Yesterday I bench pressed 180 pounds. That is quite an accomplishment since Feb 12, 2018 I could not do an empty bar. I look like the quintessential little old man at 5'7" 157 pounds and 74 years old.

Congrats!!!

Congratulations! How did you train? Did you change your diet or add supplements?
Nice job!

Good for you!

Physical fitness will probably help you live longer.

Nice work, man!

New workout TShirt needed...


HERE COME THE BOOM!!!

Great work!

That’s impressive, congratulations.

Great job! Congrats......

Great job!

Good work, Ringman. Not many 157 lb 74 year-olds can do that.

Like.

Outstanding accomplishment.

Good on you RM...Lower back, shoulders, arms and legs...These parts either save you or cause you problems-often coming out under weight of something dead on your back.

Getting older is a pain...Grins 😬😎

For the last few months I train by doing three sets of ten with 100 and increased up to 115 now. I do the three sets until I can't finish the third set. I didn't change my diet at all since Sue and I have been trying to eat healthy for the last few years. As far as supplements we take half dozen pills every day. Since I want to bench 200 by the end of the year I just started taking some Testogen. I looked on the 'net and found this one had a bunch of five start ratings.

It amazes folks when they realize on Nov 8, 2017 and July 6, 2018 I had rotator cuff surgery on first the right and then the left shoulder. I couldn't even work the bolt on my rifle before the right was repaired. Since I quit drinking diet pop I have pretty much been pain free; for which I heartily thank the Lord. Last August I started what I call dead lift. I started with twenty-five pounds in each hand and stand up with them and go down and touch them to my toes and back up. Over the months I increased the weight as my strength increased. About a month ago I graduated myself up to eighty pounds in each hand. I do these in three sets of ten, also.

I used to carry dead deer on my back. Two years ago I installed a very small wench in the back of my pickup because I was getting so weak. This year I think I will be able to toss the deer into the pickup!

About getting older.... I can no longer jog or my heart rate escalates almost immediately up to about 180 beats per minutes. So I now just walk.

Great job!!!! I'm lucky I got the farm to keep me in shape.

OUTSTANDING!

Lifting is good to the Gray Haired Brigade. Of which I'm a member.

Regards, Guy

I was 32 years old, 6'2- 240 and will never forget my best bench press at 365 lbs.
It would probably kill me 26 years later.

Ringman , great job hoss !

Trying to get your benchpress up - I'd recommend not doing benchwork a lot maybe once per week max two weeks would be better . I've read of top benchpress guys that only bench every 3-4 weeks , but each time they add a bit of weight .
Work shoulders , legs , back etc. don't over do it on bench work .
I use to overwork myself - my whole body . Get plenty of rest - ride a stationary bike , walk , rowing machine , calf raises etc. come bench day you'll feel the strength and see what I'm talking about .

Best of luck - remember you're 74 not 24 I'd advise against any extreme staining and exertion . There's too much hunting/shooting/rifle building left to do - don't over do it .

Congrats!

BTW....congratulations.
The average person really doesn't realize how weak they are.
I trained hard for many years to achieve my best and still can't believe I was able to press that.
My youngest brother was just born strong and had lifted 4 days a week just about his entire life.
I watched him do a couple reps with 405 one day, and though not a monumental number in the weightlifting world, the average person would be crushed to death by the load.
Lifting heavy in the gym really helped me on all of my big game hunts over the years.
There was a gym right next to where I worked as a butcher for many years and I just incorporated it into my daily routine.
Even after all these years, I believe those years still help me.
Keep at it Ringman.

Nice job Rich! I could use a meat packer this fall if you're available! Haha

That's pretty cool ringman - well done.
Now you can get an even bigger scope!

thats cool thats more than my out of shape ass could do right now.

Atta boy! What a great accomplishment!

Good job Rich. I'm really happy for you. Shawn & Brady

Well done!

Good deal. I could never get above 465. I just plateaued out and was stuck there. Benched 427 as a junior in High school, then hit 465 as a sophomore in college and it just hung there...my squat max was 840.

That's so heavy....most can't comprehend.

Congratulations! On staying fit.

my younger brother is a body builder/ weight lifter, he competes at 155 and benches well over 400. he's 49.

That's pretty inspirational Ring. I was right about where Salmonella was when I was in college. I was 6'3" then and 240 but could bench 380.

I went to the gym the first time in a serious way at age 23 and could barely bench at all. I was a big guy but never lifted before just did hard work. My roommate who took me to the gym was my size but was on the football team and had lifted for years. He repped 225 19 times that day and I couldn't do one rep. He always wanted to compete with me so he loved telling everyone how much stronger he was.

I took a weight lifting class that semester and didn't tell him. I studied a lot of different ideas people had about adding muscle and found some things that worked. Drank lots of water, gave different muscle groups time to recover, and tried to get 8 hours of sleep per night. Took weekends off and ate more good protein.

My bench max started going up an avg of 5 pounds a week with some plateaus at times. I found that if I did one set of 10 at a lighter weight and then a 5 rep set of medium weight to warm up I could then go for my 1 or 2 rep max, always trying for more than last week. It gave me a chance to go for a heavier weight each week while I still had energy. I'd then take 20-30 pounds off and do the next set to failure, and then repeat that all the down until I was completely wore out.

I got the idea from a south African friend that owned a gym when I lived there. He said if you want to increase your max you have to push for the heavier weights as soon as your warmed up. He also said if you want to increase your reps you have to push yourself as many reps as you can at lesser weights. I just figured out a way to do both at the same time.

Five months later I returned to the gym with my football player roommate and I 26 repped 225 and pissed him off so bad he didn't talk to me for a few days. I was also up to over 300 max. I kept going to the gym for years on and off after that but hit a hard plateau at 380 I could never get passed even on into my thirties.

I'm having a lot of health issues lately and my autoimmune disease is causing problems with my pituitary and messing up everything as far as thyroid, LH, FSH, etc goes. I was just thinking how much I missed my younger stronger days and feeling discouraged and I saw your post. Pretty inspirational to see you working above your own body weight at 74. Maybe I still have a few workouts left in me.

Thanks,
Bb

Nice accomplishment! Good on ya.

Awesome keep the good work.

When I started the leg press I was doing 130 pounds. Then I went to 150. One day I decided to check for a max. I did 250 then 265 so I tried 280. It was like a brick wall. Now I do the whole stack of 380 for three sets of ten. The last two times I have been going for twenty on the last rep of the day.

I agree!

Hard work pays off, congratulations!

Congrats Ringman, I admire that level of dedication and perseverance!

Here's an interesting webpage that shows powerlifts by weight class. The top is records by governing authority, but scroll past that and get down to what "normal" people can do.

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/strong-strength-standards-raw-natural-lifters

Wish I could still lift like I did in college. I used to lift 2x/day 4 days/week (double split). My best lift was the deadlift. I got up to about 500# for reps at a body weight of about 140. Arthritis has taken it's toll. Now I lift very light and do a lot of static holds.

Thanks to everyone.
This story was enjoyable when I read it this morning about 4AM before I went to the gym. I thought about it a few times at the gym. Here it is 9AM and I'm still enjoying it.

Picture of the wench?