You Can't Build Muscle OVER 40 Naturally!

Oh boy. We're going to ruffle some feathers today. Quite a few, actually. All right. So let's get right into this. This is actually an Ask Jeff video. If you want your question answered you can leave it in the comments below. It could become a future video topic. Jesse, this is a double feature today. It is. All right. Two big questions. What's the first one? Jeff, I'm a 51-year-old guy and I'm frustrated as hell. It seems that no matter what I do I can't put on any muscle. Am I just banging my head on a wall here? Should I do what it seems everyone else has done and stop trying to do this naturally? That's question number one. Okay. Question number two. Hey Jeff, I know you'll probably chew me out for this, but I recently joined a small gym near my apartment and I'd say at least 90% of the guys and girls working out there are using something. It seems more normal to take PEDs than not to at this point for someone my age. I'm tired of watching them grow faster and wonder if there's a safe way for me to catch up and to keep up with them. Thanks for all you do. Just frustrated and I hope my honesty doesn't piss you off. LOL. He kind of did piss me off, actually. Yeah, dude. You're reading it. So, let's get right into this. There's a lot to cover here and I'm going to go deep and I'm going to open up here. A lot of topics that people probably never thought I'd talk about. So, first of all, I'm going to be honest and say I'm a little bit very disheartened. Yeah. All right? And I'm disheartened a lot in – I'm going to take responsibility as a social media fitness person that I think social media has ruined a couple – I think it's ruined both of these guys a little bit. Their perceptions. A lot. For sure. This has become a rampant problem to the point where you've got – let's start with the young side of the equation where this kid is literally disheartened because he's not gaining muscle as fast as guys that – and girls – that are knowingly on PEDs. I mean, that is literally the definition of performance enhancing drugs. They're literally supposed to enhance the rate and the amount of gains that you can see, and he's being disheartened by the fact that he's not seeing results as quickly. That's the reality, but that doesn't make it bad. I mean, if you look at someone as recently as Jesse, we just covered his transformation. I'm going to link that video for you at the end of this one that I really want you to check out because it gets a little personal in it. Yeah. I open up a little bit in there. You know, sharing some of the things that he's dealt with, but sharing a five-year transformation that I believe is incredibly impressive. Not just in terms of his physique change, but also his mindset change, also his strength gains. Thank you. Right? I think it was a really good video, and I think people need to see it. But there were critics on that video, too. Oh, yes. And they talked from both sides of the equation. The same video, with the same footage. Yeah. Which was what? So, one side was people saying, five years, that's a shitty transformation. I could do that in – Scrawny. Yeah. Three months to a year, you're scrawny, you're skinny, you gain no gains. On the other side of the equation, which is hilarious, is people were accusing me of being on steroids. Right. And taking PEDs. Right. It was the same video. Same video. So, it goes to show you just how wide the distortion is, and how some people are like – and by the way, there was a ton of positive messages there. Thank you, I think, for everybody. Yeah. That actually really warmed my heart and made me feel really great that I was able to reach you guys and touch your hearts as well. Yeah. So, that – there was, by far, the majority was there. But look at the different perceptions there. Scrawny, or totally juiced out of his mind. Which makes me laugh every, single time. I have to share a video, though, that I saw recently that I thought underscored a really important point. It was this short that came by, and you can see some of the footage here. The point of this was that these are representative physiques of times, I believe, before 1930 or something, where testosterone was synthetically created. This is the type of body that was possible back then. As a guy who sits there, here, present day, with a physique that's somewhat similar to what you're seeing here, of course, I believe, and know firsthand that this stuff is attainable. There's a lot of people that see these physiques that say, no way. They're absolutely jacked. A lot of times it comes from the very fact that this physique looks better than the person that's seeing it. You're bigger, you're stronger, you're leaner, you're on steroids. Right. So, I think that is completely a distortion that needs to go away. Again, these examples are certainly, I think, should lead to more inspiration. There's a lot more possible. Don't sell yourself so short. I was also watching the Joe Rogan podcast with Derek – more plates, more days – recently, where a lot of stuff came up. A lot of stuff came up. But one of the examples that was actually pointed out, I believe, by Joe was of Paul Sklar. Do you know him? I don't know him, but – So, he's a guy that I actually see quite often on Instagram. People sometimes compare us. They ask me if we're brothers, which is funny. He's a much more handsome guy than me, by the way. He gave into the gray. Oh, did he, really? I haven't wrapped my head around that yet, but he gave – yeah, he's like Silver Fox, this guy. You're handsome, too. Don't lie. But he's definitely jacked, but certainly, I think, an attainable physique that I believe – and Joe did, too – that is a representation of what would happen if you dedicated your life to fitness. As I have. I'm going to talk about me. Believe me. I'm going to talk about me in a second here. Other guys that came up in that podcast. The Rock. Okay. There were a lot of people talking about whether The Rock – first of all, whether The Rock is using PEDs, or not. Second situation, whether The Rock, for those that believe he is, needs to disclose what he's doing. Become transparent on it. Be transparent about what he's doing. I have some opinions about this. Again, they're just opinions. My first thing, I think, is I have never – as a guy who's worked with a lot of athletes in my life, I don't think the question of whether he's on something has ever been something I've ever asked myself. Really. But I've got a lot of experience around different types of bodies, and different physiques. That is one that certainly is indicative of some additional assistance there. Quite a bit of additional assistance. But I'm also aware of the fact that there are intangibles built into him that push whatever might be part of his repertoire there to the next level. People could use the same stuff and get way less results because of the intangibles. The fact that if you look at genetically what he looked like when he was 14, or 15, or 16, his shoulders were literally the size of your left shoulder to my right. That's how wide it was. There are certain – there's a genetic platform in place there that allows for whatever has gone on to become a superior form at this point. But I also think you have to ask yourself, what is the real message that he's portraying? I never get the sense – and again, this is my personal opinion. I don't get the sense that what The Rock stands up there and says is, drink ZOA and get arms like mine. Or, to be as big and strong as he is, you need to drink his tequila. Right. That's not the message. I don't even think he's implying it. I think what he's showcasing a lot is his work ethic, his drive, his commitment to training. This guy sets up a gym on the road, he trains at 2 o'clock in the morning. It's definitely – there's a level of commitment there that I believe is the separator. I'm a baseball guy. I spent my years in professional baseball in an era right after the PED era of baseball. Why was it that in a time when many, many players were using something, there were still all-stars that stood far and above the level of ability of everybody else? It's the intangibles that ultimately separate you. It's not just the taking of something that's going to make you the star. Other guys included in that video. The liver king. Oh, boy. All right? Yeah, that's a tricky-as-fuck situation. People that saw the video probably know what that is. Listen, I don't make a living commenting on other people, their situations, or anything like that. I think there's not much productive that can come out of that. All I will say is that, again, that's another situation where I don't think I was caught off guard by the revelation that came out. But I think where the biggest trouble came in there was that there was a direct implication of doing this created that. Taking these supplements, following these tenets, or whatever, it literally created this body when this body was actually created by a whole hell of a lot of other things than suntanning your taint. Taint. Yeah. Eating liver and taking supplements. Right. So, I said I would talk about myself in this video, and I think it's super important. First of all, as the title of this video, that you can't build muscle over 40 naturally, I have literally heard that as reasons why I can't look the way I do, and that there's no way I'm natural. Yeah. I've said this for years, and years, and years. I've never taken anything. I want to make sure I'm saying this in a way that doesn't get convoluted in terms of semantics, in terms of what the word choice is here. I've never put anything in my body. Ever. No TRT. No steroids. Nothing I couldn't get in a GNC. Like, hot stuff when I was a kid. Cybergenics. You guys know what that is. Cybergenics when I was a kid. But nothing I could get that I couldn't get on a GNC shelf. Yeah. As I sit here today, on this day – what is it? December 15th, 2022. That is 100% the case. Okay. And I'm going to say that because I made a video that was actually similar to this one. It was called, you can't build muscle over 35 without TRT, I think is what it was. That was sparked by someone who kind of pissed me off with a comment saying the same type of stuff. This stuff makes me irritated because I think what it does is, it starts to convince people, like the readers that wrote in today, that there's a certain level of achievement that you can make with your physique, and it's very low. The bar is very low. It's what's happening here. The bar is very low. And while I don't think I've got the greatest physique, I think that I've obtained a level of physique that is desirable to a lot of different guys. And I'm not a big guy. I go and I stand in the presence of some of the athletes that come in here and I'm certainly not nearly as big as them. No, they're humongous. But it's the overall package of the level of leanness, the amount of muscularity that creates a look that I feel is aesthetically not just desirable, but achievable. Very, very achievable. But when I made that video about the TRT, I came down maybe a little bit hard on- The concept. On the concept of it because I actually know somebody who has a son who's 31 years old. Just happened literally three weeks ago. He felt like absolute garbage and they tested him out and they tested his testosterone, which is pretty much bottomed out. He had primary hypogonadism that basically made him feel like absolute shit. He's going to spend the rest of his life on replacement therapy and literally much needed. I think when I came down on that video as somebody that – this is bullshit. You shouldn't – because so many people were turning to it. It's like the new recreational thing. First time I struggle with putting on muscle, I'm jumping on TRT. So I take – I'm very resentful of that use of that. But me, personally – and this is just speaking from my own opinion here – it's something that doesn't interest me. It's something that I am, frankly, scared of. I know I might sound like a wuss or anything like that, but I don't opt for anything that I think is even potentially dangerous to me, or doesn't have complete, conclusive evidence like a creatine monohydrate, that it's safe. I won't put it in my body because I think my roots of this were back with my father. I've mentioned this story many times where he literally threatened to throw me out of the house if he ever found me doing anything. So to this day, never did a recreational drug – take away all the PED talk – never did a recreational drug and don't drink because I just thought that was all thrown in the same bin. But now I've got different motivations. As you know, I've got two twin boys. I have lost close friends in this industry way too early who've left behind kids not much older than mine. It scares the shit out of me. The idea that me chasing some aesthetic goal of bigger biceps, or a bigger chest because I don't like the way my chest looks, or a bigger leg because I don't like the way my legs look would sicken me that I, in that pursuit, sacrificed being a father for my kids. That they'd grow up without you. That they'd grow up without me. It scares the crap out of me. That whole idea does. So to this day – and I have no reason. I have no reason to do anything anyway. I feel good. I'm actually one of the few that walk around that are pretty happy with how I look. Again, I'm almost 48 years old. I've been able – I can do pretty much whatever I want to do. I've got this bicep tear over here that's not super friendly to me with all my training, but I'm even able to work around that. I just feel like I'm not – I'm always going to be more on the conservative side of everything in life. I'm not a huge risk taker that way, but – You don't even go on a rollercoaster. I don't like rides, but the whole point is, I'm just not there. I'm not there. As I say, unless something medically catastrophic happened to me that created a need for me to have to do that. If I ever had that happen to me, I would disclose that to everybody. But I'm not in that situation. I think the real message here is, you can build muscle at any age. 100%. You do not need to delve into the use of PEDs in order to build muscle over the age of 40. We know that physiologically, you're going to lose muscle mass each decade as you get older. Even starting, some people say, at the age of 30. The issue is, if you can stay the same, if you can prevent sarcopenia, if you can prevent the muscle wasting that happens by engaging in a consistent, healthy weight training lifestyle, you are gaining muscle. You're combating the natural loss of 2-7% per decade, or whatever it is, or 2-4% per decade. You're combating that loss by adopting that lifestyle. There's study upon study that proves that people, even in their 80s, can actually build muscle. Really? Yeah. It's a known, conclusive idea that you can still build muscle over 40. That is complete and utter BS. The discouragement that these guys represent, and especially that 20-year-old, really, really hits me here. I think that's a sign of how bad things are getting. If they start wanting to throw in the towel, I think that's a really big sign that we need to turn things around in the industry to start heading in the opposite direction and give people more encouragement as to what is actually possible. I hope that I'm one of the beacons for that, in that way. I hope that you're becoming one of those beacons. I hope so, too. As well. Again, not for everybody because some people are going to still say you're scrawny as shit and it doesn't matter. I think a lot of people, you are a beacon. If you haven't seen Jesse's video, again, it's a pretty emotional insight into his transformation. I really want you to check it out. Make sure you go do that right here. If you haven't done so, make sure you click subscribe, turn on notifications so you never miss a video when we put one out. All right, guys. See you soon.