Muscle Building over 40

[InsanePhysique]

Good for you man, I bet you Fing rocked at that age as well, me I am looking to continue gaining into my 60 and 70's God willing.

My old man is 79 (just turned 79 Jan 13th) and he is strong as hell!

This why I train...I want my kids to say the same thing about me...thanks for the inspiration and if you could post a pic of your dad that would be great...thank you.

[trev71]

I missed the memo when I turned 40.

Ignorance is bliss.

[Bando]

I'm not sure how the article applies to those over 40 specifically as opposed to anyone else who bodybuilds/trains. It's mostly good advice but I've read it all in some form/somewhere before.

When I was 16, 17, 18 I wrestled, played lacrosse, lifted weights, ran, took karate etc. but I had nowhere near the build I have now. Believe me - I tried.

Man, now that I know what I'm doing, It's working, and I'm just getting started at 40.

wait until you hit 45 !

f'ing newbs

[BergMuscle]

wait until you hit 45 !

f'ing newbs

Or 55...

[MontyMagpie]

As a 10stone weakling most of my teens and young adult life, now a 13-14 stone weakling. :-)

[bodyhard]

Damn time f'cking flies, and yet I feel the same f'cking way now as I did when i posted in this thread REAL TALK!!

[yakabebe]

Just saw this thread and wanted to add a few things.

I rekon if you do leave it to late...and for some that might be the late 40's, others the 50's and for a few in the 60's - the prospect of getting hugggeeee is gonna be a low order possibility.

But I also believe that IF you make a start and then seek to build year-on-year upon the gains made and eat right, train hard, stay focused and don't lose sight of the man you're trying to be - then all bets are off!

Frankly, I believe for most, what you believe is what you will achieve. What you conceive and then come to believe usually progresses to what you will achieve...hell, THAT mantra has been in my locker for almost day 1 (see my sig)

I get really frustrated when I hear guys say all the right things but then f#$k it all up by adding the word "but"...really, just a euphemism for "that's MY excuse" and a backdoor out from the harsh light of self criticism.

Life, fate, serendipity, karma - call it what you will. I accept that, at times, life throws you a curve-ball that you just cant hit.

But the rest of it...all the rationalizations, all the excuses, all the prioritizations we come up with to explain why we aint getting there - that's all something YOU control. YOUR decisions. YOUR choices.

I made two fitness choices in my life. One at 35, the other at 55. The first one was to give up smoking cause my kids were making it hard on me (and the little ****s now both smoke...grrrr) and took up triathlon. Ended up going from sloth to a fit, healthy triathlete who completed every one of the 20 entered at the Olympic distances. For me, "DNF" wasn't ever an option.

Then at 55, I decided to go down the BB path. And done OK.

I'm not sharing this to blow smoke up my own ass. I am sharing to tell you that whatever you set your mind to do and IF the quality of persistence and strength of that commitment are good enough....you firstly WILL achieve all of your goals and will THEN you'll reach the things you dream about.

Believe it or not.

[djamesnz]

I'm really glad i read this.

I've been at the gym now for coming up 12 months. Admittedly it hasn't been a solid 12 months - 4 days a week, due to work (travel) and kids (5 of them).

I have been getting a bit disillusioned with my progress lately. I guess I've been comparing it to when i was at the gym last for any decent amount of time, which was in my late 20s-early 30s, when the gains were rapid and noticeable. People would comment after 6 months that I would look great.
Now only my partner and I really notice. I was very active when I was younger playing rugby, soccer, boxing, kick boxing, skiing, scuba diving etc, however not so much over the past 10-15 years.

I've been thinking that it's all a lot of effort for minimal gains, but after reading this and reflecting, I look at my programme when I started and I can see how far I have come. I am benching the most I've ever lifted...ever... as well as various other exercises (leg press (250kgs), lat pull downs (70kgs), cable rows(70kgs), one arm rows (40kg dumbells), etc - may not seem much to some, but good for me). My t-shirts fit that bit tighter, and the way I look after a workout...well at 6'3' and 107kgs, I look pretty good (IMHO).
You are right, as hormone levels (test and GH) drop-not for everyone BUT as a generalisation they do. If they do, you have to work smarter and use the science as well as the brute strength.

I realise too that I need to take a long hard look at my nutrition. I supplement with creatine and BCAAs as well as use Myofusion, but rather than relying on those supps to make up for not eating well, I need to eat well and use the supps to top it off.

My main motivator is still my kids. I want to be around for a long, long time to watch them grow, and enjoy their childhood with them as a participant, not a spectator.

Great post and great to read all the comments.

Kia kaha.

[Frnkd]

Just saw this thread and wanted to add a few things.

I rekon if you do leave it to late...and for some that might be the late 40's, others the 50's and for a few in the 60's - the prospect of getting hugggeeee is gonna be a low order possibility.

But I also believe that IF you make a start and then seek to build year-on-year upon the gains made and eat right, train hard, stay focused and don't lose sight of the man you're trying to be - then all bets are off!

Frankly, I believe for most, what you believe is what you will achieve. What you conceive and then come to believe usually progresses to what you will achieve...hell, THAT mantra has been in my locker for almost day 1 (see my sig)

I get really frustrated when I hear guys say all the right things but then f#$k it all up by adding the word "but"...really, just a euphemism for "that's MY excuse" and a backdoor out from the harsh light of self criticism.

Life, fate, serendipity, karma - call it what you will. I accept that, at times, life throws you a curve-ball that you just cant hit.

But the rest of it...all the rationalizations, all the excuses, all the prioritizations we come up with to explain why we aint getting there - that's all something YOU control. YOUR decisions. YOUR choices.

I made two fitness choices in my life. One at 35, the other at 55. The first one was to give up smoking cause my kids were making it hard on me (and the little ****s now both smoke...grrrr) and took up triathlon. Ended up going from sloth to a fit, healthy triathlete who completed every one of the 20 entered at the Olympic distances. For me, "DNF" wasn't ever an option.

Then at 55, I decided to go down the BB path. And done OK.

I'm not sharing this to blow smoke up my own ass. I am sharing to tell you that whatever you set your mind to do and IF the quality of persistence and strength of that commitment are good enough....you firstly WILL achieve all of your goals and will THEN you'll reach the things you dream about.

Believe it or not.

This is the way I live too! No "yes but...", "only if..." or any other conditions that would give me an out for not trying or succeeding....I also find "failure" (curve ball) as a win too- to discover my limitations can only mean that I tried and need to find another way to reach a goal, theres IS more than one way to skin a cat.

thanks Y for defining it.

[Dutchman]

Great thread, much to reflect on and learn from. It’s been a long trip from the 50’s back on a small farm, lifting with homemade weights and later the sensational new “sand filled “ versions ( haha) to help us with farm work and sports. I guess the magic of those new weights was some affinity with the everpresent Charles Atlas course ads with some bully kicking sand in a puny guys face. By the 70’s, I fortunately got addicted to the growing “Life Extension” ideas that made natural health seem possible. Hitting 40 years of age for me (‘81), getting divorced and facing the single life forced me to redefine my life strategy and make a renewed commitment to it. As a result, I got stronger, faster and healthier. Now, 12 years into retirement, I have decades of a base to work from and plenty of time to flat out perfect what I believe in. I can honestly say I have gotten even stronger each of these last dozen years. This week, just 6 weeks after a bad rotator cuff tear, I managed 2 X 5 @ 440 in my Rack Deads and 2 X 5 @ 240 in my Squats. Today I plan on doing 2 X 20 in my bodyweight Pullups, heck, I may even strap on a 25 to get started again on some serious work. For those of you who don’t know about my Dutchess, she is the strongest and IMHO, sexiest, 70-ish woman in this huge 88,000 resident retirement community aka The Villages. Not a day goes by without comments, questions and compliments about our strength and condition. Guys gawk and stare, mostly in wonder LOL, as she knocks off sets of Squats or does her Incline Situps clutching a 40 lb DB to her chest. You see, she too at 69 ½, is getting fitter and stronger each year as well. So don’t dismay my friends, there is a tomorrow in our Iron World and we who believe do survive, longer, stronger and healthier than those who lack our belief and dedication.

[HughDp]

I guess I've been comparing it to when i was at the gym last for any decent amount of time, which was in my late 20s-early 30s, when the gains were rapid and noticeable. People would comment after 6 months that I would look great.

That can be a problem.

Sounds like you're in the same boat as me. I trained for a decade in my late teens to late twenties then just stopped. It was 20 years before I lifted a weight again and in the interim I'd lived unhealthily and picked up a chronic, incurable neurological problem.

For the first year of trying to get back into it, I was frustrated by not being able to progress like I used to and felt severely limited by my neurological illness, various long-term injuries, joint aches and other age-related excuses. I found myself looking for excuses not to train.

I can't point to a particular reason why that changed - maybe I just got fed up with my own moaning - but now I just want to be in the gym and actually have to try hard to stay out of it to make sure I don't over-train.

My progress isn't what it was and there are illnesses and injuries to contend with but whereas I once felt I was working against them, I now work around them. I reckon the most important part of the body for bodybuilders is the brain: get that in the right place and everything else follows.

[djamesnz]

I reckon the most important part of the body for bodybuilders is the brain: get that in the right place and everything else follows.

Well said mate. Agree 100%.

[Paulie_G]

I love this thread. I just turned 41 a couple of months ago, and started to feel sorry for myself. I started spending way too much time focusing on what wasn't working, and how much my knees hurt etc. Well, I pulled myself up from June 1st on. I am now 10 pounds from a 300lb bench press, and 5 lb. from a 500 lb deadlift while getting almost as lean as I was 10 years ago, and I'm just getting started.

Everyone just needs to get their arses up, STFU and start training. Don't get caught up in a trap. Age is only a fcuking number.

[daimay]

wow! I was searching/reading about over40 BB things (because I'm about 49 and I think it's better sharing knowledge between over40 then comparing me to very young guys) when I came across to this post which is absolutely true and I'ts basically what I'm doing, as a consequence of that I'm still gaining muscle and I'm satisfied. What I'd like to know is: can last-generation-testobooster help us over40 in some ways?
I tried more than one but testo exams are quite expensive in my country so I can't know whether they works just a bit or are just a waste of money (they are usually not cheap at all).

[ironwill2008]

wow! I was searching/reading about over40 BB things (because I'm about 49 and I think it's better sharing knowledge between over40 then comparing me to very young guys) when I came across to this post which is absolutely true and I'ts basically what I'm doing, as a consequence of that I'm still gaining muscle and I'm satisfied. What I'd like to know is: can last-generation-testobooster help us over40 in some ways?
I tried more than one but testo exams are quite expensive in my country so I can't know whether they works just a bit or are just a waste of money (they are usually not cheap at all).

Anything that would increase T level to a point where it actually made any real difference is classified as a drug by FDA, and thus not qualified for sale OTC in this country.


Save your money. If you feel you have a problem, see a doc.

[sounyp]

ITs been 9 months since I had my son. 5 months since I hired a personal trainer I've been eating clean. I haven't seen any muscle definition How long before I see results? I'm a doing something wrong!

[davidolson22]

ITs been 9 months since I had my son. 5 months since I hired a personal trainer I've been eating clean. I haven't seen any muscle definition How long before I see results? I'm a doing something wrong!

How are we suppose to know anything with the info you gave other than the fact that you are a parent?

[Mike Spitzer]

Simple answer is YES, a person can still make noticeable improvements in their 40's

Here for example is a Before/After of a person ... mid 40s ...... 16 weeks of diet and training

http://www.highpointproducts.com/fit...eek-bw-RBG.jpg

You can find plenty of other examples on the web to motivate you and give realistic expectations for yourself.

[squatnonymous]

Biggest croc of bs I've heard... Super myth, plenty of guys can get big over 40!

[Palmac]

For what its worth I competed as a lean BB at 23yo. Then after a good spell started lifting again at 41 and I believe despite the extra greys Im in in better shape now at 48. I think the whole cant build muscle as an older guy is BS. You can.

[Palmac]

No disrespect to you, but I have been in a car accident, crushed my pelvic, fractured my ribs, broke my left clavicle, had internal bleeding, was told I would never walk again.

I am now 43 years of age, you think I am going to listen to that BS that was written? Get the F'ck out of here. I am going to go at it 100% full force, no Fking pitty patting foot steps for me. I am not going to take it easy all because my age dictates that I should, if that were the case I would look like **** by now.

I don't believe in getting old I believe in getting better, age is a number to me, not a sign that because I reach a certain age that I should "take it easy" F'CK THAT!!!

I am who I am and I do what I do and I do a damn good job at it, who ever doesn't agree with me, so be it!!

If I was to give in to all the BS and believe all the crap that is written by so called experts I would still be in a wheel chair......

Spot on! I like your style, less BS, less concessions, you sound like the sort of guy that wouldn't take a handicap parking space even if you were entitled to it!!!!! ha

[coachcalande]

Test will drop if you allow it. That is the best comment made through the entire thread.

science has shown us, you can do things that produce test, which drives you to do more challenging things, which again, helps in the production of test. Use it or lose it.


I feel like I pack on mass well. The more challenging things for me now are family, job, stress, nutrition and my sleep schedule. Making bodybuilding/powerbuilding fit has been challenging but I continue to set PRS.


Body fat does go on faster/easier at this age than it did however I do believe that stress and inactivity allow cortisol to also increase with age.


At my age, with 3-4 workouts a week, 45 minutes to an hour long (in my garage), high intensity, heavy duty style training, 12 sets per body part, 3-8 reps mainly ...I still love it, I have the iron bug and still chase numbers and still chase mass.

I will say that the older I get the more interested in pure numbers I become....I want those Prs and I love the ego lifts.

"abs are cool, but so is lifting a car"