Why Doing Less Helped Me Build More Muscle After 40
There was a time in my life when I thought training harder was always the answer.
I’d hit the gym 5,6 even 7 days a week. Some sessions lasted over two hours. I figured if I just did more, I’d build more muscle. But here’s what really happened:
My strength stalled.
My muscle gains dried up.
I was constantly tired and wired.
My sleep was a mess.
My libido dropped.
No matter how much I ate, I couldn’t make progress.
I was lucky not to get injured, but I was definitely burnt out.
It wasn’t until I started doing less that things began to turn around. By cutting back and focusing on recovery, I actually put on more muscle, got stronger on all my big lifts, and felt more capable than I had in years.
The lesson? Training is a stressor, and without recovery, your body can’t adapt.
Recovery Is Where the Growth Happens
Training stresses your muscles, hormones, and nervous system. Growth happens when you give your body the space to bounce back stronger. That’s why most major organisations recommend leaving at least 48 hours before training the same muscle group again [1].
Elite sports science shows the same thing: push too much intensity, volume, or frequency without enough recovery, and your risk of injury and illness skyrockets [2].. The principle is true for athletes and for busy men in midlife.
Sleep: The Ultimate Recovery Tool
Forget fancy supplements, sleep is the best recovery aid you’ve got.
The 2021 Sleep and the Athlete consensus shows poor sleep leads to worse performance, slower recovery, and higher injury risk [3]. Other studies echo this: short sleep means more injuries and slower healing [4,5].
What to do:
Aim for 7–9 hours in bed.
Keep a consistent wake time.
Wind down 30–60 minutes before bed (dim screens, stretch, breathe, keep the room cool).
It sounds simple, but for men in midlife, fixing sleep is often the missing link.
Active Recovery: Move, Don’t Park
A “rest day” doesn’t mean lying on the couch all day. Light movement helps you recover faster than doing nothing [6,7].
Walking is one of the best tools: it lowers stress, boosts mood, and even improves markers of recovery [8,9].
Try 20–40 minutes of easy walking on your non-lifting days, if possible, and head outside into green spaces. This isn’t cardio training, it’s recovery [6,10].
Breathwork: Fast-Track Your Nervous System
One of the quickest ways to shift from “fight or flight” into “rest and recover” is through your breath.
Slow, paced breathing (around six breaths per minute) has been shown to improve HRV and tilt your body into recovery mode [11,12].
Even five minutes a day helps. A 4-week trial found that daily cyclic sighing (two inhales through the nose, long exhale through the mouth) boosted mood and reduced stress better than meditation [13, 14].
Try it after training or before bed.
Sauna: Optional, but Powerful
If you like heat, a sauna can be a great recovery add-on.
Extensive studies show regular sauna use is linked to lower rates of heart disease and longer life [15].. Smaller studies suggest sauna after training can expand blood volume and improve endurance recovery [16,17].
If you’re cleared medically and tolerate heat well, try 20–40 minutes at 50–55 °C a few times per week. Stay hydrated and cool down gradually.
Overtraining: When More Becomes Less
A little planned overload (called functional overreaching) can push you forward. But too much without recovery leads to overtraining syndrome: fatigue, poor sleep, mood swings, and hormonal chaos that can last for weeks or months [3].
Research in resistance training shows clearly: when you push intensity and volume too far, strength and hormones both go backwards [16,17].
Red flags to watch for:
Always feeling tired or flat.
Poor sleep.
Mood dips or irritability.
Strength is dropping even on normal loads.
HRV trending down for a week or more [3].
A Simple Midlife Recovery Plan
Here’s how you might structure recovery around two full-body strength sessions per week:
Mon: Full Body 1 → Post: 5-min breathwork + 10-min easy walk
Tue: Recovery: 30–40 min walk outdoors + 10 min mobility
Wed: Optional Sauna + early night
Thu: Full Body 2 → Post: 5-min breathwork
Fri: Recovery: 20–30 min walk + 5–10 min mobility
Sat: Light activity: hike, surf, yard work
Sun: Recovery: wind-down routine + early to bed
This aligns with the 48-hour recovery guideline [1], incorporates daily movement, and utilises proven recovery levers such as sleep, breathing, and light activity.
Monitoring Without the Guesswork
To avoid slipping into burnout:
RPE/bar speed: if weights feel much harder than usual, scale back.
Mood/soreness: if you’re sore >6/10 for 3+ days, take a lighter week.
HRV (optional): a week-long downward trend can flag stress build-up [18].
Bottom Line
You don’t earn recovery, you plan it.
For men in midlife, recovery is the edge. Get your sleep right, space your training, move lightly on off days, use breathwork to calm the system, and maybe add sauna if it suits you.
Do this consistently, and here’s what happens:
Your lifts go up.
Your joints feel better.
You keep training hard into your 50s, 60s, and beyond.
I learned the hard way that more isn’t better. Smarter is better. And recovery is the real key to building muscle and strength after 40.
Ready to put the science into action?
You don’t need to figure this out on your own. At Midlife Mavericks, we specialise in helping men over 40 build strength, stay lean, and train in a way that works with their changing bodies.
You’ve got two powerful options:
✅ The Midlife Mavericks Team Program: a proven system designed specifically for men in midlife who want structured, time-efficient training that delivers results without wasting energy.
✅ Individualised Online Coaching: a fully personalised plan tailored to your goals, lifestyle, and training history.
