The Dispatch
No XLVIII · Health · 7 min
Why your old workout doesn't work anymore
The five-day split that built me at 30 was breaking me at 42. Here is what the evidence (and my Garmin) said to change.
No XLVII · HEALTH
The four lifts that matter after 40
Squat, hinge, press, pull. Two sessions a week. The unsexy programme that out-builds any spreadsheet of accessories.
26 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XLVI · HEALTH
Protein targets for men over 40
1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilo of bodyweight, spread across the day. The number that quietly decides whether you hold muscle past 50.
26 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XLV · HEALTH
Zone 2 and VO2 max, the actual metrics that matter
Two cardio numbers predict how well you'll move into your seventies. Most men train in the grey zone between them.
26 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No XLIV · HEALTH
Sleep as a training input
Most men over 40 treat sleep as overhead. The data says it is the largest single recovery lever you've got.
26 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XLIII · HEALTH
Coming back from an injury without restarting
Full rest is yesterday's protocol. Relative rest plus structured loading gets you back faster, and stronger than before.
26 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No XLII · HEALTH
The annual health check men skip
BP, lipids, glucose, skin, mood, plus the screens specific to men past 40. The 30-minute conversation that quietly saves lives.
26 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XLI · HEALTH
Testosterone after 40, the honest version
Testosterone declines after 40. That is normal. The rate is what matters, and the rate is mostly fixable with sleep, weight, and alcohol before any clinic touches you with a needle. The honest version of low T, what the lab numbers actually say, and why the men''s clinic on Instagram is selling you a problem you may not have.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No XL · HEALTH
When the scan finds something
The phone call you do not want to get. "We''ve found something on your scan, we''d like you to come back in." Most incidental findings are nothing. Some are serious. The 24 to 48 hours between the call and the next appointment are the worst part, and they are also the part where men make the worst decisions. Here is how to navigate the panic window without burning your marriage, your sleep, or your sanity.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XXXIX · HEALTH
The prostate test conversation
PSA testing is not on the standard Australian health check, and most men are surprised by that. The Cancer Council''s position is informed-consent, not blanket-screen, and the reasons are better than they sound. When to start asking, what an elevated PSA actually means (mostly not cancer), what the DRE is really for, and the biopsy flow if it gets there. The honest version, not the alarmist one.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No XXXVIII · HEALTH
Men's cardio, the old rules are wrong
The "long slow run is good for your heart" assumption is half right and half wrong. Modern cardio research has converged on a model that almost no recreational runner is actually doing: 80 percent at very low intensity, 20 percent at very high intensity, with very little in the middle. The grey zone where most men train is the worst zone for adaptation. Here is what four hours a week should actually look like, in heart-rate numbers your watch can read.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XXXVII · HEALTH
Mobility as the new strength
Hip, ankle, and thoracic mobility decline accelerate after 40, and most men do not notice until they cannot get off the floor without using their hands. Strength is not the rate-limiter for being able to lift, run, or play with kids at sixty. Mobility is. Ten minutes a day on four specific drills beats one hour a week of "mobility class" you forget by Tuesday. The drills, the rationale, and what the decline looks like if you ignore it.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XXXVI · HEALTH
Alcohol and recovery after 40
Three drinks at 42 is not three drinks at 28. Here is what changed inside, and what to do about it.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XXXV · HEALTH
The stress fracture no one warns you about
The bone in my shin gave out at 43. The radiologist was not surprised. Here is what nobody told me about running back into your old self.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XXXIV · HEALTH
The lower-back truth after 40
The MRI shows degeneration. The pain shows movement. Most lower-back pain in men over 40 is not what you think it is.
28 Apr 2026 · 8 min
No XXXIII · HEALTH
The resting heart rate tell
One number, measured before you get out of bed, tells you more than most blood tests. Here is how to read it without obsessing over it.
28 Apr 2026 · 6 min
No XXXII · HEALTH
The belly fat explanation
Same weight, new shape. The belly that arrived in your forties is a different animal. Here is what it actually is and what shifts it.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XXXI · HEALTH
Men over 50 and the lift floor
Strength is not a vanity number after fifty. It is the floor under your independence. Three lifts, twice a week, thirty minutes.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XXX · HEALTH
Skin cancer checks as a routine
Australia has the highest skin cancer rate in the world. A skin doctor, once a year, two hundred dollars. Most men still do not go.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min
No XXIX · HEALTH
When you stop being able to run
A week, a month, sometimes for good. The grief of losing a sport. The rebalance toward lifts, walks, and water.
28 Apr 2026 · 7 min