Strong enough, incremental retirement and maintenance mode

[Bestafter60]

As a certified geezer I don't feel the need to continue getting stronger forever, but I don't think I'm strong enough yet. I've asked myself the question how strong is strong enough, and when I get that strong, what do I do?*

I decided to set goals for "strong enough",*like for instance a 315lb. squat at 62 years old, *and as I achieve them, go to maintenance mode with the new goal of hanging into that 315 for as many years as possible. I also decided that exercises can be retired individually, that is, deadlifts can go into maintenance mode while presses are continued for strength.

I'm formulating my idea of maintenance mode - maybe something on the order of 5 sets of 5 reps at 50% of the "strong enough" weight.

I'd be very interested in fellow geezers thoughts on "strong enough", "incremental retirement" and "maintenance mode".

[ud2o]

This question keeps popping up. I'm not a geezer and maybe I'll feel differently about this when I am, but I would ask this: Why would you ever have to stop? If you can squat 315 in your 60s, why not go for 320? Then 325? So on, so forth. Of course we'll all reach our limit someday, but why put an arbitrary limit on ourselves?

Part of strength training is the quest for improvement, I think. That has nothing to do with how long you've walked the planet.

[Adam Skillin]

The sad fact is that at some point, you just won't be able to continue to put more weight on the bar. Why would you want to rush that inevitability?

[Charlie Davies]

I don't think we get to plateau -- more like a sawtooth of gains and setbacks.

The setbacks (illness, injury) come more frequently as we get older, and rebuilding takes longer.
Reaching PR territory on any particular lift gets rarer and rarer.

Working back up after a setback is satisfying.

[Culican]

This question keeps popping up. I'm not a geezer and maybe I'll feel differently about this when I am, but I would ask this: Why would you ever have to stop? If you can squat 315 in your 60s, why not go for 320? Then 325? So on, so forth. Of course we'll all reach our limit someday, but why put an arbitrary limit on ourselves?

Part of strength training is the quest for improvement, I think. That has nothing to do with how long you've walked the planet.

+1

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Disclaimer: I'm a mere geezling.

There's getting STRONGER then there's getting stronger. As cwd said, the setbacks take longer to recover from.

I don't think failing to pursue more strength is really an option. Stagnation isn't fun, and while rebuilding is a bitch and the programming outside of LP is problematic, the other end of that is failing to maintain strength into my geezer stages and beyond.

[BrooklynJerry]

I think Ripp would be the man to answer this question. I would say he has been there and done that. I am sixty five, at 50 years of age I did WO and even entered a PL contest. I got a bench of 230, sqt 305 and DL 400. I trained for a few more years then do life issues stopped . Last year i started again. So far have not tried any one rep maxes,but did sqt 195 for 3, bench 160 x3 and DL 260x3 . I have a friend that trained in the gym when I went to a commercial gym. He is 63, and a few weeks ago squated 500x10. He used to do way more years ago. Last year he did a 705 sqt in a contest. I am sure he trains to gain, but as he cycles his lift his numbers slowly go down. He tells me if he didn't train hard as he does, the numbers would drop faster.

[Gene61]

I don't think we get to plateau -- more like a sawtooth of gains and setbacks.

The setbacks (illness, injury) come more frequently as we get older, and rebuilding takes longer.
Reaching PR territory on any particular lift gets rarer and rarer.

Working back up after a setback is satisfying.

This is my experience too. Seems I'm mostly doing LP to get back into shape after some injury or sickness or business trip. Always nice to get back to PR territory!

I have done maintenance a couple of times, when I either didn't have time for more than one workout a week, or I had to focus on conditioning for a while. One workout per week works to maintain, but don't miss a week or two!

When asked about this, Rip says he's not "a maintenance kind of guy." And yet when he reports his own routine it's clearly a maintenance program.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I have to be close to my limits. I've been lifting (mostly in line with Silly Bullshit) on and off since high school. My bench has dropped from 275 to the 255 range from my 40's although my squat and deadlift have actually increased 10-20 lbs. since my 40's. I don't gladly or gracefully accept the inevitable, but I'm bumping up against age related fatigue, the occasional injury, a (I hope) one-off episode serious illness, and the challenge of balancing life, conditioning, and the MA I also do. The last few months have not been kind to me, and I feel like Canute trying to hold back the tide.

The decline in strength is well accounted for in powerlifting. As you get older your qualifying totals go down. Kind of like Jerry describes for his friend.

That said, I'm not ready to go into maintenance mode. Yet. I gotta continue the struggle.

[BrooklynJerry]

This is my experience too. Seems I'm mostly doing LP to get back into shape after some injury or sickness or business trip. Always nice to get back to PR territory!

I have done maintenance a couple of times, when I either didn't have time for more than one workout a week, or I had to focus on conditioning for a while. One workout per week works to maintain, but don't miss a week or two!

When asked about this, Rip says he's not "a maintenance kind of guy." And yet when he reports his own routine it's clearly a maintenance program.

I wonder what schedule Mark is using. I have seen the video of him doing ten reps of squats and pull ups, so i know he still has plenty of strength. It would be nice to see.