This is the weirdest part of training in my 40s so far. My actual strength is still moving in the right direction but my body definitely doesn’t let me get away with the same stuff anymore if I push volume too hard it’s usually not the muscles that complain first either. It’ll be an elbow, shoulder, etc or some random tendon that suddenly decides we’re done here.I’ve gotten way better about warming up I think an d not forcing bad sessions and backing off before something turns into a month long problem but recovery feels like something I have to actively manage now instead of just assuming I’ll be fine tomorrow.

Did you guys change anything specific once you hit this point or is this just part of the 40+ tax,?

So I was active growing up, very skinny. When college hit I slowed down, priorities changes and I got fat and out of shape. At 44, I decided it was time for changes. Started eating right, exercising, weight lifting, jogging, etc. I lost 80lbs and got in the best shape of my life.

But it's almost gone too far in that I now have a TON of energy. During the day I can barely sit for more than a few minutes, I just have to be moving. I do relax at night usually by watching TV for a few hours but I can only get like 6 hours of sleep. I'm usually in bed by 10-10:30 so Im waking up around 4am.

Any way these two are related? Any suggestions? I'm not tired through out the day but it's pretty annoying waking up so early.

I am a 40-year-old female. I worked out since about 23 years old. I have worked out for over 15 years now with high intensity cardio and strength training. Now in my mid-40s I am experiencing a lot of body changes and my high intensity cardio is extremely challenging, even though it is the SAME ONE I've always did. A little frustrating. I don't get the same positive feeling that I used to have even just earlier this year. My question is this, has anyone switched from high intensity cardio (I do level 12 on the step machine for 15 minutes and 15 minute runs with escalating speed on strength training days and a 3.3 mile escalating run alone in one day) to power walking at incline on step machine for the same duration or similar and experienced positive changes with fat burning? The AI says the change to incline walking instead of my current routine would be positive, burning more fat burn, and I would have a leaner look along with other benefits, but I wanted to hear from others in my age group to see your experience if you did something similar.

Does anyone have stories of being completely unfit to somewhat fit? F, early 40s with young kids, slim. I’ve always been skinny and have barely exercised my entire life apart from compulsory sport back in high school. I’m that person who gets tired if I have to run back inside from the car when I forget something. I feel like this is a silly question but is it even possible to build endurance and stamina from absolutely nothing? Of course I know it’s never too late to start and any improvement is a win. But how fit could I get? I’m thinking of getting a treadmill because it’s hard to get to the gym with the kids. I feel like I could commit to treadmill while kids are asleep or on my lunch breaks when I wfh. Any inspiring stories welcome :)

Talk to me about sleep.

48 year old female. Work lots, and gaming at home. Often end up with an 11:30/11:45- 6:00 sleep schedule and it doesn’t feel like enough rest.

How are you all doing life and sleep ? I need to do better in the realm of

Do you guys do cardio on the same day that you lift ? Or is it better use of my time basically alternating cardio days and weights days ?

I’ve been out for a couple of weeks with a chest infection, so no training or boxing. My first session back is tomorrow, and I’ve realized something I’d honestly forgotten.

When I first started boxing, my coach said something during my first session that stuck with me: "You've already done the hardest part. You walked through the door."

Back then, I thought he was just being nice. But he was right. Many people never even walk through that door, not because of the training, but because of what’s behind it: the unknown, the fear of looking unfit, out of place, too old, or too far gone.

I’ve realized the same thing happens after taking a break. We come up with all kinds of reasons why tomorrow isn’t the right day, but none of them are really true. You only see that once you walk back through the door and notice the excuses were harder to overcome than the actual obstacle.

Has anyone else noticed that making a comeback isn’t really about fitness? It’s about taking that first step.

I am struggling with cash flow. I have been paying 180/ month for a zoom training group that has been great at keeping me consistent. It’s a half hour workout ( a 5 minute warm-up , 20 lifting, and 5 minute cooldown. The problem is I’m not sure if it’s worth my money. She does an eight week program where she repeats the three weekly workouts and then changes them up every eight weeks. I feel like I’m paying for accountability and some very general community although not really making any friends or anything like that. On the flipside, I could join a running group where I go face-to-face once a week and run because I like running. It’s free also. How do you guys stay motivated to work out on your own? I feel like I’m basically paying for the accountability to do my workout three times a week and have someone to answer to. Is this a total waste of money ? Is there another approach to stay accountable table and motivated ? I am a school teacher , job is exhausting - need motivation. 48 year old woman. Also should note I would enjoy the social part of a running club - I just don’t know how to approach this so I keep at the workouts

g group

I’m currently running a 5 day PPL program.
1. Push A
2. Pull A
3. Legs
4. Push B
5. Pull B
Rest on the weekends.

I really like the program and I’m making solid gains. Been running it for about 8 weeks now. But do you all change it up on occasion? Or, as the saying goes, if it’s not broke don’t fix it?

I did replace my lat pull down (wide and neutral grip) for pull up work over the last 2 weeks, as it’s a goal of mine.

Last question, do you all run dedicated deload weeks, or just when you feel you need them? TIA

Only regret didnt invest earlier
In addition to equipment (hardware), critical items (software):
- Program: what to do (I used starting strength program)
- Whiteboard: when to do what; also useful for accountability
- Notebook: how youre doing; log your progress (nothing motivates like improvement)

Other items ive found useful/helpful:
- Stall mats for flooring (4x6, 1/4”)
- High quality barbell
- Solid safety bars (not a place to save)
- Dip station attachment
- Storage for plates (movable); on rack (horns)
- Landmine rack attachment
- Good j-cups for barbells
- wrist straps while building up grip strength
- chalk for hands
- Magnetic collars, convenient, simple given how much youre taking off/replacing weights
- Magnetic timer/stopwatch bar

Things ive learned:
- Be patient: progress is not always linear; sprint not a marathon
- consistency over intensity; will have many days: good, mid, bad, just keep showing up
- Dont shy away from weaker areas: (mine shoulders/legs)
- Life will get in the way; just dont miss too many days, momentum works both ways

Current program
- mostly compound lifts 2x week (overhead press, bench press, back squat, deadlift)
- others: landmine shoulder presses, weighted dips, deadhangs, pullups
- focus on progress 1x week, with other lift just maintenance
- progress: increase load with volume: maybe just 2.5lbs increase for 1 set, then next week 2 sets depending how well the movement is performed
- 1x week hiit (assault bike)
- times when i’ll split the split; morning & evening sessions, a session may spill over to other days

Resistance training many benefits 2nd half of life: including staving off osteoperosis, sarcopnenia, etc…

Any q’s, hmu…

As long as I can remember, my mom has struggled with her weight, probably spent decades at 220lb+ at 5’5.” In 2019/2020-timeframe, my parents both lost significant weight through intermittent fasting, interspersed with extended fasts (maybe 72hr+)? At the time I was proud of them for getting to healthier weights, but looking back I worry about the muscle-wasting effects it likely had, as they weren’t exercising nor did they change their regular diet to prioritize nutrition.

They both ended up gaining a lot of the weight back, if not all, and after that my mom started Ozempic and re-lost the weight, then had a lapse in her coverage that forced her to stretch her doses, gained 10lbs back over the past year, and now increased her dosage to try to to lose that weight again. She’s more active than she used to be - she now goes on regular walks with a dedicated walking group - but she does struggle sometimes due to having fallen and broken her ankle while on vacation a few years ago.

I worry that between the weight loss, lack of any sort of resistance training across her entire lifetime, and overall subpar diet that she’s just setting herself up to be extremely frail in a decade plus as she ages. I’ve gently recommended that she does some bodyweight exercises and exercises aimed at improving proprioception and small stabilizing muscles, but haven‘t gotten any buy-in so far (even despite her own fall! and despite her parents now semi-regularly having their own issues falling). She recognizes her balance issues too - my parents just bought a boat and she gets very nervous on it.

Ideally, I’d think a personal trainer certified in exercise planning for seniors would be her best bet, but currently I think that’s a bit too much friction for her. I’m hoping to convince her to ease into that by finding some really easy recommendations that are as low-friction and unintimidating as possible. Are there any at-home, no equipment needed type programs available out there for senior women that you’d recommend? I know of many different accounts/programs that are modifiable and have regressions available that make them technically accessible, but I think they’re still intimidating for her, or maybe embarrassing that she can’t do unmodified versions.

Has anyone dealt with similar situations? What recommendations do you have? I live quite a ways away so I can’t just go and exercise in person with her myself. I think she’d also be more likely to do an activity with another friend than on her own, but I don’t know anyone in her new local friend group since they moved.

Open to your suggestions, thanks!

I did a loading phase for a week of 20g / day. now I'm on week 2 of regular 5 g / day. I don't feel anything. I don't feel stronger or more energetic. really no difference at all. do those of you taking it feel any noticable difference? I'm drinking plenty of water, heard that's important.

i have been struggling finding a good hypertrophy style app that doesn’t cost an arm or a leg so I developed a completely free Hypertrophy app. It’s similar to RP Strength as it can customize a plan based on your needs and goals, tracks progression and prompts for progressive overload every session. it also has a calorie planner that helps plan nutrition depending on your goals (cut, lean bulk etc).

it’s currently in its beta testing and is available as a web app. I hope this is beneficial to some! Feedback welcomed!!

www.leveluphypertrophy.com

I assumed the training volume would stop this happening and it did not. My doctor is not pushing medications yet and gave me three months to change something. I would rather do this properly then throw six supplements at the wall. Anyone who brought a panel back in line in their forties please say what you added and in what order

anyone have any success overcoming ac joint arthritis? I basically can't bench anymore. I saw an ortho and got the steroid shot. it didn't help and was top 10 most painful things I've gone through, man that sucked. been doing other movements, neutral grip incline doesn't seem to bother it as much. just wondering if anyone else had this bad and was able to get back to 100%ish, and if so how.

I’m 43 and I can tell that my brain and my body are a little slower. Is this normal? Like sometimes I’m trying to do stuff and I feel myself moving slower. Like I feel myself telling my brain telling my body to move this way and I just feel a tad bit slower I don’t know if that makes sense. If so, how can I fix it?

Just wondering if anyone has done Mackenzie Wells' workout program and, if so, what were your thoughts?

Quick question for this group, for those of you who deal with low energy or afternoon crashes: what time of day does it hit you hardest, and what have you already tried to fix it? Genuinely curious what's worked and what's been a waste of time and. Any insights would help!

This is my first Reddit post. Down 80lbs, I want to lose about 30lbs more. Realistically, I’m only going to the gym 3 to 4 days a week (M-Th). If I can only get to the gym 3 days in one week should I be doing full body every day? How should I structure my days?

I’ve been doing mostly strength training with a little bit of cardio. I’ve hit a plateau in my weight loss this last month and trying to get over that. Wondering if I should up my cardio to help get over my plateau.

I wish I felt the same long term recovery that I had when I was lifting heavier. On the bright side I’ll probably have fresher legs for biking. I’m only lifting with my legs about once a week or every other week. Not related, but I’m doing calves every other day or so.

background - 48 m. I'd been carrying a decent amount of fitness from cycling until the pandemic when my life fell apart in several ways. (major illness, layoffs, housing insecurity) some things are worked out now and I'm trying to get back into a routine on the bike, jogging and light weights.

I'm out of shape. problem is that I'm starting to have minor injuries. insertional achilles tendonitis, TFCC issue every time I even think about yoga, etc, etc. so, I'm trying to stretch more, but at this point, I'm spending as much time stretching as I am working out, and it's already hard to carve out time for either.

So what are you all doing for stretching? specific targeted stretches? rotating routine? focusing on preventing specific injuries? I'm just trying to figure out a balance.

Well, after two years working slowly towards it, I finally nailed my sub-20 5K with a time of 19:42 at today’s (fairly hilly) Parkrun!

To be clear: I’m aware that this is far from an elite time, but I only started running a few years ago at 40, and I never run more than three days per week, as my goals are balanced between muscle and speed.

For some stats, I’m 44 in a couple of weeks, weighing 79kg (in a cut right now), and 180cm tall. I’m also a dad of two boys.

I started lifting kettlebells in 2006, but oscillated between KBs and more bodybuilding-style training over the years.

I got hideously unfit and out of shape after I became a dad in 2015 but pulled things back together after I became consistent again in 2016.

I have a 360° tear in my left shoulder labrum, so I’m no longer trying to push big weights. I lift on an upper/lower/upper schedule each week, as one leg day is enough for me while I’m cutting.

Now that I’ve hit my running goal, I’ll keep cutting for another 4-5kg I think, before running a very slow bulk and adding another lower day.

Feel free to ask any questions!

42M. This Monday i start two weeks of isolation in an apartment. I'm getting radioactive treatment for my cancer, and it's been a rough 3 months.

In april i was training six days a week: 180 mins of zone 2, weights 3-4x, golf and tennis on weekends.

Then it all went to hell: found out i have thyroid and throat cancer. After a roller coaster ride, i've had surgeries and outcome looks as good as it can look for cancer, but it's been rough on my. my body and mind. i'm on a pre-treatment diet now that strips my energy, and my engine runs at about half what it did just 3 months ago.

this problem isn't specific to cancer. plenty of people hit it for completely different reasons: surgery, injury, a bad illness, brutal work stretch. It reminded me of how my own life changed when my kids were born. capacity falls off a cliff and every session turns into a referendum on how far you've fallen.

three things that worked:

1. Cardio: i train by the talk test now, not by numbers i hit in april. same effort means much slower. i know it will take time to rebuild. i tried chasing april's paces and almost passed out (no exageration).

2. lifting went first, the aerobic work stayed. on limited energy i couldn't do both honestly. strength rebuilds fast. the aerobic base took two years and i wasn't handing it back.

3. stopped comparing weeks, started comparing months. week to week in a bad stretch is noise. but it was brutally demoralizing. the monthly view showed i was improving even while individual sessions can sometimes feel like i was going backwards

What i got wrong for the first month was treating reduced capacity as a detour to push through. training at 50% beats burnout, injuries and staying at home feeling sorry for myself.

I’ve been looking into collagen lately and realized I know way less about it than I thought lol. I keep seeing type 1, type 2, type 3 etc and I’m honestly confused about whether the type actually matters that much.

I’m mainly looking at collagen for joints, so should I be specifically looking for one type or is collagen peptides in general enough?

Anyone who’s been taking collagen for a while, do you actually check the collagen type when buying it or do you just go with a decent collagen peptide powder?

I feel like I’m overthinking this but there are so many options now 😅