Somewhere around 40, most people quietly write off "explosive" as a category that no longer applies to them. Sprinting, jumping, quick direction changes — that stuff feels like it belongs to a different decade of life. So training shifts toward slow, steady, safe. Long hikes instead of trail sprints. Steady-state instead of anything that looks like plyometrics.

Here's the problem: that instinct is backwards, and the data backs it up.

The number that should change your training

After age 40, we lose the ability to produce power at roughly 17% per decade. Not strength — power. Those aren't the same thing, and the distinction matters more than most training plans account for.

Strength is how much force you can produce. Power is how fast you can produce that force. You can keep your strength relatively intact well into your 50s and 60s with consistent resistance training, and still watch your power output quietly decline in the background — because most training programs never ask the body to move fast, only to move heavy.

Type II muscle fibers — the fast-twitch fibers responsible for explosive, high-velocity movement — atrophy faster than the slow-twitch Type I fibers that carry you through long, steady efforts. If your training never recruits them, you lose them faster than you'd expect. And once they're gone, they're the hardest fiber type to rebuild.

Why this matters more than a fitness stat

Power isn't a performance metric reserved for competitive athletes. It's the physical quality behind some of the most consequential parts of getting older well:

• Decreased fall risk. Catching yourself on uneven trails, a loose rock, or an icy step requires your body to produce force fast, not just eventually. That reaction window is measured in fractions of a second, and it's powered by the same fast-twitch fibers you stop training when you stop training explosively.

• Increased independence. Getting up quickly from the ground, reacting to a slip, catching a falling object — these are power-dependent movements most people never think about until the day they can't do them.

• Improved quality of life. The difference between "I can still do that" and "I used to be able to do that" is often a power deficit, not a strength deficit.

• Better coordination. Fast-twitch training doesn't just build speed — it keeps the neuromuscular connections sharp that let your brain and muscles communicate quickly under pressure.

For the outdoor enthusiast, this isn't abstract. It's the difference between sticking a dynamic move on a climb, recovering your balance on a scree field, or reacting when your bike's front wheel washes out on loose singletrack — versus not.

Power training belongs in every well-rounded program

The fix isn't complicated, and it doesn't require a track and field background. It requires intentionally including movements that ask your body to produce force quickly, on a regular basis. A few accessible ways to start:

• Skipping rope — cheap, portable, and one of the most efficient ways to train reactive lower-body power and coordination at once.

• Jumping — box jumps, broad jumps, or simple vertical jumps train your fast-twitch fibers directly and translate to nearly every outdoor sport.

• Sprinting — short, all-out efforts (think 10-20 seconds, not distance running) are one of the purest power stimuli available. Trail sprints on a flat section double as training and as an excuse to be outside.

• Medicine ball slams — a full-body way to train explosive force production without the joint loading of heavier lifts, and a low-barrier entry point if you're newer to power work.

None of these need to replace your current training. They need to be added to it — a few sets, a couple times a week, layered into whatever you're already doing.

With that said, always remember, training power doesn’t mean doing 100x box jumps. You only need 2-3x sets with 3-6 reps per exercise. And once speed, tempo and technique fatigue, you are no longer training power.

Fuel the effort, not just the training

Explosive training places real demand on your body's ability to produce and regenerate energy quickly — which is exactly the system creatine supports. Gnarly's Instantized Creatine helps replenish the phosphocreatine stores your muscles draw from during short, high-power efforts, so you can actually complete the reps that build fast-twitch capacity instead of fading into slower, compensatory movement halfway through the set.

Pair that with a post-session protein to support the repair work your fast-twitch fibers need after a real power stimulus, and an everyday hydration and greens routine to keep you showing up consistently — because power training only works if you keep doing it.

This is the systems approach: train the quality that keeps you moving fast and reacting quickly, and fuel it with a stack built for exactly that kind of effort.

The bottom line

Losing power as you age isn't inevitable — it's a training gap. The 17%-per-decade decline is what happens when nobody asks your fast-twitch fibers to do their job. Skipping rope, jumping, sprinting, and medicine ball work are simple, accessible ways to close that gap, no matter what your current training looks like.

Power isn't just for young, high-performance athletes anymore. It's for anyone who wants to keep moving the way they always have — fast, sure-footed, and ready for whatever the trail, the crag, or the mountain throws at them next.

Add power to your program. Fuel it right. Keep moving like you mean it.

Shop Gnarly Instantized Creatine →