AGE ISN’T A LIMIT – IT’S A LIE
They told you to slow down after 40. You didn’t. Now they’re choking on your dust.
At 57, holding 7:55 per mile at 161 bpm isn’t luck, it’s proof that consistency beats time. Age doesn’t erode potential; complacency does.
"There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them."-- Bruce Lee
There’s a quiet war being waged between age and attitude. Every magazine headline, every “men over 50” article whispers the same dull prophecy: slow down, take it easy, act your age. But if your heart’s still willing and your lungs still burn for it, maybe “acting your age” is the wrong f***ing move.
161 beats per minute (BPM).
7:55 per mile.
57 years old.
If you’re wearing a Garmin or Apple Watch (yes, other fitness trackers exist but you get the idea), you’ve probably seen the term lactate threshold.
What is it? Technically: “the exercise intensity at which the rate of lactate production exceeds the body’s ability to clear it.”
In English: it’s the line between average and alive.
Here’s the thing they don’t tell you when you hit your fifties:
You don’t have to slow down. You’re just surrounded by people who already did.
My current “lactate threshold” is 161 bpm — that’s roughly 98% of the textbook maximum heart rate for my age.
If you ask your doctor or the internet, they’ll trot out the old 220 minus your age formula. So yeah, on paper, my numbers are “unusually high.”
Translation: I’m not following their damn script.
Untrained people usually tap out when things get uncomfortable at around 60% of their capacity.
Trained athletes hold 80-90%.
Elite endurance freaks? 90-95%.
Guess where I’m sitting.
That might sound like a fitness flex, and maybe it is. But I’ve earned it. I put in the work, so I’ll take the pose.
This isn’t genetics… You’d notice that if we met.
It’s consistency, discomfort, and a refusal to coast.
That 7:55 pace at that heart rate isn’t some miracle of youth.
It’s what happens when you stop giving your birth certificate so much power.
You keep showing up. You keep sweating. You stop negotiating with the easy option.
Every run at that line, that thin red edge where your legs burn and your lungs threaten mutiny reminds you that you’re still alive.
Fitness isn’t a souvenir from your 20s. It’s a choice you can keep making.
But like anything real, if you stop putting in the effort, it fades. It doesn’t care about your excuses, your birthday, or your nostalgia.
So, here’s the truth:
Your body doesn’t respond to age.
It responds to effort.
Stop talking about decline.
Start chasing adaptation.
Because if you can run close to your limit at 57, it’s not your metabolism that’s slowing down:
it’s everyone else.
And if it all goes horribly wrong?
Memento mori.
At least you went out fighting. Right?
You’re not supposed to fade – you’re supposed to evolve. The line between “too old” and “still dangerous” is effort. Your body is wired for adaptation at any age; it just stops responding when you stop demanding.
TRAIN ON THE EDGE. LIVE ON YOUR TERMS.
Action Steps for the Reader:
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Reclaim your data. Stop comparing yourself to your younger self — compare yourself to yesterday.
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Find your threshold. Run, ride, or lift until the burn starts to talk back. Then hold the line.
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Repeat. Not for glory. For proof that you’re still capable of growth.
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Write it down. Track your sessions, your effort, and your defiance. The graph doesn’t lie.
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Never coast. Comfort kills faster than time.
Train well. Because under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion: you sink to the level of your training.
Build your grit. Forge your edge.
Chris Unfiltered
Raw. Relentless. Real. Chris doesn’t sugar-coat life’s challenges. With decades of grit and resilience, he turns obstacles into fuel — and shows you how to do the same. No fluff. Just truth.
