At 40 you should still be able to make good progression with most exercises. But if you are not currently exercising simplicity will work best. If you’re like me when I hit 40 a six pack was no longer the ultimate goal! I still wanted to look trained but single figure body fat was not on the agenda, too much like hard work and sacrifice. Functional ability was now my priority. In comes strength training!

It’s important at this point to be aware strength training and bodybuilding are NOT the same animal. While some of the exercise used may seam the same the variables used are very different. So is the effect on the human body. Let have a look at some of those differences and how they may affect you.

• Reps – This is probably the most obvious difference. In bodybuilding this is commonly somewhere between 8 – 12 reps per set performed. The goal is to increase muscle cross section (hypertrophy), which is accomplished by fatiguing the muscle fibers. So the grow back thicker. In addition to this however, there is also an increase in water retention within the muscle, due to the increased glucose take up and also acute fatigue of the muscle.
  With strength training the rep range is much lower generally between 1 – 5 reps. As a result, stronger fast twitch muscle fibers still get thicker but there is little increase in carbohydrate storage as its not the prime energy source with low reps. there is also less muscle fatigue so no pumped up muscles, but you can still get big.
• Sets – Not as different as reps but with goal with bodybuilding is do more volume. So you would look to work up to 20 – 30 set per body part, compared to just 3 sets on a novice strength programme work up to 5 – 8 only as your body advances. Important to note here. The key trigger of what is know as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) is VOLUME not weight. So heavy lifting doesn’t have the same level of soreness associated with it.
• Tempo – Tempo is over rated and over used especially by those who call themselves functional trainers. The theory is make the rep slower to increase time under load. This should elicit greater hypertrophy, (or just do more reps to get the same result). My issue with slow training is it encourages the body to be (you guessed it) SLOW. Plus you can’t lift as heavy so you are comparatively weaker. In strength training you are encouraged to lift as fast as you can with good form and control. This will naturally be slower due to the weights being closer to your maximum. If the Olympic lifts are add to the strength programme speed will increase rather than decline.
• Training Frequency – Bodybuilders commonly workout 5 – 6 times a week with sessions lasting 1 to 2 hours or longer. Sorry, I’m in the gym all day and I haven’t got time for that. So anyone with a job or a life is gonna struggle. You can do weight training as little as once a week and still get results. Although 3 times a week is more optimal. Sessions starting at around 40 minutes and only working up to 1 and half hours after may months of uninterrupted training. Now that I can fit in to my busy week and still have a social life.

Summary

It’s obviously your call at the end of the day. But if you want a fitness programme the will not require you to give up your life, be in pain 24 hours after every workout and still improve ALL health markers, then strength training is the way forward. If you’re looking for a strength programme why not try my 14 day programme of free