Essential Compound Lifts for Men Over 40: Maximize Gains, Minimize Time (No Excuses, Just Action!)

SMASH YOUR PLATEAUS AFTER 40: WHY YOU'RE NOT TOO OLD TO GET JACKED (AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT!)

Listen up, my bros and sisters of the iron! Kurt here.

And let me tell you something straight.

If you’re north of 40 and you're still whispering that pathetic lie—"my best gains are behind me"—then you’re not just wrong.

You’re actively.

Aggressively.

And quite frankly, stupidly screwing yourself over.

You hear me?

You're letting the soft, lame-ass mainstream narrative, those comfortable little lies, and the whimpering excuses of the weak hijack your damn potential.

Your life's potential.

And honestly? That. Pisses. Me. OFF.

Because I've been there, man.

Every damn bit of it.

I know that sickening feeling.

When the damn numbers on the scale won't budge.

When the weights feel like they're glued to the floor, heavy as hell.

When you roll outta bed feeling like a goddamn freight train ran you over, instead of a beast ready to conquer the day.

You stare in the mirror, all haggard and defeated, and you hear that little voice.

That insidious whisper.

"What the actual F, Kurt? Is this it? Is this all there is to life now? Just… decline?"

Then it starts, doesn’t it?

The insidious self-talk.

"Man, my metabolism’s probably shot to hell, cooked, burned to a crisp."

"My hormones? Gone. Just gone."

"And my joints? They’re screaming. Just screaming for mercy every time I even think about tying my shoes."

"Maybe it's just my age, right? It's inevitable."

WRONG!

No.

No.

NO.

Stop right there.

That's the exact lie they want you to swallow, whole.

That's the weak-minded, pathetic garbage that keeps you small.

Soft.

Stuck in a damn rut.

You’re sitting there, convinced your body’s some broken-down jalopy, aren't you?

Snap out of it!

Listen up—your body?

It's a finely-tuned, high-performance machine.

A goddamn tank built for WAR.

You’ve just been putting the wrong damn fuel in it.

Treating it like it's made of glass.

And driving it like a grandma on a Sunday stroll.

Pathetic.

The cold, hard, undisputed truth?

The biggest, gnarliest obstacle isn't that number on your birth certificate.

It’s that tangled, confused mess in your head—your mindset—and the absolute garbage, the toxic sludge, of information you’ve been force-fed your entire life.

Let’s smash through that noise.

That pathetic whine.

Right here, right now.

The Myth of the "Slow Metabolism" and How to TORCH It Back to Life!

Yeah, yeah, I hear it.

"My metabolism is slowing down."

Oh, I hear it all the damn time.

It's the ultimate, lazy, go-to excuse, isn't it?

The convenient little lie you tell yourself when the gains flatline and that gut starts spilling over your belt.

But let me drop a truth bomb right on your head.

Straight from the trenches of my own lived experience: your metabolism isn't just "slowing down" because you blew out another birthday candle.

No.

No, no, my friend.

It's slowing down because your damn muscle mass is shrinking.

Shriveling away like a forgotten raisin.

Your activity levels are plummeting.

And your diet?

Your diet looks like a car crash.

A full-on, fiery pile-up of processed crap, sugar, and artificial garbage.

It's a disaster.

And you wonder why your body's crying for help?

Think about it for a second—really think about it.

Muscle.

Is.

Metabolically.

ACTIVE.

TISSUE.

It's a furnace, blazing hot, burning calories even when your lazy ass is just sitting there on the couch, binging some stupid Netflix show.

So, when you lose muscle, what happens?

That calorie-burning furnace?

It shrinks.

It gets smaller.

It goes cold.

Simple physics, homie. Common sense.

The fix? BUILD. MORE. MUSCLE.

And get this: it doesn't need to be fancy.

No, you don't need some convoluted, fancy-pants, "secret" routine that promises the world and delivers jack squat.

You need to focus on what actually WORKS.

What’s primal.

What’s fundamental.

PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD with COMPOUND MOVEMENTS.

I’m talking about the BIG lifts.

The savage, raw movements that demand everything from you.

1. Squats. Yeah, the ones that make your legs tremble and your lungs burn. Get deep. Embrace the pain.

2. Deadlifts. Pulling that damn weight from the floor. Feeling every muscle fiber scream. From your traps to your hamstrings. Pure power.

3. Overhead Presses. Punching that iron skyward. Shoulders burning, core tight. Own that weight.

4. Rows. Pulling with aggression. Back muscles screaming for more.

5. Bench Presses. Pure chest and tricep power. Drive it up.

These aren't just "exercises," alright?

These are PRIMAL. GODDAMN. MOVEMENTS.

They force your body to engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously.

They force your pathetic system to ADAPT OR DIE.

And they send an undeniable, booming signal to your entire damn system: "GROW OR DIE, BABY!"

When you hit those big muscle groups—I mean truly hit them, push them to their limit—your body, this incredible, resilient machine, unleashes a powerful surge of the very hormones you think are disappearing with age. I’m talking about testosterone and growth hormone. This isn't some hocus-pocus, crystals-and-incense bullshit. This is your body's natural, ancient, built-in response to being brutally challenged. It's how you get that primal post-workout glow, that feeling of invincible energy that lasts hours later. Your body is screaming at you, "I'm ready for more gains! Feed me!"

And those joints? Oh, here we go, the "my joints are shot" whine. You think compound lifts are gonna wreck 'em, don't you? You’ve been spoon-fed that weak-ass advice to stick to light weights and those stupid, isolation machines, like some fragile old lady. WRONG AGAIN! Look, unless you're trying to literally lift a damn car with form that would make a toddler wince, compound lifts, when done correctly, with proper technique and respect for the movement—can actually BULLETPROOF YOUR JOINTS and significantly improve your bone density. It’s how your body adapts to stress, man. It becomes stronger, more resilient, like tempered steel. Don't be a pansy—learn the damn form, swallow your ego, and get after it. Your future self will thank you for not shattering every time you trip.

Forget the Fancy BS: My No-Excuses Approach to Nutrition After 40

I’m gonna keep this brutally simple, okay?

This isn’t rocket science.

You can’t out-train a crap diet.

PERIOD.

End of discussion.

You can grind in the gym like a raving maniac, sweat buckets, push till you puke—but if you’re fueling your body, your temple, with processed garbage, sugary drinks that are basically liquid diabetes, and fake food that barely deserves to be called "food," you’re just spinning your damn wheels.

You’re hoping for some magic fairy dust to sprinkle gains on you.

And magic, my friends, is for fairytales and Netflix shows.

Not for real-world gains.

Your nutrition?

It needs to be about FUELING. PERFORMANCE. AND. RECOVERY.

Not about fleeting "diets" or idiotic "fads."

Those are for quitters.

For the weak-willed.

We’re in this for life, for the long haul, for the ULTIMATE, UNCOMPROMISING GAINS.

So, what does that look like, Kurt? You ask.

Real. Food. Period.

I’m talking about digging your damn hands into whole, unprocessed foods that your great-grandparents, your great-great-grandparents, would immediately recognize.

Food from the earth.

Not from a laboratory.

• Protein powerhouse: Think thick, juicy lean meats. Whole eggs, cracked fresh. Wild-caught fish. And if you can swing it, quality, raw dairy. This isn’t just "food," this is your damn FOUNDATION for building and repairing muscle. Every single meal, without exception, should have a solid protein source. Don't you dare skimp on this, unless you want to look like a deflated balloon, all saggy and weak.

• Healthy fats are your friend, not your enemy: Avocados, nature's butter. Nuts, seeds, olive oil, real damn butter—grass-fed, if you can get it. These aren't just "good for you." They are absolutely CRUCIAL for hormone production, for brain function, for overall health. Stop fearing fat like it’s the damn boogeyman. Fear processed junk! That's the real villain.

• Smart carbs for explosive energy: Stick to complex carbs. Sweet potatoes, glorious sweet potatoes. Rice, clean and simple. Whole grains, if your gut can handle 'em. These are your pure, unadulterated energy source for smashing through brutal workouts and recovering like a goddamn champ. Don't go no-carb crazy; you need fuel for the fire, for that intensity.

• Veggies, veggies, veggies: Load. Up. On. Them. They're packed with micronutrients, those tiny, often-forgotten heroes that help your body function at its absolute peak. Don't be a damn child, whining about your Brussels sprouts; eat your greens. They're literally life-force.

It’s not complicated, my friends.

It's relentlessly consistent, deliberate action.

Stop looking for the magic pill.

It doesn't exist.

'Why do people still think a quick fix is going to solve decades of bad habits?!' It won't. Not ever.

It's not a pill.

Not a powder.

The "magic pill" is your damn fork, and the honest, whole food you put on it.

The Recovery Game: Where Most of You Are Losing Big Time (And Why That's YOUR Fault)

You train hard, that’s great.

Good for you.

But if you’re not recovering even harder, with ruthless dedication, you are actively, unequivocally leaving massive, life-changing gains on the damn table.

This right here?

This is where most people, especially you guys and gals over 40, drop the ball.

They hit the gym.

Then they treat their recovery like an afterthought.

Pathetic.

Recovery isn't just "rest."

It's not some passive thing you do when you can't lift anymore.

It's an ACTIVE. PROCESS.

It's as important as the damn lift itself.

Sleep is your ultimate anabolic drug.

I’m not kidding.

Not one bit.

When you’re actually sleeping—I mean, truly, deeply sleeping—your body is in full-blown repair and growth mode.

It’s releasing natural growth hormone.

It’s repairing those micro-tears in your muscle fibers that you just brutalized in the gym.

It’s consolidating all that hard, brutal work you put in.

If you’re getting only 5 or 6 hours of crappy, broken sleep, you’re basically telling your body, "Nah, don't bother growing. I actually like being weak and soft."

You need to prioritize 7-9 hours of quality, uninterrupted, lights-out, dead-to-the-world sleep.

That means ditching the late-night screens.

Killing the damn blue light.

Chilling out before bed like a normal human.

And creating a cave-like, pitch-black, silent environment in your bedroom.

This isn’t optional; it’s MANDATORY for gains.

For actual, quantifiable gains.

It's how your body truly recovers and adapts.

Hydration? Oh, you think that's just for hot days?

Your muscles are mostly water, homie.

If you’re chronically dehydrated, your performance suffers.

Your recovery suffers.

And your body just can’t do what it’s designed to do, what it’s meant to do.

It’s simple, obvious: Drink water like it’s your damn job.

All day.

Every day.

It's the most basic, yet most neglected, recovery tool.

And don’t forget the active recovery—light walks to get the blood flowing, some purposeful stretching, a bit of mobility work. Keep the blood flowing. Keep those joints happy and primed. Get your body ready for the next brutal assault in the gym. This is how you stay in the game. How you keep building. How you keep progressing, not just plateauing like some weakling.

Don't Be a Victim of Your Own Excuses: Embrace the KURT MINDSET!

Look, I’ve seen it all.

Heard every damn excuse.

Every pathetic whine.

Every reason not to do the work.

"I don’t have time."

"I’m too tired."

"It’s too hard."

BULLSHIT.

Pure.

Unadulterated.

Grade-A BULLSHIT.

You make time for what’s important to you.

Period.

Full stop.

If getting stronger, feeling better, looking like a total badass, and living a longer, healthier, more powerful life isn't important enough to you, then just admit it.

Be a man.

Be a woman.

And own it.

Go back to your soft couch.

Eat your damn junk food.

And scroll through your phone.

But don't you dare come crying to me about your health problems, your lack of energy, or your failing body in 5, 10, 15 years.

Because I warned you.

The guys and gals who make incredible, jaw-dropping transformations after 40 aren't some special snowflakes.

They're not mutants.

They’re just everyday people—like you.

Like me.

Who decided, with every fiber of their being, to stop making excuses?

They decided to stop whining and start taking CONSISTENT. RELENTLESS. UNCOMPROMISING ACTION.

They committed to the damn grind.

Even when it hurt.

Even when it sucked.

ESPECIALLY when it was uncomfortable.

They embraced that discomfort.

I remember hitting 40. Man, I felt like I'd hit a brick wall.

I thought my best days, my strongest days, were behind me.

I let those insidious thoughts, those little seeds of doubt, try to creep into my mind.

But then I looked myself dead in the mirror, eyeball to eyeball, and said, "Kurt, you ain't done yet. Not by a long shot. This isn't a wall; this is just another damn challenge, another opportunity to get stronger."

And you know what I did?

I doubled down on my training intensity.

I cleaned up my diet, even more stringently than before.

And I focused on recovery like it was my damn religion.

Like my life depended on it—because it did.

And you know what happened?

I started seeing gains I honestly didn't think were possible at my age. Beyond my wildest expectations.

That's the power.

The raw, undeniable power.

Of the right mindset.

That’s the KURT MINDSET.

It’s about understanding, deep in your bones, that age isn't a damn barrier.

It's not a limitation.

It's just another damn variable in the equation.

It means you might need to be smarter.

More consistent.

More disciplined.

And more in tune with your body than you were in your reckless 20s.

But it also means the gains?

They're that much sweeter.

They're earned.

They're forged in fire.

Because you earned them against the odds.

You defied the soft narratives.

You spit in the face of mediocrity.

So, what's it gonna be?

Are you gonna keep making pathetic excuses, or are you gonna commit, right here, right now, to smashing through those plateaus and building the strongest, most badass, most resilient version of yourself—no matter what that damn calendar says?

The choice, as always, is yours.

Your damn choice.

Now get out there and get after those gains! This isn't a suggestion; it’s a COMMAND.

Sources:

1. Macaulay, T. R., Pa, J., Kutch, J. J., Lane, C. J., Duncan, D., Yan, L., et al. (2021). 12 weeks of strength training improves fluid cognition in older adults: A nonrandomized pilot trial. PLoS ONE, 16(7), e0255018.

2. Müller, J., Szygula, Z., Kulinski, M., & Michalik, S. (2019). The Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training Periods on Morning Serum Testosterone and Cortisol Levels and Physical Fitness in Men Aged 35-40 Years.

3. ISSA LLC. (2020). ISSA Fitness Nutrition. ISSA LLC.