Maintaining Muscle Mass After 40
So there seems to be this prevailing idea that, somehow or the other, as you get older, your testosterone levels are going to plummet and you’re going to lose all your muscles.
And people don’t understand how it’s possible for me to be able to, without using TRT, to have the physique that I have today.
And I’m about to turn 50 years old.
And honestly, hearing that makes me really, really sad.
It makes me sad because, number one, I’m not using TRT. And number two, it makes me sad because it makes me realize as well just how much people don’t realize what’s possible as a natural bodybuilder.
I train three days a week with workouts that last about 20 minutes each, and that’s it.
It’s high-intensity training, yes.
Which is how I’ve trained now for over 30 years, and it’s also the reason why I’m able to keep on training as heavy as I do, as hard as I do without injuries.
And most importantly, it’s not just me.
It’s also how I’ve trained hundreds of people over the past three decades as well.
Natural Bodybuilders Peak Between 45-55 Years Old
Now, that being said, not everyone trains the way I do, but the idea of you able to maintain this much muscle mass at this particular age isn’t that big of a deal in the natural bodybuilding world.
Most natural bodybuilders tend to peak somewhere between the ages of 45 to 55 years old, and that’s not some extraordinary accomplishment.
That’s just simply how it is.
Unfortunately, we don’t have enough examples of that.
So, what I’m here to do is to try to be an example, but also, more importantly, be an example of what you can achieve as well.
So stay tuned. We’ll talk a little more about this.
So in this video we’re talking about the fact that you don’t need TRT to have a fantastic physique as you get older.
And before I go any further, I’d like thank everyone for tuning in, especially those who say this should be one-stop place for anyone interested in training naturally without steroids or supplements.
Thanks so much for tuning in and do be sure to like, subscribe, and hit the bell as well so you’re first in line to get new content as it comes out.
Kevin Does Not Use TRT
So the TRT question. I have never used TRT.
And not only have I never used TRT, I’ve also never used steroids.
The Bar is Too Low Regarding Maintaining Muscle Mass Over 40
And I think, like I was saying before, that the problem is that the bar is far too low.
People keep on thinking that, somehow or the other, they can’t achieve a fantastic physique without using drugs, that they need some sort of a boost, that something is wrong, it has to be fixed.
That’s not how it is at all.
And unfortunately, in the current fitness atmosphere it tends to be that anyone who achieves an impressive physique or even maintains an impressive physique as they get older is, somehow or the other, on drugs or TRT and must be lying and can’t be truthful because it’s impossible to look the way they look.
Studies on Low Testosterone Among Men Over 40 Are Flawed
Further compounding the problem is the fact that all these studies finding reductions in people’s testosterone levels past their forties are done with the average population.
But what exactly is the average American population?
Bear in mind that more than half of the American population doesn’t engage in the amount of activity they need to, and 25% of them don’t do any form of activity whatsoever.
And the prevalence of being overweight and obesity is extremely high among adults over 40.
So that’s your average.
100% Adherence to Diet and Training Always Leads to Excellence
But here’s the thing, if you dedicated your life, not 90% or 80%, but 100% the way I have to eating a certain way, to training a certain way, to sleeping a certain way, to always being on point with the goal of trying to achieve a particular physique, if you did that, I am 100% sure that you would be exceptional.
You wouldn’t be kind of okay. You’d be exceptional.
So while genetics may be a factor in whether or not you look good enough to win every single natural bodybuilding competition you walk into, you’ll still be exceptional.
And people would, ironically, think that you’re on TRT or using steroids.
Because one of the things about natural bodybuilding is the fact that it takes decades.
Decades of work stacks up. It adds up.
You get better and better as you go along.
And it’s unfortunate that most people will train hard for a couple of months, they’ll eat well for a couple of weeks, but they don’t give it 100%.
And I think that’s the problem.
You don’t get to see very often what 100% looks like. And so when you see someone who has really made a commitment to excellence, it stands out. It looks like something that’s impossible, can’t be achieved. And my life’s work is to help people realize exactly what you can achieve naturally.
You don’t need drugs, you don’t need TRT, you don’t need supplements.
I don’t use any of those things and you don’t need it either.
What you need is hard work and time.
Why Most Quit Before They Realize Their Potential
And, even more, you also need an unshakable belief in yourself.
I can’t tell you what it was like at 125 pounds taking 11 years to get to a point where my body was in a place where I could step on a bodybuilding stage and feel like I belong there.
And 11 long years of not being good enough and still doing everything that you need to do to get there.
That’s how I began my bodybuilding career, and I’ve been doing it, like I said, now for over 30 years, nonstop.
In my entire life of all these years, I’ve never taken more than a week off of training, never.
If you did that too, you would also be at a very high level of excellence.
And the other problem is TRT.
Why You Don’t Need TRT As You Get Older
There are a lot of individuals who’ve come to me over the years and said that they spoke to a lifestyle doctor who said they had low testosterone levels and they were considering going on TRT.
If you go on TRT, understand it’s something that you’re going to have to do for the rest of your life.
And here’s the reality of it. Every single individual who ever came to me and said that they were having issues with low testosterone and were considering TRT, when I told them to, before they actually went ahead with it, to simply make sure they got at least seven to eight hours of sleep every single night, avoid all alcohol, and consume a diet of only unprocessed natural foods.
And some of them were training and some of them were not, but I had them all train three times a week with my high-intensity workouts that lasted only 10 to 15 minutes.
Now the N number here may be small because it’s four people I’m talking about.
But when they did that in every single case, they all came back and magically no longer had the problems with fatigue and the other issues that they were having because of what they perceived as low testosterone.
It’s lifestyle.
It’s not eating properly, it’s not getting enough sleep, it’s not training hard enough.
And often as well, training too much.
Our bodies are fantastic works of evolution and we don’t need anything outside of ourselves to be impressive.
And so I encourage each and every one of you to start thinking a little bit differently.
How to Change Your Mindset About What You Can Accomplish
Let’s change the paradigm.
Let’s change how we look at fitness in general.
When you see someone like me, it should be the same way runners were when they finally broke that four-minute mile.
What it did is it opened the door to make a lot of other runners out there say that if one person can do it, I can do it too.
And that’s the attitude we need to have.
The fact that I’m able to be where I am now approaching 50 is a door that should
be opening in your mind, making you realize exactly what you too can achieve.
But it does not come easily, and that’s why it tends to be so rare.
But as rare as it might be, there are lots of natural lifetime bodybuilders out there who are excellent examples of what can be achieved without drugs.
So I hope this video helps you believe a little bit more in yourself and thanks so much for tuning in.
And as always, Excelsior.
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