{"id":353666,"date":"2025-12-18T17:06:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/353666\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T17:06:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:06:08","slug":"men-over-30-are-training-too-much-says-a-crossfit-legend-heres-what-actually-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/353666\/","title":{"rendered":"Men Over 30 Are Training Too Much, Says a CrossFit Legend \u2013 Here\u2019s What Actually Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re past your twenties but still chasing gains, it\u2019s tempting to think the answer is more workouts<\/a>. More days. More volume. According to CrossFit veteran Noah Ohlsen<\/a>, that\u2019s often the wrong move.<\/p>\n

The 2019 CrossFit Games runner-up argues that dialing back training volume can actually accelerate progress as you get older. Recovery, not relentless grind, becomes the limiting factor, and managing it properly is what keeps strength climbing rather than stalling. <\/p>\n

‘If you’re in your 30s, the amount of volume you need to do is less than when you’re younger,’ Ohlsen told Red Bull<\/a>. ‘Your body isn’t going to be able to tolerate high volume<\/a> the way that you could in your 20s. Especially if you want to be competitive, a lot of people get very caught up in looking at the younger guy who’s training all day. You don’t need to do that, especially if you spent your 20s putting in a lot of volume. Once you\u2019ve crossed over into your 30s, it\u2019s okay to pull back on the volume.’<\/p>\n

It’s the classic ‘less is more’ approach. We all know that recovery<\/a> is a key aspect of training, and ageing means your muscles require more time to repair and come back stronger from sessions.
<\/p>\n

Ohlsen speaks from personal experience. He first appeared at the CrossFit<\/a> Games in 2014 in his early 20s, and has competed at the elite-level of the sport for more than a decade. Starting out, he trained as much as possible. Hours were spent improving his technique, building muscle<\/a> and getting fitter, but, now he’s in his mid-30s, he’s since scaled back his training volume. He still trains with intensity<\/a>, making every rep and every set count, but he’s learned to train smarter, having understood the approach that gets him competition-ready. <\/p>\n

‘I know for myself, I was training six hours a day, every day, for most of my 20s and now that I’m 34 and I just had a baby, my training volume has gone down significantly, almost to the point where it’s in maintenance mode,’ he added. ‘I built this foundation and now I just have to keep all of those skills sharp. I haven’t really seen any decrease in my performance. Stay motivated, have fun and you only need to work out maybe an hour or two a day, as long as when you’re in there, you\u2019re really getting after it.’<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/p>\n

This approach makes sense. Research published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise<\/a> found that a little under an hour of training a week produces the same results as a punishing five-hour routine. There\u2019s no need to slog \u2013 provided that one hour of work is intense and challenging. <\/p>\n

And maintaining muscle and fitness doesn’t require vast amounts of effort, with a study published in Sports<\/a> concluding that training once every seven days can significantly preserve muscle gains and aerobic fitness.<\/p>\n

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Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men\u2019s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.<\/p>\n

During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.<\/p>\n

Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running \u2013 he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark\u2026<\/p>\n

You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs<\/a> or on X @ryandabbs_<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n