I can’t believe it, but I am officially 39-years old.
It’s weird, but I don’t feel that much different from when I was 18.
18 was a fun a year. I was lifting weights and running pretty much 7 days a week, my diet was nonexistent and I (thought) I was insane shape.
But it wasn’t until my late 20’s that I learned how to work out and run properly, along with a real diet, that I finally became ripped.
Now that I am in my late 30’s and almost 40, what changes do I feel?
Nothing.
Ok, I am lying. I feel some changes.
My shoulders are always killing me, I don’t get to sleep past 7:30 due to work and/or family and my hangovers last 3 days.
But besides that, what’s the difference?
When someone between ages 35-45 starts telling you about how they are an “old man”, send them to my website and tell them they are being a bitch.
There is no difference at that age except you are hard headed.
If your diet is bad, you quit sprinting and you complain about every little ache and pain, then yes, 40 might be a death sentence for you.
But for those you want to keep training hard, you can still get better. Actually when it comes to bodybuilding, ages 35-45 are usually the best.
So, how to we compare last season to this season?
- Are you lifting more?
- Are you running faster?
- Do you weigh less?
- Do you look better?
When it comes to the winter bulk up, its really pretty easy. What are you lifting and at what body weight.
Last year I was around 7-10 lb’s heavier and I am squatting and deadlifting more this year.
That is progress.
My top deadlift was 515 last season and I just did 525 yesterday and it went up like a rocket ship. Going to lift heavy for another 2 weeks and hopefully get over 550 before I start spring training.
For my squat, I am getting near 315 pretty easy.
My problem with bench and squatting, is that I don’t have a steady spotter. All of my training partners keep quitting.
For the bench press, I am training in the 275-300 range without a spotter, which is dangerous.
So last year was a bench press victory, but I definitely improved on squats and deadlifts and I also weigh less.
When the spring starts I will start my cardio again and the question will be, did I get faster than last year?
Sprinting, 1-mile run and the 3-mile run.
Stopwatches are great. Unless the earth is spinning slower around the sun, 18 minutes when I was in college is still the same 18 minutes now.
Last year I got my 3 mile time down to around 20:30.
Can I beat that this year? We will see.
This year I want to “try” to focus a little more on my sprinting times, 1-mile or less, but I will still run a couple fast 3 mile races.
And then there is my looks.
This year I have a solid chance of looking ripped. My son was still a baby last summer and it was killing my sleep.
Now, with some extra rest and a solid training plan, hopefully I will look better.
At least better than you other 39-year old’s.
-John Andre
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