r/fitness50plus

Is Possible To Do Advanced, Elite Push-ups, Pull-ups, And Benching Over 50?

The short answer for me is yes. I accidentally tumbled into a routine where I did powerlifting for high school and college sport teams. In my twenties, I transitioned into advanced body weightlifting using 15-minute HIIT every 7 to 12 days in order to maintain muscular power and strength.

Now that I'm fifty, I can do 1.5 hand push-ups with either hand (square without rotation), double-front clap push-ups, knuckle handstand, power benching, etc. See the videos within this link.

The scientific reason for the above is that in doing extreme powerlifting either with weights or
bodyweight overtime generate a great number of myonuclei. These myonuclei stay in biology. Thus, these myonuclei allow us to rebuild muscular power and velocity, and inflate them back very quickly, even after months of inactivation.

The main reason why athletes use steroids is to generate myonuclei in great amount for building muscle mass and power. A former steroid users will still have an advantage over non-users, because the amount of myonuclei they have produced in the past. However, as we know, there are severe negative side effects of steroids including heart failure.

The key takeaway here is that if you doing advanced, elite and powerful exercises, continue to do them (perhaps via low-frequency). They will have compound effect over the years.