WHAT DOES ANDY GALPIN SAY ABOUT STRENGTH TRAINING AFTER 40?

THE SHORT ANSWER

Galpin is the muscle physiologist most masters cyclists have been quoting without realising it. His central point is that the order things decline matters: power fades faster than maximal strength, and strength fades faster than muscle mass — so the nervous system is the first thing to age in an athlete. Type II fast-twitch fibres can shrink 10 to 40% in older adults while the type I endurance fibres are relatively spared, which is exactly why endurance riding alone protects the wrong half of the system. His fix is heavy, fast lifting — velocity matters as much as load — plus enough protein to clear the leucine threshold older muscle needs. Keep lifting, lift with intent, and you defend the part of the engine the bike can't.

WHO IS ANDY GALPIN?

Andy Galpin is the muscle physiologist most masters cyclists have been quoting without realising it. He runs the Center for Sport Performance and the Biochemistry & Molecular Exercise Laboratory at Cal State Fullerton, has co-authored more than ninety peer-reviewed papers on skeletal muscle, hypertrophy, fibre-type adaptation, and recovery, and consults for athletes across MMA, motorsport, the NBA, the NFL, and Olympic sport. If you have heard a coaching argument in the last three years that turned on type II fibre atrophy, velocity-based training, or protein dose timing for older athletes, the original work behind that argument almost certainly has Andy's name on it. He is also the rare academic whose communication ability matches his research credentials — his Perform podcast and Huberman Lab guest appearances have done more to translate skeletal muscle physiology into amateur-athlete language than any textbook ever has.

GALPIN ON STRENGTH AFTER 40

Galpin’s key positions on strength training after 40.

• →Type II (fast-twitch) fibres can shrink 10 to 40 percent in older adults compared to younger controls; type I fibres are relatively preserved, which is why endurance riding alone protects the wrong half of the system.
• →Velocity-based training matters as much as load — moving a moderate weight fast does more for an older athlete's nervous system than grinding a heavier weight slowly.
• →Daily protein for trained masters athletes should sit at 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram, distributed across four meals, with at least one dose above 35 grams to clear the leucine threshold for older muscle.

IN GALPIN’S OWN WORDS

Verbatim from Andy Galpin’s appearances on the podcast.

HEAR IT ON THE PODCAST

Episodes where Andy Galpin covers strength training after 40 and related ground.

FREQUENTLY ASKED