This video amazes me & is so fun to watch!
It’s Serge Reding in 1971 pressing 502#!
What kills me is these Olympic Lifters had to clean it first before pressing it! Either part of the lift is an amazing feat.
It’s a very short video, and I recommend waiting to see his reaction after he heard from the judges. Makes me smile every time!
PR’s make us into a little kid every time. When I’ve video’ed myself PR’ing, and been successful, I look a lot like Serge too. 
He’s pressing it, not even jerking it, which in it of itself, is amazing.
Now do you think he can walk on his hands back in 1971? :lol:
BTW, I keep visiting the Westminster IG page. I just noticed there’s a 60 something man, who doesn’t appear to be any extraordinary athlete, pulling 350 on his DL. That’s crazy to me. I wonder what he benches. 
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the Westminster Strength & Conditioning IG – it’s one of my very favorites.
At www.greysteel.org (Dr. John Sullivan’s gym in Michigan) there is a video of a client, John, describing his experience with beginning barbell training at 90 yo.
It’s under “Everybody Gets Stronger”. Now, John looks REALLY OLD in this video, like he has one foot in the grave. Seriously.
I was SUPER surprised to see an IG post showing John at a seminar last weekend at Greysteel Strength & Conditioning (it was posted on the Barbell Logic IG).
The caption said “John is 93 years old and deadlifts 250 lbs.” He looks even MORE ancient in the post! It’s so hard to believe he can lift that kind of weight! I can’t even imagine ME being able to DL 250, ever.
I get choked up thinking about the huge positive difference strength training has no doubt done for him, at his age. It’s super motivating.
Well, now you’re bumming me out. No more links. I can’t handle the inferiority complex it’s giving me. 
I gotta stop focusing on my abs. :lol:
I’m sure once you’re back up to speed, you can DL 250. Maybe not at 93 though.
@Midwest67 Do “we” have 5 consecutive chin-ups?
@sabaray Wearing out those new shoes?
The CF Open is over. And in 20.5, the 5th and final Open WOD, my Friday 1.0 was better than my Monday 2.0, so that kinda sucked. Not by much, but oh well. It was fun competing against the world and losing.
Depending on your age group the workout consisted of 40 ring muscleups (or chest-to-bar pullups), 80 calories on the rower and 120 wall balls. My poor effort both times were caused by the wall balls (20 lbs). Worse than burpees. I’m SOOOOO slow. I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not, but I’m down about 3-4 lbs, which I’m happy about. Getting close to another body composition test.
Circling back to IF, I was alerted this post by Kaiser Permanente, who is major health care provider in CA (and elsewhere).
Did you do the muscle ups or pull ups?
I need more time to get to 5! 
I’m still getting used to the four day split. Now that I’m ramping up on DLs again, I find I’m more fatigued the day I do chins. For a several weeks there, due to my back tweak, I was barely doing any lower body lifts.
Last week, I could only knock out one set of 4 and the rest were 3s. I videotaped a couple sets and was disappointed to see I was not lowering myself to a full straight arm. But when I tried to do that, it was significantly more difficult to unlock and pull myself up again. It may have been my imagination, but my elbows had opinions the next day too.
This past weekend, I was fighting off a cold with sinus congestion. Sometimes when I get that kind of sinus pain, it makes me very nauseous. I had that Saturday and Sunday. I skipped one training session. I did hike on Sunday, under pressure, because I needed to scout the route since I’m leading this week.
I’m feeling better, but I bet that bar is going to feel so darn heavy later today.
The weather here is January-like. 11 degrees this morning and snow all over the patio furniture I did not manage to get put away in time.
It’s always fun to test yourself. However, I would not have made it past the muscleups. Actually, I’d still be working on week one.
I’ve been doing some moderate running, nothing too crazy. I’m following a 12 week base-building plan which will hopefully get me to the point I can actually train for something. 3 days during the week, a “longer” run of 6 on the weekend. One day of walking for 30 minutes, two days of rest. That makes 7 days, right? Trying to get used to running on tired legs. My average HR has been dropping so that’s a good sign. Reminding myself to go slow and steady. I’m hoping to run some longer distances next year, have to see how things go. I’ve continued with Pilates but really working more on some finer points of technique at this point. Trying to do yoga but that’s a little harder to talk myself into!
Physically I’ve felt the best following Dr. Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet, so that’s what I’ve gone back to. I quit worrying about how much protein I was eating and my weight has started to drop again, which is good. I need to stop jumping on every bandwagon that comes along, so no IF for me.
@sushiritto had brought up cold workouts - evidently if you are a trendy New Yorker, you are going to Brrrn, where the temps are on the cool side: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/style/are-cold-workouts-the-new-hot-yoga.html
@Midwest67 I went with the 40 chest-to-bar pull-ups. With a 20-minute time cap, the 40 muscleups would have taken too much of the time allotment. And I wanted to complete the workouts under the time cap, which I did.
“Rock meet hard place.”
Now, I have a deload week, for the rest of the week, which is much needed for me. I plan to dial up more running this week.
Long hike yesterday in the hilly moraines of WI.
7 miles, then a break for lunch, then 8 miles. We had a small group (8) and it was really nice for a change (instead of +30 ppl).
It’s a big time commitment with the drive up there and all those miles. And I still had to grocery shop for the week! I was wiped out by time I finally got home.
And the good news is that you’re hiking again! How’s the back? Yes, the time commitment for hiking, and bicycling for that matter, is too much for me.
I took the day off Saturday, watched college football in the AM and then went to the beach in the PM. So, Sunday was a long one in the gym. But my gym was bustling with activity with some guests and a new member. The guests were a husband and wife “team”, who are competitive lifters. I watched the husband deadlift 675 lbs and the wife 405 lbs. They told me the wife is #1 in CA and 3rd in the nation. MId 20’s and very BIG people. The new member squatted 530 lbs.
The new member towards the end of our workouts says to me: “It’s great that you still remain active.” Geez, I’m not that old. And certainly have a better “core” (mid section) than he did. 
None of them could do a muscleup, nor may they ever. :grimace:
I am looking for a new gym. I find that working out on my own isn’t my thing. Beside not having a good space for it, I like going to the gym (I am retired, so time isn’t an issue). I need to start strength training again. When I worked out regularly I was able to bench press 100 pounds at age 60-plus. My goal now is to Just keep moving and active. I see many women my age who can barely walk.
My problem is that I live in two different places. From May to Thanksgiving, we stay at our vacation home. Rest of the year we are at our permanent residence. I have access to a gym and a trainer when at the vacation home.
I used to belong to a gym at our permanent residence, but that gym wouldn’t let me put my membership on hold while we were away. It was a great gym, but the membership was expensive ($140 per month). It seems stupid to pay for 6 months of membership that I don’t use. I can do yoga and pilates and spinning by buying passes (10 classes for $XX). I can’t find a place where I can do something similar with strength training—buy passes for training sessions without joining the gym.
My question—is a place like Planet Fitness or Anytime Fitness or a similar franchise with a cheaper monthly fee, going to be a place where trainers know what they are doing. How dies one evaluate a trainer? I know I can get passes to try out a gym—is it the same for trainers. Do places like Planet Fitness have trainers? Any tips would be helpful.
My back feels good/normal! Thanks for asking! I am not up to what I was lifting before the back tweak, but getting close. I’m taking it slow and conservative-like.
And yes, I’m sure they were big if they could move that kind of weight. Wowza!
I would be so psyched to be able to bench +100#s! O.O
My working sets for bench are at 84# now and it feels so heavy!
I don’t have any solid advice on where to find a good coach for strength training. I guess a large part of it depends on your goals & needs.
Although there are gyms near me, I wanted a Starting Strength type of gym for barbell training, and the closest one is an hour away. I went to see a SS coach at this particular gym for a form check and help with initial programming. I found it on the SS web site.
Have you spoken to the owners (not the people working the desk) about a six month membership? It’s either six months of $$ from you or -0- from you. I’d think they would want the six months worth of $$!
I train at home because of the lack of a good gym/coach nearby, plus it’s convenient and efficient. Barbell Logic does online coaching if you wanted to re-consider training at home, and if that method of training (based on Starting Strength) was your cup of tea.
When I went to a local CF gym for a form check, the coach was alright, but he had me doing all kinds of things for a warm-up that frankly I wasn’t interested in doing. Our styles were never going to be a match, but I could see @sushiritto fitting right in!
One concern I would have about finding a great strength training coach would be finding one with experience with the masters population. I learned a lot from The Barbell Prescription by Sullivan & Baker. Again, this is the SS model of strength training.
Keep us posted! Good luck!
And if you are on Instagram, I highly recommend Westminster Strength and Conditioning. So inspiring!
@Bromfield2 Here’s a 2019 thread about Planet Fitness:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/2136177-planet-fitness-p1.html
For most gym goers, it’s completely fine and they have what most people want from a gym for $10/month or whatever they charge. Personally, I’m not a fan, as noted on this thread.
I’m not really familiar with Anytime Fitness, but I think you just have 24/7 access to the gym and go. I’m not sure they have trainers, but maybe someone here can speak to it better than I.
I’ve belonged to a few “Globo gyms” in my life and I think most trainers leave a lot to be a desired. I think you’ll pay up for a great trainer.
@sushiritto I wonder what federations they compete in. I watched part of the USSF (United States Strengthlifting Federation) Nationals this past weekend.
It’s a Squat, DL and Press competition. Some of the people I follow on IG were competing. One woman, in her early 40s, completed a 350# squat. I was astonished!
Like most gyms, CF “boxes” will vary too. Not sure what they made you do, but warmup can be extensive when you Oly lift. I know I’m the only one in my gym that has such an elaborate “procedure.” Warming up (with barbell too) and stretching probably takes me 15-20 minutes every day.
For example, tonight I have several “gymnastic” movements, including rope climbs (15’) and muscleups. And ugh! Burpees too. So shoulder warmup will be important. Also, I have the a Yoke Carry routine tonight, which I find fun. But warming up the back will be crucial too.
@Bromfield2 I have a home gym too, but I also belong to a gym that allows 24/7 access. It’s now a cross between a CrossFit box and power lifting gym. If someone is looking for lots of treadmills, stair climbers and elipticals, it’s definitely not the right place. 
Yes, a great page to look at, if you’re young or old. Or somewhere in the middle. I just looked yesterday.
@Midwest67 I have no idea where or how they compete, because I didn’t want to strike up a long conversation while working out. I’m not all that talkative in the gym when I’m working out.
BTW, did you see Doris today on the Westminster IG page? Just a tad too much weight on her back. You gotta love Doris squatting in her sweater and skirt. 
I love me some Doris!
I’m not sure, but I think that video was a single for 120# —- and I was huffing and puffing with 123 today — but 5x3
@Bromfield2 , I believe most Planet Fitnesses are franchises and therefore the services will vary. Way back in the day, I joined ours. There was a trainer who had mini-camps that were scheduled and open to members. You could schedule time with him if you wanted but it wasn’t lengthy, wasn’t consistent and he wasn’t great. You couldn’t bring your own coach either, so I mainly used it for cardio. I don’t think a big box gym is what you are looking for.
Please don’t be offended, but have you thought about contacting a retirement community that has a gym on site? They might be able to point you in the direction of a trainer who understands working with an older population looking to maintain a high level of fitness.