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Summary
On episode 506 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan walks through intermediate and advanced resistance training strategies for lifters over 40 who've plateaued after at least six months to a year of consistent training. He's upfront that this episode isn't for beginners: new trainees get plenty of benefit from basic full-body lifting, and adding this level of volume too early raises the risk of injury.
Everything comes back to one idea, volume: more sets, more reps, more weight, or more time under tension. Allan runs through splits, supersets and monster sets, time under tension, variable resistance, negatives, occlusion, and drop sets, explaining what each one is actually good for, strength, muscle mass, power, or endurance, so listeners pick the tool that matches their specific goal.
He ties it back to his own training for an upcoming Tough Mudder, where he needs grip strength, pulling power, and leg speed rather than muscle mass, and explains how that goal is reshaping which of these tools he's using and when.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- These advanced strategies are for intermediate and advanced lifters only, not beginners. If you haven't been training consistently for at least six months to a year, changing up exercises and sets and reps is enough; these tools carry a higher injury risk that isn't worth it yet.
- Everything comes down to volume: more work for the muscle, whether that's reps, sets, weight, or time under tension. The right way to add volume depends entirely on whether you're training for strength, muscle growth, endurance, or power.
- Splits let you add volume by training more days instead of longer sessions. An upper/lower split or a push/pull/legs split hits each body part about twice a week with more total sets than a single hour-long full-body workout could fit.
- Supersets and monster sets pack more volume into less time by cutting rest between exercises. Pairing opposing movements, like bench press and dumbbell rows, eliminates dead rest time, but Allan says the extra cardiovascular fatigue isn't for everyone.
- Time under tension builds muscle and strength by slowing the tempo, but it works against power training. A slower three-second-down, three-second-up rep forces more muscle fibers to fire, which is the opposite of what you want if you're training to move fast or sprint.
- Variable resistance, using bands, chains, or cambered machines, matches resistance to your body's actual leverage curve. A fixed dumbbell is easiest at your weakest point and hardest at your strongest; bands and chains flip that so resistance increases as your leverage improves.
- Negatives build strength fast, especially for pull-ups, but come with heavy next-day soreness and should be used sparingly. Allan limits negatives to the final set of an exercise rather than doing them throughout a workout.
- Occlusion training is rarely necessary for people over 40 and carries real risk if done wrong. Allan has used it himself while chasing muscle mass but doesn't recommend it for most listeners.
- Pick one strategy at a time, tied to a specific purpose, and manage the added volume responsibly. Allan's own Tough Mudder training is shifting toward power, grip strength, and leg speed rather than mass, because that's what the event actually demands.
“Injury is a very important thing. It's rule number one in resistance training. Do not injure thyself.”
Coach Allan
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