28.

Testosterone productions on average….
YOU might be stronger, but it most likely means that you never reached a peak of physical fitness from the beginning. You're simply more disciplined now. Makes senses, and that's great.

Same for cognitive decline.

 

[Handymike]

I'm 76 and still can pick up a 12 foot sheet of 5/8 rock by myself and hang it.
Mike

 

[Calvin45]

Testosterone productions on average….
YOU might be stronger, but it most likely means that you never reached a peak of physical fitness from the beginning. You're simply more disciplined now. Makes senses, and that's great.

Same for cognitive decline.

That could very well be but in a lot of ways I'm less physically active then I was then so I don't think that's all of it. And for sure I'm not talking about athleticism, that's a different ball game from raw strength. I just mean the ability to pick up something stupidly heavy and awkward and move with it, and especially regarding grip strength. I have observed this with lots of fellas too, I've heard it referred to as "dad muscle" or "grown-as$ man strength" haha. Regardless of testosterone and discipline in one's youth, I do think this is a real thing.

I sure can't run and maintain pace like I did when I was 18 though. No denial there.

The testosterone/hormone thing I've heard does naturally decline slightly from 30 onward but not as much as some think..,at least not automatically. It's as much that most people become much more sedentary the older they get which also affects that. After 50 I've heard that testosterone drops off dramatically in most men.

For me, young as I am, the biggest difference I've noticed between being a teenager/early twenties and now at 32 is to do with how much sleep deprivation a person can take and still function at full capacity. At 18 you can stay up all night and go hard all day and not really suffer for it much. At 32 if I don't get a half decent sleep I feel like complete the next day.

 

[dfanonymous]

That could very well be but in a lot of ways I'm less physically active then I was then so I don't think that's all of it. And for sure I'm not talking about athleticism, that's a different ball game from raw strength. I just mean the ability to pick up something stupidly heavy and awkward and move with it, and especially regarding grip strength. I have observed this with lots of fellas too, I've heard it referred to as "dad muscle" or "grown-as$ man strength" haha. Regardless of testosterone and discipline in one's youth, I do think this is a real thing.

I sure can't run and maintain pace like I did when I was 18 though. No denial there.

The testosterone/hormone thing I've heard does naturally decline slightly from 30 onward but not as much as some think..,at least not automatically. It's as much that most people become much more sedentary the older they get which also affects that. After 50 I've heard that testosterone drops off dramatically in most men.

For me, young as I am, the biggest difference I've noticed between being a teenager/early twenties and now at 32 is to do with how much sleep deprivation a person can take and still function at full capacity. At 18 you can stay up all night and go hard all day and not really suffer for it much. At 32 if I don't get a half decent sleep I feel like complete the next day.

It's a medical generalization. It just means peak test is at this age to that age. Then it begins its taper off. Some people its severe, with gyno and fat gain, others it's not so much.

Simply put most guys in their 40s +, aren't going to quit their day job and go to compete in the Olympics.

What you're talking about is density in neural pathways and having more neuropathic control. It comes from simply using your muscles longer.

When comparing muscle mass though, at 25, 35, and 45 there will be generally be a difference if you did no physical exercise at all. The more fat a man has, the less he will produce testosterone. Theres a lot of factors. Even if he weights the same as when he was muscularity dense.

Point being, there's a lot to it, but that's where the lose your peak at 35 comes from. Testosterone on average.

 

[Calvin45]

It's a medical generalization. It just means peak test is at this age to that age. Then it begins its taper off. Some people its severe, with gyno and fat gain, others it's not so much.

Simply put most guys in their 40s +, aren't going to quit their day job and go to compete in the Olympics.

What you're talking about is density in neural pathways and having more neuropathic control. It comes from simply using your muscles longer.

When comparing muscle mass though, at 25, 35, and 45 there will be generally be a difference if you did no physical exercise at all. The more fat a man has, the less he will produce testosterone. Theres a lot of factors. Even if he weights the same as when he was muscularity dense.

Point being, there's a lot to it, but that's where the lose your peak at 35 comes from. Testosterone on average.

Yup makes sense.

This whole conversation piqued my interest and it is indeed interesting, the different "peak" ages for different disciplines. Olympic weightlifters max strength is on average at 25, powerlifters is 34…and according to the source I found the average age over the last 50 years or so for the worlds strongest man winner, strongman competition, is 38!

Now in disciplines where speed and agility are the competitive edge (most sports), even 30 year olds are falling behind the absolute peak of what's possible,

 

[Earnhardt]

I'm 76 and still can pick up a 12 foot sheet of 5/8 rock by myself and hang it.
Mike

Insert profanity laced shout out, right here!…
Dude!…that's awesome!

 

[Calvin45]

Old man strength is okay…but it's old man wisdom and experience that does the young punks in haha. Case in point, talked to an old guy a while back who had learned this lesson as a young guy . Back in his youth he had a job manually unloading train cars full of fertilizer bags, little 50 pound bags, by the thousands. On his first day he was 18 and a strapping young lad as they say, and right out of the gate was having no trouble taking two bags at a time, sometimes three haha. And this "old timer" as he called him working there was a smaller framed 60 year old man who just steadily carried one bag at a time and could sense the 18 year old's ego at play. They passed each other and the old guy said to him

"You might be tough kid but I'll still be doing this when you need a break".

And son of a gun! The old guy was right! . The guy I was talking to, now an older man himself, says his 18 year old self couldn't believe his eyes when he realized at the end of the workday that this old buzzard had actually moved MORE FERTILIZER BAGS THAN HE DID!!!!! Slow and steady and just kept at it beat maximum effort and youth but needing breaks from overdoing it. That's wisdom, more important than the fleeting strength of youth

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Old man strength is okay…but it's old man wisdom and experience that does the young punks in haha. Case in point, talked to an old guy a while back who had learned this lesson as a young guy . Back in his youth he had a job manually unloading train cars full of fertilizer bags, little 50 pound bags, by the thousands. On his first day he was 18 and a strapping young lad as they say, and right out of the gate was having no trouble taking two bags at a time, sometimes three haha. And this "old timer" as he called him working there was a smaller framed 60 year old man who just steadily carried one bag at a time and could sense the 18 year old's ego at play. They passed each other and the old guy said to him

"You might be tough kid but I'll still be doing this when you need a break".

And son of a gun! The old guy was right! . The guy I was talking to, now an older man himself, says his 18 year old self couldn't believe his eyes when he realized at the end of the workday that this old buzzard had actually moved MORE FERTILIZER BAGS THAN HE DID!!!!! Slow and steady and just kept at it beat maximum effort and youth but needing breaks from overdoing it. That's wisdom, more important than the fleeting strength of youth

???????? haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?????

 

[MachV]

Peak at 31 old by 36 LOL
For me I may have been in better shape at 31 but peaked at around 45 due to being a little smarter. Getting in between a fight between a 50 ton crane and a 400 ton mining box in 2006 slowed me down a LOT
At 62 the poor kid today thought he could catch up once we started welding parts we had put together yesterday. By noon I asked him if he had caught the old man yet.... He bowed his head as he was loosing ground by the minute
I got old at 58 when the back ham of an elk came off 2 miles downhill of the truck, I realized right then and there that that elk wasnt getting outa there without help, my hunting partner saved my bacon!

 

[Calvin45]

???????? haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?????

I'm actually confused now…I don't get it!

 

[338 dude]

I'm 76 and still can pick up a 12 foot sheet of 5/8 rock by myself and hang it.
Mike

I'm 60 I spent 31 years in the drywall trade I probably could, but I do not want to do that anymore!

 

[BigDon]

I'm not that old. Only 36. But my fitness has definitely fallen off a bit in the last few years.

That being said, I still do the "Murph" workout every year. I've been getting gradually slower since my peak at about age 31.

Well, this young guy (23) that works for me started talking some friendly trash about beating me at Murph, and called me old. He's never done Murph before, and he's not a real impressive specimen, but he does some running and lifting a few days a week.

Anyways, I went with it. I agreed with him that I'm getting old and I've lost a step in my old age. I told him that he should come over this year and do Murph with us, even though he'd probably beat me. Then I started training with an extra fire that I haven't had in a while. It's been fun to have some extra motivation, and push myself a little harder, and I think there's a chance that I get a fair bit faster this year.


Anyways, that kid doesn't know the fire he lit, and he won't till memorial day. He keeps talking smack at work, and I just smile and agree with him.

Cool! For me - it's an Elk tag. Total Motivation....

 

[Ol' Red]

LOL, at 67, I feel a huge amount of sympathy for anyone feeling "old" at the OP's age.

Keith Richards scoffs...

Keith and Willie Nelson are wondering what kind of world these young lads are going to leave for them to live out their old age in.

 

[Handymike]

I'm 60 I spent 31 years in the drywall trade I probably could, but I do not want to do that anymore!

No one likes it but sometimes ya gotta do it.