Originally Posted by
grinnell3
(OP here) I'm 74 and according to the actuarial tables I should expect to live to be 85. However, I'm in excellent health, have a reasonably active lifestyle and hope to do better than that. I believe that there is probably a 'law of diminishing returns' for the health benefits of additional strength. So how strong is 'strong enough'?
Today I pulled 1 x 3 @205 deadlifts and have been increasing 2.5 lbs per weekly session. My goal in a few months is to pull 225, just because I think '2 plates' would be cool at my age. If I eventually get to 315 sometime it would be good for the ego, but I suspect the incremental health benefits would not be that significant. The functional benefits are no longer that important since I can afford to pay a kid $20 an hour for the annual day of loading, unloading and stacking hay in the barn.
There would be a functional benefit to an 80 pound overhead press (for occasionally re-stacking hay bales). With my current 3 x 3 @56 pound press and 1 pound increments it will be a while to reach that goal. I don't have any goals for the bench and squat, they'll progress at whatever rate is reasonable. On my 'active rest' days, I've been doing the 'farmers carry' with a couple of 45 lb plates, working my way up to the 125 steps from the porch to the barn. This has actually proven to be useful in my daily routine of hauling buckets of feed, water and manure. (Being married to a 'horse woman' has some unique benefits).
My real issue is the question of whether it is really necessary to grind and operate at the ragged edge of failure in order to continue to make long term progress (up to some reasonable percentage of your genetic potential). Since I've gone from sets of 5 to sets of 3 to help my recovery, I'm not beat up and sore and having to grind out the last two reps. Now when I have to grind, it is the result of some form problem. Today I had to grind out a squat rep where I got the weight a little forward coming out of the hole and the last rep of my first overhead press set was really slow getting to the lockout because I'd let the bar wander too far forward.
I realize that things will get objectively harder in the future as the weights get heavier, but as one adapts does it necessarily get subjectively 'harder'. What about 'if form and bar speed are reasonably good (for a particular lift), add a little weight the next time, otherwise repeat'? With this approach you would add weight after a 'good day' and accept being temporarily stuck at that weight if you can't handle it reasonably well the next time.