This story is part of This Is 50+—an in-depth look at guys who are thriving later in life, with tips and tricks on how all of us can future-proof our bodies.
TAKE A SCROLL through your social media feed, and you’ll find no shortage of fitness content. The stars of those exercise routine and form videos are probably a lot of ripe 20-and-30-year-olds, though, in the prime of their physique.
Scroll a little further, and you’ll find another impressive group of fitness influencers over 50 who are keeping up with (and often surpassing) those 30-year-olds. Sure, it’s cool to watch them do wall sits while holding 100 pounds, juggle enormous kettlebells, and even rep out lock jaw push ups with 70 pound (you really have to see this one to believe it). But, best of all, they’re utilizing their platforms to teach others how to do the same—at any age.
Regardless of how old you are, what kind of exercise you enjoy, or where you are in your fitness journey, there’s so much to learn from these inspiring influencers. Here are five of our favorites, along with their advice for performing at your best after 5o.
Colin Daring
COLIN DARING’S JOURNEY began with a simple bench in the basement of his childhood home, where his father taught him how to train. Often, they would go to a local park and do calisthenics, like pull ups—something the 53-year-old senjoys doing to this day.
After traveling to different countries and seeing their traditional forms of training, he started becoming interested in “odd objects,” as he calls them. He began training with a variety of equipment including kettlebells, Atlas stones, sandbags, and mace clubs. Now, he takes to social media to post videos about the use and benefits of these different styles of training (and some more traditional training tips, too).
Daring is aptly named—much of his content includes heavy kettlebell juggles that are not for the faint of heart. Bells weighing upwards of 70 pounds flying behind the back, under the leg, and over the shoulder—all magically sequenced together in a way you have to see to believe. He teaches kettlebell workshops at a few gyms in Brooklyn, and offers online training. Even in his 50s, “training is now embedded in my lifestyle,” he says. He’s only looking to get stronger, too—he sets short term and long term goals for himself that help him stay consistent and motivated.
HIS ADVICE: Find movement you enjoy that keeps you physically and mentally engaged. “Watching TV on the treadmill doesn’t really count,” he says. “Think tennis, volleyball, basketball. Exercises that have the mind and the body engaged at the same time.”
Bill Maeda
HAWAII-NATIVE BILL Maeda, 55, has been a trainer since 1987. Recovering from addiction, and being diagnosed with PTSD and ADHD, training was the only job he was able to hold for many years, he says. “I could hide from the world in my small gym near Waikiki, and fixate on one client at a time.”
In 2012, he was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. He underwent surgery and chemotherapy that left him “physically plundered and deeply depressed,” he says. That carried all the way through 2019, when his mother passed away, and into 2020, when lockdown began. During quarantine, he randomly decided to take a video of how many push ups he could do in 10 minutes, and posted it to YouTube. He didn’t think twice about it—until “an avalanche” of notifications began to light up his screen.
“Somehow that video took off, and the comments that came in changed my life,” Maeda says. “People from everywhere were saying the kindest and most encouraging things that I had ever heard. Their kindness and support taught me to stop feeling sorry for myself and redirect that energy into serving, teaching, and at the very least entertaining any who grace me with a few moments of their time to watch my videos.”
After that, he dedicated himself to filming his daily workouts. That was more than 4 years ago. Since then, 2 million people have followed him to watch his impressive lifts and less traditional strength feats (that lock-jaw push up we talked about earlier? Yeah, that was him).
HIS ADVICE: Start easy. Like, really easy. “The goal is to get in the habit of training every single day,” and continuing to do so, he says. “The only way to do this is by making the workouts very short and very easy.”
He suggests starting with just 5 minutes on the clock. Pick a handful of exercises you can do and are comfortable with. Work through ranges of motion that are doable. “This is exactly where you want to be. You should also feel certain that they can do the exact same thing tomorrow…and the next day and the next day,” he says.
When you are ready to dedicate more time, add a minute, and then another—slowly build to where you want to be. The short time frame will help build the habit, which is more important than the exercise itself. “That’s what they mean by easy does it.”
Bryan Krahn, C.S.C.S.
BRYAN KRAHN C.S.C.S. HAS been studying, practicing, and writing about exercise science and training for almost 20 years. In fact, he’s written lots of content for Men’s Health, including our muscle-building guide for men over 40.
Krahn, 50, dubs himself a “semi-serious physique-athlete,” meaning he builds and maintains a aesthetic frame, but does not compete in body building competitions. While you might find a picture or two of his impressive six-pack on his Instagram, you’ll find that most of his content is information based. He uses “a base of scientifically supported industry practices but also a litany of techniques that have been shown to work in the real world,” to fuel his training programs and his content.
HIS ADVICE: “Train like you want to show up again tomorrow,” he says. “After 50, longevity and preventing injury becomes the new ‘optimum.'” To do that, he suggests three things. First, never work through pain—find an alternative if any exercise bothers you.
Second, don’t be afraid to use safer alternatives to high-risk lifts. For example: “A barbell overhead press is a great lift if you have the technique and shoulder mechanics for it. But using dumbbells with a neutral grip is easier on the shoulder and just as effective.”
Third, aim for higher reps with lighter weight on most exercises. You’ll still get the muscle building benefit without sacrificing safety. You can find even more of his tips for building muscle after 50 here.
Paul Sklar
PAUL SKLAR, C.S.C.S. IS a Division 1 athlete turned fitness expert. He was a distance runner during his time at Wake Forest University, where he earned his bachelors degree in Exercise and Sports Science. He began competing in duathlons, where he was ranked second nationally, and 25th in the world.
The 51-year-old been a professional trainer since 1993, working with novices and professional athletes alike. He’s taken his expertise to Instagram—where he posts his workouts, mobility exercises, and recovery routines.
HIS ADVICE: “If you want to get lean (and have a strong foundation), make sure you never miss leg day. You get better bang for your buck with a well-rounded program.”
Brad Schoenfeld
SOCIAL MEDIA IS full of misinformation. If you want to make sure you’re getting foolproof, science-backed fitness info, look for no further follow than 61-year-old Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., C.S.C.S..
Schoenfeld is a professor in the Health Services Department at Lehman College in NYC, and a leading researcher on muscle building and fat loss. He’s also competed as a drug-free body builder for most of his life. A self-coined “fitness myth-buster,” his page is a one-stop shop for real tips and tricks for body composition.
HIS ADVICE: “The aging process tends to impair recovery; you simply cannot recuperate as well at 50 vs when you were 20. Thus, it’s important to be cognizant of how your body responds to training and manage exercise volume and frequency accordingly,” he says.
Cameron Shayne
CAMERON SHAYNE’S INSTAGRAM feed looks a bit different from that of your traditional male fitness influencer. Instead of hulking around big weights, you’ll find the 52-year-old crawling on the floor, demonstrating impressive feats of mobility, and taking down guys half his age in Jiu-Jitsu fights.
In the 90s, Shayne established himself as one of the pioneering voices and teachers of contemporary yoga, martial arts and the movement culture in Los Angeles. In 2001, he designed Budokon Mixed Movement Arts by combining the combat arts of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts together with yoga, crawling patterns, mobility, calisthenics, and cognitive studies into a single black belt system. Now, he trains some of the best professional UFC, ADCC, and Bellator fighters in the world. Now, he takes his teachings to social media, where he’s gained quite a following.
HIS ADVICE: “Athletic longevity depends greatly on joint mobility. Focus on the 3 essential qualities of joint health: mobility, flexibility and strength,” he says.
This is just the beginning. See what else guys at 50+ are thinking, doing, and crushing here.
