Twenty years of sculpting this body, and I am not done. If anything, I am just getting to the interesting part.
I have been documenting my bodybuilding journey on these pages for a while now — the workouts, the nutrition, the philosophy behind treating your body like a living art project rather than just a machine to be punished into submission. And now, rolling into my forties with two decades of iron and intention behind me, I find myself at a crossroads that a lot of men in the gym know intimately but rarely talk about out loud: the plateau.
Bodybuilding After 40: My Peptide Protocol, My Plateau, and Why I Am Just Getting Started – By Maxwell Alexander, MA/BFA, Fitness Trainer, Bodybuilding, Wellness and Sports Nutrition Coach – Bodybuilding – Wellness – Men’s Health – Presented by Alary Health Spa
Not the kind of a plateau that comes from slacking off though, I am still hitting the gym every other day. The kind that comes from doing everything right — and still watching your progress flatline while your body holds its ground like a stubborn landlord refusing to negotiate.
So here is what I am doing about it. And more importantly, here is what you might want to know if you are anywhere on this road — whether you are just getting started or twenty years deep like me.
Twenty Years of Building. One Body. One Ongoing Art Project.
Bodybuilding has always been, for me, less about competition and more about authorship. The body as canvas. The gym as studio. The process — the relentless, glorious, sometimes humbling process — as the work itself. I came into it the way I come into everything: obsessively, intellectually, with a side of stubbornness that my wild upbringing wired into my bones. My background in fine art, experiential design, and sports science all folded together into an approach to training that is as much about understanding the system as it is about grinding through it.
After twenty years, the system has changed. Not because I have gotten lazy. Because I have gotten older — and the body after forty operates by a different set of rules. Recovery takes longer. The hormonal scaffolding that made gains feel almost automatic in your twenties and thirties starts to shift. It is not a failure. It is biology. And like any good coach, the smart move is to stop fighting the conditions and start working with them.
For the foundational principles that got me here, I have written extensively on building your body naturally, mastering progressive resistance, as well as the mental health benefits of exercise and bodybuilding.
Step One: Bloodwork First. Non-Negotiable.
Before anything else — before any protocol, any optimization strategy, any conversation about peptides or hormones — you need data. This is the step most men skip, and it is honestly the reason most men plateau without ever understanding why.
My first move was a comprehensive hormone panel through Aláry Health Spa’s TRT program in Poughkeepsie. Total testosterone, free testosterone, estrogen, thyroid markers, metabolic indicators — the full picture. What came back confirmed what my body had been signaling for a while: my testosterone levels, while not catastrophically low, were operating in a range that made peak performance and meaningful body composition progress difficult to sustain.
Here is the thing about testosterone that most people do not fully appreciate until they are in their forties: it is not just about libido or mood, although it affects both. Testosterone is the primary anabolic driver of muscle protein synthesis. It governs recovery speed, fat metabolism, cognitive sharpness, and the general sense of vitality that makes you actually want to be in the gym in the first place. When it dips — even subtly — everything gets harder. Gains stall. Recovery drags. Motivation dims. And none of that feels like a hormone problem. It just feels like life.
After forty, testosterone decline is not unusual — it is essentially universal. Most men lose somewhere between one and two percent of their total testosterone per year starting in their thirties. By the time you are deep into your forties, the cumulative effect on your physique, your energy, and your performance can be significant. The good news is that it is addressable, medically, safely, and with proper clinical oversight.
TRT — Testosterone Replacement Therapy — is not a shortcut. It is not a cheat code. It is restoring your body’s hormonal environment to a functional range so that the work you are putting in actually translates into results. I have been managing my hormones through Aláry, and it has been a genuinely foundational shift in how my body responds to training.
Learn more about TRT for Men: What It Is, Who It’s For, and Why It’s Trending from Alary Journal.
Why Aláry Is My Go-To for This Entire Journey
I am particular about who touches my bloodwork and my protocols. Aláry Health Spa in Poughkeepsie is where I get it done — and the reason is not just convenience. Their clinical team approaches hormone optimization and regenerative therapies the way I approach bodybuilding: with precision, with intention, and with a real commitment to understanding the individual rather than running a one-size-fits-all script.
The person I work with directly is Luis Labrador, PA-C, who oversees TRT, peptide therapies, and the full optimization stack at Aláry. Luis brings a background across primary care, obesity medicine, and metabolic health — and what makes him exceptional is that he thinks about longevity and performance together, not as separate concerns. Every protocol he develops is built on detailed lab analysis and monitored continuously. There is no guesswork. There is no “let’s try this and see.” There is a clinical framework and a real human who actually gives a damn about your outcomes.
“For men over forty who are serious about their training, getting bloodwork done is not optional — it is the foundation. We see it constantly: men putting in real effort at the gym and wondering why they are spinning their wheels. Nine times out of ten, the answer is in the labs. Once we establish hormonal balance, whether through TRT or a supportive protocol, the body becomes receptive to optimization in a way it simply cannot be when the underlying chemistry is out of range.” — Luis Labrador, PA-C, Aláry Health Spa
Level Two: The Peptide Protocol — What It Is and Why I Am Starting Now
With my testosterone balanced and my hormonal foundation solid, the next frontier is peptide therapy — and this is where the Bodybuilding 101 series gets into territory that most mainstream fitness content either ignores or sensationalizes. Let me be clear and accurate about what this actually is, because it is neither scandalous nor complicated. It is science, and it is fascinating.
As we age, the pituitary gland naturally reduces its output of growth hormone. This decline is gradual but meaningful — and for bodybuilders specifically, it translates directly into slower recovery, reduced muscle protein synthesis, increased body fat accumulation (especially around the midsection), and a general flattening of the gains curve. The goal of peptide therapy is not to flood the body with synthetic hormones. It is to signal the pituitary to produce and release more of its own hormones naturally, through precisely targeted amino acid compounds called secretagogues.
The two peptides I am adding through Aláry’s Regenerative Therapies program are CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin — a combination that works synergistically and is among the most studied peptide protocols in clinical performance medicine.
- CJC-1295 is a growth hormone releasing hormone analogue. It binds to receptors in the pituitary and extends the natural hormone pulse — essentially telling your body to produce more over a longer window. It supports muscle preservation, fat metabolism, and recovery at a cellular level.
- Ipamorelin triggers hormone release cleanly and selectively — without the cortisol or prolactin spikes associated with older compounds in the same category. It works alongside CJC-1295 to amplify the pulse while keeping the hormonal environment stable and well-tolerated.
Together, they support everything a bodybuilder in their forties is actually after: better recovery between sessions, improved sleep quality (which is when the real repair work happens), enhanced muscle preservation, reduced visceral fat, and a restored anabolic responsiveness that makes training feel purposeful again rather than just maintenance mode.
The protocols are administered as subcutaneous injections — typically daily or on a cycling schedule — and everything is calibrated and monitored by Luis and the Aláry team. This is not something you piece together from a Reddit thread. It is a medically supervised protocol built on your specific labs, your specific goals, and your specific physiology. That distinction matters enormously.
Hydration: The Most Unglamorous Non-Negotiable in the Room
Speaking of non-negotiables — you will notice the photo of me drinking from my shaker mid-session. Yes, that is intentional. Yes, I am making you look at it. Because for all the sophisticated conversation about peptides and hormone optimization, the single most consistent performance variable that athletes at every level chronically under-address is water.
Dehydration of even two percent of body weight measurably impairs strength, power output, and cognitive function. For bodybuilders specifically, cellular hydration directly affects muscle volumization, nutrient transport, and the recovery cascade that happens between sets and between sessions. Luis, who practices what he teaches and makes intentional hydration a daily cornerstone of his own wellness protocol, would tell you the same thing: the most advanced optimization stack in the world sits on a foundation of water and sleep. Get those right first, and everything else works better.
Hydration is always the key. Even when it is the least photogenic thing happening in the gym.
The Full Coach Maxwell Alexander Protocol — Because You Asked
A few of you have reached out asking exactly what my complete optimization protocol looks like beyond the CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin. So here it is, laid out honestly, because transparency is the whole point of this series.
- CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin — the peptide combination driving the core of this phase, targeting recovery, body composition, and restored anabolic responsiveness, administered and monitored through Aláry’s Regenerative Therapies program.
- BPC-157 — this peptide is the unsung hero of serious training longevity. BPC-157 accelerates healing in tendons, ligaments, muscles, and the gut lining — which matters more than most people realize. When you are pushing volume and intensity to break a plateau, connective tissue is almost always the first thing to complain. BPC-157 keeps that system resilient and supports the kind of training consistency that actually produces results over time. The gut lining component is underrated from a nutrition standpoint too — better gut integrity means better absorption of everything you are eating and supplementing.
- GHK-Cu (Copper Peptide) — this one lives at the intersection of performance and vanity, and I am absolutely here for both. GHK-Cu supports collagen production, skin firmness, and cellular regeneration. Twenty years of training does incredible things for a body and also puts real wear on it. GHK-Cu is how I intend to look as good on the outside as the work I am putting in on the inside — think of it as the skincare component of a serious optimization protocol. For a bodybuilder, the aesthetic is part of the art. This peptide supports it at a cellular level.
- Monthly NAD+ Infusions — this is the longevity and cellular energy layer of the whole protocol, and honestly one of the things I am most excited about. NAD+ is a coenzyme that powers mitochondrial function, DNA repair, and cellular energy production — and its levels decline significantly with age. Low NAD+ means sluggish cellular recovery, reduced cognitive clarity, and a body that is working harder than it needs to just to maintain baseline function. Monthly IV NAD+ infusions through Aláry’s NAD+ Therapy program replenish those levels systemically in a way that oral supplementation simply cannot match. The result is sharper focus, faster recovery, more sustained energy, and a cellular environment that supports everything else in this protocol. For longevity-minded athletes, this is not optional — it is infrastructure.
My plan is to run this full protocol intensively for three months to push through the plateau, then shift into a maintenance rhythm for the following year or so — dialing back the frequency while keeping the foundational elements in place. That is the arc that makes sense for where I am in my training journey right now. But I want to be clear: everybody is different. What works for my body, my labs, and my goals at this stage is not automatically the right starting point for yours. Duration, dosing, and protocol design are conversations to have with a trusted clinical professional — not decisions to make based on what you read on the internet, including this article.
Everything in this protocol is administered and overseen by the clinical team at Aláry Health Spa in Poughkeepsie, with Luis Labrador, PA-C leading the hormone and peptide side of the work. If you are in the Hudson Valley and serious about doing this right, they are genuinely the team to call. Nothing here is self-prescribed or improvised. That is the whole point.
The Journey Continues — and You Are Invited
Twenty years in. A body that has been through multiple transformations — lean, heavy, athletic, competitive, contemplative. Every phase taught me something. This phase — navigating the forties with science, intention, and a clinical team I actually trust — might be the most interesting one yet.
I will be documenting my progress right here on Hudson Valley Style. The real numbers. The real shifts. The good sessions and the ones where the bar wins. That is the deal I have always made with you as a reader: no performance, no perfection theater, just the actual work.
If any of this resonates — if you are over forty, training hard, eating well, and still wondering why the needle stopped moving — start with the bloodwork. Book a consultation with the team at Aláry Health Spa. Talk to Luis Labrador, PA-C. Get the data before you make any decisions. That is how this journey actually works.
The body is the art project. Twenty years in, and I am nowhere near done.
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Photography: Maxwell Alexander, Duncan Avenue Studios | Clinical Partner: Luis Labrador, PA-C, Aláry Health Spa, Poughkeepsie, NY
About the Author: Maxwell Alexander, MA(FIT), BFA(SVA), Fitness Trainer, Wellness + Bodybuilding Coach, Sports Nutritionist, is the Editor-in-Chief of Hudson Valley Style Magazine and Men’s Performance & Longevity Advisor at Alary Health Spa.
