Can A 50 Year Old Build Muscle?
Lacey Why Does Muscle Mass Decline With Age?
When it comes to getting older, we always associate it with becoming weaker. This doesn’t have to be your fate after 50. Muscle mass peaks around age 40. It’s after that where it begins to decline due to sarcopenia. A major contributor to muscle mass decline is lack of exercise and lifestyles changes. When we get older, our natural urge to slow down kicks in, and that can cause the muscles to fade away slowly. Some of our older clients that are typically parents, grandparents, or working professionals have lost the time to work out.
That brings us to our next topic — stress. Your body’s ability to manage daily physical stress decreases over the years. Combined that with lower energy and a higher risk for sedentary behavior, like sitting all day, muscle atrophy is more likely to occur.
Personal trainer, Scott Lamb, and former University Football player say that it’s possible to regain muscle mass, as well as bone density, even after you reach your fifties. Muscle mass declines with age because as 50-year-olds, we do nothing about it. On average, we lose about ten pounds of muscle mass for every decade of life after 50. The best way to stop this is to do strength training.
Fact: Muscle burns more calories than fat. As we lose muscle, our metabolic rate declines. Making it more likely that we will begin to gain fat. This is another reason that strength training is so important for people over 50.
Can You Regain Muscle Mass After 50?
Absolutely. A study revealed that this can be done in as little as 40 minutes of strength training twice per week. The rate of muscle gain was the same for young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults.
Research shows that physical activity can help stave off sarcopenia, similar to the impact of exercise on osteoporosis. Muscle loss can lead to weak bones, which can cause falls or fractures.
Frailty is often characterized by nutritional deficiencies, loss of balance and gait, and cognitive impairment. All of this means, says Lam-Feist, that regular workouts play a huge role in maintaining overall good health, stability, and bone density into old age. And that muscle wasting is preventable.