Cliffs: I'm 50 later this year and am challenging myself to set as many lifetime PRs as I can

tldr

49yo male. 6ft, 90.5kg/199lbs. Grew up in London, now live in Sydney Australia.

Have long term sporting background. International representative rugby player at top tier sporting university and played semi pro into my late 20s. Also played varsity soccer as freshman at college, plus all the sports including track and field growing up.

The past 20 years since rugby finished...I've almost always exercised/trained and have always been fit but it's mainly been 'working out' rather than training. By which I mean I train hard when I go into the gym...but without any real plans or goals.

I had two serious sporting injuries that still impact my training - the knee reconstruction plus a torn & bulging disc in the L5/S1 region and after a really frustrating 3ish years of a cycle or injuring myself every time I tried to go hard for a period of time, I've cut the intensity of my training over the past 5 years. By doing this and giving up several movements (squat, snatch, squat clean), I've managed to stay active and training all the way through....albeit going through the motions for months and then more committed at other times.

But I find myself bored with my training and staring down the barrel of a major milestone as I turn 50 in the middle of 2021. And so I'm going to aim to reach 50 in great shape and to give myself something to keep me interested by aiming to break as many of my lifetime PRs as I can.

Realistically, I'm never running a sub 11.5 100m or hitting the roads to run a marathon again and I'm not squatting or o lifting heavy any more, so those ones are out. But I think the upper body lifts are within reach (I've never been 'strong' in those anyway, but they haven't dropped off much) and I think some of the cardio PRs are definitely do-able if I can commit to the pain...albeit I'm definitely scared of the pain

Simultaneously, my cholesterol levels have been rising the past few years and I'd like to drop some body fat...so I'm going to be adopting a better diet and substantially reducing my drinking

Here's a list of my PRs...some of them are relatively soft, in that I haven't really trained them for that long.

PRs within reach

Lifting
Bench 107.5kg (currently at approx 100kg)
Press 70kg (currently probably 67.5 but gym closed right now and my home gym ceiling is too low for me to do standing press)
Bar Dips 26 (guessing I could do 15ish)

Erg
1km 3.17 (guessing 3.30)
2km 6.59 (I did a 7.19 yesterday and it damn near killed me)

Assault Bike
100 cals 3.11
200 cals (can't find the PR but I'll be attempting one)

DEXA PR: 16.2% (I think I'd be 18% ish now)

PRs that are possible but not probable

Dead Hangs 18

Erg
500m 1.28 (est 1.32 right now - 4 secs is a HUGE difference in a 500m)
5k 18.43 (guessing 19.30)

Caliper bf% when playing rugby was 12.1 - which I'm guessing equated to 14% ish?

Other lifetime PRs fyi that we won't be attempting to break
Squat 165kg (in 1993)
Deadlift 170kg (2010)
Power Clean 105 (2015)
Snatch 82.5kg (2015)
11.5 100m
1.28 half marathon

This is about as far as I've got.

I haven't worked out an exact training plan yet - our gyms are closed for covid at the moment but I have a barbell, rack and bench at home plus an erg and a pull up bar so I can train most of the above. I generally get to the gym 4 to 5 times a week and aim to do at least one other 'activity' per day as well - I've got quite obsessive about getting 10k steps in since I've been working from home since March. And then I have a very sporty 10 year old son who I am helping get fit for his upcoming season - both soccer and rugby will start in March. So we're doing sprints and skills training too.

Next steps

keep things ticking over with no huge focus for the next 2 weeks, then after a week's holiday 13th to 20th January, I'll commit to a more detailed plan and improve my lifestyle.

I'm very heavy for me (most of my PRs were done with me weighing 83-85kg and I'm 90kg right now), so it's a good time to try to get some upper body PRs.

the cardio goals scare me and are the main reason I've started the thread.
I want to force myself to do more conditioning work but I know the pain I'm in for - that 5k row PR was done when I was peak crossfit and will be a total nightmare to get to from where I am right now.

I'll be getting a DEXA in late Jan.

I had my bloods done last month and will probably get another lot done before my birthday.

I may also add some additional fitness goals...just not sure what they'd be right now

sorry for the wall of text and sorry if you're unable to multiply kg by 2.2 to get to lbs

Hey there weight twin, gl and will be following.

Good luck with your goals, I'm interested to follow along. That 100 cal assault bike is the one that stood out to me. Super impressive!

tyty

I’m lucky that I’ve always had a pretty good engine and the capacity to endure pain. I’ve never really trained on the assault bike and I’m probably going to focus on the erg and just assume that the increased fitness I get from it will improve my assault bike time, but I might try a few weeks of interval work on the bike to see what happens (apart from pain)

imo the 5k row is the most daunting record, maybe because it’s a longer effort but also because it was set when I think I was fittest. But we’ll see

thanks for dropping by

Training today

5x5 bench - 87.5kg

3x8/8 superset of DB flyes, DB bench 22.5kg (the only DBs I have in my home gym)

3x10/12 superset of 65kg close grip bench and bar dips

Activity

20k steps from an hour walk, a trip to the mall with my daughters and 30 mins soccer training in the back garden with my son

I have a NYD lunch party tomorrow which will involve a lot of alcohol and potentially some PEDs so I will probably not train again til 3rd Jan

so my wife gave me a fitbit for Christmas and it tracks my sleep. Quantity and quality - I haven't done the detailed dive into all it can track but it gives you a total amount of time asleep and also what stages of sleep you're in. I'm sure it's not perfect but it's useful info anyway

sleep has always been an issue for me for a variety of reasons. I've worn this thing for 4 nights now and the results are below - not great scores. I've been drinking alcohol every night which I'm sure is a part of the reason I've been sleeping badly. After the next few days I'm gonna clean myself up and it'll be interesting to see what difference it makes to how it tracks my sleep

Subbed for the lulz. Glglgl old man!!!

As a member of the 50+ club I am here showin my support mang. I believe you will set some PB's with your work ethic, determination, and focus.

Happy New Year brother, lets get some work done in 2021!!!

+1
Good luck!

Sub-7:00 erg should be there if you just put in consistent volume; I was a pretty prominent lolcardio guy for most of my time in this forum and never had much of an aerobic base (outside of what youth/young adult sports gave me, which likely didn't hold over much), but under a year of consistent mostly low impact meters got me there. I'm sure #heightprivilege helped, but if you've done sub 7:20 in the past, I think it's safe to say you can get there. 5k goal also seems doable, but the 5k low key sucks just as much as the 2k, so spacing them out a bit is probably necessary just so fatigue from one isn't killing you on the other.

250 Cal is more of a test than 200 100 time is impressive

Though impressive is the Rogue 50 Cal challenge times

Sorry if it wasn’t clear, I’ve done 6.59 in the past and am aiming to beat it. I did 7.20 last week

Oh my goodness. I’m not feeling very fit today - had. Had a NYD lunch that finished at 1am.

11.2k steps yesterday but no training. Definitely a day off today.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Good luck. I turn 50 next year as well, so I'll follow your log.

Here for any DEXA prop bets to help our buddy FW along.

Feely - I am ~215 lbs right now, probably 25%~30% body fat. Willing to do a benchmark DEXA and then set some timeline and goal. If we both reach bet is a push.

I am lifting on and off, no cardio, eating a terrible diet - looking to fix that so $$$ on the line is needed.

Probably not on the agenda for the next few months but will see how I feel once I come back from holiday once I’ve got a test done.

I would doubt you’re 25%, let alone 30%. 30% is very fat.

tyty - join in with a few goals of your own?

Training today

Seated barbell press (hone gym ceiling is too low to do standing press) with a flat bench

5x7@47.5kg

Seated Dumbbell press

5x6@22.5kg db

Barbell curl

5x11@40kg

Activity

did a 45 min walk
14.5k total steps

Still felt a little hungover today from a giant lunch on the 1st.

Gonna get on the erg tomorrow and do a long row

Hey now. Big boned.

holds a lot of water

I'm really not sure what sensible goals are for 2021.

I've weighed between 140 and 147 pounds for 18 months, and I want to stay in that range, but maintenance isn't the most exciting for progress reports.

Scuba goals would be good. Unfortunately, the answer to whether they are feasible or not is literally within me. I have a device covering a hole in my heart, and I will only be signed off to dive once flesh has grown over it. This can take up to a year - hopefully it will before June, as I'm booked on a trip to an uninhabited series of rocks in the Atlantic then. (The trip is to St. Kilda, the outermost bit of the Outer Hebrides.)

Climbing goals could make sense, but probably needs a less severe lockdown than now to be possible.

So lifting goals could be sensible. I am as weak as a kitten following my weight loss.

I'll do a few very hilly, very long walks (e.g. 26 miles) - maybe a target number of these makes sense.

Hurts bruh

I was told there would be noodz?

flaccid or erect? PM sent