Build Strength. The Muscle Will Take Care of Itself.
“With regard to the routine of training, I again repeat, my idea is not to develop muscle at the expense of either health or strength.” -Arthur Saxon
At some point the fitness industry convinced everyone that bigger muscles were the goal. I tend to blame the modern bodybuilding industry, size at the expense of everything else. When you adopt the “bigger is better” mindset, you start drifting away from health. The old-time strongmen understood something we seem to have forgotten: strength and health go hand in hand.
For the younger crowd, enamored with the influencers flooding social media, getting huge at the expense of health may seem fine. But for those of us north of 50, the priorities should shift.
Instead of asking:
“How can I get bigger?”
A better question is:
“How can I get stronger?”
Because when strength goes up, the body tends to take care of the muscle part on its own.
Strength Is the Signal
Muscle exists to produce force.
If you consistently ask your body to produce more force; by gradually lifting heavier weights; it will adapt by building and maintaining the muscle required to do that job.
This is one of the most reliable biological feedback loops in training.
Get stronger → your body keeps the muscle needed to express that strength.
It’s a very different approach from chasing hypertrophy for its own sake, where the goal becomes accumulating more and more muscle regardless of whether it actually improves function.
The Problem With Chasing Size Forever
Hypertrophy training certainly has its place. Some muscle mass is protective as we age. But the modern obsession with continuous size gain can become counterproductive.
More muscle mass means:
• More stress on joints
• Higher recovery demands
• Greater systemic fatigue
• Often higher bodyweight than is ideal for long-term health
At 25 you can sometimes get away with smashing yourself daily and shitty recovery practices. At 50, that bill eventually comes due.
Strength training, on the other hand, tends to self-regulate better. You’re not trying to endlessly add tissue. You’re trying to improve the efficiency and output of the tissue you already have.
Strength Preserves Muscle
One of the biggest fears people have as they age is muscle loss. The reality is that muscle isn’t lost simply because of age. It’s lost because the body no longer needs it.
If you continue training for high levels of force production by pushing lifts like heavy squats, presses, and pulls; you’re giving your body a reason to keep that muscle around.
In other words:
Muscle sticks around when it’s useful.
Strength training keeps it useful.
The Look Takes Care of Itself
When you train primarily for strength, you still build muscle. It just tends to be the amount you actually need. You end up with dense muscle that enhances real-world function, instead of chasing endless increases in size that may or may not improve performance or health.
Many of the strongest lifters and grapplers in their 40s, 50s, and beyond look solid and athletic without appearing overly bulky. They didn’t get there by chasing the pump. They got there by progressively getting stronger over decades.
What This Looks Like in Practice
For lifters over 50, strength-focused training might look like:
• Lower rep ranges on the main lifts
• Gradual progression of load over time
• Moderate total training volume
• Plenty of recovery between hard sessions
You still get muscular stimulus, but the goal isn’t fatigue, it is force production and load progression. Essentially getting stronger this year than you were last year. Then, to quote the band 100 Demons, repeat process.
“If you want to be strong, you must train with heavy weights.” -Doug Hepburn
Strength Is a Longevity Strategy
Strength is one of the most powerful predictors of health as we age. Grip strength, leg strength, and overall force production correlate strongly with independence, mobility, and quality of life.
In other words, strength isn’t just about lifting weights, it’s about maintaining capability. This is the heart of Strengthspan.
And if you keep chasing strength, the body will usually keep the muscle it needs to support it. No spray tan or posing oil required.
The goal isn’t just to look strong.
It’s to still be strong twenty years from now.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s article and until next time, stay strong and healthy!
I Love reading your stuff so much because it resonates with my own experience...please keep your articles going and stay strong and healthy
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