I’m in my early forties, yet I’m pushing my body harder and smarter than I ever did in my twenties. This has been a long process of experimenting, failing, adjusting, and learning what actually works for my body. I’m sharing my journey because a lot of people my age underestimate how strong, fast, and capable they can still become with the right habits.

Rebuilding Strength and Athleticism

I lift, run, jump, and flip every week. Today I’m sitting at a 235 bench, 325 squat, and a 375 deadlift for two reps. I hit all of these PRs at age 40. My standing backflip is consistent, my running front tuck is getting there, and I’m building toward more advanced tumbling like layouts and twisting skills.

My body composition and performance have improved in ways that still surprise me. I’m 5’9” and about 190 pounds with unusually high bone density. My standing reach is 86 inches and my vertical jump is around 29 inches based on touching about 6 inches below a 10 foot rim. None of this happened because of perfect genetics. It happened because I built systems, like my personal health checklist, that reward consistency and progression rather than intensity without direction.

Running for Longevity and Speed

Running has become one of the clearest measures of my fitness. I hit a half marathon PR of 1:51:17 at age 40 and a 5K PR of 23:16. My VO2 max sits around 45 and my resting heart rate averages 50. I’m chasing the kind of performance normally seen in elite 25 year old athletes and I’ve still got a ways to go, but I’m steadily closing the gap.

At the same time, picking up tennis this past year playing 2-3x per week changed my running more than anything else. My overall running volume dropped about 25 percent, and my average pace slowed down since I use running as recovery between tennis days instead of pushing for max speed in every session. The interesting part is that even with a lower volume year, I still hit PRs. It taught me that strategic recovery can sometimes be more powerful than grinding volume.

A Multi Sport Life

I’m not a specialist. Tennis, pickleball, gymnastics, running, and lifting all support each other. Tennis in particular has become a focus this year. I started league play and my USTA singles record is 6 wins and 2 losses at the 3.0 level which probably means I’ll move up to 3.5 next year. Tennis gives me footwork and conditioning that show up in almost everything else I do.

Gymnastics builds explosive power and body control. Strength training gives me the foundation to jump high, flip cleanly, and move with confidence. Running gives me the aerobic base that makes multi hour training days possible. At 41 I feel more well rounded and capable than I ever have.

One of the highlights of the year happened outside of all those sports. Our men’s team won the largest adult dance competition in the state in 2025, beating out teams of both men and women from studios across Minnesota. I threw a backflip in the routine and the crowd went absolutely wild. It was one of those moments where all the training, all the conditioning, and all the work on athleticism paid off in a completely different arena. A photo would say it better than I can:

Recovering Smarter

My training only works because I treat recovery as part of the plan. Assisted stretching every Monday helps with problem areas like hip mobility and bridges. Magnesium glycinate and glycine before bed noticeably improved my sleep and even brought my cortisol levels down from the 15 to 18 range to about 8 in a recent test.

Lower stress, better sleep, and smarter scheduling have become more important than any single workout.

What I’m Building Toward

I like having clear targets. My goals for 2026 line up across strength, skill, and endurance:

• Get so confident with back and front flips that I can do them almost anywhere, anytime.
• Deadlift 405 pounds or more.
• Run 600 miles for the year after falling to about 450 in 2025.
• Break 22 minutes in the 5K.
• Break 1 hour 45 minutes in the half marathon.
• Nail a roundoff backflip and start back twisting on the trampoline.
• Hold a 30 second handstand and work toward handstand pushups.
• Get a clean muscle up.
• Jump high enough to slap the backboard.

These goals give me something to anchor my training around and keep my mind focused on the long game.

Lessons That Might Help You

Here are a few things that have made the biggest difference for me:

1. You can hit personal records in your forties if you train with intention and protect your recovery.
2. Blending strength, skill, and endurance creates a compounding effect you can feel in everyday life.
3. Tracking the right metrics keeps motivation high and helps you see progress sooner than you’d expect.
4. Sleep quality is one of the strongest performance enhancers.
5. Consistency beats intensity when intensity comes without structure.
6. Make training fun with sports and skills that excite you. Play is sustainable.

Why I Keep Going

My kids see me flipping, lifting, sprinting, playing tennis, and jumping into new challenges with them. I want to stay the dad who can keep up. More than that, I want to prove that your forties can be a peak, not a decline.

If even one person reads this and realizes it’s not too late to reclaim their athleticism, then the journey is worth sharing! 💪