Muscle Gains After 60

lisakatz2

Is it true that it is more difficult to gain muscle after a certain age? I am a 61-year-old female who eventually would like to gain 10 pounds of muscle. Is this an unrealistic goal?
How long will it take, with consistent weight training. I haven't worked out with weights in many years, so I'd be basically starting from scratch.

AnnPT77

Generally, yes, gaining muscle favors the young. But there are research studies showing that people can gain muscle, with the right stimulus, even in their 80s.

I don't think anyone can tell you how long it will take with any accuracy. It depends on a variety of factors, some of them genetic.

Some other factors that can contribute to gaining muscle (besides youth and good genetics), listed in no particular order:
1. A good, progressive strength program faithfully performed
2. Overall good nutrition, especially but not exclusively adequate protein.
3. Recovery between workouts for the same muscle groups, and not overdoing total exercise load for current fitness level.
4. A small calorie surplus, like maybe 250 calories or so above maintenance.
5. Relative newness to strength training. (Resuming after a long hiatus may be similar.)
6. Patience. Persistence. More patience.

For anyone, muscle mass gain is slow. For a woman, something like a pound a month of mass gain would be a really good result under ideal conditions. Since "ideal conditions" include relative youth, I think it's realistic to expect it to be even slower in our demographic. (I'm 68, female.) How much slower? Individually variable.

Is 10 pounds possible long term? Also individually variable, I think. I think it would realistically be a multi-year goal, but that's a guess. Probably also depends on starting muscle mass, since we each have a unique genetic potential overall.

Some notes:

#1 - If you don't have a program, there's a thread here where other MFP-ers have gathered ones they found useful:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

#2 - A rough rule of thumb for protein is at least 0.6-0.8 grams per day per pound of healthy goal weight. For a more nuanced estimate based on recent research, this is a source generally regarded as neutral:

https://examine.com/protein-intake-calculator/
https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

Somewhere in the Guide it talks about using goal weight in the calculator, if currently overweight.

For those in our demographic, it's also important to spread protein through the day, rather than concentrating it mostly in one meal. Here's more info about protein and aging:

https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(13)00326-5/fulltext

Focus on high quality protein sources, i.e., complete in essential amino acids (EAAs) and bioavailable. If you eat meat/fish/dairy, those are good sources. If you don't eat those, it's not a total deal-breaker, but it does require more attention to protein quality. (Since most people are omnivores, I won't go into detail on that right off the bat. I'm vegetarian, though, and it doesn't make muscle/strength gain impossible, just a bit more nuanced.

#3 - If you're also wanting to lose weight, a calorie surplus would mean weight gain. That may not work for you. If you want to lose weight, and it's a large amount, it may be more realistic to start with a weight reduction approach, and lift weights in order to retain as much of your current muscle as possible. When closer to goal, slow the loss rate. If you have only a small amount of weight to lose, then a very small calorie deficit (very slow loss) will support strength/muscle gain goals better than a big calorie deficit (fast loss). Whether gain is still possible with a small deficit - especially in our demographic - is really difficult to say.

I hope that helps.

tomcustombuilder

Overall, every year after 35 or so, muscle becomes harder to build. Your genetics will be a major factor. Regardless of if you can or can't build much after 60, just training and building strength as you age is HUGE! Go into a good program as Ann outlined and give it your all and you'll get what you get and it will be a major benefit no matter what.

Anecdotally, I am blessed with great genetics for muscle building due to high testoserone however at 70 it became a lot harder to maintain muscle. Much of how successful you are will come down to how you recover after training and as you age that recovery is a big factor on how successful you'll be

lisakatz2

Thanks guys, you've provided very helpful information.