If I had to start strength training again today, I would not start the way most people do.
I wouldn't focus on fancy workouts. And I wouldn't follow a complicated routine. Most of us don't want to get shredded. We just want to get healthy. We want to be strong and feel capable. We want to build a body that actually feels good and follow a training routine that fits our normal day-to-day life. If I started again today, I would only focus on simple movements with clear targets.
The way I train would be really simple. I would work out 3 days a week. I would repeat the same movement patterns week after week.
My only goal would be to get better at these movements and reach higher rep targets. Not more exercises. Not more complexity. Just getting better. To build a strong, lean, capable body, you don't need more. You need simple movements, clear progression, and goals you can actually stick to. Many beginners fail because they chase fancy skills like muscle ups too early or jump between endless workout variations. Instead, I think you should focus on consistent progress in basic movements. Be sure to set specific, measurable goals. As a baseline for the first year, I would suggest being able to perform one unassisted pull up. This isn't a random goal. It builds strength, endurance, and body control. Rather than adding new exercises, focus on getting better and reaching higher rep targets on the same core patterns over time.
Fitness is not actually complicated. We often make it so by doing more. By sticking to a simple, targeted plan, we can avoid years of wasted effort and build a body that performs well in real life.
Just because you hit some age milestone, that's not some magic shut off switch for your strength. You don't lose muscle just because you add another candle on your birthday cake. You lose muscle because you stop sending the signals your body needs to keep it.
If you don't exercise, you lose strength. The real driver of muscle loss is not age but physical inactivity. Even guys in their 80s and 90s are still building muscle and still getting better. The body becomes what we demand from it. If we never lift anything heavier than a cell phone, the muscle loss that was never really inevitable actually does happen.
Unfortunately, the medical industry does little to help. A 60 year-old guy goes into his doctor's office and tells him he feels weaker and more tired than he used to be and the answer is almost invariably, "You're getting older." If you hear that often enough, then you start acting the part. "You have to take it easy now. You have to accept your limitations." But as I said, our limitations really don't have anything to do with age. That's a false narrative that our culture has convinced us to believe. "I'm old. It's just the natural order of things. It's just a bill come due for all the years I neglected my body." As a matter of fact, the people who stay in shape for years aren't the people with the "perfect" plan. They're the ones who keep showing up even when life changes.
The older I get, the more I respect simple training because it works. I feel great, I wake up energized, and I can't wait to get into the day the Lord has planned for me.
I believe that's what most men my age actually need.