How to Age-Proof Your Training Plan Without Watering It Down
It’s been a while since I shared a guest post here, and I figured it was overdue.
Today’s piece comes from Nathan Stowe, a trainer and gym owner in Austin, Texas. Nate is a longtime friend and colleague who has run his own gym for years. He’s spent most of his career working with older adults and knows how to train and write programs for them without treating them like they’ll break a hip just by looking at a barbell.
Age Is Just a Number
I’ve spent more than 16 years helping people over 50 improve their longevity—long before it was popular. Pat Rigsby even told me I might have the strongest solo training business in the country for this group. It still makes me laugh when I think about how it all began.
I was a month into my first personal training job and doing well on the sales floor thanks to my background—then I tore my ACL playing a game of “21” with a buddy. I walked home on it. My friend joked, “Maybe I should’ve gone to get the car.” The silver lining? The injury gave me time to earn my NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist certification. I figured I’d pair the education with real-world experience and become the go-to for clients with injuries. Plus, the gym paid more per session if you had more certifications—win-win.
When I came back, I was the “knee guy.” In a runner-heavy city like Austin, that meant I got plenty of real clients. I learned fast what worked in the real world versus textbook theory. One day, my manager asked me to work with a client who had a back issue. I said, “Matt, I hurt my knee. I don’t know anything about the back.” He replied, “I know. But I trust you the most to figure it out.” That line changed my career.
I found a guy online named Eric Cressey—maybe you’ve heard of him? Note from the editor: I hadn’t heard of him at the time. I devoured everything he put out and got great results with that client. So Matt gave me a shoulder client next. I told him, “Now that’s even farther from knees.” Same answer: “I trust you the most to figure it out.” So I did.
Eric led me to Tony, Dean Somerset, Mike Robertson, Mike Reinold, Bret Contreras—the Mount Rushmore of evidence-based training for adults who don’t want to live in the PT clinic. The deeper I dove, the more I realized this was it. I didn’t want to be the guy coaching from 5 a.m.–10 p.m. every day. I wanted to be the specialist—the “jacked-up but not giving up” coach. Turns out, that meant working with a lot of adults who were free on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and had real stuff to work around—past injuries, surgeries, chronic pain, or fear from all of the above.
And when you work with enough people like that, you start to notice patterns…
Here are five timeless training techniques I use with every client over 50 to make progress without breakdown—whether they want to deadlift their bodyweight in their 70s or keep jumping in their 70s with Parkinson’s (true story).
1) Use volume instead of intensity as overload
You’d be surprised how many people stall or get hurt jumping from a 15 lb dumbbell to a 20 lb one. But anyone can increase total work—from 1 set to 2 to 3, or from 8 reps to 10. We build strength by layering volume—quietly and safely.
2) Use range of motion for overload
Most people in their 60s are tighter than a snare drum. Rather than chase perfect form from the start, let ROM be the progression. Start RDLs mid-thigh → then to the knee → then below the knee → then finally to the floor. The same approach works with step-ups or split squats—add two inches of ROM per month, and in a year they’ll move like they’re 20 years younger.
3) Use tempo for overload
More time under tension means more adaptation without jacking up the weight. We’ll add longer pauses, slower eccentrics, and controlled transitions. It builds control, resilience, and confidence—especially for people who feel fragile.
4) Glutes and abs first. Everything else later
We go all-in on glutes and core for six months. Why? Because most clients arrive with knees that feel stiff and glutes that forgot how to contract. My progression: Barbell Glute Bridge → Cable Pull-Through → RDL → Rack Pull → Trap Bar Block Pull → Floor Pull → THEN Squats. All the while, we pair every movement with isometric ab work to control the pelvis and build true trunk control.
5) Push with the body, not against it
Push-ups. Landmines. Bands. Anything that lets the shoulder blades move and the body find its own rhythm. Once they can do a near-perfect push-up, we graduate to dumbbells and barbells. I used to have shoulder flare-ups with many clients by week 12. Now I can’t remember the last time it happened.
These are five of the tools I use daily. There are many more I could list—and if you’re curious, I discuss them on my blog at StoweTraining.com.
About the Author
My name is Nathan “Nate” Stowe, and when I’m not dad to Ella or husband to Laura, I help people in Austin live longer and get stronger through personal training. I write daily, so you can find more at StoweTraining.com.
