In Episode 272 of The Menace Podcast, Dennis James was joined by Chris Cormier, Milos Sarcev, and special guest John Hansen, who explained the big change he’s had to make as a mature bodybuilder in order to win a Masters trophy.
Who Is John Hansen?
Hansen has been bodybuilding since 1979, and came first in the 1998 and 2012 Natural Olympia events. More recently, he earned an IFBB Pro card in 2025 after becoming the overall winner of the Masters 60+ contest in the Masters National Championships, and at 62-years-young, he’s now looking to enter some pro shows.
Appearing pumped and peeled for his July 19 Masters win, Hansen explained that he had entered three contests in quick succession, with the other two taking place on June 28 and July 4. “I did three shows in a row, so I really peaked for the last one,” said Hansen. Having been a competitive bodybuilder since his teens, the gang wanted to know how Hansen’s training and prep compared now that he’s over 60.
How Bodybuilding Prep Changes With Age
“So, when you look back, you competed all these years, when you look back, and you compare it with the prep now, what changed?” asked The Menace. “What do you have to do different from what you did, let’s say 25 years ago.”
“Well, when I was younger, I used to always bulk up in the off-season,” explained Hansen. “So, when you get older you definitely can’t do that.” This is because the costs in terms of metabolic and physiological stress on older body’s aren’t worth the reward. “So, I stayed lean,” he added. The bodybuilder also explained that after returning to the stage in 2024, after an 8-year layoff, he stayed in consistently great shape. “That made getting ready for the next one a lot easier, because I was already pretty lean.”
Hansen said that because he was stage ready, around 2-3 weeks before his 2025 shows, this made the peaking process a lot easier. “Then you’ve just got to fill out, and do the depletion and loading and stuff, but yeah, you definitely can’t bulk up as you get older because it just doesn’t work for you anymore,” continued Hansen. “I did it when I was younger, because I started off skinny, so I had to bulk up to get the mass, and then I would always bulk up in the off-season, and then come down, but then when you get older you can’t do that.” In addition to his competitive success, Hansen has a new book out, titled Bodybuilding History: The 1970s.
To watch the full episode, where the panel also discussed the upcoming Arnold Classic, longevity, and all latest bodybuilding news, see below.
