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No matter your age, you can build muscle through regular exercise. Strength training is particularly beneficial as you get older because it helps stave off age-related muscle loss and promotes bone health. It's not your imagination: Muscle is harder to gain and maintain as you get older. In fact, it's so common, it even has a name: sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss. After 30, you might lose as much as 5 percent of your muscle mass per decade, according to Harvard Health Publishing. But you can harness your exercise habits (and your diet) to help you stay strong. Older adults who strength train are likely to live longer. In fact, people 65 and up who did strength training at least twice a week were 46 percent less likely to die of any cause than those who didn't lift, according to a June 2016 study in Preventive Medicine. Plus, building muscle and strength improves confidence, regulates muscle repair hormones and stimulates the brain, according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), all important at any age, but especially after 60. Follow these tips.
Rebuilding muscle mass after 60 takes time and discipline. Your body won't transform overnight. That's why it's important to set realistic goals and make lasting lifestyle changes. If you're new to training or haven't exercised in years, focus on building up your strength and Prime Boosts endurance. Just make sure you have realistic goals. You may not be able to put on 5 pounds of muscle in three months, but you can definitely do it in a year or so. Stick to your workout, monitor your progress and make adjustments along the way. Your exercise routine should match your fitness level and align with your goals. To build muscle, prioritize strength training and full-body workouts. Exercise that engage more than one muscle group and joint, called compound movements, yield the best results in terms of building muscle. And Prime Boosts heavier resistance training results in greater strength gain than lighter weights, according to October 2015 research in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
Try to strength train at least twice a week on non-consecutive days, per the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. If you're more experienced with strength training, your plan might include more muscle-building workouts or sessions targeting specific muscle groups or areas of the body. Try some of these workouts specifically designed for older adults. Weight training after 60 comes with its challenges, especially for those who haven't worked out in years. Any type of exercise, whether it's cardio or weightlifting, puts stress on your body and central nervous system, so you need to leave time for adequate rest. Poor recovery can lead to muscle damage and injuries, according to the ACE. It also affects physical performance and interferes with the body's ability to replenish its energy stores. The more intense your workout, the Read more rest you need. Don't work the same muscle group on back-to-back days, and leave at least one to two days for breaks from muscle-building workouts.
Depending on your fitness and experience, you might do some cardio or active recovery on those days or you might take them completely off from exercise. Massage, foam rolling, drinking plenty of water and stretching can all help improve muscle recovery. And prioritize at least seven hours of sleep a night to support recovery, too. You can't build muscle with exercise alone - at any age. Your body needs enough protein from your diet to build the protein in your muscles. And your protein needs likely increase as you age. The bare minimum amount of protein sedentary adults need each day is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. But as you start to lose muscle mass with age, that jumps to 1 to 1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight, according to the Mayo Clinic. No matter your age, if you're lifting weights regularly, you probably actually need more like 1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram of your body weight.