I just completed my seventh year in this crazy endeavor called weightlifting. I have never written about my experiences in this sport but now just seems like the right time to share how personally rewarding this journey has been for me and how I’ve tried to ward off the decline in performance that comes with age.
 
I was a latecomer to this party. After doing CrossFit for a few years, I entered my first weightlifting competition in 2014, the year I turned 60. My thinking was that since I was the baby in my age bracket, it would be a good time to compete before the inevitable performance decline would hit in subsequent years. I totaled 160 kg in that competition and I could not have been happier. For reference, the Masters World Championships that year was won with a 179 kg total for my division. For me, it was rewarding just to be in the ballpark with some of my peers on the National level.
 
The following few years were more of a struggle. After all, I wasn’t getting any younger. I had my share of injuries and I seemed to be stuck in the 70/95/165 range, still not going downhill but not making much progress. I remember musing that an 80 kg snatch and a 180 kg total would be the ultimate accomplishment for me personally, but I also knew it was just a pipe dream since Father Time would be nibbling away at any hope of approaching those numbers.
 
Then something unexpected happened: I started to improve. I went 77/100/177 in 2017 and then 78/101/179 in 2018. The years of the grind were beginning to yield results, even at my ripe old age. The inevitable performance drop was certainly looming but I began to believe that progress might still be possible. It was time to compete on a larger stage, so I entered the Howard Cohen American Open in order to post a qualifying total for Worlds, which were taking place the following year in Montreal.
 
The 2019 Masters World Championships were held in August. I had never been more prepared for a competition. There, I went six for six, although ready for more, I totaled a tactical 179 to secure the win in my then new age group of 65–69. This was a bucket-list experience for me, and upon returning home, I looked forward to backing off for a while so I could heal up. That strategy lasted only about three weeks because I was drawn back to the grind to make one last run at my dream of 80 and 180. And thus the challenge: How can one (at age 66 in my case) squeeze out a few more kilos and outpace an aging, weakening body? The answer for me was evident: Don’t get weaker.
 
I determined my leg strength was my biggest limiter and that increasing my back squat would be the most effective way to move my total, so I began emphasizing leg work. I still practiced the lifts religiously, but only in the 65–70% range. Focusing on legs didn’t mean doing more squat sessions. My body could only handle squatting two times per week and even that would cause my arthritic knees to flare up. My goal was to just get the reps in however I could. I alternated exercises among safety bar squats, belt squats, and front and back squats. The variety helped reduce knee pain even while the volume or intensity was increasing. This strategy worked, at least for increasing leg strength. I got a PR in the back squat eight weeks out from the 2020 Nationals. I then began working my way back toward heavier snatches and clean and jerks, right up to competition day. There was not an instant transfer of my improved leg strength to the lifts. The movements felt clunky as I started moving up in weight and I was beginning to doubt if things would ever click. Finally, about two weeks out, I started to see some transformation. I PR’d in push press, rack jerk, power clean, and snatch. I was putting my newly acquired leg strength to use.
 
The Nationals going virtual did present one advantage: I could choose my competition day. Although there was a four-week window in which to compete, it ended up that the very first Saturday was go-time. I was able to post two PRs—an 81 snatch and a 180 total—and won the 65–69 102 division. My improbable dream of 80/180 had finally been realized before the age-related decline won out. 
 
I don’t mean for this to be a review of achievements, but rather a sharing of the challenges that aging Masters face in this sport, not the least of which is the struggle to improve year over year with an engine that is forever losing horsepower. Strength training for people over 60 is somewhat uncharted territory. We’ve all read studies about muscle building and performance for 60+ year olds, only to find that the participants were in a nursing home lifting minuscule weights.
It just means that we must explore this world on our own.
 
For any age, this sport is a grind. It beats you up. When my runner friends talk about their endorphin highs, I tell them I feel like I’ve been in a perpetual car accident. And yet I keep coming back for more. Weightlifting started as a hobby that turned into a passion, which became an obsession. It takes being obsessed to be able to put in the work necessary for this old body to still make adaptations. The SRA Principle works for 60+ year-olds too. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it is that consistent, well-programmed sessions will trump sporadic “epic” workouts every single time. The tortoise beats the hare in this sport too.
 
To wrap up, none of us knows what a new year will bring. We all hope to improve our total no matter our age, and yet we accept, if not expect, a decline in performance with each new year. But does it have to be that way? Can one thing—whether it be mobility, technique, squat, or press—become better than it was the previous year? Of course it can! And if that one thing is better, how much might it contribute to the snatch and clean and jerk? If to any degree at all, we have just opened a small window of possibility. We have added a new weapon to aid us in our never-ending struggle against Father Time.