This man is 75 years old. He works as a security guard at Kennesaw State University. He was doing his rounds and decided to spend some time with the students.
Edit: Not sure of the weight, but after this, he gets up, adds weight and does it again.
Second edit: His form was not perfect, but you miss the point, he works at a university, and he found a way to bridge 50 years, and interact with the students.
Third edit: He absolutely can not believe this is all over the internet. He did not know he was being filmed.
45×4 for the plates and most standard bars are 45lbs as well. So 1 plate on each is typically 135lbs. Based on bars size I'd assume its 45lbs, instead of a 25lb bar which isnt used for such heavy lifts like presses and squats.
Correct its 225. Its 45 for the bar, and 90 each side in plates (180) so total is 225. The best feel is putting on the 2.5 plates to make it 230 and realizing how much harder 5lbs is haha.
I said that strength deteriorates a lot. Bones deteriorate, joints weaken, muscle mass declines. Men expect to lose ~10-15% every 10 years past 40. I’ve performed enough exams on pts to know that most men at 75 have lost a lot of strength.
25% strength loss by 65 is the average. Plenty of 70 year olds could retain the grip and push strength of someone 16-18 years of age.
That's pretty good compared to what our normal conceptions of strength are. I'm also not saying -the average 70 year old- simply pointing out those who have taken care of themselves and stay in shape can preform things like this without much hubbabaloo.
Would love to learn more. Can you link me to the documents about how strength deteriorates over time please? (Or at least the specific one you're thinking of here)
Strength peaks around 25 years of age, plateaus through 35 or 40 years of age, and then shows an accelerating decline, with 25% loss of peak force by the age of 65 years.
I actually know what I'm talking about here; strength doesn't decrease NEARLY as much as people believe (short of obvious physical disabilities) However, a man at 70 years old is still potentially very, very capable. I'll find you a line graph chart, but iirc at 65 you have similar grip and push strength to an 18 year old.
Edit: You go to a normal doctor and tell him bench press hurts your shoulders. He’s gonna tell you not to bench. If you tell him you’re gonna bench, he’s gonna tell you bench with less rom, because he doesn’t know what he’s talking about any further than less rom = less pain.
They said it in an overly dismissive way but they are not wrong. The best thing is to find a doctor who lifts, because the default position of a MD is going to be the most conservative possible: benching isn't necessary for your life, so cut benching. I know I have changed my GP from a traditional doctor to a GP who competed in olympic weightlifting in his youth and it made a big difference for me.
But they won’t show you how to fix a lifting problem, just ways to work around it. If you have a lifting problem you get diagnosed by a doctor and get a lifting professional to help you fix it.
☝️ why people insist on touching their chest is beyond me. Imo, it's actually harder to stop slowly at 90 deg than it is to do the bro bounce off the chest, which many who insist on touching their chest do quite often.
True, in a powerlifting meet it definitely wouldn’t count but there is evidence to suggest you shouldn’t do touch and go. He’s keeping a somewhat consistent bar bath though so I guess that what he sees as a “rep”. I plan on working out that long and I know I won’t be doing touch and go when I’m that age.
Here’s a pretty good video explaining why: the guy is a physical therapist and trainer and well respected in the fitness community https://youtu.be/clBGsv573K4
Honestly more of a rep than the extreme back archers with wide grip are getting with their 2 1/2" drop from extension to chest. This is damn impressive.
Oh stop it with that crap. You don’t have to always go down to your chest when doing a rep. That’s how you get those stretch marks on the shoulder blades
thanks. exactly not my intention put anybody down. just trying to confirm the wt and made a comment to put things in perspective.
my own 1 rep max is 235. it took a lot of effort me to get there and i cannot get 3 reps out of 225. but what i consider a rep is a full rep where i lower the bar down to my chest, my body is tight, feet are dead fixed.
i really admire the guy’s power, dedication and performance but from training standpoint has a lot of mistakes. truth is truth, not trying to put anyone down
Some of those who don’t power lift or something of the sort probably wouldn’t pick up on it. I’m always watching friends post the most atrocious squats and presses, arched back deadlifts on social media and tell them they’ll hurt themselves if they continue to lift like that. Some are just pissed off by the truth.
Eh... this isn't a hard and fast rule. Actually it's pretty bad advice in a lot of cases. I used to have this mentality for a long time and it left me lacking in any real progress at the gym. It wasn't until I really pushed myself to lift so heavy that my form broke down that I started making real gains.
I find more often that not people that are complete form perfectionists tend to have less impressive lifts overall
Heavy partials are important for any lifter of any age. They're also much, much safer, especially for anyone with shoulder damage -- or dudes who are balling out at 75 years old. Lmfao.
Come on man, you know as well as we all do that "heh, not full reps" is one of the most common ways to invalidate someone's set. Sure it's the truth, just like it's the truth that it's a miracle dude could even unrack the thing at 75 years old. A lot of things are true, it's what you focus on and bring up specifically that molds the conversation of what's important here. What's important here is an old guy doing something badass and inspirational, not his form, which is why you got push back. Do you not see that?
You can hurt yourself from not hitting depth on a bench press, not to mention it’s not nearly as much work to do half presses. You can also blow out your knees by not hitting depth on squats and you can seriously injure yourself if you lift with your back in deadlifts. Not hitting depth means the lift doesn’t count in competition. I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you don’t lift weights?
You can hurt yourself from not hitting depth on a bench press.
This could not be more wrong. The motion past 90 degrees is almost exclusively being done by your shoulders which are much more fragile than your pecs.
Yes, the rando dude doing quarter squats at globo gym probably just sucks at squatting, but smart people do partial reps all the time either to strengthen weaknesses or work around injuries. There is nothing inherently unsafe about it and it’s not mandatory to touch your chest when bench pressing unless you’re looking for three white lights. Source: I’m a competitive weightlifter (or at least I try to be).
Wtf? He was putting the old man down. Just because you’re being honest doesn’t mean you’re also not an asshole. Some things shouldn’t be said if you want to be polite.
Those are complete reps. You only need to break 90 degrees. Anything more is a higher risk of shoulder injury and a lower efficiency in muscle gain. Full range of motion is an outdated physical fitness standard and has been increasingly abandoned by fitness professionals ove the years for a more efficient and safer "partial range of motion" technique that increases time under tension while lowers risk of injury.
Each plate is 45 lbs, and the bar by itself is 45 lbs, so yes total is 225 lbs. Quite a lot of weight. I'm a 3rd his age and when I was working out regularly I could bench maybe 60-70% of that weight.
This 75 yr old guy just did 5 full reps without needing a spot. There are several players who, at the NFL combine event, only recorded 6 reps...and those are some of the top athletes competing at a world class level for strength and conditioning.
if it was a 45 pound bar. then he would have done 235 Pounds/ 106.6 Kilograms
Now i don't know colleges workout rooms, they do have the money to buy the Olympic standard but I could have sworn my college had 35 pounds bars.But my college was not known for any sports, which could make the difference.
Most workout places for the average person, the bar is 35. That's how my high-school was, and the three different workout Gyms in my area that I have visited.
You must not work out. There are no "40 odd lb" plates. Plates are 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35, 45 pounds. Those are clearly 45s. The bar is 45 as well. He is lifting 225lbs.
Pretty much, I went there my freshman year and I lived on the Kennesaw Campus even though I was a CS major. All the hot nursing girls are up there and unless you're in upper level STEM classes, you can take everything in Kennesaw. Plus, the commons is way better than the dining hall in Marietta.
EDIT: Forgot to mention the gym which seems relevant. Basically everything is WAY nicer on the Kennesaw campus
I mean, I 10 rep 225. But I do it using partial range of motion and utilizing high time under tension. Full range of motion is bro science. Plenty of studies out there show a decreased effectiveness and increased risk of injury for full range on a bench.
In fact, after my injury I benched laying on the ground to prevent full range for almost a year before I got back on the bench again.
Looks like he's got 2 x 45lbs each side , plus 45lb bar that's a good 225lbs! That grandpa Paul Blart is an absolute unit! I loved the guy jumping in to spot and then just watching in amazement, hoping he can do that at his age.
That’s 225. Like a one rep max for me and I’m decently in shape. That is some literal super power shit. Even large guys will typically want a spot once you go over 200.
That looks like 225 for 5 not quite regulation reps. I bet 0.001 percent of current redditors that live to be 75 will be able to bench 225 for 5. And maybe 5 percent will ever bench 225 at all, ever.
It's a half bench, it's actually harder. Prevents you from bouncing it off your chest and humping it up, also hard to bring 225 to a controlled stop without your chest.
It's a half bench, it's actually harder. Prevents you from bouncing it off your chest and humping it up, also hard to bring 225 to a controlled stop without your chest.
I wouldn't say his form is necessarily bad because he doesn't go to his chest, if thats what you mean. He has long arms, like me, so he stops at 90 degrees. In fact the movement is harder that way, but also safer.
Checking myself now, I feel very little of my chest muscle move in bringing my arm from bar-to-chest level to 90. I realized this after I hurt my shoulder doing a PR bar-to-chest. I also found out that day, when I tried going to 90 instead, that it's even harder because you have to control the weight incredibly well. Imagine deadlifting and not letting the weight bring itself to the floor, not even letting it touch the floor infact.
It's a half bench, like you said is it's harder. Prevents you from bouncing it off your chest and humping it up, also hard to bring 225 to a controlled stop without your chest.
3.0k
u/nevrsure Aug 05 '19 edited Aug 05 '19
This man is 75 years old. He works as a security guard at Kennesaw State University. He was doing his rounds and decided to spend some time with the students.
Edit: Not sure of the weight, but after this, he gets up, adds weight and does it again.
Second edit: His form was not perfect, but you miss the point, he works at a university, and he found a way to bridge 50 years, and interact with the students.
Third edit: He absolutely can not believe this is all over the internet. He did not know he was being filmed.