16/10/2026
If you don’t use it, you lose it.
There’s 35 kg between this failed deadlift and my lifetime personal best.
And while I don’t necessarily expect to get back to that number, I do know exactly what I’ve neglected over the past few years.
Absolute strength.
I’ve continued training consistently, working on my conditioning, mobility, muscular endurance and general physical capacity. All things I consider incredibly important.
But there’s a difference between being generally fit and being strong.
Absolute strength is a specific physical quality, and like most things, if you’re not regularly exposing your body to the demands required to maintain it, your capacity will gradually decline.
That doesn’t mean we need to be chasing one-rep maxes every week, or constantly pushing ourselves to failure.
It means recognising that heavy resistance training has a place in a well-rounded program, particularly as we get older.
Maintaining the ability to produce high levels of force supports our broader physical capacity, and it’s a quality I don’t want to unnecessarily surrender simply because I’m getting older.
So while this particular lift was a bit of a reality check, it’s also given me something I’m genuinely excited to work on again.
Not necessarily to chase an old number.
But to see what I can rebuild with some consistent, intelligent strength training.
Because getting older is inevitable. Becoming weaker than we need to be isn’t. 👊