At what age do men become weaker than their sons?

[TimeForWineAndSun]

At the moment, DH is 53, son is 29 and son-in-law is 28. If DH came to blows with either of them, he would win. He's still very strong and he's heavier than both of them too. I'm watching my Dad decline considerably, he's gone from being a very strong man to very vulnerable, and it's been so gradual, that I can't pinpoint when that cross over happened. Just musing really, when is that switch over when men of son and SIL's age become the stronger ones, and the older one (DH) moves into the elderly/weak category?

Ah. Well why didn't you say so in the first place?

You've entirely confused everyone by comparing fathers and sons, whereas actually you mean cops vs robbers.

It's not only physical strength, know how to fight and having those techniques and experience will give someone an advantage over someone who doesn't have those skills

I'd very much doubt your DH is stronger than either younger man Tbh

Well, if I were ever in a fist fight with my adult child, it would be stale mate, because I would never punch them nor they me.

So we'd just be fucking standing there.

😂😂😂😂

Humans lose 2-3% of their lean muscle mass every decade from 30. This increases if they stop doing exercise etc. Serious decline is over 50, major drop off is over 65. So he’s likely weaker than them already considering they’re in their prime… unless he’s a gym buff and they don’t do any exercise of course. But 65 is when the major risk of sarcopenia etc sets in.

From my reading. I am not a doctor.

My friend beat his father in a fist fight when he was 17, and his father was mid 40s, physically active but overweight (he had stepped in to defend his dm).

My df was an imposing man, until his late 70s when he started to lose muscle mass. Not sure how he’d have got on in a fight, though I think people would have thought twice about starting one, but he was strong and agile. More likely to hug his sons than fight anyone.

super interesting question; not just in the father/son context, but in older men vs younger men.

as pp’s have said, there must be some advantage of experience/skill/use of strength.

i’d think an average 24 year old would generally have more stamina/endurance than an 54 year old.
my sons were all definitely much stronger than me by early teens - the density and power in their muscles is staggering compared to women.
i did read somewhere that a healthy late teen male would be stronger than pretty much any female, regardless of how well trained the woman is; it is just biology.

My DH is 51 and DS is 20. DH outlifts DS. I think it terms iIf squats and deadlifts etc not in terms of a fight.

If a 40 year old man had a 20 year old son, I’d expect the son to be stronger. If a 40 year old man had a 10 year old son, I’d expect the dad to be stronger!!

I suspect probably once 16-20 ish they’ll be stronger than the dad. Unless they’re particularly weak, don’t exercise, overweight, office job or whatever else and the dad has more activity etc…. There’s factors that can obviously make this not accurate. But generally for 2 men living a similar lifestyle that’s when I’d expect them to be stronger.

Some really good points in this thread, and things I for one hadn’t considered. Looking back at the men in my family, my grandpa on my mum’s side would’ve had the edge till close to the end I think (70), as not only did he do a physical job all his life, he was a solid slab of muscle until the last six months of his life when cancer basically ate him, and he was a scrapper when he was in the forces. My uncle was a gentle desk jockey and a completely different build to his dad, very lean. So yes, even in their 70s some older men could probably hold their own against some younger men (thinking about your husband’s job) due to still being objectively strong, and also having the knowledge and experience of how to use that strength. I think using a shovel for soil is a good analogy (from a TV archaeologist many moons ago!) She explained that whilst the women were a lot physically weaker than the men on this particular dig, the women were the ones wielding the shovels as the men’s technique was so awful they couldn’t do it for as long as the women, who were much more experienced and knew what they were actually doing.

It depends entirely on the people involved really.

Me and my brother (early 40s) are both nerdy weaklings, whereas my Dad (early 60s) is in the gym most days. He'd kick my younger brothers ass, whereas he'd probably struggle with me because he's 5ft 7 and I'm built like Greg Davies so could just sit on him.