Having healthy, firm, and well-contoured muscles communicates to others that you are healthy, successful, and without disabilities. Having stronger muscles not only helps you look more powerful to other men and sexier to women, it also confers a number of health benefits. Physically stronger men’s bodies can heal more quickly after illness and generally have better bone density.
For various reasons, the average man has more natural muscle mass on his body when he is younger than when he gets older. Still, that fact doesn’t mean men 60 and older can’t achieve a very healthy, strong-looking physique—they can.
To build muscle after the age of 60, it is important to know what to do. Simply diving in and starting to lift weights will likely be not only less successful, but potentially even much more dangerous than if you take a measured approach under the guidance of a bodybuilding expert.
If you’re interested in building muscle after 60, here are 7 tips on how to build muscle faster:
1. Muscle begins to atrophy after the age of 25:
Understand that you will have to work a little harder than you did when you were in your 20s to achieve the lean, muscular physique you want. This is because, by the age of 60, the average man has lost around 50% of his natural muscle (compared to before the age of 25). This is due to the fact that muscle naturally begins to atrophy after the age of 25, and the process continues steadily every year.
2. You can slow or stop muscle wasting through weight training and diet:
Fortunately, you have the power to stop muscle atrophy. Weight training and the right diet can put you back on the path to looking good naked or in a bathing suit again, even long after your 60s.
3. It’s never too late to start weight training:
The most powerful and effective way to build muscle mass is through weight training. Free weights such as barbells and dumbbells offer you an amazing opportunity to start adding attractive firmness and shape to your chest, shoulder, arm, back, leg and stomach muscles.
4. Consult with your doctor:
Before starting any exercise routine, be sure to check with your doctor first.
5. Always start with light warm-up stretches:
Begin each workout with a series of light warm-up stretches. While stretching before a workout is important at any age, it’s particularly important as our bodies age.
6. Start with barbell or dumbbell chest exercises:
There are a number of exercises you can use to strengthen muscles throughout your entire body. Here, we’ll start with two types: one that focuses on building your chest and one that focuses on building your shoulders.
For your chest, try the bench press. That is how:
1. Lie on your back on an exercise bench while keeping your feet flat on the floor.
2. Start with just the barbell (which is 45lbs by itself). Lift the bar off the rack and hold it at arm’s length above you.
3. Next, slowly lower the bar until it touches just above your chest.
4. Finally, raise the bar until your arms are completely straight (almost to a “locked” position).
5. Repeat for 5-10 reps, rest, and do 2-3 sets total.
7. Try the Shoulder Press Deltoid Exercise:
To start bulking up your shoulders, try the shoulder press deltoid exercise. That is how:
1. Sit upright on a shoulder press exercise bench and place your hands on the bar.
2. Now raise the weight above your head, holding it there briefly.
3. Finally, lower the bar (with a controlled movement) until it returns to the starting position.
4. Repeat for 5-10 reps, rest, and do 2-3 sets total.
Try these 7 Steps to Building Muscle After 60 and you’ll start to see noticeable results after a week or two.
