- "At 85 I had a crisis. I looked at myself in the mirror, and saw an old man. I was overweight, my posture was terrible and there was skin hanging off me. I looked like a wreck"
- As I crept into my 40s, I adopted my wife's sedentary lifestyle. We spent a lot of time doing nothing. Inevitably, my blood pressure plummeted and one day I felt a sharp pain in my legs – only to discover the dark, earthworm-like patterns of varicose veins across my calves. It was my first brush with old age, and I didn't like it. Immediately I resumed rowing to stay fit.
Life went on. My wife and I divorced. At 60, I discovered veteran's rowing and started competing internationally, eventually winning 36 gold medals. I'm not a particularly talented sportsman, but I've always been a great trier. At 75, many of my friends began to pass away. People were getting older around me, but I was only just ready to retire.
The full article is here.
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4 comments:
You really buying this part of his claim?
"I triumphed, scoring higher than any contestant in any age category for my 57 dips, 61 chin-ups, 50 push-ups and 48 abdominal crunches, each in 45 seconds."
Do you know ANYONE who can do 61 chin-ups in under 45 seconds, let alone anyone 91-years old?
You're right Dregs, these are some pretty hardcore claims, and they did pique my interest!
In my time I have seen more than a few guys BS about their abilities (not least myself on occasion!). It is part of human nature.
Check out press-up form used by these guys. You can only guess at what passes for chinning these days.
What I liked about this guy is that I don't know ANYONE over 70 years of age who can do ONE chin-up (nor one dip, nor one push up). So just by doing single digits of these exercises, he gets a thumbs up from me.
Yeah, that's why I felt like half the article read like the real thing; the other half made me think I was reading The Onion.
Here is a quite impressive video of a 70 year old guy doing more pull ups than I can do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCVCIFiIY5w
As far as time trials, here is a very in-shape guy I place at no older than 40 doing 58 chin-ups in two minutes. We've both seem photos of the 90-year old guy; no way he beats this guy on time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OArt3bQIEpU&feature=related
Hi Dregs, thanks for the links.
That first guy puts in a noble preformance, but I like to get my chin much higher ABOVE the bar at the top of the movement. Also, he could do with getting his arms straighter at the bottom. If you can do 30 chins you'd do well to try and work OACs! I am not sure how heavy he is but, hell, it shows us the way to get old.
The second guy is obviously going for volume rather than form to set a record - but hell, he is strong! All inspiring stuff.
Incidentally two climbing friends of mine have done 1000 pullups in a day.
Makes me realise I have a long way to go..... :)
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