cretin78 wrote ”there are people who lifted heavier routinely and didn’t end up like him. Ronnie’s heaviest lifts are 800 squat and dead.”
That says it all. I don’t know of any professional (or amateur) BODYBUILDERS (not powerlifters) who were as strong or stronger than Ronnie Coleman. I’m speaking from a bodybuilding perspective. There is a price to pay for such prodigious strength and he certainly paid the price. I herniated L4,5, L5, S1 doing “ass to ground” Squats. On rep 11 with 315 trying to match my enhanced training partner, I used a little too much back. Like an idiot, I completed my leg workout and couldn’t bend over to tie my shoes the next morning. Rehabbed with chiropractic and came back too soon because I was dumb and loved lifting. I ruptured those same discs doing Push Presses with 225 and needed surgery. While in the hospital, I contracted a staph infection in my spinal column and spent 9 days in ICU. I was fortunate. I made a full recovery and was able to resume lifting. That was in 1997. I haven’t done free weight Squats since then. If I was very smart, I never would have exceeded doing Squats with more than my bodyweight (235 at the time) on the bar and do higher reps. I know the allure of lifting heavyweight. I max benched 365, squatted 455, and deadlifted 505, when I was 31. I learned my lesson and want to keep lifting as long as I live and not be a cripple like RC.
@T-Rad from what I understand Ronnie only did those 2-reps with 800 for the squat and dead once to make an impressive video.
He stated in interviews he would work up to 600 for his top set of 8 or whatever.
That’s still heavy as fuk, obviously.
So he really didn’t train as heavy, meaning near 800 like many think. Unless he said so in some different interview?
Now theres an older powerlifter who was close to do doing a bbing show once. But even when he was powerlifting he started his cycle at 650 x8 and worked up to 800-900 for a few reps before squatting over 1,000 in meets.
He’s fine, in fact I saw a FB vid of him deadlifting 495 x5 on a Friday night in his basement. He’s in his late 50s now.
I’m not disagreeing or arguing or anything just making comparisons.
The older I get the more I’m convinced the heavy REPs are far more dangerous than a 1-rep 1 and done.
Lifting a weight that’s too heavy, regardless of reps, is dangerous. Doing what you do is unproductive and doesn’t work. You may think it’s working but see what your numbers are in a year. Your approach is like a perpetual plateau. But I believe you’re too mentally weak as well as lazy, to do more than one rep. You’re avoiding the pain that comes with working out for real. One tough rep is easy but doing a hard set, questioning life, racking the weight, telling yourself that was only the first set, questioning life, and doing the next set, takes an amount of fortitude you lack. You would hide under your bed if you had to do clusters or rest pause.
Measure your wrists, then give up.
I actually train for high reps every single day. I learned in my early 40s how important that is, especially for doing 1-rep heavy lifting.
Heavy lifting being old is more important than ever because old people are slowly loosing bone mass. Hence I think 1-rep is the best way to go.
You will see I’m right in the years to come!
Well according to that I am about 2 inches off my natty arm potential, good news, otherwise I might have seen that maxed my limit and quit 
That’s the spirit, Alex !!
The older you get, especially where I’m at (60 YOA), your lifting priorities morph (or should morph) into:
- Don’t get hurt so you can continue training.
- Maintain (or gain a little LBM)
- Keep BF at 15% or less.
Not really for newbies;
Prilleprin’s chart says 4 lifts above 90% is enough to make progress.
Westside says 3 lifts above 90% (90 x 1, 95% x 1, 100% + 5 pounds more than last time) is enough.
If you’re a newbie - think about PEDs and TRT like an ace card. Once you’ve played it, you can’t play it again. Save it. Most pros are as natural as a Lamborghini in a horse race.
Under 40 words.
Was replying to Cretin78.
I was in a car ride with a former employee of John Grimek. My old training partner is in the game and knows these people, that’s how I was in the car. We were at the old time barbell strongman dinner and this guy needed a lift back home. He was old enough to be our father for sure.
Grimek was the man of 1,000 lifts.
Anyway, this guy worked for Grimek at York and was an editor for his magazine.
We drove him from New Jersey to PA so it was about a 7hour drive.
The entire ride was stories. He told us he personally witnessed Grimek doing partial squats with one of those racks shaped like steps with around 700# in his 70s. He said John believed those were important in keeping his tendons and joints strong as he aged.
I agreed!!!
John Grimek, Mr. America ! One of the greatest all-time pre AAs bodybuilders. I’m sure those tales were awesome to listen to and very inspirational. But remember, you’re talking about a man who was at the top of the gene pool for strength and bodybuilding. More of an exception to the rule.
I hope you don’t mind my asking–what changes have you noticed in how you respond to training over the past 15-20 years?
I heard Dan John (iirc) say training should change for most of us in our mid-50s–more bodybuilding focus. I’ve heard others say as you age, recovery slows, or that becomes harder to stay lean and/or build muscle.
I’m 46 and haven’t noticed much difference over the years. There are a few guys on here my age and older, including yourself, still killing it in the gym or with Crossfit. What has your experience been?
Recovery. I was a LEO for 35 years, worked crazy hours and still managed to hit the gym hard up until my mid-50s. Set volume decreased, but intensity is still high. It takes a little longer to wam-up and if you injure yourself at this age, you’re potentially f**ked and might be done. No more ego lifting. You’re competing against yourself at this stage, nobody else. I stopped training for 20 months, and started again almost 6 months ago and regained most of my LBM and shed a lot of body fat. I’m retired, so my Summer was like living the life of a professional bodybuilder; train, eat , sleep, tan, rinse, repeat and spend time with my GF a couple of days a week. Hope this helped. Good luck !
I will train until the day I die, so I can be independent right to my last breath.
Just because we are not Grimek does not mean we can’t use weights the way he did, we just won’t use the same amounts.
He squatted for full reps 425 x40.
We can strive for over half that!
Boogs talks about being a 70-80year old jacked and strong guy, that literally was Grimek, because he lifted. He also ate lots of food, no real dieting.
Never discount the supernatural power of great genetics.
Seeing this made me realize I have become more deliberate about warming up, too. And I guess I stay away from near-max singles.
But this isn’t because of age, it’s because of wisdom. Absolutely nothing to do with getting older…errr, right?
Thanks for the post–keep getting after it!
Regarding max single reps, yes. I stopped doing max singles for the big three lifts when I was 31. ALL of my friends who continued doing heavy flat BARBELL bench presses into their 40s, have shoulder problems. I always got more pec development from various angles of Incline Presses. When I started lifting in 1979, we did mostly free weight barbell exercises, a few dumbbell exercises, and scoffed at any machine work. Now it’s mostly machines (plate loaded Hammer Strength are my favorite), dumbbells, and a few barbell exercises. I never had shoulder issues. Also, my rep ranges gradually increased. For a long time it was always 6-8t reps, now it’s a little higher rep range.