By Marcus Green | GYM HIGH | 23 October 2026
I’ve been training for most of my life. Bodybuilding, strength training and martial arts have all played a part in it. At 47, I still enjoy getting under a barbell, working hard and seeing what my body can do.
But I don’t train the way I did twenty years ago.
Back then, progress often meant one thing: more weight. If I could lift 100kg, the next target was 105kg. Then 110kg. I was always looking for the next number.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to get stronger. I still do.
What I’ve learned is that adding weight isn’t always the best way to move forward. Sometimes it’s better to improve the quality of a movement, change an exercise or accept that your body needs a different approach.
My shoulder taught me that lesson particularly well.
When My Shoulder Changed the Way I Trained
After years of lifting, I experienced problems around my shoulder and rotator cuff.
If you’ve ever dealt with shoulder discomfort while training, you’ll know how frustrating it can be. Exercises that once felt completely natural can suddenly become difficult. A movement you’ve performed hundreds of times might no longer feel right.
My first instinct was to think about how I could get back to training normally.
Eventually, I realised that returning to exactly the same approach wasn’t necessarily the answer.
I had to reconsider how I trained.
Instead of focusing on how much weight I could press, I began paying closer attention to how my shoulder responded to different movements. I became more willing to adjust exercises, reduce unnecessary loading and work within a comfortable range.
I also stopped treating a lighter session as a wasted session.
Over time, my shoulder function improved, and I was able to train more comfortably again.
I wouldn’t claim that changing my training cured a particular rotator cuff injury. Shoulder problems have different causes, and recovery isn’t the same for everyone.
But the experience changed how I think about exercise.
I learned that forcing a movement simply because you’ve always done it isn’t a good reason to keep doing it.
Sometimes changing the exercise is the smartest form of progress.
You Can Build Muscle Without Chasing Personal Bests
One of the biggest mistakes I see in strength training is treating the weight on the bar as the only measure of improvement.
Imagine you’re bench pressing 80kg for eight repetitions.
A month later, you’re still using 80kg, but you’re performing ten controlled repetitions with a consistent range of motion.
That’s progress.
Or perhaps you’re using slightly less weight, but you can now perform an exercise more comfortably and with better control.
That can be useful progress too, particularly when you’re managing a previous injury or rebuilding confidence in a movement.
Of course, heavier loads remain valuable, especially when maximum strength is the goal.
But muscle growth and physical performance respond to more than load alone.
The American College of Sports Medicine’s 2026 position stand, which brought together 137 systematic reviews involving more than 30,000 participants, found that resistance training improves strength, muscle size and several measures of physical performance.
The research also supports using different training approaches depending on the outcome you’re trying to achieve.
That’s something I’ve come to appreciate more as I’ve gained experience.
I still lift heavy when it makes sense. I simply don’t feel the need to prove my strength in every workout.
Learning to Work With Your Body
There’s a difference between training hard and training without paying attention.
Training hard means challenging yourself with a clear purpose.
Training without paying attention means ignoring what your body is telling you because you’ve already decided how much weight you should lift.
Those two approaches can look similar from the other side of the gym.
Over the years, I’ve become more interested in choosing exercises that give me the intended training stimulus without unnecessary discomfort.
For example, if a particular pressing movement irritates your shoulder, there may be another variation that allows you to train the same general muscle groups more comfortably.
That doesn’t mean one exercise is automatically safer for everyone. What works depends on the individual, their movement capacity and any underlying problem.
The point is to be flexible.
You don’t have to abandon strength training because one movement isn’t working for you.
And you don’t need to force a painful exercise to prove that you’re still capable of lifting heavy.
If shoulder pain persists, worsens or significantly limits movement, professional assessment matters. The NHS recommends keeping the shoulder moving appropriately while avoiding activities that aggravate symptoms, rather than trying to push through with heavy equipment.
What Martial Arts Taught Me About Strength
Training in martial arts gave me a different perspective on physical performance.
In bodybuilding, it’s easy to concentrate on muscle size, symmetry and the amount of weight you can move.
Martial arts demand other qualities as well.
Coordination, balance, mobility, timing and conditioning all matter. Being strong is useful, but strength alone doesn’t make someone a well-rounded athlete.
That experience influenced how I view weight training.
I don’t think every workout needs to be about building the biggest possible muscles or lifting the heaviest weight.
Sometimes the objective is to improve a movement. Sometimes it’s to build physical capacity that supports another activity.
If you’re combining weight training with martial arts, running or another demanding sport, you also need to think about the total workload.
A hard leg session might be perfectly manageable on its own. Add an intense martial arts session the following day, and the situation changes.
That’s why I prefer looking at the whole training week rather than judging each workout in isolation.
Your training should support the things you want your body to do.
Recovery Is Something I Take More Seriously
I don’t believe that turning forty suddenly makes you old.
And I certainly don’t believe you need to stop lifting heavy weights because you’ve reached a particular birthday.
But after decades of training, I’ve become more conscious of the relationship between workload and recovery.
Years ago, I was more likely to judge a session by how exhausted I felt afterwards.
Now I’m more interested in whether the session helped me improve and whether I can maintain that standard over time.
If I’m constantly carrying fatigue into the next workout, something needs attention.
That might be training volume, sleep, nutrition or the way sessions are arranged.
Sometimes the answer is to push harder. Sometimes it’s to change the programme.
I don’t automatically assume I need additional rest simply because I’m 47. Recovery varies between people, and age is only one factor.
Instead, I look for patterns.
If my performance is improving, I’m sleeping reasonably well and I’m managing the workload, there’s no reason to change everything.
If progress stalls and fatigue keeps building, I take another look at the plan.
Being consistent doesn’t mean refusing to make adjustments.
Nutrition After 40: Focus on What Actually Matters
Having spent years around training and sports supplementation, I’ve seen how easily people can become distracted by minor details.
They spend time comparing supplement ingredients while overlooking the basics of their diet.
For muscle development and recovery, sufficient protein, adequate energy intake and consistent training deserve attention first.
The International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends around 1.4 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily for most exercising individuals looking to build or maintain muscle.
For an 80kg person, that means approximately 112 to 160 grams of protein per day.
It’s a useful reference, not a rule that everyone must follow regardless of their circumstances.
A combination of ordinary foods can provide that protein. Meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, beans and other protein-rich foods all contribute.
Protein supplements can make things more convenient, particularly when work or training makes regular meals difficult.
But a protein shake doesn’t make up for an inconsistent diet.
The same principle applies to other supplements.
For a closer look at how different ingredients fit into a training routine, our guide to strength and recovery supplements explains the evidence behind common options.
Creatine monohydrate has substantial research supporting its use for repeated high-intensity exercise and resistance-training performance. That doesn’t make it a replacement for sensible programming, good nutrition or recovery.
I prefer supplements that serve a clear purpose.
If I can’t explain why something belongs in a routine, it’s worth questioning whether it’s needed.
You Don’t Need to Train Like You Did at 25
This is probably one of the hardest adjustments for people who have trained for a long time.
You remember what you used to lift.
Maybe you were stronger in a particular exercise ten years ago. Maybe you could train more frequently without thinking much about how the sessions fitted together.
It’s tempting to compare every workout with those years.
But that comparison isn’t always useful.
The goal should be to make progress from where you are today.
At 47, I still want to get stronger and maintain muscle. I want to train hard, enjoy martial arts and stay physically capable.
Those goals haven’t disappeared.
What has changed is the way I pursue them.
I’m less interested in lifting a particular number simply because I once lifted it.
I’d rather train consistently, move well and keep improving the qualities that matter to me now.
There’s nothing wrong with ambition. You just need to make sure your training serves it.
How I’d Approach Strength Training After 40
If I were advising someone with a similar training background, I’d focus on a few practical principles.
1. Keep challenging your muscles
Don’t assume that getting older means every workout should become easy.
Resistance training remains valuable throughout adulthood. The challenge needs to match your goals, experience and physical condition.
2. Use more than one measure of progress
Track your weights, but also pay attention to repetitions, movement quality, training consistency and how comfortably you’re performing exercises.
3. Choose exercises that work for you
You don’t have to keep an exercise in your programme simply because it’s popular.
If something repeatedly causes discomfort, reassess it and seek professional guidance where appropriate.
4. Consider your total training workload
If you lift weights, practise martial arts and do conditioning work, all of those activities contribute to fatigue.
Plan your week accordingly.
5. Give nutrition and sleep the attention they deserve
Sufficient protein, enough overall food and adequate rest make it easier to support your training.
Supplements can help with specific needs, but they don’t replace the fundamentals.
6. Think beyond the next workout
A training programme should help you improve over months and years.
There’s little value in pushing so hard today that you repeatedly struggle to train tomorrow.
Starting Again After a Long Break
Someone returning to weight training after several years away faces a different challenge from an experienced lifter who has never stopped.
The enthusiasm might still be there, but their current conditioning may not match what they remember.
My advice would be to start with a manageable workload.
Choose a few fundamental movement patterns, build consistency and gradually increase the challenge.
You don’t need an advanced bodybuilding split or six training days to make meaningful progress.
The ACSM’s updated research supports the benefits of resistance training across a range of programme designs. Even relatively straightforward routines can improve strength and muscle function.
For someone returning after a break, building a habit that lasts is more valuable than trying to recreate their hardest ever workout in the first week.
And if a previous injury is affecting your ability to train, get it assessed rather than guessing at the cause.
The Biggest Lesson I’ve Learned
Looking back, my shoulder problems changed more than my choice of exercises.
They challenged the idea that I always needed to do more.
More weight. More sets. More intensity.
For a long time, those things felt closely connected to progress.
Now I see them as tools. Useful tools, certainly, but not goals in themselves.
Training has been part of my life for decades, and I want it to stay that way.
I still enjoy the feeling of a demanding session. I still want to lift heavy weights when appropriate. And I still care about building muscle and staying strong.
But I no longer judge a workout entirely by the number on the bar.
If changing an exercise means I can train more comfortably and consistently, I’ll make that change.
If a lighter session fits my goals better, I don’t see it as a failure.
And if progress comes from an extra repetition rather than another plate, I’m happy with that.
At 47, I’m not looking for ways to prove that I can train like I did at 25.
I’m interested in training in a way that will still make sense when I’m 60.
To me, that’s what training smarter really means.
Research and further reading
- Currier BS et al. (2026). American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand: Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41843416/ - Jäger R et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Protein and Exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5477153/ - NHS. Shoulder Pain: Symptoms, Self-Care and When to Seek Help.
https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/shoulder-pain/ - NHS inform. Exercises for Shoulder Problems.
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/muscle-bone-and-joints/arm-shoulder-and-hand-problems-and-conditions/exercises-for-shoulder-problems/
About the Author
Marcus Green is a UK-based sports nutrition writer for GYM HIGH, with decades of practical experience in strength training, bodybuilding, martial arts and sports supplementation.
At 47, his writing draws on a lifetime of training, including lessons learned from adapting his workouts around shoulder problems.
He combines practical experience with published research to help readers make informed decisions about training, performance and nutrition.