How to build muscle over 50 years old

How to build muscle over 50 years old

When it comes to those wanting to get fit and build muscle in their 50’s there is really 3 groups. Those who have never exercised before, those who used to exercise and those who never stopped.

Now I’m going to put myself and people like me in the last group. Not because I’ve always been fit or actively building muscle. As I didn’t get started until I was 45, but I have been training for over 8 years and one of the things I have learned in these last 8 years of training is not only can you build muscle in your forties but you can continue to build muscle in your fifties as when I look at my progress pictures from now and compare them back to when I was 50 there is clear progress.

If you are interested in losing body fat and adding muscle, please email me at 1shark1bite@gmail.com for information on my personal training services.

Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/Fit-and-50-548844435514900/

My Amazon page link; https://www.amazon.com/shop/fitand50

My Affiliate link to Lebert for their Equalizer bars and more; http://www.easywebautomation.com/app/?af=1679568 and use the discount code LFI20 you will receive 20 dollars off your purchase.

How to build muscle over 50 years old
But let’s take a look at the other 2 groups, those new to fitness and those who used to train. Whether you haven’t trained for the last five years or you’ve never trained, starting back up is much the same. First you need a clear goal. We are talking about building muscle so clearly that is a goal, but is there a weight loss element to it? I know when I started there was. You can build muscle and lose weight at any age, but you can also do it at the same time. To do that though you have to make sure you are not cutting your calories too extreme. Making sure your taking in enough of the nutrients needed to repair our muscles and rebuild them bigger and stronger than before.

Protein is the primary nutrient we think of when it comes to building muscle and it is no wonder as the body uses the amino acids from the protein we eat to build new muscle, but in order for this to work we need to maintain a net protein balance. Making sure we are taking in more protein than we are breaking down while training. Adding to the challenge as we age we start to develop anabolic resistance and we no longer process proteins as efficiently as we did when we were younger this means we need to take in more protein in order to see the same result as when we were young.

Personally in my own diet, 35% of my daily calories goes to protein and I would recommend for any older men that are hard training and very active to keep their protein in the 25 to 35% range. Getting most of our overall calories from quality whole food sources.

When I set up a program for one of my clients who is just starting back into fitness and wanting to build some muscle. The first program I have them do might seem like I bit of a contradiction from what I typically say on this channel. As I am always talking about the importance of training volume, intensity and pushing that last set to failure. And I have all my clients do this, just not at first.

Full body workouts focusing on compound movements is always a great place to start. But before you worry about intensity or training volume you need to learn the movements and get comfortable with the weights. Don’t expect to jump back in at the same level you were at back when you used to train.

As you become more comfortable with the movements you can start to increase that weight and add in more sets and reps to increase the overall training volume. There is no need to get locked into that traditional 3 sets of 10 reps either as many find training with lighter weights and higher reps much easier on the joints and it is just as effective.

As you become more experienced you can start to vary the weight and rep ranges your using. This will provide some variety and additional stimulation to the muscles. The easiest and most common way to do this is by what is called daily undulating periodization. Where you take each training day during the week and work within a different rep range. So one day would be your heavy day and you would train within the 6 to 10 rep range then on the next workout you would lighten the weight a bit and increase the reps to in between 10 to 15 range with your final workout of the week being in the 15 to 20 rep range.

We need to talk about cardio and building muscle. One of the biggest reasons we lose muscle mass as we age is inactivity. We simply are not as active as when we we younger and strength training 3 times a week is a good start, but it is not enough. Adding in some form of cardiovascular exercise strengthens the heart and improve blood flow which is critical in providing the nutrients to our muscles to repair and build them up stronger than before.