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Blog Training Workouts

What’s the Best Body Part Split if You’re Over 40?

If you’re like me you love training. Not “get in shape with step class” kind of training, but bodybuilding style training that puts muscle on your frame. (Nothing wrong with step class, just not my cup of tea). I love the pump from blood, I love pushing myself, and I love the discipline. But this love can, and has gotten me into trouble in the past.

Coming back before recovering, doing too much, and training too frequently are just a few of the traps that my love of training has thrown me into. I sometimes get too overzealous and end up over trained and risk injury. I’ve learned from my mistakes (which I’ll never take back) so you don’t have to.

I want to break down body part split training for us dudes over 40. Is it any different? Should some things remain the same? Are you getting all you can out of your split?

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Blog Motivation

How Do You Learn About Fitness?

The word fitness is both a simple and highly technical concept. I’m not about to get into an in-depth philosophical discussion on opinions, attitudes, and scientific wormholes, but I do want to mention a few traps we get into and then help to simplify things for you to actually use and to put into action.

I use this same method with my own perspective on fitness so I hope you can at least see a few things in a different light. If we can just shift our paradigm a bit away from what fitness has evolved into and get back to what it really should be used for then we’ll finally be on the long term road to success.

So how do you learn about fitness?

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Blog Motivation Training

Can I Get Real Physique Results After 40?

I’ll get straight to it. You can make real over 40 physique results. At (currently) 45 I am living proof. Let’s go over a few things to consider when designing, or modifying a training program so you can stay or start on the road to progression after 40.

As I always say, the first thing is to adopt the right mindset. From here on out we’ll be talking only in the realm of possibility. No, the goal isn’t to build 50 pounds of muscle or get into 2% body fat type shape. It’s to get a little better each and every day, one small step at a time in our own over 40 world.

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Blog Training Workouts

Intense Home Leg Training for Muscle (No Equipment)

I, like so many others out there, have been experimenting with at-home bodyweight training. And, like so many, I have little-to-nothing to use regarding real training equipment. I have a pack of bands, but that’s about it. I’ve relied on common household stuff to piecemeal my training.

Now I’m a bit of a meathead. I like getting in a good ole fashioned intense workout at the local gym so shifting to at-home training was and is a bit of a change in mindset. I started out experimenting. A lot. I didn’t want to relegate to a “fitness circuit.” I want to build or at least maintain muscle mass.

Instead I see this as a challenge. How do I put together a lower body workout that can, at the very least, maintain my current physique or maybe even improve it?

So I’ve gone into this with an open mind and new possibilities and I think I’m on to something.

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Blog Nutrition

Nutrition Ideas For Stressful Times

During any stressful time it seems that nutrition goes out the window. Our minds get preoccupied in survival mode and we seek comfort, normalcy, and a fix to our current dilemma. That’s okay. Our lives will ebb and flow and it’s up to us how we react.

When my family’s house flooded in 2016 and we found ourselves stranded in our car in a supermarket parking lot for a night my six pack was the last thing on my mind. My brain was in survival mode. I was in overdrive trying to figure out where to go, how we were getting there, and if we had enough food.

Over time my mind settled. I ended up doing what everyone else was doing: eating snack/junk food at length. It was easy, available, and convenient. I got to a point where I knew I needed to get into a new routine. I thrive on routine so it was imperative to start soon. Below are a few pointers on what I implemented during that period and how you can too.

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Blog Motivation

Battle Plans

When I was in the military most of the time was peacetime. During that peacetime we trained, drilled, and prepared for the inevitable deployment or activation. Of course during activations we were high-tempo and used to change, but during the lag times we didn’t lay idle. We were always in prep mode. And this point is the most important.

If you find yourself in a situation where you are weeks or even months from taking action on something significant in your life the “idle” time before shouldn’t be seen as idle at all.

I remember going through chemotherapy for 8 1/2 months. At first I was training in the gym a few days per week, but once the chemo dug in and accumulated in my system I had to forego gym time and simply stay healthy. It was a defining moment. So, how do you use this lag time to your advantage?

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Blog Training Workouts

At-Home Minimal Leg Workout

Let’s wrap up this at-home series with a challenging lower body workout. If you’re like me (40-plus) you’ve taken to a few machines for an effective leg workout. Over the years of heavy squats and leg presses taking their toll, however, I’ve resorted to smarter training. I do think a little at-home training can expose us to interesting and inventive ways to effectively train with what we have.

At-home leg training is particularly tricky without so many machines available in the gym. So let’s get creative. Like the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.

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Blog Training Workouts

At-Home Minimal Shoulder and Arm Workout

We continue our at-home minimal workouts with a shoulder and arm day. The chest and back workout was simple and to the point. The trick is to not overthink any of this. If you’re training at home temporarily with the thought of getting back to the gym in a few weeks then these workouts will get you through. They may even shock your body a bit into new strength and growth. You never know really.

Here we’ll be tackling shoulders and arms with very minimal equipment. Mainly stuff you can find around the house and possibly some bands. So let’s get to it!

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Blog Training Workouts

At-Home Minimal Chest and Back Workout

Little-to-no equipment? Sometimes I find myself in the same situation. Whether it’s trying to get through a disaster or deployed with the military I’ve always tried my best to make something from virtually nothing.

Below is a super simple, minimal equipment, at-home chest and back workout. It uses some household equipment I bet you have plus I’ve included some optional things to do to make things more challenging.

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Blog Training Workouts

High Rep Chest and Back Training: Massive Pump!

Okay, time to round-out this short series on my new adventure into high rep training. Here I’ll outline my chest and back routine using high rep sets. My shoulder and arm routine felt so great that I then applied it to my leg training. With those two routines I felt no shoulder, knee, or back strain and was able to have some seriously great workouts.

Now all we have left is chest and back training. As I’ve most-likely stated before, I’m a huge fan of training a few body parts in each session. I’ve never been a “chest on Monday” kind of guy. I’m still a big fan of the bodybuilders of the 60s and 70s and their training frequency so yeah, works for me.

Let’s break down what my last chest and back routine looked like and then I’ll jot down a few notes at the end.

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