I am 48 now and frankly experiencing the best gains I ever have had right now. I am making these impressive gains because now I train smarter, eat smarter, and cycle smarter. I have to because now as I get older my metabolism is shot, I have to train around injuries and arthritis, and my sleep sucks. So to overcome those obstacles as we get older I have to adapt my training and diet to continue to be successful.

I have to be much more meticulous with diet now. I can't just eat whatever whenever and expect to grow anymore unless all I want to do is get fat. Everything has to be logged now so I know what to change to achieve my goals whether cutting or bulking. I have to understand nutrient timing because it is not just what you eat but when you eat it now. You need to understand how what and when you eat affects your insulin sensitivity which will translate into either fat or muscles growth and know when and how to reset your insulin sensitivity to keep gains coming. TDEE, macros, micros, nutrient timing, effects on insulin and managing insulin. This is going to make or break you when it comes to gains as we get older. So know these variables inside and out and how to manipulate them to keep going in the right direction.

Now the other aspect we come to deals with training. I can't just go to the gym and throw around weights without any rhyme or reason. Progressive overload, time under tension (TUT), isolating different points of the strength curve, working complete range of motion and controlling the weight all the way through that motion, understanding which muscles are fast and slow twitch and work them accordingly, understand when and how to utilize intensifiers and on and on. Not as simple as just going and lifting weights if you really want to progress. Lot to learn here which you need to do if you want to continue to progress as you get older.

Notice I haven't mentioned much about supplements here. They are just a small piece of the puzzle which will be worthless if you don't thoroughly understand successful dieting and training principles, which are essential as we get older. Yes they will make a difference obviously but not unless you have the other factors in place first. Hence why I always ask and discuss diet/training before drugs because 90% of the time the basics aren't even in place to warrant the use of any drugs in the first place. There is no easy way around it. You can't out-drug a shitty diet or training routine.

Back to basics so. Gotta inspect what you expect as they say. Analyse your current diet, workout regime, and health situation.

Log foods for a week (down to types, cals, macros, timing, each glass of water or what have ya).
Log your actual workout, down to rest times between sets etc.
Get the calipers, scales, glucose monitor, and measuring tape out to log weight, bodyfat, height, arms neck midsection, thighs, calves (know where you are starting from), what is your blood sugar up to etc
Get bloods, look to thyroid, sex hormones and GH/IGF levels - consider your cellular condition WRT diet/carbs/insulin sensitivity
Analyse things like niggling injuries and joints condition, posture (coupled with the height measurement - has it changed over tine?)

I reckon if you take a decent snapshot like that, you will be surprised at the variance of factors you can work on. The logs, when completely honest, will probably surprise you.

Motivation is key here my friend, this is where you will continue to make gains or you won't. Yes it gets a bit harder and it takes longer to recover, you'll need to focus on getting more sleep and rest and make it better quality also. Just look at someone like Stan efferding, the guy is still breaking world powerlifting records at 49 yrs old and is he using age as an excuse to stop him?! Also the likes of Mark Felix still kicking a** in worlds strongest man over the younger guys and Jeremy Hoornstra benching 700 lb's etc. Use them as motivation! I also think using HGH helps massively as you get older and don't be afraid to use some good cycle doses also - bragging about just using minimal Test doses isn't ever going to get you into the big league ultimately.

Im right there with you. Mid 40's. I have bloodwork scheduled wednesday. After the results I will have to do some research and figure out what all those numbers mean as to where the Vets here already know.
As far as food goes I have all kinds of nuts no homo (almonds, cashews, pistachios and sunflower seeds) in my office with cottage cheese, turkey breast, chicken breast and oatmeal in my office fridge. Just relearning how to eat and frequently was my hardest challenge. Then gym commitment comes easy to me. Hard rock in my earphones and 2 hrs slips on by. Ive only been here since April but I have to agree....bloodwork and diet first. Good luck----you got this

When you start getting in your 50s you really need to make sure you dont miss any meals ever. I ate st Sam's club today. The wife and kids had pizza I had a chicken salad. I brought extra chicken from home and vinegar. I carry food everywhere I go even restaurants if needed. When I wake up to piss I mix a scoop of protein. I also think getting back to basic exercises has helped me. Certain movements like dead lifts I dont do anymore but if I'm at the gym I use free weights as much as possible. Gains are deffinately possible and I've posted progress pictures to get feedback from other members. The compliments are nice but the criticism when I get it is better. You gotta stay hungry. I always try to surround myself with bigger stronger men to stay motivated.

Take a read of this forum by a fellow member - https://www.eroids.com/forum/general/over-40-trt/considering-trt-at-lown...