Fifteen years ago, I used to jump right into an intense workout and hoist hundreds of pounds without the slightest warm-up. That's pretty dumb when you're in your 20s, but it's downright dangerous later in life. A proper warm-up increases blood circulation to the muscles, elevates respiration to improve oxygen absorption, and improves viscosity in the joints.

Before starting any weightlifting workout, perform 10 to 20 minutes of an aerobic activity such as brisk walking on the treadmill, riding a stationary bike, or stair-stepping.

And before you perform each lift, do a few reps with about half of the weight you'll be doing that day. For example, if your goal is 8 reps with 250 pounds, warm up with 8 to 12 reps with 125 pounds. If you're doing static training and are shooting for a 5-second hold with 400 pounds, do your warm-up reps for 5 seconds with 200 pounds or so.

do fewer exercises

One of the biggest mistakes men make in the gym is performing many exercises for each muscle group. This is simply not necessary. Muscles grow through an adaptive response to the intensity at which they are forced to work, and intensity is measured by the amount of work done per unit of time.

You will actually achieve superior results in less time if you perform one very high intensity exercise per muscle group. For example, some people will work their chest by doing 3 sets of cable crossovers followed by 3 sets on the pec dec, and end off with 3 sets on the bench press.

My studies have shown that 90% of trainees will actually achieve better results by performing one set of all-out, super high intensity bench presses of either 8 reps or 5 to 10 seconds of a static hold.

This is great news for everyone, but it's particularly good for men over 40 because performing multiple sets of multiple exercises is very depleting.

The biggest lie in strength training is "Monday, Wednesday and Friday." Fixed strength-training schedules don't work for very long. The goal of every workout should be to increase the intensity of work done compared to your previous workout. As intensity increases, your body needs more time to recover (especially as you get older), so workouts have to be spaced further apart. This is more good news for everyone except the exercise addicts.

When you begin a strength-training program, you might be able to work out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, provided your body can fully recover with just one day off. But as you get stronger and start hoisting some really heavy iron, you will need more time to recover. So your third or fourth week might allow you to train only on Mondays and Thursdays.

Two weeks later, you might only be able to see increases in intensity if you train one day per week. After a month of that, you will need to train only once every 10 or 15 days. I work with advanced trainees who now lift weights once every six weeks and they see improvements in every exercise, on every workout.

The truth is you can achieve your optimum muscularity by working out with precisely engineered workouts that contain clear goals about as frequently as you get a haircut. That's very welcome news to those of us who just want results and don't use the gym to gather socially.

Have you ever seen two people who were both 60 years of age, but one looked 70 and the other looked 45? Age can't be measured by the calendar alone. There are several well established "biomarkers of aging" that are used to give more accuracy to the assessment of physical age.

And guess what? The amount of muscle your body contains is one of the principle biomarkers. The more muscle you have, the younger you are. Another biomarker of aging is bone density. Guess what the number one method of increasing bone density is? Heavy, weight-bearing exercise!

Those over 40 years of age can greatly slow down the aging process by performing rational, efficient strength-training exercise that increases muscle mass and bone density.

The really great news is that it can be done without hours of exercise performed week after week, which means less wear and tear on the body, fewer workouts and increased youth. It's great to finally be old and wise!

Until next time, train smart!