Question for personal trainers and bodybuilders

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klfazio
klfazio Posts: 48 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, I have a question about muscle and how it fills out skin (or does it?) I am 51 years old and have never been severely overweight...maybe 30 lbs at the most. I am 10 lbs from goal now and notice that the skin on my upper legs is slightly loose. I know this is from age and from the 20 lbs. I've already lost. My question is.....would building the muscle fill out that slightly loose skin? I love the idea of building muscle and have no problem starting it, I'm just wondering if at my age will toning the muscles REALLY make my legs look any better in terms of the loose skin? Its not even really bad...more like when I am standing and light hits it a certain way you can see tiny horizontal lines all the way down the front of the thigh, just not super tight anymore as it once was. Can't tell you how much I hate that. I have heard some people say it can be done....and some say no it can't once age/loose skin kicks in.....so I'm confused. Would someone(s) who REALLY knows let me know what you think of this. It would be so appreciated.
Thanks!! :bigsmile:

Replies

  • addisondisease
    addisondisease Posts: 664 Member
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    Muscle building could help, but seeing as you are a woman you won't be able to build enough muscle to keep up with the aging.

    Your options to have 25 year old legs would be surgery, or possibly HGH (human growth hormone) HGH won't make you taller.
  • klfazio
    klfazio Posts: 48 Member
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    Bump
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    Muscle building could help, but seeing as you are a woman you won't be able to build enough muscle to keep up with the aging.

    Your options to have 25 year old legs would be surgery, or possibly HGH (human growth hormone) HGH won't make you taller.

    I would agree with this. A woman over 50 isn't going to build much muscle. Resistance training is great foryour bone health, however.
  • addisondisease
    addisondisease Posts: 664 Member
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    bump cause my answer wasn't good enough
  • addisondisease
    addisondisease Posts: 664 Member
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    Muscle building could help, but seeing as you are a woman you won't be able to build enough muscle to keep up with the aging.

    Your options to have 25 year old legs would be surgery, or possibly HGH (human growth hormone) HGH won't make you taller.

    I would agree with this. A woman over 50 isn't going to build much muscle. Resistance training is great foryour bone health, however.

    There satisfied OP?
  • DKBelle
    DKBelle Posts: 585
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    I was watching DR OZ the other day and he said that anything is possible you can still build muscle at any age, but it is of course more difficult and you will need supplements such as fish oil, calcium, greens. Drink lots of water which also help the skin and eat super foods like lots of veggie/fruits that has antioxidants.

    I hope it helps, check his site out you might find more info on it.
  • nikolaim5
    nikolaim5 Posts: 233
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    Bump.

    Just kidding. I think your question has been answered OP. I do think you can gain some muscle though. And depending on how fast you've lost weight your skin will rebound somewhat. Some would probably suggest you drink lots of water as well. This is never a bad idea but I'm unsure on any research behind it actually having an effect on the tightness of your skin.
  • Hmrjmr1
    Hmrjmr1 Posts: 1,106 Member
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    Skin is your bodies largest organ, it will with care eventually recover, and be as tight as it needs to be here is some info that could be useful

    http://getfitguy.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-tighten-loose-skin-after-weight-loss.aspx
  • Hmrjmr1
    Hmrjmr1 Posts: 1,106 Member
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    Skin is your bodies largest organ, it will with care eventually recover, and be as tight as it needs to be here is some info that could be useful

    http://getfitguy.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-tighten-loose-skin-after-weight-loss.aspx

    Just to be clear I have no affiliation with this site just seems like good info.
  • addisondisease
    addisondisease Posts: 664 Member
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    tight as it needs to be

    She is over the hill, sure there are several factors to consider, fitness, diet, genetics, but at some point you skin gives up the good fight.
  • klfazio
    klfazio Posts: 48 Member
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    Addisondisease,
    No, it wasn't that your answer wasn't good enough.....it's that most people write posts hoping for more than one answer. It had been almost 24 hours so I decided to bump it so that the question would be seen again. It worked and I appreciated everyone who took time out of their day to answer.

    In the meantime, I have spoke with several other people. Not sure where you heard that women "won't be able to build enough muscle to keep up with the aging" but that was false information you got. I also spoke with my 63 old brother in law who is an ex-competition bodybuilder and now manages a gym in NM, and he said he repeatedly sees over-50 women bodybuilders (at all different stages) in his gym and that they are by far the most dedicated and less complaining of all the ages there.

    These videos are just the tip of the iceberg as far as what can be accomplished.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clk6r8tjlno&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1BCzZBMMd0&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9baGr99bvA
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wXFSczN6Rw&feature=related

    I simply wanted to know if anyone, with personal experience or had seen it happen with someone else, knew if a more in shape muscle would "fill out" that slightly looser skin, that was it. I have since found out that it is very possible, in fact....as well as seeing it in many of the videos I watched.

    As far as me being over the hill at 51......I hiked Mt Whitney (14, 505 ft) with my 53 year old husband last summer ....twice.
    I scuba dive on a regular basis. I mountain bike many hours on trails in the San Gabriel mountains in CA. I do sprints on a treadmill 5 days a week and can out-run ALL my daughters and son in laws (ages 26-31). My doctor says I have the "health AND stamina, in every way, that many 25 years would kill to have".

    Like I said, I was only wondering about slightly loose skin on my upper leg (dont have it anywhere else) and whether it would smooth out some over a larger muscle.

    Next time, maybe a more compassionate, encouraging tone to your answers would be nice, seeing how MFP is all about support.

    Thank you to everyone else for your kind responses : )

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