Brian Morgan Fitness/321 Stretch LLC

07/23/2026

Tank M1S from Torque Fitness | Home & Commercial Performance Equipment First session was a great workout. More details tomorrow. If you’re over 50 and have some wear and tear on your knees, hips or low back, I think sleds are a great way to maintain your lower body strength while working on core stability

07/15/2026

BFR Training for the Win! BFR is for REAL folks. Running track races at 86 years young. And wishing he started earlier!

Next month will be 5 years since I started doing it. And I don’t do it exclusively. I include other types of training too. But it’s pretty awesome. In his case at 86, his joints can’t stand the heavy pounding and this still provides a good stimulus.

07/14/2026

BFR Training Type II Diabetes Study - A study in Germany on the effects of BFR and those with type II diabetes was showcased by Owen’s Recovery Sciences on their YouTube channel recently. Johnny Owens is a physical therapist and BFR educator. The study was only 12 weeks but showed something interesting about this training.

They looked at “normal “ resistance training and the gains in strength and hypertrophy were similar. Muscle is important for metabolism and trying to prevent type II diabetes. The BFR training group also saw improvements that are typically seen with cardiovascular exercise and this is an impressive benefit. In addition to being time-efficient and easier on the joints, because less weight is needed.

The BFR group also saw improvement in the vascular system and decreased visceral fat. Extra fat deposits in the stomach area are associated with increased inflammation and can be associated with various health issues. Again, I’m not a doctor so just reporting what I heard and if you want to watch this on YouTube, go ahead.

For me, it just highlights more reasons to be doing BFR training if you’re over 50 and want to chase longevity and feel better currently. So naturally I did some squats with the bands on and walked around in between. Time-efficient and joint friendly. And has helped some people with pain relief too.

06/26/2026

Sled Pushes are Great for Over 50 Fitness - this is one of my favorite exercises for working on lower body strength (single leg), core strength and upper body stability, all at the same time. It’s a “big bang “ activity and something all my clients have done in the past.

There are different ways to do it and my personal preference is to go slow and use a fairly heavy load. This really works your glutes and hamstrings, along with your knees and ankles. This can help someone older walk more upright with a longer stride, in part due to the single leg movement.

If you don’t want to do heavy squats for some reason I think this, combined with kettlebell swings and trap bar deadlifts will keep your lower body able to do the activities or sports you want to do. If you’re a woman who wants to keep up with your grandkids - this and backwards sled drags are a great way to do that.

If at home I would consider the sled, as it has tires that can be used on any surface. Like your garage or driveway, or even your basement if you live north of Florida. If you have at least 30 feet of open space you could do this. They have sleds with 3 or 4 wheels and you could push it as far as possible and then push it back the other direction

I know several women who could benefit from this and keep up with their grandkids. Or play golf, pickleball or whatever. Many different ways to use a sled.

06/22/2026

Beautiful sky, lots of rain lately - from burn bans to monsoon season. The retention pond was down a good 4 feet not too long ago. Relaxing afternoon at my brother’s house today. And a couple more exercise toys (soft bounce medballs).

Tomorrow I want to talk about sled pushes and how beneficial they are for over 50 fitness. In recent years we’ve learned how great backwards sled drags are for strengthening the muscles around your knees, helping you stay active. But I used to have my group clients pushing a sled 15-16 years ago

I think it’s a great way to work the lower body one side at a time while really working on core stability AND upper body. All in one exercise. And I’m not alone. Personal trainer/coach Robert Linkul has a gym called Training the Older Adult (TOA) and he trains clients from 50 to 80’s.

On a recent webinar he spoke of the benefits of this exercise for those in their 70’s and 80’s, as far as improved posture (more upright after this) and a stronger push off, better stride length. If someone of this age has improved their gait. Walking better, it’s easier to do what ever activities they want and probably less likely that they will fall.

I will discuss another type of sled that has wheels that can be used on any surface. Making it easy to use in your garage or driveway. Or basement for those who don’t live in Florida. That sled is on my wish list. The one I have is designed for turf. Or can be used on carpet.

06/12/2026

3 Great Exercises for Knee Stability/Strength with Power Plate Move - if you’re over 50 and had some previous knee issues or pain and want a great way to strengthen the muscles around your knee, without causing pain to the knee - the Power Plate might be worth looking into.

The first 2 exercises are isometrics but instead of just holding the position, which is good. I’m taking it up a notch by contracting the muscles strongly. This makes it difficult to hold for more than 20 seconds but you feel the muscles working much harder. If just starting out you would do contractions of 20-40% maximum perceived effort or just holding the position

The squats with the ramp or wedge should be done through a pain free range of motion. You can add additional weight if you want more intensity but this shouldn’t cause joint pain. Just muscular stress. The reflex contractions that you get from whole body vibration (WBV) amplifies how strong the muscles feel like they are working.

I think this is kinda similar to using a stim device like ARP or the Neufit, but I can’t be certain. I just know I feel it working and like the way my knees feel - solid as a rock. And my muscles love it too.

06/10/2026

Built for Life After 50 is becoming a real world studio - Brian Morgan Fitness is building a simple, realistic assisted stretching, mobility, and strength model designed for adults 45-70 who want to reduce stiffness, reduce aches and pains, and stay (or become) more active.

https://builtforlifeafter50.netlify.app/

For those who invest $500 or 250 you will receive that amount of studio time, plus interest on your investment. Hard to beat a deal like that. If you’re not local you can receive online training for your investment.

Reserve non-binding interest in Brian Morgan Fitness, a mobility and strength studio concept for active adults over 45.

06/07/2026

88 LB Kettlebell Isometric Challenge - I saw this challenge recently on and decided to give it a try.
I picked it up and held it so it wasn’t touching my body.
And well, you can see how I did. The goal was to hold it for a minute and I got about 50 seconds. It was tough!

At a certain point your mind is telling you to stop and put it down. And you’re trying to override your brain. I’ve never done this before and if I trained it I could definitely get a minute. Maybe more

But you can see that it drained me a little bit and definitely a physical AND mental challenge. I like pushing my body and this one kinda suits my body well.
Whether it’s this or something else, training for a particular goal is important in my opinion. It could be just training to stay active for the rest of your life
That’s my goal anyway! fitover50 training goals

05/26/2026

Inclined Walking is Good Alternative to Running Past 55 - if you’re over 55 should you still run…or what is a good alternative?! In the first two photos you see Ted walking on an incline treadmill and Vince is jogging at a comfortable pace. This was 2010 and the physical therapy clinic I rented space from had a high speed treadmill and sometimes I would have clients use it.

Both of those guys were about 57 or 58. Ted had a hip replacement earlier that year and incline walking worked for him. Vince was still jogging on a regular basis so running on the treadmill was fine. Going up an incline is a good way to work the muscles if you want to avoid or minimize some joint impact. If you still play a sport that involves running you better do some in your training.

If you don’t want to run you can do some sled pushes or backwards sled drags. Both of which are good for the knees, in my opinion. You really feel the muscles around the knees working hard with the sled drags but not a lot of joint stress. Meaning, if you’ve had past knee problems you should still be able to do them and end up feeling like your knees are stronger. More capable.

I returned to playing softball four years ago after a total of almost 25 years away and trying to sprint at the age of 56, almost 57 - I had an ankle sprain and tore my hamstring at the same time, despite doing weight training. I think the sled drags would have helped

Obviously, jogging and sprinting are different and I think maintaining the ability to run 20-30 yards in an emergency is a good thing. Here in Florida we have some bridges across water that are a good way to strengthen your legs without having to run. Setting a treadmill on a bit of an incline for walking can be effective also.

As I said recently - muscles do two things. They produce force and they absorb force. Whether jogging or sprinting, you need to be good at absorbing force if you want to be efficient and minimize the risk of injury. If you want to be active in your 50’s, 60’s and 70’s you need to make sure your muscles are good at producing and absorbing force - work on those “springs “. Built For Life After 50™

05/19/2026

Isometric Holds for Upper Body Strength? I’ve been experimenting with this iso pushup hold with my feet elevated and it’s a killer - at least the way I’m doing it. Instead of just holding for time, I’m making it harder

I’m pushing as hard as I can with all my upper body. Like 80%. Or at least it feels like it. My pecs, biceps, triceps, shoulders, lats and my serratus muscles all are working really hard. And because I’m contracting my muscles as hard as I can they fatigue quicker

I’m starting with BFR to drive blood into the muscles and pre-fatigue them. Yesterday I did 2 sets of pec flyes, one set of shoulder presses and 2 sets of biceps curls to get a good pump. Took the bands off and waited about 4 minutes to do this pushup hold. Waited about four minutes more and did a second set of all-out and I was done

Did some upper body stretches to finish. I’ve also been playing around with bar hangs, where instead of just hanging (which is a good exercise), I’m consciously pulling hard with my lats and you fatigue quicker. I’m going for maximal muscle contraction - trying to recruit more muscle .

At my height with the size of my torso, these two exercises are pretty tough. If you’re smaller you might not feel it as much but this really gets me “cooked “. If your shoulders aren’t 100% you might want to avoid the elevated pushups but the pull-up should be fine unless you have restricted mobility in your shoulders