4 Training Habits a 50-Something Coach Uses to Keep Adding Muscle

The idea that building muscle after 50 is impossible is simply wrong. Online pessimists may claim testosterone drops, energy fades, and every workout leads to an aching back, but Bryan Krahn is living proof otherwise.

At 53, Krahn is as strong as he has ever been. The trainer behind MH’s Max Muscle at 50 program still trains four or five days a week and maintains a muscular 210-pound frame.

He doesn’t train exactly the way he did in his 20s, though. Over the past three decades, he has adjusted his priorities, backed off heavy bench pressing, and tested new approaches in the gym. Those years of trial and error helped him develop four post-50 training principles that can help lifters keep making progress for years without beating up their bodies. He shared those ideas, along with more, on MH’s Strong Talk podcast.

Lean on Machines

For years, Krahn, like most men, depended on dumbbells and barbells. But about a decade ago, those lifts began to wear on his joints. Since then, he has shifted toward training methods that reduce his injury risk. He says this is not about being overly cautious; avoiding injury is not the same as being afraid to train hard.

The solution for Krahn was partly taking some time off, but it also meant heading to a section of the gym many lifters overlook: the machine area. Dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells may be praised for building “functional” strength, but as people age, they do not always cooperate with aging joints. “Within four or five months, I have no pain, and I’m strong on these machines,” Krahn says. “Cables are indispensable as you get older.”

Machines let you move along fixed paths, which makes it easier to focus on producing maximum force with the target muscles. That matters for growth. “And if you’re a beginner, generating that force isn’t always easy with free weights,” says MH fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. “Adding one machine exercise near the end of a workout can ensure you get a chance to push your limits just a bit.”

Two good options are the cable row machine, which targets the back, and the leg press, which lets you challenge the hamstrings, glutes, and quads with a relatively heavy load.

There is another upside, too: machines may help make training enjoyable again. Krahn says they have brought back the fun he felt in the gym in his 20s. “I love going to the gym again,” he says.

Keep Exercise Variations in Play

Some lifts are so popular that they can feel mandatory, from barbell bench presses to back squats to barbell deadlifts. Krahn says they are not requirements.

He learned that lesson while training arms. He liked skull crushers, a triceps move that can be rough on the elbows, but he replaced them with triceps pressdowns and still built the size he wanted. He made a similar switch for biceps work, trading supinated dumbbell curls for hammer curls. “As soon as something feels off,” he says, “let’s try a variation.”

Exercise physiologist and strength coach Dr. Pat Davidson agrees. Many lifts people think are essential can be swapped out without issue. “So many people just get emotionally attached to an exercise,” Davidson says. “Don’t marry an exercise.”

Krahn also sees machines as especially helpful here. “It’s so difficult to get hurt on machines,” he says. “You can kind of unleash that side of yourself and really push into failure.”

The big takeaway: if a lift starts causing joint pain, look for another version right away instead of waiting.

Make Room for the Sled

These days, Krahn is thinking about more than muscle size. He also wants to preserve power. Muscles create force, but they also need to create it quickly, which matters when jumping, hopping, or starting to run.

Plyometrics can train that quality, but the body does not always tolerate the impact as well in later years. That is why Krahn likes sled pushes. He often uses them as a warmup, especially on upper-body days when he is focusing on push movements. Driving a weighted sled can work the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core, while also training triple extension, the coordinated straightening of the knee, hip, and ankle that is important for running and jumping.

Davidson says one of the best things about sled pushes is that they build power with relatively little injury risk. “Anytime you’re in a forward lean acceleration posture, it's much safer,” he says. “It’s almost a Smith machine of running.” A good starting point is two to three sets of 30-second sled pushes at the beginning of a workout.

Walking Is Non-Negotiable

If Krahn only has 15 minutes, he walks. It is a daily must for him. “I get a lot done in that 15 minutes,” he says. “I don’t lift weights every day, but I walk every day.”

There are plenty of reasons to build walking into a routine. For Krahn, it offers a mental reset and helps him step away from responsibilities. It also keeps the body moving and cuts down on sedentary time.

At 50 and beyond, fitness is not always about going hard. Walking keeps the body active in a joint-friendly way, even when you are tired, while also burning a few extra calories. Daily walking can also help lower the risk of heart disease, a concern at any age but especially for older adults.

“Right now, that’s the number one killer in the US,” Mario Mejia, PT, DPT, a physical therapist at Next Play Physical Therapy & Performance, previously told MH. “Heart disease can happen anytime but as we age, physiologically there are differences in the heart, lungs, and bone structure.”

More than anything, Krahn’s approach offers a blueprint for building muscle and shedding fat well into later adulthood. His full Max Muscle at 50 program includes even more guidance.

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