This is a much longer post than usual. It’s all about the details of my 9th annual birthday workout. Here’s the TL:DR→ You can continually get more fit as you age. This 9-year long ‘experiment’ is anecdotal; the data is only from 1 person, me. However, it is well documented proof of what is possible. (Stop reading here unless you’re a fitness nerd like me.) DAY ONE: 1 REP MAX STRENGTH TESTINGThis year I decided to attempt all 5 max-effort lifts on Day 1. I didn’t have high expectations for surpassing last year’s numbers, especially on the Squat & Deadlift. Click here to see all previous years’ numbers on a Google Sheet. For the majority of 2025 I focused on speed & agility, not max-effort lifting. Plus, I has a sore groin and legs from a soccer match the day before. However, as I got into the workout I was feeling good and here are the results:
I rarely ever fail or miss lifts. In fact the only time I typically ever miss a lift all year long is during this Birthday Workout, or maybe 1 other time at most. Luckily this year I recorded every lift - click here to see the failures! Usually I train in the 5, 4, 3, or 2-rep max zone. I rarely do singles. In my mind I really believed I could pull that Deadlift up - and I can - but I couldn’t on this day. Overall I am extremely pleased with this year’s Strength results. I’m strong enough. Plus I have increased my conditioning tremendously, to the point where I recently passed my local High School Varsity Soccer Team’s Fitness Test, at 45 years old. More on that below. Lastly, after a post-workout breakfast with my family, I went to the soccer field with my son and trained for an additional two hours directly after this lifting session! I am proud to be able to train hard for 4 hours in one day at 46 years old. DAY TWO: METABOLIC CONDITIONINGThis is the test that started it all back in 2016: - Perform these in order, as fast as possible, with the # of repetitions equal to my age: 46 Pull-ups (sub Ring Rows if needed) This year it took 8:25. Afterwards, I was way more gassed than I was after the 4 hours of training on Day 1! I could barely move for several minutes. My arms felt like rubber for half an hour. But … I posted my 2nd fastest time of all time! Some thoughts:After 9 years, it’s become obvious that this met-con portion of the workout will become relatively harder with each passing year, meaning that:
But who cares?!?! If I’m 75 and I can complete this workout with a minimal amount of rest and in good form, if it takes me 20 or even 30 minutes, that will be pretty damned awesome. DAY THREE: NEW THIS YEAR!I added the ‘Pass/Fail’ standard called ‘Varsity High School Soccer Fitness Test’. This is a demanding conditioning test that the soccer players in my local high school have to pass in order to play. Having given my son some training guidance for his (he passed), I set out to see if I could pass it - at 45 years old. Here’s the 3-part test breakdown: Part 1: 25 Yard Shuttle RunGoal: Agility & rapid change of direction. Run 5 yds & back. Target: Complete in 36 seconds. Part 2: 120’s (110 yd Sprints)Goal: Speed endurance. Part 3: Man U’sGoal: Progressive speed & endurance under fatigue. Procedure: 20 x 100-yard sprints with decreasing sprint times. Reps & Times: In total it took me about 2 months of training to do it - but I did! Zone 4/5 heart rate training, agility, and change of direction were all things I wanted to work on for personal health reasons anyway. To see my videos on YouTube about this, click here. After completing it - not just the test, but the entire training cycle - I felt so much healthier overall (endurance, knees & joints, faster, leaner) that I decided to make this the ‘third’ annual portion of my Birthday Workout henceforth. I will keep running and passing this test once a year for as long as I am able! Until 47, ⚡️ Coach Matt PS: To read past year’s posts about this, here are the links I found: 2017 (38 years old) 2018 (39 years old) 2019 (40 years old) 2020 (41 years old) 2022 (43 years old) 2023 (44 years old) 2024 (45 years old)
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Wednesday, December 3, 2025
My 9th Annual Birthday Workout
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