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BUILT DIFFERENT OPEN

659 members • Free

16 contributions to BUILT DIFFERENT OPEN
BUILT DIFFERENT™ IS EVOLVING
I want to share an important update with everyone about where we're taking Built Different. When I started this community, the goal was simple: create a place where like minded people could have honest conversations about training, health, longevity, mindset and becoming better versions of ourselves as we get older. What started as an idea has grown into a community I am incredibly proud of. But Built Different has also grown beyond where we started. It's time for the community to evolve with it. We are currently building the Built Different™ Collective, a new private membership community for people who want to go deeper than the free content I provide publicly. The Collective will be more structured, more intentional and built around actually applying the Built Different philosophy. We're building it around: Training and the Built Different methodology Longevity and recovery Nutrition and supplementation Mindset and discipline Challenges and accountability Live sessions and Q&A with me Hormones and medical optimization education through appropriate professional resources TEMPERED™ and Built Different™ member benefits And most importantly, a community of people who want to participate, learn, improve and hold themselves to a higher standard. Membership in the new Built Different™ Collective will be $39 per month. WHAT HAPPENS TO THIS COMMUNITY? The current free Skool community will eventually close as we transition into the new Collective. We are not closing it today. My team and I are finishing the Collective now, including organizing and expanding the resources and content so that when we make the transition, you're walking into something complete and intentionally built. Once everything is ready, everyone here will receive clear instructions and advance notice before this community closes. WHAT ABOUT FREE BUILT DIFFERENT CONTENT? That's not going anywhere. I will continue putting out a tremendous amount of free training, education, motivation and perspective across YouTube and my social platforms.
2 likes • 3d
Good morning Keith, I’d like to thank you for the time you have provided on here with your guidance/assistance. If I have read your post correctly, it looks like this site will be terminated in favor of your new site with the monthly subscription. While I think it’s fantastic Built Different is evolving, I will not be able to subscribe. Teacher pay sucks -I’ll keep it simple. So before this site disappears, I wanted to take the time and say “Thank You.” The difference you have made in my life is nothing short of incredible. I wish you well in your endeavors, and will look for guidance in the occasional videos you post on YouTube. God bless, Russ
Shoulders are the most vulnerable joint in the gym for men over 40.
And most men are destroying them without even realising it. The barbell press behind the neck. The machine press that locks you into one fixed path. Snatching the weight up without controlling the eccentric. Going too heavy and losing the ability to feel what you're actually supposed to be training. I've had shoulder issues. I know exactly what it costs to ignore the signals your body is sending you in that joint. And I'll tell you right now, no rep is worth a rotator cuff tear. Here's how I approach shoulder training. Dumbbells only. Thumbs on the outside, weight sitting on my hand like a shelf, not gripped tight. I position the dumbbell out slightly at an angle so I'm not locked in behind my head the way a barbell forces you to be. That alone takes the stress off the shoulder joint and lets me actually engage the muscle I'm trying to build. I start at 10 pounds. Walk my way up the rack. First set is 16 to 18 reps, just getting the blood in there, getting locked in, finding that zone. I don't lock out at the top. I control the weight on the way down just as hard as I push it on the way up. By the time I'm four sets in I've got a pump in my shoulders that proves heavier weight was never the point. Take care of your shoulders now. The men who respect this joint at 50 are the ones still training hard at 70. How are your shoulders holding up, and have you had to change your training around them? Drop it below. 👇
2 likes • 11d
@John Hicks Same!
5 likes • 11d
I absolutely watch my shoulders on everything! Keith, I was just having the discussion how shoulders, even to a small degree, come into play with just about every upper body exercise. Even the smallest bit of “discomfort” makes me stop, reassess, and go from there: take a break, go lighter, take a day away (or more) to regroup on the particular lift where I felt it, etc. Cause once it goes bad, most if not all upper stuff is screwed until it heals. Great post, Keith! And thank you!
I want to talk about back training
Most men treating back day like a pulling contest. Yanking the weight down on lat pulldowns. Jerking the bar into their stomach on rows. Arms doing all the work while the back sits there doing nothing. Here's the issue. Your back is one of the hardest muscle groups to actually feel. It's behind you. You can't see it. And because you can't see it, most men never develop the mind-muscle connection to properly activate it. The fix is simple but it takes discipline to execute. Your hands are hooks. That's it. When you're pulling, whether it's a pulldown, a row, a cable pull, your hands are just hooks connecting you to the weight. The movement initiates from your elbows. Drive the elbows down and back. Lead with the elbow. Let the back do the pulling. The moment you start gripping and pulling with your hands, your biceps take over and your back shuts off. I see it time and time again. Lighten the weight. Slow the rep down. On every pull, pause at the contraction and actually squeeze. Hold it for a second. Feel what's working. If you can't feel your back contracting, the weight is too heavy and your form has already broken down. This is exactly why I use straps in my back training. They take the grip out of the equation so I can focus entirely on what I'm supposed to be training. Back is built through connection, not through load. Do you actually feel your back working during your sessions, or are your arms always taking over? Drop it below. 👇
5 likes • 14d
I am still steering away from lower, middle back exercises just because of my lower back issues. Working upper and middle traps, and lats with pullovers. And working my best to hit it by working the front core. But that lower back muscles around the spine, which I refer to "backstraps" haha, is going to have to wait for now.
1 like • 11d
@Carsten Breum I’ve tried this, and still have trouble with that position. No worries. I’ll get there.
Let's talk about creatine.
Because I see this question coming up constantly in the community and I want to give you a straight answer. Creatine is one of the most well-researched supplements on the planet. The science on it is not ambiguous. It supports strength, power output, muscle recovery, and, something a lot of men over 40 don't realise, cognitive function. Brain health. That alone makes it worth a conversation. For men in this community, I think it's worth considering. Not because it's a magic pill. Because it's one of the few supplements that actually has decades of research behind it and a clear mechanism for how it works. Here's what I'll tell you though. Creatine does not work in a vacuum. If your diet is garbage, if you're not training consistently, if you're sleeping four hours a night, creatine is not going to save any of that. It works in the context of a solid foundation. Five grams a day. Consistent. That's it. No loading phase needed. No complicated timing. Just take it daily and let it do its job over time. And as always, quality matters. Don't go cheap on this. Know what's in what you're putting in your body. Are you currently taking creatine, and have you noticed a difference since starting it? Drop it below. 👇
2 likes • 18d
@Robert Mescia I have high blood pressure. I take a med for it. I also take 5mg of Creatine every morning. BP is good. But that’s me. I would revisit this with your doctor. Just a thought.
0 likes • 18d
Correction. Grams.
Let me ask you something most men won't admit out loud.
How much is alcohol actually costing you? Not in dollars. In results. I see it constantly. Men in this community training hard, eating reasonably well, doing everything right , and then wondering why the scale isn't moving, why recovery feels off, why sleep isn't restoring them. A lot of the time the answer is in the glass. Alcohol after 40 hits differently. It disrupts your sleep architecture, you might be in bed eight hours and still waking up unrecovered. It spikes inflammation, which is already elevated as we age. It tanks testosterone. It slows metabolism. And it makes every single nutritional decision harder the next day. I'm not here to tell you never to enjoy yourself. That's not the Built Different message. But I am telling you to be honest with yourself about what it's actually doing to your results. I cut it out. Not because someone told me to, because I did the experiment myself and the difference in my recovery, my sleep, my energy, and my body composition was not subtle. That's the data. What you do with it is your choice. Be honest with me, how often are you drinking, and do you think it's affecting your progress more than you're willing to admit? Drop it below. No judgment in here. Just honesty. 👇
1 like • 21d
@Bill Quistorf Where in Wisconsin?
2 likes • 20d
@Bill Quistorf same here Bill on that diet
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Russell Bauer
4
62 points to level up
@russell-bauer-3886
57 yr old recently back to some minor lifting after 13 years off due to back issues. Always looking for guidance going forward late in life.

Active 19h ago
Joined Jun 30, 2026
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