🏋️‍♂️ how to build serious muscle after 40

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Today's newsletter is sponsored by Lumen, the world's first portable device that measures your metabolism with a single breath. Head here to learn how Lumen can help you hit your fitness goals and get 15% off your order.

Here’s everything we have for you today:

• The basics of building muscle after 40

• Erin Stern’s two key hamstring builders

• Grip exercises for better performance

Muscle Building

When 40 Has Come and Gone

Building muscle after 40, despite what you might have heard, is not like spotting a Sasquatch in the wild. Dr. Eric Helms, a career natural bodybuilder, is living proof that it is possible to achieve (and build upon) middle-aged gains. In this interview, Dr. Helms, 41, details his entire journey through the sport of bodybuilding and medicine.

First, he wants you to understand that not a ton changes when you hit 40: muscle still gets built the old-fashioned way with hard work in the gym and effective cooking in the kitchen. If things aren’t as easy as before, then that’s not even a bad thing, is it? There is no reason to give up on your muscle-building goals just because 40 is in the rearview mirror. Let Dr. Helms guide you through the wilds of the great land of hypertrophy.

A Message From Lumen

Understand Your Metabolism

If you’ve been dieting, lifting weights, and doing cardio without seeing the results you want, you might be missing out on one key piece of the puzzle: your metabolism. And with Lumen, you can get a better understanding of your metabolism right at your fingertips. 

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• Complete macro breakdown that leads to improved metabolic flexibility, which is your body's efficiency in shifting between using fats and carbs

The result of all this data? More sustainable muscle growth and fat loss tailored to your individual needs and goals.

If you want to unlock the potential of your metabolism and start crushing your fitness goals, read more about Lumen here. Right now, BarBend readers will get an exclusive 15% discount on their purchase.

Exercise Tips

Hammy Time

Two-time Figure Olympia champion Erin Stern knows her stuff when it comes to lower body training. When it specifically comes to the hamstrings, Stern focuses her energy on these two intensely focused movements to build up the muscles of the upper legs.

Eschewing the need for dozens of junk movements, Stern selects one movement each for the hamstrings’ two distinct movement functions: bending the knee and straightening the hips. For Stern, these movements don’t necessarily need to be heavy, per se, and the intense pressure each puts on your muscles is the key here.

Hop off the hamstring curl machine and swap these two new exercises for a serious pump.

Workouts

If You Grip It, They Will Come

Having a strong grip isn’t a detriment to any sporting activity. Whether you want a bigger deadlift or just an improvement on your pre-meeting handshake game, these 10 ways to train grip will get you on track to straight-up crushing gains.

Classic grip builders like the farmer’s carry and rack pulls also offer huge bang-for-your-buck benefits to your overall strength and back size (but the difficulty of each also depletes you more). Mixing some simple towel pull-ups into your routine or throwing in some plate pinches in between sets can be a less fatiguing way of increasing your total grip training.

There is no excuse for having a weak grip, and remember, if you can’t hold it, you can’t pick it up.

Everything Else

Let the Games Begin

• The CrossFit Games officially get underway this week, so check out this page early and often as we provide event recaps, leaderboard updates, and much more!

• Oh, you want more event coverage? Then head here to get the latest updates from the 2024 Olympic weightlifting events in Paris. We’ll be updating this page and breaking down the action in real-time.

• We take a long, hard look at whey industry staple Premier Protein Powder and give an in-depth review.