^ Yes, the title image is Hugh Jackman at 49. You’ll note that he’s only gotten better with age. This is no surprise given his training consistency over the years — there’s a lesson in that. Let’s dig in.
The first thing to understand is that there are no “training plans for over the 40s / 50s / 60s” (or diet plans for that matter).
You might see things advertised as such, but this is just marketing BS — advertisers preying on fears people have that they are doing something wrong or need something special.
You aren’t going to age into a group where we can all of a sudden day that you, along with everyone else your age, needs to do X, Y, and Z.
Sure, as a group, the 20-somethings will be fitter on average than the 40-somethings. But I bet you can think of a few 40-year-olds who are in better shape than the average 20-year-old, and I’ve worked with several people who told me they are now in better shape at 50 than they were when they were 30.
So when someone asks me what they should do differently as a 40-year-old trainee, I don’t have any specific answers for them.
All the training principles that applied to your 20-year-old-self will apply to your 40-year-old self.
If you’re still making progress and feeling good, you can keep your training volume as frequency as they are, or they can even go higher.
If you’re feeling worn down and that you can’t recover (and you are taking care of business outside the gym — sleep and stress), then pull back a little. But bear in mind this is because you as an individual aren’t recovering, not because you as a 43-year-old aren’t recovering.
If you have past injuries or mobility limitations, make sure you’re not dogmatic about exercise selection. If you have squats written in a training plan but they cause you pain, do something else! Choose exercises that target the muscles you’re aiming for, where you can work through a full range of motion (ROM) without pain. If you need to shorten the ROM or adjust the angle, feel free to do it.
Two personal examples here:
» I can’t press overhead without my right shoulder getting cranky. The solution for me is to press at a slight angle — half-kneeling landmine presses work a treat.
» I also don’t have enough shoulder mobility to get my arms back fully enough to back-squat without pain. The solution is to front squat or do safety bar squats.
Don’t make the mistake of looking at an athlete who is in their 40s, assume they have found some ‘special source,’ and copy them. They are an outlier; you are not.
Similarly, please don’t make the mistake of observing that there are very few athletes in their 40s and assume you’re going to decline at that age also. Explosiveness drops off as we age. More relevantly, they have put their bodies through 4–6 hours of training, every day, for decades. This is very different from your 90 minutes in the gym four times a week.
Summary
Many powerlifters are still getting stronger as they age; many natural bodybuilders are also.
Consider yourself as an individual, not your age.
Don’t get sold anything special.
Assume you’ll do great, push hard, but listen to your body and it will tell you if and when it’s necessary to pull back.
Thank you for reading.
Please keep questions on topic, write clearly, concisely, and don't post diet calculations.
Privacy policy.
I’m 53 and started lifting weights “seriously” about 5 years ago. I recently bought “The Muscle and Strength Pyramid” and initially was impressed – although I didn’t implement any of the recommendations. However, after having stalled in my progress for several years now, and having read the book several times, I realize what a goldmine of valuable information it is. I was always cautious, being an older lifter, trying to find the minimum that I could do to make progress. I recognize my thinking was misguided. With the use of deloads, periodization, and more frequency, I can make progress, while not overreaching or beating my body up. I can’t recommend the book enough.
Thank you, David. Most appreciated!
Your stuff is so good. I hate when people use the age card, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve one. But what I’m hearing is, it’s not my age that has required a change of exercise programming, but perhaps doing the wrong (or stupid-ass) shit THIS body prolly shouldn’t have been doing for the last two decades!
Adam
P.S. When you were still producing your kick-ass podcast, you did one with Luka Hocevar. Well, what, over two years later?! I went to the summit he hosted in October of ’19 and am now receiving business coaching from him. Thank you for the “introduction”!
First, thank you, Adam. Most appreciated. To what you said:
– Ha, yeah, pretty much.
– Sweet! Glad that worked out! This is why I do it — you put good things out in the world and have to trust the dots will connect for people. 🙂
Hi Andy,I’ve been training for 2years since retiring and in a fit of madness started doing lean gains.Sure enough I broke down like an old race horse😳😁.I bought two sets of bands and devised a program for myself and still doing 16/8 IF(I know it only works to help control overeating)I seem to be losing about a lb a week from a starting point of being a fat bastard.Given the fact that I am also a pescatarian would your two books be of assistance to me in my endeavours,Thanks Dave.PS,I tend to read the mountain of conflicting advice on the internet which doesn’t help,and your advice cuts through the blather 🤔😁
Thank you, Dave. Glad to read you find it useful! 🙂
I completely agree with you. I would mention that as a 57 year old lifter there are some exercises that I should rarely do e.g. leg extensions that stress the kneecap; so I do multidirectional lunges and squats instead. And no CrossFit ever! That shit destroys athletes of all ages!
Thank you, Alan. Most appreciated. Keep crushing it!
Andy:
Thank you your emails are always inspiring. I am 56 and in better shape than I was at 40 (not sure about 30). Partly due to people like you who give of their knowledge and experience.
I probably speak for hundreds of people who also read but don’t take the time to say “thanks”.
Thank you very much!
Gary
Thank you, Gary. I appreciate it!
Damn right Andy. Sick of all the bullshit on the internet, always nice when a truthbomb lands in my inbox.
As a former client and approaching 45 I can vouch for you being on the money with this.
Regards
Steve
Thank you, Steve. Great to hear from you and to read you’re doing well!
Hello Andy,
First a big thanks for all this high quality and free information. It has really been of great value.
I would like your advice on some issues regarding volume and intensity.
My job gives a bit more stress than the average I guess, and It is often physically demanding. I really enjoy working out and improving my lifts. I started my “fitness journey” doing way to much (junk) volume and starting with too high intensity. This was leading to a lot of fatigue and plateauing in no time. I learned and made a lot of changes, but I think there is still room for improvement.
I am now making the best progress in my 2 years of training.
But I really need to deload after 5 weeks. Is this too soon? And what is the best way to lower my training stress and improve recovery? Should I cut my training volume or back down with intensity aka leave more reps in the tank?
Thanks again.
Hi Laurens,
Deloading every 5 weeks seems fine to me. Not uncommon.
If you’re making the best progress you have after two years of training, firstly, you might not need to change anything. However, you could try the following:
1) Use RPE in your training to help manage fatigue. You’ll see guidelines for that on the site’s training articles.
2) Remove junk volume. This will tell you if it was actually junk or of some use.
3) If you’re still feeling beat up, reduce training volume a little. Think about dropping volume by 15-20%, this will be around 2 sets per body part per week.
4) If that kills your progress, the likely answer is to sleep better and lower stress.
Hope that helps!
Hey Andy
This is bang on! I will turn 60 this year, and I started working out seriously some 18 months ago. Great progress, and very high level of intensity. 5 times per week, 70-80’ per session… Feels great! Thanks for the advice!
Constantin
Glad this was useful for you, Constantin. Writing can be lonely, so I really appreciate the response!
Andy, you are the man….! Thanks. So very true.
Glad this was useful for you, Tony. 🙂
I think this was a recent subject on the Stronger By Science podcast, was it not?
IIRC Greg & Eric said that this training philosophy & “don’t compare yourself to a pro athlete” mentality is applicable for 40 & 50 year olds maybe even 60 year olds, but after that, physiology starts changing.
What can I say to my 70 year-old dad who’s a) obese, b) active, c) tracking his calories, and (mind-blowingly) d) maintaining his weight, because he claims that when he goes into a deficit he feels tired & lethargic and “hungry all the time?”
I’m not sure I’ll say anything at all to him, because we’ve gone back and forth on this in the past and it’s kinda just better when we don’t talk, but I might, and at the very least it would be good for me to know things about his age group & understand his perspective better.
Thanks,
Will
Hi Will,
Yes, exactly right. I’d had this as a draft for a while and when I heard Greg and Eric talk about it, I put it on my to do list and used that point about pro athletes.
I purposefully steered clear of mentioning anything about people in their 70s+. Can be controversial. Yes, there’s a decline, but strength training seems to help everyone.
– Andy
Great feedback Andy – thanks a lot (47 years old) 😊
Glad this was useful for you, Brendan. Writing can be lonely, and it’s doesn’t come naturally for me so it takes me hours to write something so simple after all the edits, so I really appreciate it!
EXCELLENT!
Thank you, Bryan!