Rehab Day 5

So it's been a few days since my injury and I've managed to make it through a twelve hour work day with minimal pain.  Everything feels much better than this weekend, and I'm confident I will be back to moving weight in a couple of weeks.  Aside from all of the advise from other gym members, the idea of age and strength has popped into my head a number of times today.  Recently, the writer of a blog I read regularly had posted something about a senior strength athlete on his facebook page.  I commented about how encouraging it was to see seniors still getting big lifts in spite of the many disadvantages.  The author in return commented that there were no disadvantages to displaying strength at any age.  He seemed to hint that one could simply work their way into whatever state they wished.  While I have rarely been called a pessimist, I couldn't help but wonder if I had hit a nerve with the author and possibly others who read his work.  

Unfortunately, I don't do well with telling people what they want to hear when it comes to fitness.  That is why I no longer train others.  It isn't easy to make a living when you tell people that it takes three to seven years to create the body they want.  No!  They want to hear that they can do it and have it PERMANENTLY in 90 days or less.

It is general knowledge amongst strength athletes that an overwhelming majority of men peak in their mid thirties when it comes to physical strength.  It has been well documented that there are major losses and various obstacles that begin to plague us through our 40's, 50's, and beyond should we be so lucky.  One of my senior powerlifting associates put it best when he said, "Rolando, after you start wearing reading glasses the strength game becomes a battle of attrition".  He explained that you still have goals that you try to reach, but most of the game is about keeping what you've gained as long as possible.  It brought to mind the brutal waves of time washing away the sands of our youth.  It reminded me that we are still born to break and that we should thoroughly enjoy the feeling of moving big weight while we still can.  I've always respected the many senior strong men with whom I've competed and I always learn something from them.  They even give me motivation by creating some records for me to try to break ;-)

In the end, age is not the limiting factor when it comes to training.  I think it is our will.  Time will just bring more obstacles, but it is up to us to get through them.  For someone that has spent a greater part of his life blowing through obstacle after obstacle, this is just another day.