Home / Articles

Strength Training in Your 40s and 50s

By Rob Hartley · 6 October 2026

Most of the people we coach in Marbella are between 40 and 60. Many haven't lifted before, or stopped years ago. The most common thing they say in the first session is that they wish they'd started sooner.

This is what we tell them about why strength training matters at this age and how to start.

Why it matters more after 40

From your 30s onwards you lose muscle every year unless you do something to keep it. The loss speeds up after 50. Less muscle means a slower metabolism, weaker bones, worse balance, and everyday things like carrying shopping or getting up off the floor slowly getting harder.

Lifting is the most direct way to reverse that. It builds muscle and bone at any age. It improves blood sugar control and blood pressure. It's also the best protection against the back, knee and shoulder niggles that stop people doing what they enjoy, whether that's padel, golf or walking the hills behind Marbella.

How often to train

Two sessions a week is enough to make real progress. Three is better if you can recover from it. Each session should cover your whole body, built around a small number of movements:

• A squat or a lunge
• A hinge, like a deadlift or a hip thrust
• A push, like a press-up or a dumbbell press
• A pull, like a row or a pull-down
• A carry, like walking with a heavy dumbbell in each hand

Around 45 minutes is plenty. Add walking on the other days. Aim for 8,000 steps or more.

What the first month looks like

Week one is about learning the movements with weights that feel easy. You should finish the session feeling like you could have done more.

From week two, add a little each week, either a bit more weight or one or two more reps. Keep two or three reps in reserve on every set, which means stopping when you could still do two or three more with good form.

By week four most people are lifting noticeably more than they started with. That early progress is mostly your nervous system learning the movements. Muscle comes after, from months of steady work.

Recovery changes

You can still train hard in your 40s and 50s. You'll recover more slowly than you did at 25, so plan for it.

• Sleep is the biggest factor. Seven hours or more.
• Eat enough protein, roughly 1.6g per kg of body weight a day. For an 80kg person that's about 130g, spread across three or four meals.
• Leave at least a day between hard sessions for the same muscles.
• Take an easier week when life gets busy, rather than missing sessions altogether.

Injuries and old niggles

Most people over 40 come to us with something: a lower back that flares up, a knee that clicks, a shoulder that doesn't like pressing overhead. Very rarely does that mean they can't lift.

It usually means choosing the right version of an exercise. A box squat instead of a deep squat. A trap bar deadlift instead of a barbell from the floor. A landmine press instead of an overhead press. The aim is to train around the problem while making the area stronger. Pain during a movement is a signal to change it.

If you have a diagnosed condition, a heart issue, or you're on medication for blood pressure, check with your doctor first and tell your coach.

Getting started in Marbella

You don't need a fancy gym. A rack, a barbell, dumbbells and a bench cover everything above. Most of our clients train with us at Real Padel Club in Nueva Andalucía, and some have a home gym at their villa that does the job well.

What helps most in the first few months is someone watching your technique and deciding when to add weight. That's where a coach earns their fee. Once you know the movements and how to progress them, you can do far more of it on your own.