Recovering from Knee Replacement Surgery

I’m two months into recovery from total knee replacement surgery. At this writing, it is late June 2018.

While the recovery experience is fresh in my mind, I thought I would share some thoughts on it. Knee and hip replacement is something many of us Boomers will face at some point. But the advancements in medicine today are pretty remarkable.

I had a major surgery 40 years ago. Before things like MRI scans could provide accurate reads on the existing damage. Back then they hadn’t even thought about replacing entire joints with new artificial parts. It was like the stone age compared to now. It’s pretty amazing that medicine can even do this today. In my case, it will eliminate pain in my right knee and allow me to do all kind of things I have not been able to do for the past 40 years — like jog.

The pain from arthritis built over the years and had become unbearable without cortisone shots. It was time.

That’s the “new” knee on the right doing extensions

You can see in the illustrations that this is pretty serious stuff. Metal rods are inserted into shin and thigh bones, connected to your new artificial knee joint. Lots of areas for pain and discomfort.

Remarkably, you’re up and walking with assistance on the same day as the surgery. Of course, you’re also still heavily medicated and in my case, I had the benefit of a nerve block virtually stopping any pain signals.

That stuff wears off pretty quickly, though, and you have to deal with the pain and swelling for several weeks and beyond. I ran into problems here. I can’t handle opioid pain pills. Severe constipation. And the pills seem to make me loopy in the head but don’t really make the pain go away.

So, I stopped all pain meds about three weeks post surgery. Tried arthritis strength Tylenol. But gave that up too.

Ice. Lots and lots of ice is your best friend after this surgery. I’m still icing down after two months and probably will be for a while. They say full recovery can take a year. They also say you might want to take a full two months off work right after surgery. I can see that, for sure.

The first few weeks, you need to use a walker to get around even on short trips inside the house. I graduated to a cane after about 2 weeks, but didn’t walk very far until the 3rd and 4th weeks. I’ve got a temporary handicapped-parking permit, which helps a lot.  I’m progressing faster than normal thanks to a lifelong commitment to working out. My muscles have atrophied a ton on my right leg. But there is still some strength there to build on.

This site is about working out and building muscle, so let’s get to that.

I began upper body – only – workouts, with much lighter weight and far fewer sets as the first month of recovery was winding down. At this time, I skipped my usual lower body day.

During this period, I was in Physical Therapy for my leg. For the first two weeks, a therapist came to the house and we did isometric type exercises for about 30 minutes. Then, once I was cleared to drive again, I was sent to a nearby PT clinic.

That was tough. The exercises were pretty simple: walking on a treadmill for 5 minutes, balancing on one leg for 30 reps, isometric squeezing my quad muscles together and so forth. But the stretching was painful.

I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say that it includes the therapist forcing the stretch with hands on the wound.

The best part of PT was an ice-down for 15 minutes at the end. Again, ice is your best friend during recovery.

A quick checkup with my surgeon – who did a great job – was all good and he said I could stop going to PT and do it on my own at home.

We discussed my usual workout routine. I told him I have a super smooth Powertec leg sled,  and a Powertec leverage gym with a nice hack squat station, plus a Hoist stack gym with knee extension and a lower pulley for glute kicks, etc. We talked about all the exercises and he cleared me to do any exercise but deep squats. He instructed me to use much lighter weights than usual across the board.

For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been doing my lower body routine with much lighter weight 5 days per week, instead of the usual one day per. I started off doing only a couple of sets per exercise and this week graduated to doing my usual 5 sets per.

Keep in mind, in my usual workouts, I’m focused on using lighter weights and higher reps. So, I’m now going even lighter. In some cases, I’m doing more reps than usual to compensate for the extra light weight.

• Leg Sled — with 50% of the usual weight
• Knee Extensions — with 40% of the usual weight
• Glute Kicks — with 80% of usual weight
• Hamstring Curls — skipping for now because the wound is still sore

I will gradually increase the weight back toward my usual amount as time goes by. Today, for example, I’m going to increase the weight on Knee Extensions because the 70 pounds I have been using X 21 reps in each set has gotten way too easy. I’ll increase the weight and decrease the rep count accordingly to the right balance.

The weirdest thing so far… that nobody warned me about? My knee pops and clicks when I walk. Even kind of sounds/feels like a ‘thud’ to me, it’s as if I can hear it and feel it. Freaked me out. Talked to the surgeon about it at checkup. He said it’s normal and that it may do that forever. Apparently the high tech artificial parts will rub against one another. And since there is no soft tissue there any more, there’s nothing to stop the rubbing sound. Guess I need to get used to it. But I’m hoping as I rebuild muscle around the new joint that it will diminish or go away. We’ll see, time will tell.

On the darker side of the experience, I battled depression-like feelings for a few weeks. Constant aching pain, plus mind-fog, plus not being able to get the endorphin high of a good workout… it added up and was hard to deal with for a while. Things might have been better if I could tolerate the strong pain medicine, but I can’t. So, a lot of sitting with the leg elevated staring at TV. Couldn’t manage to do much else.

Fortunately, now I’m in a better place. At least in part due to resuming regular workouts. I feel less foggy-headed, too. My wonderful wife, who puts up with me through thick and thin, and I are heading due south to Canada this weekend. We’re going to be tourists and go to Niagara Falls. Going to be tons of fun.

And yes, we’re driving due south to the Ambassador bridge that connects Michigan to Canada.  That part of Ontario juts down from the mainland and forms a significant chunk of land that is south of most of Michigan.

Meanwhile… It still going to be several months until I’m at full recovery. Till then…

If you haven’t already, grab the 5 Keys to Feeling Stronger — Right Away! Totally free. You’ll get a video by me about the 5 Keys plus some e-booklets. It’s been proven us older folks can build real muscle without punishing ourselves with heavier and heavier weights. Check it out.

They’re Keeping You Fat & Weak

Listen up Baby Boomers – you are in deep shit. They’re keeping you fat and weak.

Who are “they?” The very institutions you’d expect to help you out of this mess. And they are not coming to your rescue. In fact, they are the ones who profit by keeping you fat and weak.  

Old age is here, bearing painful losses of bone and muscle. Soon it will be a struggle to do simple things like get up out of a cozy chair or lift a grandchild for a hug.

Wake up! This really is happening to you.

The Health Care industry fails to provide the preventive coaching you need because there’s easier, bigger money in selling drugs and surgeries. Huge industries in Fitness and Weight Loss make enormous profits banking on your continual failures.

Worst of all, nobody is even talking to you about this. Unless you happen to Google a medical term like “sarcopenia”,  you’re not likely to even know it’s happening.

As the effects of aging take hold, many doctors will tell you that you are simply getting older and to accept it, while writing you another prescription for drugs. Well…

F them and F that!

Have you been to a nursing home lately? If so, you know that some people are able to move about and stand upright. While most others move painfully with walkers and wheelchairs.

You’ll see some people who are hunched over, suffering from bone loss. Their skin sags and hangs off their limbs because much of their muscle mass is gone. It is painful for them to move.

The negative effects of aging can be prevented and reversed if you act.

How you can do it is easy to explain and it doesn’t have to cost you a dime. I’ll tell you all about it in this article, but first let’s take a deeper dive into the issues we face.

“About 13 percent of Baby Boomers — the generation born in the two decades after World War Two — reported being in “excellent” health in middle age, compared to 32 percent of the previous generation who said the same thing at the same stage of life. Overall, about 39 percent of Boomers were obese, compared to about 29 percent of the previous generation. Baby Boomers were also less likely to get regular exercise.” — Journal of the American Medical Association – Internal Medicine.

We’re the Fattest Generation Ever!!!

The experts say we’re going to live longer than any generation ever — thanks to modern chemistry. Be they also say we’re going to be the most obese and out of shape people in history – and by a wide margin (pun intended).

Worst of all, nobody is really talking to you about this. Unless you happen to Google a medical term like — “Sarcopenia” — you’re not likely to know all of the negative things that are happening to your body.

Ironically, we were super healthy at one point.

Jogging? Our generation invented it. Aerobics? We sweated it out in spandex and leg warmers with Jane. Commercial Gyms? We got the first ones started in the 70’s and 80’s. Tennis? Weekend Rec Leagues?  Healthy eating? Remember Euell Gibbons and natural foods? You name it. We did it all.

Of course, they called us the “Me Generation” and we also own cultural bombs like Disco, Bell-bottoms, silly hairstyles like perms on guys, recreational drug use and more. But that”s a whole different subject. Back to aging issues:

At some point, we just stopped working out. Maybe it was due to having kids — or focusing on our careers? Maybe we diverted too much time to social media and staring at our phones? Who knows why, but we stopped exercising and got fat.

It’s a certified epidemic and now it’s even infecting our grandkids generation.

“Pediatric obesity is now of epidemic proportions in the United States. Pediatric overweight and obesity now affects more than 30 percent of children, making it the most common chronic disease of childhood.” – Obesity Action Coalition

“Nearly 78 million adults and 13 million children in the United States deal with the health and emotional effects of obesity every day.” – American Heart Association

Where do we stand, or rather, how much do we weigh now? The average adult is 26 pounds heavier than they were in the 1950s, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. And in most cases, it’s not weight from added muscle.

Yo Gramma and Grandpa, it’s time to step up and own this.

Muscle and Bone Loss

Obesity is just one problem we face. Making things much worse are the related loss of Muscle (sarcopenia) and Bone (osteoporosis). It starts after we turn 40 and accelerates from there. Once past 40, you can lose up to 8 percent of Muscle mass each decade. By 60, you may have already lost 20 percent of your muscle. After 70, the losses can shoot up to 15 percent every decade.

What’s Happening as We Age?

“Aging is associated with a progressive loss of bone-muscle mass and strength. When the decline in mass and strength reaches critical thresholds associated with adverse health outcomes, they are operationally considered geriatric conditions and named, respectively, osteoporosis and sarcopenia.

Osteoporosis and sarcopenia share many of the same risk factors and both directly or indirectly cause a higher risk of mobility limitations, falls, fractures and disability in activities of daily living.” – US National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health NIH

It’s all Linked Together

Obesity can amplify bone and muscle loss. It’s a triple threat that is kicking the living crap out of our generation. Science Daily reports on a 2014 study out of Florida State University that identifies a new syndrome called “œosteosarcopenic obesity.”

“The syndrome explains how many obese individuals experience a triad of problems that place them at a higher risk for falling and breaking bones. Researchers note that the work stands to remind people to consider the damage that can be done to all parts of the body if they are overweight.”

Bone and Muscle loss accelerates in women following menopause.

As I said earlier, the answer to preventing and reversing all of this is very easy to understand and doesn’t have to cost you anything. That’s one reason why you probably don’t know about it. We will get to the answer shortly:

Ok, so WTF is going on? Why is nothing happening to turn this around? Let’s go over the reasons by category.

The Weight Loss Industry — Here’s WTF

There’s a ton of money being made in selling you stuff, even though most of it just doesn’t work, no matter how slick the marketing. Weight loss is an enormous global market, led by consumers in the US.

You get about 30,800,000 results

Google: “weight loss programs”

“The global weight loss and weight management market is expected to reach $206.4 billion by 2019 from $148.1 billion in 2014. – Markets&Markets Research

That market includes everything from diet services like Weight Watchers to meal plans like Atkins to gyms, health clubs and fitness equipment makers — even surgical equipment and procedures.

It’s an enormous, wide-reaching market fueled by people staying fat. The more fat people there are, the bigger the potential market becomes. The market has grown enormous right along with us. But the millions of hyped solutions are just not working. Easy miracles don’t work in the real world. Smell a rat here? Wait, there’s a whole nest of ’em.

Google: “weight loss products”

You get about 44,900,000 results

Male muscle and bone loss 35 – 65

The Gym & Health Club Industry — Here’s WTF

The cruelest culprit here is the Gym & Health Club group. Their business models are actually based on knowing that you will pay to be a member even though you’re never going to show up.

The business model counts on it. In fact, if all the members of a gym showed up at a typical franchise club, it would burst at the seams.

According to Statistic Brain, 67% of gym memberships are never or rarely used. Meanwhile, the Global industry did revenues of $83 billion in 2016 and $30 billion of that was in the US.

It doesn’t take an Einstein to do the math. People respond to a slick TV advert, typically in big numbers right after New Year’s resolutions. They sign up and pay, then never go. But in the back of their minds, they did something, right? “I’ll start going next week.”

Sigh… Another way we sabotage ourselves.

The Personal Trainer Industry – Here’s WTF

Google: “The fitness industry is a scam”

You get about 1,270,000 results‹

As I was researching this post, and using the Almighty Google to dig out information, I came across a Personal Trainer who kind of personifies part of the problem in this Industry. More on him in a minute: First of all, this is an Industry and it’s growing fast

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 231,500 PTs in America as of 2011, a 44% increase from 10 years prior. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects that rate to keep growing at 13% resulting in a total of 300,000 PTs by 2022.

Today, the median income for them is about $55,000 with the upper echelon reaching around $80,000 per year. There is little to no regulation in this Industry. Basically, anyone can say anything they like about just about anything (including me). It is all Buyer Beware.

In some cases, all you need is a 70% pass rate to get certified. I did one myself, along with an assist by Google, and passed easily the same day. I didn’t buy the “credentials” because I think the whole thing is shady. To be certain, there are indeed solid programs out there that use more rigid standards. Not all PT certifications are bogus. But, this is an unregulated industry, so Buyer Beware.

Google: “Fitness industry is full of shit”

You get about 5,810,000 results

So about that Personal Trainer I came across:

I’m not calling him out personally, but I think he represents something of a trend as the number of trainers rapidly expands. His website features a picture of himself teaching a strength building class. He is obviously over-weight and not muscular.

He defends that by saying it’s not about what he does or is, but about what he knows and can teach to others with his coaching skills. He’s a got a bit of a point there to be sure. But wait a freakin’ minute, exactly what are you coaching these people on if it’s not something you do and personify in how you live and look? Is it just stuff you memorized from an e-book?

How do you know it’s the right stuff? Isn’t that kind of like seeing a doctor who smokes and eats too much but lectures you on getting healthy based on stuff he read and passed an exam on? That’s just not good enough in my book.

But wait, it gets way worse.

Sometimes those PT certifications aren’t worth the pixels they’re printed with. If you poke around the certification side of the PT Industry, you’ll find you can buy initials to put after your name for anywhere from a couple hundred bucks on up. In some cases, you can immediately take the classes and the tests online. You’re left free to use Google with another device as you answer the questions, which means anybody who can type and chew gum at the same time can pass the test.

Google: “biggest complaints about fitness industry”

You get about 10,900,000 results

That Leads to the Next Issue with the PT Industry

There is so much noise and confusion. There are thousands of competing workout programs, all pitching miraculous results. There are a million different voices yapping away. It’s information overload at its worst.

Thousands of independent bloggers (like me) add to it. If you try to research the subject and find a workout solution for yourself, be prepared to wade through a tidal wave of conflicting information.

Google: strength training blogs

You get about 14,100,000 results

One of the leading gurus in the Personal Training space has pointed out that this mass of confusion is one of the reasons the PT Industry is failing at its primary purpose “ helping people become healthier.”

Again, I’m not naming names, even though this guy is totally legit and a leading player in the business. He says that the emerging role of the Personal Trainer has become helping people avoid being overwhelmed by info overload.

I agree. So that’s what I’m trying to do here: Lead you to something that is straight-forward, simple and proven to work.

To be clear, I am not a certified PT. I do, however, have a very deep and abiding passion in the info that I share; It’s based on nearly 50 years experience in doing it and living it.

There is a way older people can halt and reverse the effects of aging on our bodies, reduce fat and roll back the risks of diabetes, heart disease, depression, arthritis and much more.  It’s clear people are searching for answers in regard to building muscle as we age. In fact, if you Google it just that like I did, you get more than 100 Million hits in about half-a-second.

Google: “do you need muscle as you age”

You get about 105,000,000 results

But I would urge caution before you leave this article and jump into Google. Its a great search engine, but it has no way of filtering out the BS. And much of what you get on any spin of the wheel is pure BS. There are no end to “experts” who will tell you about things like the “10 Worst Weight Lifting Mistakes.”

Often, they look like that guy I was talking about earlier. Not exactly living proof of effectively building muscle. And there are literally millions of workout program out there.

Google: “strength training programs”

You get about 2,550,000 results

So Who the Hell Am I?

My name is Brian Patterson. I run the website BoomerMuscle.com and a Facebook page of the same name BoomerMuscle is devoted to helping Baby Boomers build muscle to halt and reverse all the nasty effects of aging on our bodies.

To be clear, I am not a certified Personal Trainer. I do, however, have a very deep and abiding passion in the info that I share. It’s based on nearly 50 years experience in doing it and living it.

I’ve been learning and living how to do it since I was 12. I’m 62 at this writing. Over all those decades, I’ve tried virtually all forms of Resistance Training: Olympic Lifting, Power Lifting, Body Building with Progressive Resistance and more.

Brian Patterson, the BoomerMuscle Method

A few years ago, Progressive Resistance training did damage to my shoulder joints. My muscles were willing to continue trying to lift ever-heavier weights, but my more delicate joints finally said “enough!” There’s a limit to what our older joints can handle. 

The BoomerMuscle Method: 

There is a way older people can halt and reverse the effects of aging on our bodies, reduce fat and roll back the risks of diabetes, heart disease, depression, arthritis and much more. It’s clear people are searching for answers in regard to building muscle as we age. In fact, if you Google it just that like I did, you get more than 100 Million — hits in about half-a-second.

Building Muscle is Critical for Women and Men

For the past 6 years,  I’ve followed the BoomerMuscle Method “ lighter weights for higher reps. I’m far from perfect, but I’m in better shape and have more muscle today than at any other age. This method works. I can tell you from my own personal experience. I live this workout.

Be like this guy or that woman…

Strong is the new Sexy!

I’m including links to highly credible third party experts later in this article that definitively shows the BoomerMuscle Method I promote is the very best way to do it — especially for us older people. You can build muscle at any age. And you don’t need to lift heavy weights to do it.

Cutting to the Chase:

Building muscle at our age is just as important for women as it is men — perhaps maybe even more so. Don’t believe old tales about weight training making you bulky. If you’re a woman, it’s not going to happen unless you take a boatload of steroids. Don’t do that.

Even most guys will not become heavily bulked up. I am because I’ve been at it for 5 decades and I’m genetically predisposed to being big, one way or another. If I stop working out, I’ll put on 50 pounds of fat in less than a year. It’s happened before.

It will definitely make you healthier, happier, better looking and able to enjoy life.

You don’t need to live in a gym or devote more than 45 minutes per workout, 3 – 4 workouts per week. You don’t need to use drugs or supplements. Don’t need to swing ropes, jump on boxes or go to a bootcamp. And most of all, you do NOT need to lift heavy weights.

In fact, you can do it at home with very simple equipment like Resistance Bands and Dumbbells. There are several free Workouts on BoomerMuscle.com you can use starting right now.

Want Credible Proof?

Don’t take my word for it. Lighter Weights at Higher Reps really is the best way to go, especially for older people. Below is a sampling of studies and articles on the subject of how older people can best build muscle. They range from the academic to traditionally hardcore bodybuilding publications. All share in the conclusion that lighter weights & higher reps to failure is the best way to build muscle. Keep in Mind as you Read: “Lighter Weight” does not mean Light Weight. It means a level of resistance that causes your muscles to “fail” in the 8 – 12 rep range (some say 12 – 15 reps, but it’s essentially the same idea).

Failure simply means you can’t do another good, clean rep without cheating. Doing reps until failure is a common theme in each of these reports.

MAYO CLINIC: The prestigious Clinic says that a single set of 12 repetitions with the proper weight can build muscle efficiently in most people and can be as effective as three sets of the same exercise. It recommends choosing a resistance level that causes failure to your muscles between 12-15 reps.

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA BIRMINGHAM: As reported by the New York Times:

“Dr. (Marcus) Bamman says, you should push your muscles until they are exhausted.” In this study, lifters used enough resistance to cause failure in the 8-12 rep range. Failure, or muscle fatigue, was noted as the key driver for muscle growth.

MUSCLE & FITNESS: 5 Advantages to Lifting Light

“Studies show that decreasing the load on your lifts can lead to greater muscle gain.” This article points out that not only does going lighter produce results, it provides a number of distinct advantages vs. lifting heavy weights. Me and my aching shoulders can second that!

FLEX online: Flex tackles the age-old question of light vs. heavy and comes out squarely on the lighter side. Flex says that the majority of your workouts should be in the 8 – 15 range for best results.

McMASTER UNIVERSITY, Hamilton, Ontario:  Excerpts from a 2010 study:

“These results suggest that low-load high volume resistance exercise is more effective in inducing acute muscle anabolism than high-load low volume or work matched resistance exercise modes. Again in this study, failure was recognized as the driver for muscular growth. Low Load means Lighter Weights and High Volume means Higher Reps.

SCIENCE DAILY 2016: An article on McMaster University’s latest study in 2016:

Lighter weights are just as effective as heavier weights to gain muscle and build strength. This is one of the latest studies (2016) on the subject. It points out that it is becoming apparent that lighter is better, contradicting decades of old-school messages that heavy weight was the only path to muscular growth.

Can Older Adults Really Build Muscle?

Here’s a link to an article on research analysis conducted by the University of Michigan that demonstrated older adults definitely can and should build muscle. They found that contrary to common thinking, older adults don’t have to view the loss of muscle as an inevitable aspect of aging. In fact, the opposite is true.

A review article by U-M researchers, published in The American Journal of Medicine, shows that after an average of 18-20 weeks of progressive resistance training, an adult can add 2.42 pounds of lean muscle to their body mass and increases their overall strength by 25-30 percent.

“Not only can we fight the battle of strength and muscle loss as we age, we can even build muscle and strength well into our Golden Years.” Credit: U-M Health System.

Big Distinction: Old School vs New Way

There’s still no end to the debate on this subject: lighter weights vs heavy weights. And you’ll still find lots of arguments on the web for the old school way, mostly coming from the mouths of 30-somethings. I might argue for it myself, until just a few years ago.

Some of those arguments are made by younger guys who take steroids. That’s a whole different ballgame. The juice helps them recover faster and no doubt packs on the mass. But it’s also extremely dangerous to your health and illegal.

We’re talking legal, natural methods on this site, and we lean heavily toward what’s best for the older person.

Lighter Does Not Mean Light

At the same time, we’re not talking about aerobicizing here. When I say lighter weights, higher reps” I don’t mean waving a tiny dumbbell around for 100 reps.

It does mean finding the right level of resistance to cause your muscle to “fail” between 8 – 12 reps. If you can do more than 12 clean reps, you need to adjust the resistance to be a bit heavier until you find the right combination of resistance and reps. Typically, you’ll get 12 reps in that first set and then fewer in each subsequent set.

And again, “failure” does not mean you pass out or something. It simply means you can’t do another clean rep without cheating because you’re taking the target muscle to exhaustion. You take a brief rest and do it again with another set. This is how we cause “hypertrophy.”

Hypertrophy is the process of causing microscopic damage to the targeted muscle fibers so that as they repair, and with proper rest and good nutrition, they grow just a bit stronger/larger each day. Forget the old saying “no pain, no gain.”  That’s not what this is about. If you ever feel pain, especially in your joints, that’s your body saying “hey, dummy stop, you’re hurting us.” Listen to that voice and stop.

At the same time, you might experience a bit of soreness in the muscles you worked. That’s to be expected and ok. It’s a sign the building process is working. Know the difference between a little pumped up soreness and genuine pain.

Benefits of Resistance Training for Baby Boomers

This really can change your life in so many positive ways.  In addition to burning Fat and building up Muscle and Bone, strength training can work wonders on a long list of key health issues:

• Diabetes – recent studies show strength training can actually prevent Type 2 diabetes and can better manage the disease for those who already have it, according to Web MD
• Heart Disease – the American Heart Association recommends strength training at least 2 days per week
• Arthritis – the Arthritis Foundation recommends resistance strength training to help ease and control the condition
• Back Pain – can be reduced by strengthening core muscles, like the glutes, according to Web MD
• Anxiety and Depression – studies have shown strength training reduces both, in part by releasing feel-good hormones like endorphins. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America says 40 million people suffer from Anxiety and more than 15 people will experience clinical Depression annually.

Strength training with lighter weights and higher reps can be an avenue to a healthier life and a happier outlook. The evidence is overwhelming and clear.

But Wait, There’s One More Amazing Benefit

The Real Fountain of Youth Discovered!

Science has also demonstrated that Resistance Training can actually reverse damage to our genes caused by aging. In effect, this restoration can make these genes youthful again. In a study published by Dr. Len Kravitz of the University of New Mexico, it was found that resistance training literally does reverse the aging process at a genetic level.

During this study, the group trained for 26 weeks while the researchers monitored 179 genes associated with aging. The goal was to see if the resistance training had any effect on those particular genes. Their conclusion was that it did in fact: This means quite literally that the resistance training was not only slowing but also reversing the aging process at the gene level, according to Dr. Kravitz.

Not surprisingly, the study used a training method very similar to the one we promote here at BoomerMuscle:  3-5 Sets of each exercise. Higher reps (8 – 12) & Lighter weights.  For the study, participants did 3 sets of each exercise for 10 reps each. They did a variety of exercises ultimately working the entire body. Virtually identical approach.

My favorite workout scheme is to go 4 days per week, focusing on a different area of the body each day. I know from personal experience that it works. I didn’t know until recently, it was also literally making me younger at the genetic level.

No Excuses!

You can do this!

PSSsssttt… If you want my help, click this link and I’ll send you my 5 Keys to Feeling Stronger — Right Away! It includes a video and some e-guide booklets that summarize what I’ve been talking about in this post. It’s free.

Drop Dead

Baby Boomers have reached the age when each new day brings the distinct possibility that one of us will drop dead.

As a group, we are now between 53 and 71 years old. I’m smack in the middle at 62. To date about 4 million of us have departed leaving around 77 million left.

Why raise this morbid topic? Lots of reasons…

“And I’m gone, like dancing on angels.

And I’m gone, through a crack in the past.”

Dead Man Walking: David Bowie

We need to wake the F up

Like many Boomers, I grew up with the sense that we would always be young and the world was ours — forever.

Maybe it was sort’a true in our 20’s and 30’s. Not so much now.

In addition to Boomer icons like David Bowie and Prince, we recently lost the terrific actor Bill Paxton. He died as a result of complications during a surgery. He was 61.

I had my own close call recently while in the hospital for what was supposed to be an out-patient procedure. “Complications” with medications led to an 8 day stay, including several days in ICU where my vital signs crashed to extremely dangerous levels. It was touch and go for a couple of days.

It’s estimated that 90,000 Americans die each year in hospitals due to medical mistakes or infections.

Gives you pause to think…

Heart attacks are our #1 Killer

But those numbers pale in comparison to the more than 600,000 annual deaths by heart attack.

I’ll use myself as an example here so as not to point fingers at you. I’ve been flat out stupid at times.

At 48, I suffered a mild heart attack. Instead of calling 911, I laid on the ground berating myself over the possibility that it was a heart attack. I was too young for that sort of stigma. It would wreck my life. No way, not happening.

I eventually got back up, went in the house, packed my suitcase and the next morning flew to another city for a week’s worth of work. By the end of the week, I turned white as a bed sheet. I went to see my doctor when I returned home. 

He flipped out. The next thing I knew, I was checked into a hospital. Open heart surgery. Triple bypass. 

The best result of that experience was my purchase of an elliptical trainer and the addition of cardio to my regular workout routine. Plus I see a cardiologist on a regular basis and annually undergo tests to make sure my heart is good. So far, so good.

But up until the heart attack, I had never been diagnosed with a heart problem. It just hit me one day out of nowhere. I’m very lucky to have survived, in spite of myself.

Cancer is #2

Closely behind heart disease in annual death rates, cancer takes nearly 600,000 people each year. If you’re like me, you’ve always thought of cancer as one of those inevitable things you’re either going to get or not.

Obviously, there are some big things you can avoid to prevent it – like smoking, excessive sun, etc.

But I always assumed there wasn’t much you could actively do to prevent cancers, other than dropping those bad habits.

Breakthrough News

Turns out, you can do something about it. In fact, the list of practical things you can do is the same for preventing both heart disease and cancer. A recent study by the American Heart Association found that people who practiced heart healthy habits also had a 38% lesser chance of contracting cancer.

Let that soak in for a moment. You can take steps to save yourself from the two biggest killers. The #1 practice on the list is to be active — exercise regularly, at least 30 minutes 5 days per week.  And #2, keeping a healthy weight, is closely related to exercise. It’s estimated that two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese.

Resistance training is the best way to workout. It burns calories and fat while adding healthy muscle. Throw in some cardio after each resistance workout and you’ve got a powerful combination.

See the menu category Workout Guides for articles on how to get started. If you aren’t currently exercising, get going now. It’s never too late to start.

You can see the entire list of 7 key steps here in this article by the prestigious Cleveland Clinic.

Research continues to confirm that you can control your health. By following a few simple strategies, we can dramatically reduce the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer, said A. Marc Gillinov, MD, cardiac surgeon in Cleveland Clinic’s Heart & Vascular Institute. 

Cardio can save your life

I’m convinced that it saved my mine.

I am a huge believer in Precor’s line of products. I have 3 Precor pieces in my home gym: an older model elliptical that still works great, a stretching unit and the ultimate cardio trainer on the planet, the Precor AMT.

The beauty of these products is that they are no-imact on your knees. And due to their unique designs, you can vary your workouts to include moveable elevations and resistance levels. There is no better designed cardio gear than Precor.

It’s worth the investment, considering the payout can be your health and well being.

Precor EFX

I purchased mine more than 12 years ago following the heart surgery. My problem: I have a right knee that hangs by a thread. Pounding away on a tread mill or the street is out.

Enter Precor with their patented motorized cross ramp. Awesome. Variable height and degrees of resistance. Workouts on this machine are actually fun. You can get both cardio and resistance-training benefits at the same time.

See an in-depth review of the Precor EFX here.

Precor AMT

This is the ultimate in zero impact cardio training. This machine is nothing short of amazing. I bought mine a couple years ago as a stable mate to my EFX elliptical.

The AMT — Adaptive Motion Trainer — is an amazing piece of design and engineering. It actually adapts to your motion as you run/step/stride along. No buttons to push, the machine adapts to you.

My wife is 5’2″ and I’m 6’4″ and we both use it comfortably. Amazing machine. Not cheap, but worth every penny in my opinion.

An in-depth review of the Precor AMT can be found here.

Ever had a close call? How is your health today? Please share your thoughts in comments below. And feel free to drop me a line at Brian@BoomerMuscle.com

 

Building Muscle Mass After 50

Building muscle mass after 50 is definitely possible. Here are some ways to get there fast and avoid the pitfalls.

First off, if you’re asking how to build mass, I’m assuming you’re talking about adding a serious amount of muscle — above and beyond simply getting stronger and more toned. That’s a notch above the typical workout program. You’re talking about adding noticeable amounts of mass to your frame.

Cool. I hear you. I’ve been training for more than 50 years and have more mass today than I did at any other age in my life. And I don’t use steroids. Never have, never will.

There’s a secret to how you can do it. It’s super simple and you don’t need to read a fat book or watch a dozen DVDs to learn it. I’ll tell you how here and now. Try to tune out all the noise and marketing hype you’ve heard about the 10,000 methods out there.

First off, let’s check-off some basics:

• Don’t overtrain or push your physical limits to risk injury
• Do give your body adequate time to rest and recover, it’s as important as training especially at your age
• Eat right: quality protein like chicken and tuna, quality carbs like fruits and vegetables
• Check with your doctor if you have current health issues

Then let’s get down to the nitty-gritty on how to do it:

1. How to workout: Higher Reps/Lighter Weights taking each set to “failure” or muscle exhaustion
2. Supplements to consider using: Creatine, BCAAs & Whey

How to Workout

Start fresh. Try to clear your thinking on all the stuff you’ve heard before. For example, the ego-driven notion that pushing around super heavyweight is the way to grow muscle. It’s not.  How much weight you use really does not matter – except that it is enough to bring you to “failure” in 8-12 reps.

Nor does it matter how you create the resistance. Free weights are great. Machines are great. Body weight is great. Resistance Bands are great. It’s all good. Your muscles only feel the tension, they don’t know or care how you made it.

Recent study after study has shown definitively that lifting lighter weights in the 8 – 12 rep range is superior to trying to push heavy weight – if your aim is to build muscle tissue. This has proven especially true for older adults. 

It’s becoming the consensus opinion among experts (lots of links below to studies and articles). And it’s pushing aside the old school belief that only progressively heavier weights can build muscle.

I Know This Works

I know it from personal experience. I’ve been training for nearly 5 decades now. Up till my mid-50’s, I focused on pushing the heaviest weights I could possibly handle. Heavier meant progress. Failing to progressively add weight felt like failure. Lighter weights were for aerobics people, not real lifters. 

Here’s me back in those days. I include this video as proof that I really was an adherent of the hardcore, old school way of training. Heavy. Alone in the basement. (It’s a total of 610 pounds x 2 reps.)

So… I found out the hard way that aging joints cannot recover from the extreme punishment that heavyweights can bring as quickly or as thoroughly as they did when we were younger. My shoulders ached and started making knuckle-cracking sounds when I moved. Mentally, I was depressed. My life-long passion was over.

Fast forward to today, in my early 60’s I have more muscle mass than I did at any other age. And no pain. It’s because I stopped lifting for my ego and started lifting smart.

I’ve been at the ‘new way’ now for about 8 years. It’s more fun training this way and it takes less time. You do feel soreness as a result, but not the serious pain of getting pounded by heavyweights.

We Are Going to Pump You Up

That soreness is the legendary “Pump,” as blood rushes into the target muscles bringing healing nutrients and flushing out waste. The Pump is a great feeling. Soreness is good. Pain is bad.

Our egos tend to tell us that more weight equals more strength equals more muscle. Wrong. Unless you’re trying out for the Olympic team, forget about your weight totals.

Muscle grows in response to tension placed on it that causes microscopic tears in the muscle fibers. With proper rest and nutrition, the fibers are repaired a little stronger and thicker than before. Simple. Scientific fact.

Hypertrophy is the process. You feel it as  that pump while you’re working the muscle and perhaps after or even the next day 

With proper rest and good nutrition, your muscles will grow a bit larger each day — at any age.

To those points above there is typically general agreement.

Succeed by Failing

Where I diverge a bit from others is that I believe in focusing each workout on a specific muscle group with enough volume or sets in order to take it to “failure” — rather than mixing up various muscle groups on each workout day. You still work the entire body but over a week’s time. You focus each workout day on one area at a time to really exhaust those targeted muscles.

“Failure” occurs when you cannot complete another clean rep without cheating. Don’t cheat on any rep.

If you’re focusing on biceps, for example, I would stay on biceps until you’ve reached failure. In my case, this equates to 5 sets each of 3 separate exercises. Typically I’ll do bicep barbell curls x 5 sets of 8-12 reps, bicep dumbbell hammer curls and bicep rope curls on a machine for 5 sets each of 8-12 reps in each set.

On that same workout day, I’ll also do triceps right after biceps in a similar way. Then, I’ll add some work on forearms and wrists. And that’s it. All arms and done. On to the next body area in the next workout.

In a nutshell the formula goes like this:

• 8 – 12 reps to failure in every set
• 30 – 40 seconds rest between sets
• High volume of work: 3 – 5 sets per exercise, 3 or more exercises per target muscle group
• Focus on one muscle group/area per workout
• Muscle exhaustion is the goal — feel the pump

Lighter Does Not Mean Light

At the same time, we’re not talking about aerobicizing here. When I say “lighter weights, higher reps” I don’t mean waving a tiny dumbbell around for 100 reps.

It does mean finding the right level of resistance to cause your muscle to fail between 8 – 12 reps. In this case, failure is a good thing. It means you can’t do another clean rep without cheating because you’re taking the target muscle to exhaustion. You take a brief rest and do it again. This is how we cause hypertrophy.

Add resistance whenever 12 reps become too easy on that first set. It’s that simple, numbers wise.

Your focus is on the feeling, not the numbers.

Want More Proof?

Below is a sampling of studies and articles on this subject. They range from the academic to traditionally hardcore bodybuilding publications. All share in the conclusion that lighter weights & higher reps to failure is the best way to build muscle.

Remember: Lighter Weight does not mean Light Weight. It means a level of resistance that causes your muscles to fail in the 8 – 12 rep range (some say 12 – 15 reps, but it’s essentially the same idea).

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, Birmingham:

As reported by the New York Times:

Dr. (Marcas) Bamman says, “you should push your muscles until they are exhausted.”

In this study, volunteers used the 8-12 rep range to failure and achieved measurable success. The resistance levels were set so that they could barely complete a set in the 8-12 range. Going to failure was the key driver in causing muscle growth.

MUSCLE & FITNESS

5 Advantages to Lifting Light: This article points out that lifting lighter gives you comparable results and also offers a number of advantages over heavy.

FLEX online

Flex tackles the debate on which is best and declares that: “… the majority of your workouts should utilize light-to-moderate weight for moderate-to-high reps… in the 8-15 range for best results.”

McMASTER UNIVERSITY, Hamilton, Ontario:

This study found that low-load/high-volume workouts were more effective in creating “acute muscle anabolism” than high-load/low-volume work. In other words, lighter weight with higher reps beats heavy weight with low reps.

Again, this study found that going to failure was the key driver to muscular growth.

SCIENCE DAILY 2016

An article on McMaster University’s latest study in 2016: Pumping iron: “Lighter weights just as effective as heavier weights.” This article asserts that this latest study contradicts the decades-old, old-school view that the only way to get big was to go heavy.

MAYO CLINIC

The prestigious Clinic says that you should use a resistance level heavy enough to tire out your muscles in the 12-15 rep range. They say that a single set of 12 reps could be just as effective in building muscle as three sets using a heavier weight.

They also note that you don’t need to “spend hours a day lifting” to benefit. Just two or three 20-30 minute sessions a week can produce noticeable results.

Of course, if you’re really working to build serious mass, you’re probably going to want to amp that schedule up a bit. Personally, I prefer 4 days a week with between 45-60 minutes per workout. But, it is true it does not require endless hours in the gym.

As with anything else, quality beats quantity.

The Fountain of Youth

A report published by Dr. Len Kravitz of the University of New Mexico demonstrates how resistance training can actually reverse aging at the genetic level.

In that study, all of the older adult subjects (mean age 68) performed supervised resistance training exercises on two non-consecutive days of the week for 26 weeks. The group included both people who did not exercise at all and those who regularly did some form of exercise.

They did 12 different exercises that addressed the entire body:

• Chest Press
• Leg Press
• Leg Extension
• Leg Flexion
• Shoulder Press
• Lat Pulldown
• Seated Row
• Calf Raise
• Abdominal Crunch
• Back Extension
• Biceps Curl
• Triceps Extension

Lighter Weights, Higher Reps

They also used a method similar to the one we promote here at BoomerMuscle. Lighter weight with higher reps with 3 sets per exercise (we say 3 – 5 sets). We encourage finding the ideal amount of resistance that takes you to muscle failure after 8 – 12 repetitions. By failure, we don’t mean passing out; simply getting to a point where another rep done without cheating isn’t possible.

In the genetic study, subjects began by doing just one of each exercise at 50% of their one-rep maximum resistance. They gradually increased to 3 sets at 80% of their one-rep max.

Supplements to consider

Some people will recommend a wide variety of supplements. So-called Testosterone Boosters and lots more. The supplement industry is not heavily regulated. There are lots of wild claims out there.

To my knowledge there are only 3 supplements that have been generally proven effective and safe to use:

1. Creatine
2. Whey Protein
3. BCAA (Branched Chain Amino Acids)

Creatine 

I use and recommend GNC’s AMP 189 creatine. I use it in tablet form. I trust GNC because this is a long established brand, and a publicly traded company with a lot on the line. That means they have to protect their brand against damage. I tend to trust what their label says for those reasons. Plus, I’ve had great results from the product. 

Wikipedia notes that: “Extensive research has shown that oral creatine supplementation at a rate of five to 20 grams per day appears to be very safe and largely devoid of adverse side-effects,^[23] …” The article also says that creative appears to be effective in helping to increase muscle mass. 

These links will take you to additional articles by the Mayo Clinic and WebMD on creatine. But, be careful if you have kidney issues. People with higher than normal muscle mass will already have higher than normal numbers on a Creatinine test. That is the waste product of Creatine and higher numbers are considered a marker for kidney disease. Taking Creatine could cause those numbers to spike higher. It’s something to be aware of. Use caution in considering this or any other supplement product.

Whey Protein

I use Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard. It is good tasting and I believe effective. It has thousands of highly positive reviews on both GNC and Amazon. And Bodybuilding.com rates it #1, as well. My experience with the product has been positive.

 

You can check a nicely organized list of the benefits of whey compiled by the Mayo Clinic here.

Read my full review on all the products here. The links above will take you to Amazon. If you decide to make a purchase, they will give me credit. But it does not in any way affect the price you would pay. You can also find these items at your local GNC or health food store.

What about Vitamin T?

I have in the past used testosterone supplementation under a doctor’s review and prescription. It definitely is a boost, but it’s not without potential drawbacks. Especially if you have current health conditions, you would definitely want to have your blood tested and receive the medication from a competent legal resource.

Here is an article by the Harvard Medical School on testosterone therapy that gives a sober perspective on the pros and cons. And here is another more ballsy piece by the aptly-titled Testosterone Nation, which gives a more gung-ho perspective on the idea of supplementing testosterone.

Whatever you decide to do when it comes to testosterone, I would advise moderation and caution. Your overall health is the most valuable thing you have, so don’t overdo anything. And please steer clear of any illegal substances like steroids. Not worth it!

So what are you waiting for?

If you’re not already working out, it’s time to get started. No excuses. You don’t need expensive gear or a gym membership to get going.  There are lots of “how to” articles on this site under the menu category “Workout Guides.” Check them out, they’re free.

See my post Building Muscle After 60 for more on how you can build muscle regardless of your age: 40, 50, 60 and up.

This post details a Simple Workout you can do at home with diagrams on how to. It’s a 4 day per week plan. You could add a 5th day and double down on one particular body area if you are gung ho.

Also, see Lifting Light Weight vs. Heavy Weights for more details on the benefits of lighter weight/higher reps.

There are more How-To articles on this site under the menu category Workout Guides.

You can build muscle mass, even past 50 — or 60 — in a natural way. The right workout method, good nutrition and proper rest will generate results. It will work.

Check out the BoomerMuscle Facebook page. You’ll find a steady flow of great articles I share from around the world on working out, nutrition and more. It’s all unique stuff not duplicated on the Boomer website.

Click here to get my 5 Keys to Feeling Stronger – Right Away – for free here. No sales pitch or hassle. You’ll get a brief video on the 5 Keys plus a downloadable PDF guide on the studies noted above plus a summary cheat-sheet on the 5 Keys.

Here’s the best proof I have.

This is me after turning 65 in March of 2021. 

I live this method of building muscle. Today,  I have more muscle mass than I did in my youth and see no reason to slow down.  Fitness Toplist featured an interview with me on my background and philosophy with this site. You can see it at Fitness Toplist.

Lighter weights at higher reps builds muscle without punishing your joints.

Still building muscle at 65 in 2021.

Reverse Aging Exercises

The best reverse aging exercises are resistance training. It’s been proven by recent study after study: resistance training helps reverse age and fight against a number of diseases and conditions.

Depending on your age and condition, you may want to moderate how intensely you begin a program. And you may want to avoid certain movements that challenge your balance or conditions like arthritis. But otherwise, us older folks are no different than anybody else when it comes to choosing the best exercises.

Resistance Training in our view is a very controlled and careful type of exercise. We’re not talking about Cross Fit or flipping giant tractor tires here. This is about controlled movements under a moderate amount of resistance — not ‘insanity’ or other hardcore fitness regimes.

The Fountain of Youth

A report published by Dr. Len Kravitz of the University of New Mexico demonstrates how resistance training can actually reverse aging at the genetic level.

In that study, all of the older adult subjects (mean age 68) performed supervised resistance training exercises on two non-consecutive days of the week for 26 weeks. The group included both people who did not exercise at all and those who regularly did some form of exercise.

They did 12 different exercises that addressed the entire body:

• Chest Press
• Leg Press
• Leg Extension
• Leg Flexion
• Shoulder Press
• Lat Pulldown
• Seated Row
• Calf Raise
• Abdominal Crunch
• Back Extension
• Biceps Curl
• Triceps Extension

Lighter Weights, Higher Reps

They also used a method similar to the one we promote here at BoomerMuscle. Lighter weight with higher reps with 3 sets per exercise (we say 3 – 5 sets). We encourage finding the ideal amount of resistance that takes you to muscle failure after 8 – 12 repetitions. By failure, we don’t mean passing out; simply getting to a point where another rep done without cheating isn’t possible.

In the genetic study, subjects began by doing just one of each exercise at 50% of their one-rep maximum resistance. They gradually increased to 3 sets at 80% of their one-rep max.

This post will give you more perspective on the benefits of lifting light weights vs. heavy weights. You can also do a workout with a wide variety of equipment. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to do resistance training. For even more on how to structure a workout, check out our category Workout Guides in the main menu. There are several how-to posts there.

“Strength Training for Older Adults” by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is a nice compilation of tips for older seniors. The link will take you to a downloadable pdf file** that includes recommended exercises with how-to diagrams.  If you’d like to see more information on the science-backed benefits of resistance training, please see this post.

Exercise even reverses aging of our skin!

In addition to all the benefits at a genetic level, a recent study by McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, found that exercise can take decades of aging off our skin.

Workout Guidelines

Here are some additional tips for older adults beginning a resistance training program. These are taken directly from the UNM genetic study noted earlier:

“The following are 10 helpful training guidelines when working with mature exercisers.

1) Teaching correct lifting mechanics should be a priority with all personal trainers working with mature clients.

2) Many older individuals do not understand the concept of progressive overload, and must be educated and directed properly. 

3) Always have clients perform exercises in a range of motion with controlled joint movements.

4) Keep breathing patterns normal during resistance exercises. Encourage the client to exhale during the more challenging part of the exercise. For instance, when doing a squat, inhale on the descent of the squat and exhale on the assent against gravity. Breath holding during resistance exercise may elevate intra thoracic pressures dangerously high, placing undue stress on the heart.

5) Begin resistance training programs with minimal training loads to allow adequate time for the joint(s) and associated connective tissues to adjust to the loads.

6) Avoid excessive resistance training loads or repetition of loads as this may aggravate a pre-existing health condition. Clients with arthritis and other joint and bone disorders should not be advised to do resistance during periods of pain or inflammation.

7) Since eccentric training (lengthening muscle actions) has been shown to result in greater muscle soreness, the use of eccentric training in mature populations should be done with carefulness.

8) When re-starting a resistance training regimen from a break or leave of absence, have clients begin with loads that are approximately 50% or less of the previous training intensity.

9) To help mature clients develop better balance and muscle coordination, perform several exercise in a standing position with free weights and other exercise props, such as medicine balls.

10) Plan workout time efficiently for the mature client. Sessions lasting over 60 minutes may be too fatiguing. In addition, training sessions that are too long may be disadvantageous to overall exercise adherence”

** NOTE: The link to the CDC pdf file has been a bit temperamental on some browsers. If you encounter a problem, type the title of the document noted above and CDC into a search engine. That should take you right to it. Sorry if you are having issues.

What are your thoughts on exercises for older adults? Have you tried resistance training? Please share below. I’ll also be glad to help you if I can. Write me at: Brian@BoomerMuscle.com

This link will take you to the 5 Keys to Feeling Stronger – Right Away! They are FREE. You will get immediate access to a video and accompanying checklist, along with a report on studies that have proven lighter weights and higher reps builds muscle — especially in us older people!

Benefits of Resistance Training for Older Adults

The benefits of resistance training for older adults have been proven by recent study after study. In fact, some of the newest results are absolutely amazing.

The Real Fountain of Youth – Discovered!

Science has demonstrated that Resistance Training can actually reverse damage to our genes caused by aging. In effect, this restoration can make these genes youthful again.

In a study published by Dr. Len Kravitz of the University of New Mexico, it was found that resistance training literally does reverse the aging process at a genetic level.

During this study, the group trained for 26 weeks while the researchers monitored 179 genes associated with aging. The goal was to see if the resistance training had any effect on those particular genes. Their conclusion was that it did in fact:

“This means quite literally that the resistance training was not only slowing but also reversing the aging process at the gene level,” according to Dr. Kravitz.

Light Weights, High Reps

Interestingly, the study used a training method very similar to the one we promote here at BoomerMuscle. 3-5 Sets of each exercise. High reps. Lighter weights.

For the study, participants did 3 sets of each exercise for 10 reps each. They did a variety of exercises ultimately working the entire body. Here, we promote doing 3 – 5 sets per exercise, depending on your fitness level, and 8 – 12 reps per. Very similar approach.

My favorite workout scheme is to go 4 days per week, focusing on a different area of the body each day with this approach. It features lighter weights at this higher rep range. I know from personal experience that it works. I didn’t know until recently, it was also literally making me younger at the genetic level.

Can Older Adults Really Build Muscle?

Here’s a link to an article on research analysis conducted by the University of Michigan that demonstrated older adults definitely can and should build muscle.

They found that contrary to common thinking, older adults don’t have to view the loss of muscle as an inevitable aspect of aging. In fact the opposite is true.

“… not only can we fight the battle of strength and muscle loss as we age, we can even build muscle and strength well into our Golden Years.” Credit: U-M Health System.

This is a quick NY Times article on the same subject, with references to a study by the University of Alabama. It answers the question: “Can you regain muscle mass after age 60?” with a resounding “Yes.” 

The point is, recent study after study has come to the same conclusion. You can dramatically improve your life with resistance training. And you can build muscle even as you age — at any age.

Additional Benefits of Resistance Training

This really can change your life in so many positive ways:

Reduce obesity and manage your weight. Strength training is better than cardio at burning calories over the long haul. While cardio burns slightly more while you’re doing it, strength training burns calories for hours after you’ve finished. Plus, muscle burns calories even while you’re resting. So as you change your body, you are amping up your metabolism.

On top of all that, building muscle and reducing fat will help protect you from these diseases and conditions:

Sarcopenia – the age-related loss of muscle that can rob you of half your muscle mass over time and leave you frail and weak. It can also help reverse Osteoporosis (brittle bones) and the height shrinking effect that happens as we age.

Diabetes – recent studies show strength training can actually prevent Type 2 diabetes and can better manage the disease for those who already have it, according to Web MD

Heart Disease – the American Heart Association recommends strength training at least 2 days per week

Arthritis – the Arthritis Foundation recommends resistance training via circuit strength training

Back Pain – can be reduced by strengthening core muscles, like the glutes, according to Web MD

Anxiety and Depression – studies have shown strength training reduces both

On that last point, it’s worth noting that many people are coping with anxiety and depression. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America says 40 million people suffer from Anxiety and more than 15 people will experience clinical Depression annually.

Being overweight is no fun. Feeling strong and in better shape feels good. I realize that’s an oversimplification, but honestly, if you are fighting those things, strength training can be an avenue to a happier outlook.

Be Realistic

And you don’t have to be intimidated by the idea of resistance training. Some people promote the idea of getting ripped abs after 50. Some promote the notion of looking like a bodybuilder. Some will try to sell you a dozen DVDs and a bunch of PDFs for programs with cute nicknames like X747 Zoom! 

To all that, I say NUTS! It’s just not that complicated and you don’t have to aspire to look like that. Take a look at this mom, who dropped 6 dress sizes while only losing 2 pounds. Perfect? No. Looking great and feeling great? Yes!

The goal isn’t to be perfect but to feel better about your health and appearance. Resistance training is not easy. It’s not a magic potion or a bottle of pills. But it works. It does not have to cause pain or be an insane Bootcamp. We’re too old for that kind of nonsense.

I’ve been training for nearly 50 years. I’ve never had ripped abs and I don’t expect that will change. I do have muscle and have had success against the battle of the bulge. And that’s great for me.

Give it a Try

Be good to yourself and begin a resistance training workout today. For thoughts on how to start training with simple equipment at home, please read this post. You can do it a commercial gym, or in your home with simple equipment.

Check out the BoomerMuscle Facebook page. You’ll find a steady flow of great articles I share from around the world on working out, nutrition and more. It’s all unique stuff not duplicated on the Boomer website.

Click here to get my 5 Keys to Feeling Stronger – Right Away – for free here. No sales pitch or hassle. You’ll get a brief video on the 5 Keys plus a downloadable PDF guide on the studies noted above plus a summary cheat-sheet on the 5 Keys.

Share your thoughts below, or drop me a line at: Brian@BoomerMuscle.com