Can you get Bigger and Stronger at 52?

Before we even begin this little Q & A on strength and fitness at 52, let me define what I mean by "Bigger".

Bigger doesn't mean adding mass and muscle to your shoulders, arms, chest and legs while expanding your waistline.

Bigger to me means Lean Muscle Mass.

And I don't mean "Show Muscle"...... you know those that lift a lot of weight but can't get out of their own weight..... and that's not a typo or word substitution. You know the type I mean.

No... When I say Bigger, I mean Lean, Functional Muscle.... the kind that looks good, lifts heavy and is flexible, functional and versatile....

Did I just redefine CrossFit?

Sorry. I digress.

I don't know what I weigh here.... I haven't weighed lately.... but I'm sure it's somewhere around 175.

About 7 - 8 lbs above my lightest weight last summer.

So am I bigger now?

Yes.

Am I stronger now?

Yes. I just did 185# on bench press for 10 strict reps, 155# on bent over barbell rows for 10 reps strict and 185# for 5 reps and Overhead lunges holding a 100# plate for 20 lunges.....

The last time I tried 100# plate overhead lunges was March 2014 and I weighed 195# and couldn't do them.

Now I weigh 175 and I can lunge for 20.

Am I leaner now than I was last summer?

No.... I was a skinned rabbit last summer and I was tan and outside with my shirt off all the time and every workout I was sweating a gallon of water out of my body cause it was 95 degrees with 95% humidity.

Now I'm white and don't sweat as much because it's cold in Santa Fe NM.

But I am as big and stronger or bigger and stronger than I've ever been.... and I'm still lean..... all my serratus are showing and the vascularity still pops out on my legs.