01-16-21 02:26 AM - Post#906810    

This was something I posted on my gym page.

Age doesn't mean as much as you think. If you have a 4hr marathon time, congratulations, you are now as fit as an 80 year old woman. For most of us, it's not the miles on the clock, it's the years spent rusting in the garage. Where might you be [note: as I said, this was posted on my gym page, which includes non-trainees in the audience] in ten years if you started training now?

Compared here are people's world record performances in various age groups, expressed as a fraction of the open record.

Endurance is measured by marathon times,
speed by 100m sprint, and
strength by powerlifting total (squat, bench and deadlift, for a person of BMI 25 who is average height in Australia for their gender, which gives us an under 63kg woman and under 83kg man). This compares only drug-tested results in competition.

Some values are absent, for example apparently no 95yo women seem to have done marathons. The curves are not always smooth; as people get older, there are fewer competitors, and strength sports have overall less participation than endurance and speed sports.

Compare this also to the shit-suck-good-great scale I was talking about the other day, each being a 25% chunk of the world record. If you are under 90 years old, you ought to be able to do more than 25% the world record in something, and thus merely suck, rather than being shit. Being good (50-75%) will be a bit tougher, and very, very few people will be good at strength, speed and endurance all at once.

Athletic Club East Strength in numbers

Edited by Kyle Aaron on 01-16-21 02:30 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

01-16-21 08:10 AM - Post#906816    

I just turned 54, so I have been diving into age group stats for running to prep for the big change later this year when I turn 55.

What's weird is that running times in various events around here actually get faster from men aged 60-65 compared to men aged 50. The hypothesis is that the 50 year old average runner gets injured between 50-55 and stops doing events. The guys that are left tend to be faster. Then the other thing that takes place is my city is the place where outliers from other states come to retire. I meet a lot of runners and other outdoors people that move to Arizona because they just retired and want to be able to be outdoors all year long. One of my friends competes in the 70-75 age bracket and one of our big trail running events drew 20 competitors in that bracket. The state my friend moved from he was typically the only person in that age bracket at events.

01-16-21 08:54 AM - Post#906817    

At 64, I love these discussions. It is true that you can do amazing things at a more advanced age. It is also true almost no one has an idea how to train someone my age. In my case almost constant movement is needed to keep things working pain free and full range of movement. Couple months ago I deadlifted 400 pounds a couple weeks ago I squatted 260 with a safety squat bar off a very low box. To put those numbers in perspective, I am a judoka who lifts not a lifter who does judo. Further context: 6 ft tall, 225 lbs.

01-16-21 09:21 AM - Post#906818    

I enjoy these kind of charts. The problem as I see it is that it's based on numbers achieved by "specialists" - if you are like me and don't actually compete in those events it's pretty hard to compare yourself.

01-16-21 10:09 AM - Post#906819    

As for strength comparisons, for those if us over 30, there's always the Malone-Meltzer Age Coefficients table. Find your age, and whatever weight you lift, multiply it by the coefficient to find out how much it would have been at the age of 30.

https://www.mastersweightlifting.org/forms/malone.htm

Age vs Performance - a chart
01-16-21 03:13 PM - Post#906824    

When I saw that coefficients table and "age-adjusted" my weights for 67 it turned out to be pretty cool to know. What I like about it is the way it's all about the individual lifter and his relative performance as he ages, not based on anyone else's performance. A one man show you might say, which is all I need to now when it comes to my progression while aging out.

For a lot of people age means way more than they thought . . . once they're actually there and all the "paperwork" and statistical guesswork becomes a personal reality. When I'm looking for info on, say, squatting when I'm my age, I ask a wise experienced guy or three who've already been there and done that. Who knows better what to avoid and what can be learned from the experience of aging and lifting?

You know . . . tell me what you learned from what you did wrong.

Life's too short to worry about longevity.

Edited by Neander on 01-16-21 03:22 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

01-16-21 04:09 PM - Post#906825    

Here's one I use. Says I was National class in my day so must be accurate ;)

http://www.mastersathletics.net/index.php?id=2595

Age vs Performance - a chart
01-16-21 07:28 PM - Post#906829    

• Chris Rice Said:

Correct. Just now I was having a discussion with a former lifter of mine who still lifts, he squatted 140kg for his birthday, compared to the 313kg tested record for his open weight class. That's 45%.

The thing is, he also regularly runs 5km in 29' or so. That's the same 40s %.

Much past 50% in anything will require either talent (again, if you lifted or moved under 25% in your first session, you're not talented) or specialisation. But specialisation isn't healthy.

That 313kg squatter isn't going to run very fast for very long. That guy who did a 2hr marathon run with 20 of his mates helping - he does 35kg quarter squats. Neither of them are healthy.

It's like education. The guy with the PhD in (say) molecular biology knows a lot about molecular biology, but typically he's not educated - he knows nothing about history or religion or literature or engineering or whatever.

Sports performance is specialised, health is broad. Schooling past a certain level is specialised, education is broad.

I'm interested in health and education. Specialists are amazing, but not very interesting people.

Athletic Club East Strength in numbers

Edited by Kyle Aaron on 01-16-21 07:28 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.