50 not out!

Take that 50 (birthday last week) - or rather, take 150kg (330lbs/23.6st) for 2 reps and a new squat PR, and 93kg (205lbs/14.6st) for 2 reps and a new bench press PR!

There's the saying that "age is just a number", and as a number, it can be used as a metric along with other data points to chart all kinds of things. Typically, society will chart age with physical decline. And for sure, with age comes a few more wrinkles, and eyesight, hearing, or hairline may not be what they once were, but other aspects of the body can respond to a bit of hard work - forming the foundation for quality of life as we get older.

Looking at the top half of the picture chart below, and as age increases so too do other metrics such as waist size and body fat percentage, that when combined with lowering lean mass, fitness and strength levels show a steady decline - an all too familiar pattern associated with getting older.

But, after starting to look after myself in my mid-40s, the bottom half of the chart flips that trajectory to show dramatic progress in those same metrics to lifetime bests. Age no longer appears to be a driving factor of decline, and in fact, as it takes time to build strength, it now can be considered a driving factor of progress - a thought that I'm still wrapping my head around.

Makes me wonder what this chart will look like when I add another decade in there - it's a bit nuts to say I'm stronger and fitter now at 50 than when I was a fairly active 20yr old (played football regularly and occasionally messed about in the gym), but I'm staying the course to say the same at 60. Actually, the real challenge will be the 50 to 60 comparison, and with ~2000 workouts between now and then to keep nudging the needle forward, I'm going to have a wager with myself on 60!