How to Protect Your Joints and Build Strength After 40
By midlife, most men carry battle scars, sore knees, cranky shoulders, and stiff backs. The problem isn’t that you’re old or broken, it’s that you’re still trying to train like you did at 25. The solution isn’t to stop lifting heavy, but to lift smarter.
Science shows that strength training is one of the best tools for protecting joints, reducing injury risk, and maintaining movement quality into later life.
Here’s what the evidence says about training sustainably, without breaking down.
Emphasising Eccentric Training Phase
A training phase focusing on eccentric training is one of the most productive ways to build strength, increase lean muscle, prevent injury, and even improve flexibility.
The saying, "I'm going to the gym to lift some weights to gain strength and size”, should be "I'm going to the gym to lower some weights to gain strength and size” because the eccentric phase delivers better results.
I've just completed a phase of 5/4/3/2/1 strength, and now I will move into a new phase of emphasising eccentrics. I'll share my new strength program at the end of this post.