Cavaliere suggests strength training three to four times weekly with slow, controlled reps after 40.
Jeff Cavaliere is a highly respected fitness expert, physical therapist, and strength and conditioning coach known for his science-driven approach to fitness, bodybuilding, and health. As the founder of Athlean-X, Cavaliere provides science-based workout programs and supplements designed to help people move, perform, and look like athletes.
With years of experience, Cavaliere honed his expertise as an assistant strength coach, conditioning coach, and head physical therapist for the New York Mets. He has also authored numerous books on fitness, muscle building, and health, solidifying his reputation as a trusted authority in the field.
Now over 40, Cavaliere addresses a common challenge many men face as they age — building muscle mass. While some turn to testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) to see results, Cavaliere offers insights on how to build muscle naturally after 40. In this post, he shares his advice for achieving strength and fitness without relying on TRT.
Cavaliere on Building Muscle After 40 Without TRT
Jeff Cavaliere says he has a problem with medical doctors who make blanket statements that seem discouraging for people trying to build muscle. “You’re sick, you want to get better, that’s who you go to, but you want to kind of optimize your health, he’s not the right guy for that, and he’d be the first one to admit it,” Cavaliere said.
Comparison Between Joe Rogan & David Goggins
Jeff Cavaliere believes that we are setting ourselves up for failure by comparing ourselves to who we see. In old times, we looked at ourselves and trained in our basements. We celebrated our little progress, and we felt good about it. “You string together enough victories to feel motivated to keep going,” he stated.
However, these days, people don’t look at themselves to gauge their progression; they seek validation from others, which is very discouraging. The problem is they’re not just looking at Joe Rogan and David Goggins; they’re looking at regular people looking fantastic, and they get discouraged. “When regular people start to look really good, that becomes especially defeating,” Cavaliere noted. Cavaliere advises people to steer away from those comparisons.
According to Cavaliere, he believes that Joe Rogan has been openly honest about being on TRT. However, people would dwell on his use of TRT, and that’s an excuse not to train, forgetting that he’s on a rigorous training plan. He does things like Jiu-Jitsu and prioritizes his health, which accounts for his appearance.
“Whether or not the TRT is a factor of that, of course, it can enhance things, but it’s not the main reason or the only reason why.”
— Jeff Cavaliere
However, David Goggins claims to be 100% natural, which Cavaliere believes. According to Cavaliere, Goggins looks phenomenal, too, even at 50. This begs the question of whether one can look at that even after 40.
“How can we look like that? Well, it is possible. I’m here to tell all those out here that think it’s not possible that it 100% is, and the way to get there is to have a specific approach to training and nutrition,” Cavaliere said.
Training Approach After 40
According to Jeff Cavaliere, people looking to build muscle after 40 should prioritize the following.
Aim for Three to Four Strength Workouts Weekly
“If you can do four, I would do four. If you can only do three, I’d do three. If I was doing three, I’d be doing total body workouts. If I was doing four, I’d do a Monday and a Tuesday with a day off and then a Thursday and a Friday, and I split it up with upper and lower,” he stated.
Train for Both Strength & Hypertrophy
According to Cavaliere, some people don’t know the difference. He says hypertrophy is when one focuses on building muscle, while building strength is about becoming a stronger individual and moving more weight in space.
When you get older, your strength and muscle mass will be significant. “You’re going to need your strength because with each passing decade, you’re going to actually lose the ability to produce force and that can set you up for some disasters down the road,” he stated.
Maintaining muscle mass and increasing testosterone is also essential because, as sarcopenia sets in, you start to lose muscle mass. This makes you more frail and more susceptible to disease. “What I would do is I would try to separate those two workouts where one of my focuses in those workouts was to train more for strength by doing lower repetitions with heavier weights.”
If you’re looking to build muscle, Cavaliere says he would focus on slowing down reps even if you have to lower the weight. You could use four seconds of timing going up and four seconds coming down. Cavaliere also adds that training using a full range of motion is beneficial (1).
Conditioning
According to Jeff Cavaliere, you become less efficient metabolically as you get older. He further explains that you don’t burn as many calories as you used to quickly. If you want to keep the body fat away and maintain muscle mass, you might have to increase your cardio output (2).
Nutrition
Cavaliere says nutrition is the ultimate driver of body fat levels.
“If you want to be lean, you can accomplish it all through nutrition.”
— Jeff Cavliere
However, the most challenging thing for people to conquer is maintaining low body fat levels as they age. The first thing is because of the metabolic slowdown, and the second is what he calls the 23-in-1 concept. The 23-in-1 concept means there are 24 hours daily, one hour for the gym, and the remaining 23 hours to maintain proper nutrition.
Jeff Cavaliere’s advice for people on building muscles after 40 is to try not to focus too much on calories in and calories out. This is because focusing on that doesn’t necessarily keep the attention on the quality of those calories. He also says not to be “carbophobic,” which refers to starchy carbohydrates. Being carbophobic can set you up for an exclusionary-based diet, where you eliminate something completely. He suggests using portion size control for carbs instead.
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References
- Schoenfeld, B. J., & Grgic, J. (2020). Effects of range of motion on muscle development during resistance training interventions: A systematic review. SAGE open medicine, 8, 2050312120901559. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312120901559
- Bellicha, A., van Baak, M. A., Battista, F., Beaulieu, K., Blundell, J. E., Busetto, L., Carraça, E. V., Dicker, D., Encantado, J., Ermolao, A., Farpour-Lambert, N., Pramono, A., Woodward, E., & Oppert, J. M. (2021). Effect of exercise training on weight loss, body composition changes, and weight maintenance in adults with overweight or obesity: An overview of 12 systematic reviews and 149 studies. Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 22 Suppl 4(Suppl 4), e13256. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13256
