Another big birthday in Farandaville

Joe's was two days ago. Joe Turned 18

Now mine is today. And it's a big one, ending in a zero, as I exit my 50's.

Tom, deal with it.

And now, just to further prove that it's all about me -

I'll be in the gym later today, trying to out-do my recent bench press of 170 lbs. A laughable amount to many people, but that's about nine pounds more then I weigh, and according to the following is excellent for someone 50-59 - which I used to be.

Bench press test and assessment

And see this also -

How Much Can You Bench Press Vs. Body Weight?

Men between the age 20 and 29 must lift 106 percent of their body weight to be in the 50th percentile, 122 percent for the 70th percentile and 148 percent for the 90th percentile. Men between 30 and 39 must lift 93 percent for 50th, 104 percent for 70th and 124 percent for 90th. Men between 40 and 49 must lift 88 percent for 50th, 93 percent for 70th and 110 percent for 90th. Men between 50 and 59 must lift 75 percent for 50th, 84 percent for 70th and 97 percent for 90th.

I'm at 105% of my body weight.

Now here's the secret reason I'm suddenly stronger then I was just three or four months ago. Since Tim started lifting weight way back in December, I have always gone with him (And at 14 years old he is really getting strong - he has squated 320 and benched 205!). And after awhile, I modified my own workout. I realized that I was in a rut, so I added a new exercise, called a rack shrug and changed my bench press workout. Instead of doing 5 or 6 sets with 4 or 5 repetitions of 135 pounds, I increased the number of sets, decreased the reps per set, and upped the weight. Heavier weights, with more sets but fewer reps/set is the classic way for building strength, and it's worked for me with the bench press.

My whole weight workout with Tim now takes over 75 minutes - not because I'm doing exercises all the time, but because I'm watching or spotting Tim on his routines. Current schedule is to do the weights every third day, so two full days off between each weight session. And I am doing more then just the bench and rack shrugs - some warmup cardio, stretching, a variety of core and back exercises, with body weight or on machines, and some dumbbell curls. On non-weightliting days I try to do just cardio on the ellyptical and treadmill.

It sounds like a lot of time, but NY Sports Club is less then five minutes from my house, and it's a great stress reliever.

Still, I'm very aware that I'm no longer 30. Or 40. Or 50. And if it wasn't for Sloan Kettering and lots of supportive people, I wouldn't have made it past 55.

 

Comments

[Maria]

Happy birthday and go on the bench press. Hope I am there to witness it! Happy birthday to Joe too a few days ago, I missed it.

[Nancy]

60 is the new 40. Happy Birthday Tom!!! ad multos annos! Just reading about your workout routine is exhausting!