Anyone who takes the time to read my blog (first, thank you!), you know how much I love lists (and sarcasm). It seems there are clear lists of what we should eat, should not eat, exercises we should be doing, exercises we should not be doing, etc. Seemingly, these must always be lists of five. Recently—I see these lists almost every day on social media—I have been seeing lists specific to men over the age of 50 years. Apparently, everything goes downhill fast over 50 (or 40, depending on the list, of course). I was inspired by these to come up with my own list. What I am about to reveal are the secrets that experts want to keep to themselves. I can’t keep them secret, and feel compelled to share. So, here they are: the 5 things men over 50 need to be doing to gain muscle:
1. Lift weights.
2. Lift more weight than they did last time.
3. Eat.
4. Sleep.
5. Repeat.
Yep! This is the big secret. Another big secret: few men over 50 are doing this.
This is it. Lift. Increase. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
The only way for men over 50 to build muscle is to execute a well-planned weight lifting regimen. Not occasionally. Not randomly (and don’t buy into the “muscle confusion” nonsense!).
Progress. Follow the overload principle—in order for a body system (e.g., the skeletal muscles) to adapt, it must be stressed to a level greater than that to which it is accustomed. If you are not increasing the weights, you cannot and will not get stronger (i.e., add muscle mass).
If you want to build muscle, you need to fuel the growth. You need to eat a well-balanced diet (including carbohydrates!) and eat enough to grow the muscle. You cannot build muscle on a caloric deficit. Now, if you are overfat, you will still need to cut calories to lose fat, but you can’t starve yourself. There are no magic foods. There are no short-cuts.
One tends to think that one grows muscle in the gym. Quite the contrary. Growth is stimulated in the gym (assuming you are going productive work in the gym). Growth occurs during rest. Now, lest you think that more rest is better, it is important to understand that it is a balance between stimulus and recovery. This is referred to as “Maximal Recoverable Volume” (MRV, Dr. Mike Israetel). With this in mind, consider that MRV is either not met (thus, the muscle is under-stimulated), exceeded (thus, the muscle cannot adequately recover before the next exercise session), or it is appropriately met (thus, growth is optimal). There are no formulas for MRV. It requires a bit of trial and error. In general, if you are able to continue progressing from workout to workout, you are doing alright. Most tend to fall below MRV rather than to exceed MRV. I am guessing that, if you are 50+, you are not spending hours in the gym and are thus not overtraining.
So, if we are discussing recovery, it follows that we have to repeat the exercise with some frequency—repeat. How often? That depends on you. It also depends what you are doing in your workouts. Minimally, two sessions per week per body part are necessary. There is evidence, however, that more frequent is permissible. (Personally, I prefer greater frequency because I am restricted in the time I can commit to exercise sessions. Thus, I have to spread workouts into more frequent sessions.)
Space does not permit more detailed exercise prescription here. The possibilities are quite individualized. It depends on goals, time, and dedication. Let it suffice to say that you can build muscle over 50… if you want. There are no tricks or gimmicks. It just requires work.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow!