Build & Maintain Muscle Mass

[USAF-Larry]

Short article on the importance of maintaining muscle mass.

"Never take your muscle mass for granted.  Beginning around age 30, many of us will begin to lose muscle mass at the rate of 3 to 8 percent per decade. 

The reason for this often has to do with changes in hormonal levels.  The male hormone testosterone and the female hormone estrogen are necessary to help build muscle but begin to reduce with age.    In addition, there are changes in nerve and blood cells along with the body not converting amino acids to muscle tissue as efficiently. 

Muscle loss does not have to be inevitable.  Consistent weight training for both men and women is important to helping building and maintaining muscle mass."

Read full article here: Build & Maintain Muscle Mass

[shipo]

I've often wondered about the whole loss of muscle mass thing relative to age.  Is it because of the aging process itself, or is it because we (often) become more sedentary as we age?

I ask because I'm nearing 60 and have more muscle mass than at any time in my life; while I'm certainly not sedentary, I'm not a gym rat either.

[USAF-Larry]

The answer is in the article: "Muscle loss does not have to be inevitable.  Consistent weight training for both men and women is important to helping building and maintaining muscle mass."

[WendyB]

Thanks for the article. I agree with it.

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@USAF-Larry wrote:

The answer is in the article: "Muscle loss does not have to be inevitable.  Consistent weight training for both men and women is important to helping building and maintaining muscle mass."

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So true!

[GershonSurge]

Building muscle mass isn't my strength (pun intended.) I think it takes all day work like Shipo does to really maintain it. Anytime we slow down, the body seems to compensate by letting unneeded muscles atrophy

Bone density is another thing that can be lost as we age. Flexion and impact encourage bones to become more dense. This means easy running and/or weight lifting in sufficient amounts to make a difference. 

[bcalvanese]

If you don't use it, you lose it.

I'm pretty sure you can maintain and/or even gain it back if you start using it again.

[FitBeforeFifty]

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@GershonSurge wrote:

Building muscle mass isn't my strength (pun intended.) I think it takes all day work like Shipo does to really maintain it. Anytime we slow down, the body seems to compensate by letting unneeded muscles atrophy 

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While having an active job is definitely an advantage, with the right weight lifting protocol and diet you can add and maintain and/or build muscle mass with a sedentary job. 

I definitely have more muscle now than I had in my 20s and 30s and most of it I added over the last 5 years (ages 45 - 50). It is a slow process and I haven't added any in the last couple of years because I've switched to a maintenence lifting routine instead of a build. I've actually been toying with the idea of going back to the build and seeing what I could do now that I'm 50.

I can maintain my muscle mass and strength with 2 full body strength training sessions per week. To build, I need to be in the gym more, push myself harder and eat at a bit of a surplus.

In my opinion, the key to building muscle in the gym is higher weight and low reps and eating enough. Most people that lift are using far too light of weights and just building muscular endurance and not strength and mass.

I lifted during my weight loss back in 2011 and I followed a high rep, lower weight mostly machine based routine focused on circuit training and super sets (i.e. calorie burn). When I hit my goal weight and switched to maintenance, I switched to a traditional power lifting type program with low reps (5 sets of 5 reps), heavier weights and compound lifts like deadlift, squat etc... With the combination of eating more and lifting heavier weights with rest periods, I saw a pretty dramatic change in my body over the next year and then I plateaued and switched to just trying to maintain.

[GershonSurge]

@FitBeforeFifty

I've been using three sets with 10, 8 and 6 reps. Often, I increase the weight on just the third or both the second and third sets. The way it works out is I'm always reasonably close to failure at the end of each set. 

My back and Achilles tendon are healed, so I'm back to running. I'm alternating weight and running days. On the running days, I'll shortly be back to running an hour and forty-five minutes. On the weight days, I'll also run about 45 minutes. I think I'll settle into about an hour and fifteen minutes of weight training every other day.

I'm not a big fan of days off unless there is a specific need. I am quick to rest if I feel even a minor injury coming or if my heart rate indicates fatigue. 

Eating enough is a challenge. 

[bcalvanese]

8 to 12 reps is probably good for strength and endurance. Also, each set should be so you cannot do another rep.

There are 2 fibers in muscle. The first set stimulates the first fiber. The second set exhaust the first fiber and stimulates the second fiber. The third set exhausts the second fiber. This causes total muscle breakdown, and that should yeald good results.

Another tip is to make the negative rep twice the length of time as the posative rep. In other words...

Posative rep... 1...2...

Negative rep... 1...2...3...4...

This is suppoed to greatly improve the over all training effect.

just a few tips I learned back in my army days.

[FitBeforeFifty]

Strength training just like running has a lot of variables that are very personal. What is a fast pace for person A is an easy pace for person B. A heavy weight for person A may be light for person B.

For weight lifting, heavy is usually based on a percentage of your 1 rep max. Unfortunately, determining your one rep max is a risky proposition. I speak from experience because I injured myself trying to set a 1 rep max for squat several years ago that led to other injuries because I tried to work through it.

I personally set my weight lifting targets based on a percentage of body weight.

Here is a chart you can use to figure out where you currently stand based on body weight and your one rep max:

http://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/male/lb

There is also an estimator that allows you to estimate your one rep max based on a number of repetitions and weight which is a safer way to estimate your 1 rep max:

http://strengthlevel.com/

This is a great reality check to determine whether or not you are really pushing yourself. Don't get me wrong, there is no shame in being labeled a novice if you are new to strength training. On the other hand, if you think you are intermediate but yet your score on these charts is novice, you probably aren't pushing yourself hard enough.

One thing to keep in mind is that these are free weight numbers. I see a lot of people using machines and that's ok ... but machines are A LOT easier than free weights. 

I subscribe to the 5x5 strong lifts program where I focus on free weights and compound lifts: bench press, over head press, bent over rows, squats and deadlifts. I set my goals to be in the elite category but I'm currently in the advanced for most categories.

The interesting thing for me is trying to balance heavy lifting with running. I personally find that challenging but worth the hassle. Most runners don't do heavy squats and deadlifts. At 50 years old, this is especially challenging but I'm ok sacrificing a little efficiency on the running side to maintain a balanced fitness regimen.

[A_Lurker]

Bookmarked - I hit mid to high novice on all... will continue to work on improving those.