At 53, Bryan Krahn Is Ripped. He Shares the Smartest Way to Keep Making Gains After 50.

AFTER 50, LIFE might look a little different. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stop chasing gains. Just look at Bryan Krahn, the 53-year-old coach and creator of the Men's Health Max Muscle at 50 program. Krahn is still 210 pounds and jacked—but he acknowledges that maintaining his physique in this decade of life has required some training adjustments.

“The older you get, it’s strength that slowly filters out,” he says in the latest Strong Talk episode. “But even if you’ve never strength trained—especially if you’re at ground zero at 50—those newbie gains are still there, and they come fast no matter what age you are.”

Building muscle after 50 is all about training smarter, not always harder. For example, Krahn says his biggest priority now is to avoid getting hurt. Since dealing with a shoulder injury, Krahn has shifted to using machines to provide more controlled movements and safe resistance. The goal is to execute the movement well to engage the target muscle.

That doesn’t mean you should train with less focus when you’re older. Instead, train within your known limits. “Not what you used to do, not what you think you could do on a great day,” Krahn says. Take your known limits and subtract 10 percent of the weight. Exercise physiologist and strength coach Dr. Pat Davidson notes training heavy is very movement-specific and individual-specific. At 46, eight to 15 reps of hack squats are a sweet spot in building muscle and minimizing injury for Davidson compared with five heavy hack squats. Meanwhile, he goes harder on press exercises.

Krahn, Davidson, and MH fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., debunk further misconceptions about exercise after 50 in the episode. They also discuss the two muscle-building supplements that work (and what doesn’t), and the absolute minimum Krahn does daily for movement and food.