Curious about ages

I'm 42 years old.  6'2", 202lbs.

Been active all my life.  Mostly weight lifting and some running.  

Bought BTBG book about 2 years ago and have incorporated some bodyweight stuff over that time, though not with a consistent program.

Just purchased F1 and H1 and just finished my first week. Humbled is the word that comes to mind.

Awesome stuff.

As I look around the forums I'm always curious about how old you guys are, and if its realistic for a 42 year old man to be able to accomplish the F7  before time takes its toll and progress ceases.

First post by the way.

Thoughts?

Stephen Maher said:

....if its realistic for a 42 year old man to be able to accomplish the F7  before time takes its toll and progress ceases.

You've only got 39 years left!!!  Quick, hurry!!!!!

Touche.

33 here, ridiculously prone to injury and not a fast twitch muscle in my body. I'm pretty sure anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it . 

I turn 43 in March and my goal is to develop the necessary strength to one day be able to do hand stand push ups, planche push ups, single leg pistol squats, front lever, and be proficient at chin ups and pull ups.  I am 6’2” and weigh 210 pounds with 19% body fat (I would like to get that body fat down to about 12-15% like I had ten years ago.)  I started weightlifting in high school and lifted weights on and off over the years.  During my years of weight training I strained my back a couple of times by over doing it with barbell squats and bent over barbell rows.  And about 3 years ago I was sidelined for 3 months by elbow tendonitis (golfer’s elbow) that was a result of doing pull ups with bad form - it probably did not help that I was slightly over weight at 235 pounds and a 38.5 inch waist (now I am a 34 waist).  Note that I had always struggled with pull ups and chin ups my entire life and I primarily avoided them until trying pull ups again three years ago when I hurt my elbow.  My elbow was healed via acupuncture treatment ( recommended by a family member) and I have noticed since my foray into body weight only workouts it has remained trouble free and gotten stronger.  One of the reasons I purchased F1 and H1 is that the exercises covered look like they will strengthen my joints and tendons and thus help me avoid hurting my elbow again as well as other injuries, not to mention the functional strength that I will gain for my entire body.

Mike, this is off-topic but if you had elbow problems in the past I would be very careful with playing around with RC/PE6 - it will put a lot of stress on your elbows. Better to slowly strengthen your joints and tendons by following the RC progressions

Hi, I'm 39-going-on-40 by the way

Michaël van den Berg said:

Mike, this is off-topic but if you had elbow problems in the past I would be very careful with playing around with RC/PE6 - it will put a lot of stress on your elbows. Better to slowly strengthen your joints and tendons by following the RC progressions

 

Hi, I'm 39-going-on-40 by the way

Thanks for the advice.  Prior to F1 and H1, I had been working on strengthening my elbow with hanging leg raises and negative chin ups (slowly lower myself for 6 -8 seconds from top position) and eventually doing 4 chins two weeks ago with control and form.  I performed RC/PE6 as extra work for first time this week and did first set for 30 seconds, second for 25 seconds, third set for 20 seconds and fourth set for 10 seconds.  My elbow felt normal and I was amazed that the pump in my biceps was like I had performed barbell curls.

But you are right, I do not want to risk injury again so I will take the progressions in proper order.  

PS - I think the result of my injury from pull ups in the past was that I was carrying too much body fat and I tried forcing reps at the end after I was exhausted which resulted in me letting my body fall and jerk at the bottom putting excess stress on my elbows, so essentially I had lost control and form at the end.

Glad to see I'm not the only 40ish person around

Mike,

I had the same issue with tendinitis in both my elbows when I first started doing chins.  Took a while for my elbows to become accustomed to the load (at that time 220).  Prior to starting F1 I still got some elbow tenderness after a high volume session. 

One reason I've gravitated towards gymnastic/body-weight training is in an effort to get back to that "effortless" movement I remember having at one time.  

That requires me to put away my ego, slow my roll, allow myself to be that "odd" guy in the gym doing "weird" things, and focus on quality reps, mobility, flexibility, and giving it all time to sink in.  

Steve-  age 47 here (how did that happen?). I was your age only recently it seems. I might never do a manna, and that's fine, but I have noticed strength increases since starting in earnest this last Summer. I will force myself to do a clean pistol squat and an ugly press to handstand some day- I can taste it, it's not too far off. HBP would be bad ass too. The important thing is that we are probably working with one of the better programs for combined strength and mobility that the average fitness enthusiast can engage in. Good luck!

Just to put the age thing in perspective, forum member FritsMB (a fellow Dutchman) is well over 70 now. He hasn't posted in a while but if you do a search you will see what he has accomplished since he set out to 'train for life after 70' when he started GST a couple of years ago.

20 here going on 21.

I bought F1 & H1 a few months after it was released, though I've been following advice from GB for a while.

Before Foundation and H1 (and currently, but on a reduced basis) I had been doing street workout calisthenics, training for OAC, Planche's and Front Lever's, and was making fantastic progress but starting to plateau for long periods.

I started Foundation around the same time I went to the inaugural PCC in June last year, and this past year has been me taking a step back and covering my basics with foundation.

I also do some Bboying and basic hand balancing, but I'm trying to take those to a new level after I have mastered foundation/handstand courses.

They're honestly the first programs I have full faith in following, so that has been a huge help for my confidence in training.

Im 30 in 3 weeks. I promised myself to pass the whole curriculum so I will just do that

25 here =]

40 years old here and just getting started: on F1, H1 and in life!

i'm 30.  i bought h1 six months ago.  i am almost done with my second month of f1.

compared to the average person, i'm very strong, but i don't feel very strong compared to some of the other forum members here.  some people might finish f1 really fast, but i could see myself taking over 18 months to finish it.

i'm pretty stiff compared to gymnasts or yogis, but compared to the average male my age, i'm guessing i'm probably around average flexibility.

38 here. I hope to have completed most of F4 before 40, to make an awesome video for my birthday, proving that 40 is by no means the end of the line

Other than that, if you KNOW that you're going to be working out anywho, why not pick up some hard skills along the way?

Edit: Getting manna, front lever and sPlanche in that time span is unlikely, but it's not gonna stop me from trying.

Welcome Steve,

I am 42 next Friday, juggling F1 and H1 with a young family and variable shift working.

Crossfit is all the rage with the younger guys where I work, but being able to effortlessly kick up and hold a handstand still makes me the cool old man

I certainly intend to see the course through as far as it will take me

Mike

Wow, very motivating to see all of your posts. 

Kelly,

"40 years old here and just getting started: on F1, H1 and in life! "  

 ! Right on!

Ravn,

"Other than that, if you KNOW that you're going to be working out anywho, why not pick up some hard skills along the way?"  

Definitely.  Looking forward to eventually moving like some of you guys.

Ronin,

I can relate.  Where I wouldn't say I am in the fittest 10% of 42 year olds (maybe if you take a large sampling), I would definitely say if you put a random 20 42 year olds in a room,  I'd be in the top 25%.  Which all means nothing when I looked at the F1, H1 programming.

My previous workouts primarily consisted of low rep work, the strength endurance factor on many of these are going to be a struggle.  But struggle is what makes us stronger....right?

I can definitely see F1 taking me a good 12-18 months to accomplish.  Can't even think about how long getting to and through F4 might take.  

Michael,

I have a family of 4 myself, full time job, etc.  I feel your challenge, and am motivated by your success.

I'm 28 as of 5 days ago.  6'2" 185 lbs.  I've been doing F1 H1 for 4 weeks now.  

Just a quick little tidbit about my improvement in those 4 weeks.  I've been doing crossfit on and off for about 6 years now and I've been able to do muscle-ups (kipping) for a number of those years.  I was forced to stop training about a year ago due to a back injury and during that time, I lost my ability to do muscle-ups.  I tried and failed to do some in a workout about 2 months ago.  After 4 weeks of doing F1H1 I was at the gym warming up and I saw a guy doing some MUs and thought to myself, I'm feeling better now than I have in a long time (thank you GST IMs) let's see if I can knock out at least 1 MU before I do my workout.  Well, what do you know, I did 3 in a row easily and felt strong enough to do another 3 without coming down off the rings if I wanted to.  

Granted, these weren't what Coach would call "proper" muscle-ups.  I kipped like crazy but they felt so easy I was shocked.  I know it wasn't from the strength gains in 4 weeks (I just finished the RC/PE1 and HBP/PE1 weeks 5-8 mini cycle).  Or, at least, it wasn't JUST the strength gains.  I would say it was the mobility improvements I've experienced that contributed to it the most.

Anyway, I thought I would share my little mini-cycle success story.

27. Motivation counts more than age.

I'm 55. Just finished my first week. Mostly what I see as I age is that I need longer to recovery from a workout. But I don't write off my ability to get stronger. 

I've done a lot of endurance sports: cycling, mountain biking, running... and a lot of lifting this year. The one thing I have learned about age is that it takes me longer to recovery from an injury. I broke my foot trail running in last July and couldn't run again until November. For me, the key to progress is consistent work and avoiding injury. All the talk about patience, laying down the foundation, and making steady progress applies double as we age!

my body is 25 yrs old, but im still not quite how old I am from the neck up Hahaha

I see I'm one of the younger guns at 20 . I must say, it's inspirational to see people at the age of my parents commit themselves and change their body. 

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Many of the older guys seem to be progressing much faster than me though 

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