> Note that when I say 95%-ile, I mean 95%-ile among people who participate, not all people... I'm also not referring to 95%-ile among people who practice regularly. The "one weird trick" is that, for a lot of activities, being something like 10%-ile among people who practice can make you something like 90%-ile or 99%-ile among people who participate.
Someone who even calls it "training" and has specifically put in effort to be better is probably in the 95th percentile of people who do the activity.
I think you may be underselling that a bit. I got to something like 370-80lb DL while weighing 185 some years ago, and it took nearly 3 years of dedicated work, eating tons of boring chicken, and a lot of lifestyle changes. It was pretty hard work and a of hours in total. I still lift weights, but don't have the focus and dedication to maintain that kind of lifting routine. Even at my max I was probably only edging into the "advanced" category.
I can understand the struggle at an older age, but age matters a lot here.