Strength Training Over 40 Books: What They Promise vs. Free Guidelines

You can start strength training over 40 for $0.

Three public sources post the weekly targets for free. They are the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM, a sports-medicine professional body), the National Institute on Aging (NIA, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health) and MedlinePlus (the NIH’s consumer health library). Two books sold as Strength Training Over 40 cost $9.99 to $22.99, and both are pitched as workout programs. Buy Alana Collins’ book if you want a set six-week plan. If you only need the numbers, skip both and start the free week below.

This article is general information from public health sources, not medical advice.

Collins sells a 6-week program; Smith sells strength without living in the gym

On its Barnes & Noble listing, Collins’ book is subtitled “A 6-Week Program to Build Muscle and Agility.” The listing pitches resistance training as a way to keep moving freely as you age.

Michael Smith’s book has a long subtitle on Goodreads: “The Only Weight Training Workout Book You Will Need to Maintain or Build Your Strength, Muscle Mass, Energy, Overall Fitness … Without Living in the Gym.” One Goodreads reviewer sums up its message as gaining strength and endurance without living at the gym or taking heavy supplements. That is one reader’s summary, not the publisher’s description.

The free baseline: two strength days and 150 aerobic minutes a week

Start with strength. ACSM’s guidelines page says every adult should do activities that keep or build muscular strength and endurance on at least two days a week. This is a joint ACSM and CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommendation.

Then aerobic work. ACSM and the CDC recommend that healthy adults aged 18 to 65 get at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity on five days a week, or at least 20 minutes of vigorous activity on three days.

How do you tell the two apart without a heart-rate monitor? Use NIA’s talk test. If you can only say a few words before you need a breath, you are at vigorous intensity. NIA adds that building up to 75 minutes of vigorous activity counts toward the aerobic goal.

A book costs $9.99 to $22.99; the baseline costs $0

Prices are as listed on each retailer’s page when checked in October 2026, and they can change.

	Collins	Smith	Free baseline
What it promises	“A 6-Week Program to Build Muscle and Agility”; moving freely as you age (B&N)	“The Only Weight Training Workout Book You Will Need … Without Living in the Gym” (Goodreads)	Strength and endurance work on 2+ days a week (ACSM)
Price	eBook $17.99, paperback $17.99 (B&N)	Kindle $9.99, paperback $14.99, hardcover $22.99 (Amazon)	$0
How you read it	eBook or paperback	Kindle edition readable in a web browser with Kindle for Web (Amazon); 207 pages, Kindle edition published November 24, 2021 (Goodreads)	Free public web pages
Reader ratings	—	3.85/5 from 127 Goodreads ratings; 17 at 1–2 stars	n/a
Supplements	—	One reviewer: no heavy supplements needed	Cannot replace a healthy diet (ODS)

Price gap: Collins eBook $17.99 (B&N) − Smith Kindle $9.99 (Amazon) = $8.00 more for Collins in digital form.

Aerobic minutes: 30 min × 5 days = 150 min moderate, or 20 min × 3 days = 60 min vigorous per week (ACSM). NIA’s 75-minute vigorous figure (NIA) is 75 − 60 = 15 min more, so building to 75 covers both.

Smith’s low ratings: 17 of 127 Goodreads ratings at 1–2 stars = 13% (Goodreads).

The free column already sets how often and how hard. What a book adds is a ready-made order of workouts. What it cannot change is the two-day minimum.

A free starting week: two strength days and the talk test

This week uses only the numbers above. Start at an easy level, below the targets if you need to, and build up.

1. Monday: strength day one, using any muscle-strengthening exercise you know.
2. Tuesday: 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, such as a walk.
3. Wednesday: 30 minutes moderate.
4. Thursday: strength day two.
5. Friday: 30 minutes moderate.
6. Saturday: 30 minutes moderate.
7. Sunday: 30 minutes moderate.

That gives you two strength days and 5 × 30 = 150 moderate minutes. In NIA’s words, moderate means you are “breathing hard but can still have a conversation easily.” Would you rather go vigorous? Swap the five 30-minute days for three 20-minute days and build toward 75 minutes.

If 30 minutes is too much on day one, start shorter. To progress, MedlinePlus suggests small steps such as “lifting slightly heavier weights, adding a few more minutes to your walk.” The guidelines leave the choice of exercises to you, and that is the gap a workout book is sold to fill.

Supplements can’t replace a healthy diet, per NIH

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) says performance supplements cannot take the place of a healthy diet. It adds that some may have value, depending on the type and intensity of your activity. That wording is conditional: some supplements, not all, and only for some kinds of training. It fits the Goodreads reviewer’s “no heavy supplements” reading of Smith’s book.

One nutrient to know past 40 is vitamin D. ODS lists 15 mcg (micrograms), or 600 IU (international units), a day for adults 19 to 70, and 20 mcg (800 IU) for adults 71 and older. The training week and your food come first. Any product comes second, and only after the provider check in the last section.

Buy Collins for a set six-week plan; skip both if you only need the numbers

Smith’s Goodreads description promises results “just 8 or 12 weeks from now” and “constant compliments.” No book can promise you those, and no guideline here does. A subtitle that calls it “The Only … Book You Will Need” also sits next to 13% of ratings at 1–2 stars. The fix: count ACSM’s two strength days as your floor, and judge the book by whether it gets you to them, not by a calendar.

Collins has its own catch. Its eBook costs $17.99, the same as the paperback and $8.00 more than Smith’s Kindle. A six-week program also ends at week six, so from week seven ACSM’s two days are your plan.

Even so, Collins is the only one of the two sold with a fixed program length, and its pitch is about moving freely as you age, not results on a deadline. Buy it if you want a start, a finish and a program in between.

• Pick Collins if you want a set six-week program and will pay $17.99 in either format.
• Pick Smith if cost matters most: $9.99 for the Kindle edition.
• Skip Collins → buy Smith’s Kindle if $17.99 is more than you want to spend.
• Skip Smith → buy Collins if deadline promises put you off.
• Skip both → use the free week above if you already know a few strength exercises and only need the weekly targets.

How we evaluated

We compared Collins’ Barnes & Noble listing, Smith’s Amazon listing and Smith’s Goodreads page against the public baseline from ACSM, NIA, MedlinePlus and NIH ODS. Our criteria were what each book promises, price by format, how you read it, reader ratings, how it handles supplements, and what it adds beyond what you can start today for free.

FAQ

Is strength training different from resistance training? No. NIA says strength training and resistance training are other names for muscle-strengthening exercise, so both books and the guidelines mean the same thing.

Do I need a book to start? No. The two strength days and the aerobic minutes above cost nothing. A book adds a ready-made order of workouts.

Do the ACSM aerobic numbers apply after 65? The ACSM figures quoted here are written for healthy adults 18 to 65. Outside that range, use the provider check below to set your starting point.

Check with a provider first if moving or balancing is hard

MedlinePlus advises checking with a health care provider before you start exercising. This matters most if you have trouble moving or balancing, or if you worry exercise might not be safe for you. Take the starter week to that visit so your provider can tell you where to begin, and ask about any supplement at the same visit.