As we get older we naturally lose muscle(Sarcopenia) and testosterone in men drop by at least 1% each year after 30. And we will also require more recovery time, so our muscle can repair and grow. This can seem like a losing battle.
The good news is there are ways to blunt or slow down the aging process.
- Eating enough protein
- Getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night
- Do compound weight training
- Supplementing with Creatine
- Getting enough Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Let’s look at more ways to build muscle for older men than the ones above.
Protein is the king macronutrient when it comes to building muscle for protein synthesis. It’s all over the map as far as to how much protein you need.
1. Why Protein is Important for Muscle Growth
The standards for how protein is needed was predicated on professional bodybuilders who are on synthetic hormones. Their body has a much different need then a natural weight lifter.
It’s best to try to get .7-1 gram per pound of protein per body weight. One gram per body weight is plenty of enough protein to build muscle. The overall net protein intake essentially
It’s also important that if we are in a 300-500 calorie deficit to lose weight, it’s even more relevant to meet your protein needs. If you are not, there is a good chance of having muscle waste occur.
There are many types of proteins beef, fish, chicken, and plant-based are the most common ones. I highly recommend eating grass-fed or organic when you are able too. Think about it, can you have optimal health eating sick animals?
Protein powders are a lifesaver, let’s face it can be tough to eat enough each day. I like to double up on a serving to help ensure I’m getting what my body needs. if I feel like I’m behind for the day.
Lastly, you won’t waste away if you are off by and not hitting your daily amount. Just be self-aware that you are eating protein with most meals.
2. Rest and Recovery
Sleep! We all love it but is often overlooked when we are trying to gain muscle. Exercise and sleep go hand in hand. Training helps you sleep and sleeping helps you recover, full circle.
There is a lot going on with your body while you are sleeping. While your body aids in repair with protein. Sleep is producing your hormones while you sleeping, like HGH Human Growth Hormone.
During the 3rd stage of NREM sleep is when increased blood flow to your tissues and muscle repair occurs. Many important repairs like tissue and muscle growth happen mainly during sleep. Our bodies grow outside of the gym.
3. Compound Exercises
I used to read in magazines and online when I was younger all about bodybuilding isolation exercises, curls etc.. about how it would make you gain muscle. Pshhh….While it may have it’s place a natural weight lifter will not see many gains from that kind of a routine.
It wasn’t until later in life Things like compound exercises like deadlifts, Squats, Barbell row and press started to become the main pillars of my programs. Barbell bench, of course, I wasn’t including it because Monday’s are National bench press day in the gyms.
Once I started to use these exercises I started to see more results as a natural weight lifter. Compound movements are great because you are working more than one muscle group at a time. As I like to say getting the most bang for your buck.
Compound Exercises
- Bench Press
- Squat
- Deadlift(The most important exercise if I had to pick one)
- Barbell Row
- Barbell overhead press
The exercises above should be your staple.
4. Creatine
I like taking creatine, it is one of the most widely studied supplements for results and safety. Your body already has creatine stores naturally, adding more helps to give more energy while working out.
The main added benefit is to have more energy and to be able to lift more weight. There are also other added benefits when adding creatine. The standard starting dose is 5 grams per day. The most studied and recommended is creatine monohydrate but there are many forms of it.
5. Omega 3 Fatty Acids
The main formula when adding muscle is the rate of tissue gain or your protein balance becomes the rate of synthesis subtracted by the rate of degradation. This works in your favor!
Also, DHA and EPA have been suggested to support insulin sensitivity and increase glucose and fatty acid uptake into the muscle cells. This may help transport nutrients into the muscle and away from fat. Providing more energy for your workouts and therefore improving overall body composition.
6. Progressive Overload
The type of training is done by either increasing the weight, reps or sets for each workout. You want to continually increase a variable each time to force your body to grow.
If you are not getting any stronger and doing the same weight and the same exercises your body will not change. For many years I did just that, still lifting heavy but the same exercises and weight. With minimal change.
The ideal number you should try to hit is between 8-12 reps. Going past that will be just getting a pump or your body will be so fatigued. There is more than one way for progressive overload. Remember your workouts should be getting more challenging each time.
This is a good starting point for how many sets you should do for each body part for the week.
According to:
“The National Strength and Conditioning Association has determined that, to maximize growth, you need approximately 20–70 total reps per muscle group.”
The number of working sets that are needed per week
- Chest: 10-15
- Back: 10-18
- Biceps: 10-18
- Triceps: 10-14
- Legs 10-18
- Abs: unlimited
Ten working sets per week is generally where you want to start while increasing either weight or a set per week. I’m a fan of increasing sets. 10 sets are the minimum effective amount of work to see progress.
7. Intensity
No, you don’t have to be the guy at the gym grunting and screaming to build muscle. If you think of an intensity scale between 1-10, you should aim for 6-7 on intensity.
Your trying to be able to use moderate weight, anything to light is a warmup. And anything too heavy you break your form and your not properly training the desired muscle group for the exercise.
There are a time and place to go light and heavy, but it’s not optimal for building muscle.
8. Complement Compound Weight Training with Body Weight Exercises
Compound Barbell movements should be the staple lifts for your training. To achieve a well rounded aesthetic physique you will need to add more. This is where bodyweight exercises are great.
Not only does it make you more well rounded, but it also can help you prevent injury.
Here are some bodyweight exercises
- Dips
- Chin-ups
- Single-leg or Lunges
- Inverted Row
- Pushups
- Planks
Adding bodyweight exercises will help with your stability and core strength in your body. It’s also not as difficult on your joints versus other types of training.
You can also get away with more intensity with your training with less damage to your connective tissues. When you add compound and bodyweight exercises you are creating a more balanced body. This will likely increase your chances of being injury-free in the future.
8. Technique and Speed
The form you use and the speed at which you lift are very important. You should be going at a slow pace especially on the concentric on the way down.
If you are not using the correct form, you increase the chances of having an injury. Also, you are not focusing on the correct muscle group and not getting the most out of your workout. most people who workout are typically using bad form. just because they’re able to sling the wait up with all their might doesn’t mean it’s as effective as it should be. there are different aspects to a good set when lifting.
- First thing you want to do while lifting is making sure that you are squeezing the bar and that you have a good grip. simple but very effective and often overlooked.
- You also want to create total body tension which creates stability, which makes for safer lifting.
- While lifting you want to make sure that you have control and that you are lifting at a good pace. Always controlling the lowering or eccentric part of the lift. if you do this you’re making the lift safer end contributing to muscle growth. which is caused by the damage in the muscle by the speed at which you lift.
- You want to make sure that you are getting a full range of motion while lifting, but not so far that you feel pain.
- If you are doing something such as bench press, you want to start by for forcefully Contracting in squeezing the text first.
- you don’t want to lift with the momentum of the movement. instead you want to live with your muscles in focus on them throughout the movements.
- On your big barbell exercises, you must want to walk out your elbows and slight pause for the next rep. you should not be trying to pump out reps like a maniac quickly.
“A review in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research indicates that eccentrics should generally take 2–4 seconds to perform.“
9. Conditioning
If you fear that cardio will make you weak and lose muscle, fear no more. the classic example is to look at a sprinter versus a marathon runner. a sprinter is not built the same way a marathon runner is, most sprinters are pretty ripped with a lot of muscle.
Instead, conditioning will help you stay lean and improves your recovery in between your workouts. it is very beneficial and should be part of your weekly program.
I get it, most guys who do like you lift weights generally don’t like to run order conditioning. I would just rather live way to myself but it’s too beneficial for the amount of time it takes you to do a little bit of cardio added to your weight training.
my favorite type of cardio is high-intensity interval training HIIT. this is the best bang for your buck core conditioning and it’s pretty straightforward. it’s been shown to be very effective at burning fat well still preserving your muscles.
high-intensity interval training works by doing 15 to 30 minutes workouts per week, even when trying to build muscle. It’s recommended that you do two to three HIIT workouts per week but I generally try to squeeze into if possible.
There are multiple different high-intensity interval training workouts. the most common one is an all-out Sprint for 30-60 seconds and then jogging or walking for the remaining 60-120 Seconds. The goal is to repeat this for 15-30 minutes total.
Here are some HIIT Exercises
- Sprinting Hills
- sprinting on your bike with the resistance turned up
- kettlebell swings done for High Reps
- jumping rope
- swimming
10. Being in a Small Caloric Surplus
We’ve been taught or have thought that you have to eat big to get big! Not so much, we actually gain muscle mass at a much slower rate. On average a man can gain .25 pounds of muscle per week.
Slow and steady is the key. You don’t want to gorge yourself with food, because you’ll end up getting fat. While you may put on some muscle if you are not taking steroids most of it will be in the form of fat.
The idea caloric surplus you would want to be in to gain muscle is between 200-500 extra calories per day.
11. Don’t Be Afraid of Carbs
Yes, don’t be afraid of carbs. A lot of trendy fad diets such as the ketogenic and the carnivore diets are popular. carbohydrates have become scrutinized. Yes, if you eat too many carbs, of course, it will help store fat. If we want to build muscle it’s optimal to eat healthy carbs.
High-fiber carbs such as green leafy vegetables are good source of energy and they are also filling. Other macronutrients that are very filling high-fiber carbs are protein. this is a good way to help curb your appetite.
well some people do you find success and low carbohydrate diets and working out, I feel like they are in the minority. Others and myself feel like a shell of themselves on a low carbohydrate diet while lifting weights to try to build muscle.
It’s night and day difference when you eat carbohydrates around the time when you work out versus not having any, I am so much stronger and in turn, helps to build more muscle.
Of course if you are not very active, have diabetes, damaged metabolism, or any other disease being monitored by a doctor that’s a different story. So it’s a kind of try and see what works for you or approach as there is not a one-size-fits-all with all of these factors in play.
Ideally if you are active 100- 150 grams per day carbohydrates are well-tolerated. this is a very moderate approach to carbohydrate intake. once again this is for those who are very active dinner already fairly lean. Once again there is not a one-size-fits-all but carbohydrates should be included unless your doctor says otherwise.
Pretty much all vegetables are game and you can eat as much as you want. also, you could eat a couple pieces of fruit, moderate starchy carbohydrates play sweet potatoes and potatoes, as well as grain such as rice to notes. Carbs help supply the energy needed for your workouts, to help with building muscle.
12. Lower Alcohol Intake
This one also goes without saying but Lowe’s alcohol is high in calories. Of course in moderation for social drinking it’s okay. High alcohol intake as many calories can increase your overall fat storage and also decrease muscle gain.
Most of the calories from alcohol come from sugar and carbohydrates. Also, alcohol can dehydrate you which can obviously make your workouts less effective.
Personally, for myself I’m going to drink socially, I like to try to stay to vodka gin or whiskey because they are very low in calories compared to other alcohol.
13. Consistency
Above all consistency trumps everything else. If you are only consistent for a week, a month, 2 months nothing what you read here will last. There also is not a one-size-fits-all program for everyone but if you are consistent and follow these steps.
You can become much healthier while building muscle.
Also, being patient and having realistic goals are more attainable is a way to help keep you on track. What we would like is for this to become a lifestyle change and not just quick fix and going back to the same old routines and behaviors.
These 13 steps can help you build muscle and achieve the health you have been after.