How to lose fat without losing muscle after 40 - Jacked Nerds Issue #014

1. Track Strength, Not Just Scale Weight. Your lifts staying steady (or improving) during fat loss is the best indicator you're preserving muscle. Focus on compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and bench press as your key markers.

2. Use Smaller Deficits After 40. Aim for 200-400 calories below maintenance instead of aggressive cuts. Your body becomes less resilient to extreme deficits, leading to muscle loss, poor recovery, and hormonal issues.

3. Protein Amount & Timing Matters More as You Age. Spread your daily protein across your main meals instead of cramming it all into one. Older adults need higher per-meal doses to trigger muscle protein synthesis effectively due to anabolic resistance.

Happy National Fried Chicken Day (Yes, it’s a thing)! 174 new Jacked Nerds joined the squad last week. Welcome to the community! We're levelling up our health stats together 💪✨

I was scrolling through Instagram the other day and saw another "28-day transformation" post. You know the type: dramatic before/after photos with some variation of "just eat less and move more!"

And all I could think was: where's the after-after photo?

Because here's what they don't show you—three months later when that person has gained back the weight plus a few extra pounds, feels weaker than before, and their metabolism is shot.

The older you get, the more precious your muscle becomes. But most weight loss plans burn through it like it doesn't matter.

If you're approaching 40 (or already there), you need a smarter approach than "just eat less." You need a strategy that helps you lose fat without feeling weaker, smaller, and more fragile in the process.

Most people start their fat loss phase by slashing calories and adding cardio. I mean, it makes sense. That's the advice everywhere on the internet.

At the end of the day, it's about being in a caloric deficit, right? And slashing calories plus adding cardio will get you there. So it can work. You see the scale move. It's a win!

But underneath that surface-level win, there's a real risk you're losing just as much muscle as fat.

Once you reach your 40s, the risks of muscle loss during fat loss become more pronounced. Your body becomes more susceptible to anabolic resistance, which means your muscles don't respond to protein intake and training stimulus as effectively as they once did.

Recovery also tends to slow down with age. You may notice more soreness, stiffness, or general fatigue after training sessions that used to feel routine. This longer recovery window means that poorly managed deficits or overly aggressive training can quickly backfire.

Your baseline muscle mass becomes more fragile with age due to declining hormone levels, reduced physical activity, and the natural catabolic tilt of aging. Without a plan to actively preserve or rebuild it, muscle loss accelerates—and so does the decline in strength, metabolism, and overall physical capability.

So what's a good, sustainable strategy to preserve lean muscle tissue? How do you minimize losing strength, stability and metabolic flexibility?

We're conditioned to chase soreness or sweat as a marker of success, but the real key to preserving muscle during fat loss is mechanical tension.

This means training with intention: selecting moderate rep ranges (typically 6 to 12 reps), using controlled eccentrics, and focusing on muscle engagement rather than speed.

Progression is vital: adding reps, increasing weight, or improving tempo over time will signal your muscles to stay, even in a calorie deficit. Check out my “How to Get Stronger Every Week” for a refresher on progressive overload.

Avoid the trap of high-volume, high-rep burnout sets that leave you gassed but don't effectively stimulate muscle growth.

Less volume, done with more focus and control, is often the smarter path.

For most lifters over 40 with a busy schedule, three resistance training sessions per week strikes the sweet spot between effectiveness and sustainability.

A typical structure could involve a full-body session on Monday focusing on moderate-intensity lifts across major movement patterns, followed by an optional Wednesday session for mobility and light conditioning. A second lifting day on Friday can focus on heavier, lower-rep work to drive strength adaptations.

This rhythm respects your recovery needs while still delivering enough volume to maintain or build muscle.

In a fat loss phase, it's natural to obsess over scale weight or body fat percentages. But one of the most reliable indicators that you're doing things right is strength stability.

For me, if my key lifts—bench press, squats and deadlifts—are holding steady or slowly improving, then it's a strong sign that my muscle mass is intact. Minor dips are normal, but consistent strength tells you your training and nutrition are supporting your performance even as you lose fat.

Long gone are the days I sacrifice strength for the scale!

Everyone knows protein is important. But there's more to it than just hitting your daily target.

Research shows that older adults require higher per-meal doses of protein to stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS). Spreading out your daily protein intake more evenly throughout your meals will help with muscle protein synthesis, and it'll be easier for you to eat those meals too.

For me, I spread out my 195g protein daily target across three meals, aiming for 45 to 55g per meal, and then make up the rest with snacks. Check out my “How I Eat 195g Protein Daily Without Protein Powder” for my protein staples and meal inspos.

I ensure I eat foods high in leucine, like chicken, beef, eggs, and dairy (especially whey), as well as plant-based sources like soy products, lentils, and peanuts. Leucine is an essential amino acid that acts as a key trigger for muscle protein synthesis. It signals the mTOR pathway, which initiates the building and repair of muscle tissue—making it especially important for older adults dealing with anabolic resistance.

After 40, aggressive dieting often backfires because your physiology becomes less resilient to extreme deficits. Recovery takes longer, your hormonal environment becomes more sensitive, and the risk of losing muscle increases dramatically.

When calories are cut too aggressively, it can lead to fatigue, poor sleep, hormonal suppression, and faster muscle loss—especially in the absence of resistance training and adequate protein.

So if you're cutting, aim for a slight calorie deficit—typically in the range of 200 to 400 calories per day. This allows your body to tap into fat stores while still preserving performance and recovery.

You can also cycle your intake by spending 6 to 8 weeks in a deficit followed by 2 to 4 weeks at maintenance to give your body a break and recalibrate your metabolism.

Yes, this means your weight loss progress will be slower than cutting 500 calories a day (the conventional number to lose a pound a week), but you'll preserve strength in the gym. A worthy tradeoff in my books.

The clearest sign that your fat loss plan is working after 40 isn't just what you see on the scale. It's the quality of your performance, how you feel day to day, and how your body functions in everyday life.

Strength stability or improvement is the most direct signal that you're retaining lean muscle. If your lifts are steady or even progressing—especially compound movements like squats, presses, rows, and deadlifts—you're protecting your foundation.

Changes in how your clothes fit can reveal improvements that the mirror or scale might miss. A looser waistband alongside tighter sleeves or chest is a strong indicator that you're losing fat and building or maintaining muscle mass in the right places.

Energy levels throughout the day are a vital check-in. If you're no longer crashing mid-afternoon or struggling to get through your sessions, your training, nutrition, and recovery are likely aligned.

Hitting a consistent protein intake of around 30 to 40 grams per meal—without constant effort or food fatigue—shows that your habits are becoming sustainable. This level of intake supports muscle maintenance and helps manage appetite naturally.

When all of these markers line up, you know you're doing fat loss the right way. This is how you build a body that gets stronger and more capable while the scale drops.

Actually, forget all the advice I just shared above. This is what you need 😆.

I love a good one pot rice cooker recipe because it’s so easy to prep, so easy to make it high-protein, and have a ton of leftovers for the week. You can also substitute the Chinese sausages for other sausages, spam, chicken thighs — basically any cuts of meat you like.

And this watermelon kiwi popsicle recipe because it’s summer!

I kicked off my new program this past week. It was definitely a bit of a grind coming back from my vacation, especially the first couple of days. But by the end of the week I started getting into a groove and strengths started to come back, which felt awesome!

I shared some quick highlights of my week 1 workouts on my IG below, as well as a detailed breakdown of the periodization and program I’m following.

👇 Check it out!

I hope you’re getting real value from this newsletter!

If you are, it would mean a lot if you shared it with a friend, family member, or anyone you think could benefit from the frameworks and tips I share here.

Thanks so much for being part of this — I appreciate you! 🙏

My mission: 10,000 like-minded legends in the Jacked Nerds crew by end of year.

Help me get there 💪

After 40, the goals around training begin to shift. Aesthetic goals still matter, but capability becomes the focus—being able to move well, lift confidently, and maintain energy across your day and your years.

That kind of durability comes from preserving lean muscle, building joint integrity, and maintaining metabolic efficiency. Reducing excess body fat supports those outcomes. Keeping muscle supports them even more.

That's the real win.

Start building that durability this week: pick one strength marker to track. Choose a key lift (squat, deadlift, bench press, or overhead press) and log your performance for the next three sessions. You're establishing a baseline to protect as you work toward your goals.

That’s all for this week. Catch y'all in the next one! ✌️

#stayjacked #staynerdy