Building Muscle late 30's early 40's

alanjreed
alanjreed Posts: 35 Member
edited 12:13AM in Motivation and Support
A little background on my self. I am 38 and up until September 2013 I was a very competitive and successful amateur triathlete. Training 20+ hours a week. Going into my year ending race I was 6'2" 165lbs. So that gives you a little bit of an idea what my body type is like.

Life happened and things changed and pretty much stopped training. However having been able to eat everything I could and fighting to keep wait on most of my life I never gave much thought about eating to much which lead to where I was 4 weeks ago at 220 lbs.
Wife and I decided it was time to change because we both had gained weight and I the last month I have lost 18.1 lbs with only walking due to a couple broken ribs and we are both doing the Nutrisystem diet.
What I would like to do is obviously cut some more fat but then gain muscle. With my past training I understand the nutritional and weight lifting needs/cardio to make that happen but my is really more about has anyone been successful at gaining significant muscle at my age and beyond? Especially if you have my body type. I'm not wanting to get huge but I want to be muscularly fit and look that way.

Replies

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Progressive resistance and adequate protein and you can do anything

    Of course in defecit and as a pre-trained athlete you may need to hit a certain BF first because recomposition is a difficult and time consuming you're not a core candidate fo building muscle in defecit

    I'm not sure what nutrisystem is but if it's meal replacement I'd advise getting real food into you and hitting your macro targets

    Good luck
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
    It shouldn't be a problem to gain muscle and strength in your forties. You should start being more careful about injuries, and might need more recovery time than previously. At least, that was my experience in my forties.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited February 2016
    ps I lost 53lbs, built muscle and strength and got my BF down to under 23% at 47 and female so you're a mere child ;)
  • bruhaha007
    bruhaha007 Posts: 333 Member
    Absolutely, you can put muscle on at any age! I watched a Ted talk where an 85 year old man started at age 65 and he added a ton of muscle. That was very inspirational.
  • hockeysniper8
    hockeysniper8 Posts: 253 Member
    So, you are 6'2, 202 pounds right now? What are your daily macros? Your weight training reps should be less than 8 to build muscle
  • alanjreed
    alanjreed Posts: 35 Member
    edited February 2016
    Yes I am now at 202 at 24% body fat. I am currently running macros at 45% carbs 30% protein 25% fat. Targeting 1700 calories in food.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    You can gain muscle at any age (provided that you are capable of performing adequate exercise and get your eating right).

    But, you should wait until you get the all clear from doctor on the broken ribs before changing your exercise program.

    This:
    hockeysniper8 wrote: »
    So, you are 6'2, 202 pounds right now? What are your daily macros? Your weight training reps should be less than 8 to build muscle

    is not true.

  • bodyfuelnutritionllc
    bodyfuelnutritionllc Posts: 15 Member
    Agree. Above post not correct... In my opinion, I do most all exercises at 12-20 reps. Still maintain muscle I have and I'm still losing weight. Do what you can correctly, and eat the right foods, you can gain muscle.
  • uidb5259
    uidb5259 Posts: 138 Member
    Looking for the same result. I have been losing weight and would now like to strengthen and get some definition.
  • alanjreed
    alanjreed Posts: 35 Member
    edited February 2016
    Good to hear that there is hope for me. Obviously with my back ground and success losing the weight so far I can commit myself. Just wanted to confirm it was still going to beagle to get that "muscular fitness" look.
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