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This article isn’t meant for bodybuilders; rather, it addresses individuals looking to remain strong and functional for decades to come.

Muscle mass can increase longevity, not necessarily to look better on the beach. While looking like Chris Hemsworth from Thor may help (does anyone else resemble this actor?) muscle mass doesn’t require being made out of marble to bring health benefits.

Muscle development offers many practical, aesthetic, and functional benefits – it protects you against life’s obstacles while fueling daily tasks.

Today, you’ll learn how muscle can promote healthy aging, the basics of strength training and how to optimize protein consumption. Within five minutes, you’ll understand how to build muscle after 50, before 50 and during 50 – even while 50!

Muscle Mass and Healthy Aging
Wanting to live happily for many more years ahead? Seeking greater muscle on your frame could help extend this. Let’s review some compelling science on this matter.

One paper followed 1,413 older Chilean adults for 12 years. Those with the most muscle mass had only a 20% risk of dying while those with less had 50%. Other research indicates muscular strength may provide as much protection (if not more) against all-cause mortality in men with high blood pressure than aerobic fitness does; hence combining cardio and strength training provides optimal results.

Muscle provides more than a simple defense against death; age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) has been associated with an increased risk of poor quality of life and six times greater chances of premature mortality.

One explanation for these benefits may lie in muscle’s protective function against falls; an injury could send older adults downhill quickly. Strength training also increases bone density, decreasing fracture risk.

Muscle can bring metabolic, aesthetic, and most importantly functional advantages. Strength isn’t optional when picking up grandkids or groceries off of the floor!

Building and Maintaining Muscle As we age, our bodies begin to shed muscle mass at an alarming rate; at 80 years of age a male will have about 40% less quad muscle than they did at 25.

Does muscle growth after 50 still work? Yes. There are three key levers you need to pull:

Strength training, protein intake and caloric consumption will form the core of this article; while we should acknowledge its third component as well. We won’t spend too much time here on that point though.

Simply stated, to maintain muscle you should avoid aggressively cutting calories. And when cutting back, don’t reduce protein consumption in any way.

Simple Strength Training
Building strength doesn’t require elaborate workout plans and expensive machines – even just a straightforward training program can do wonders to develop strength.

Stay efficient by prioritizing movements that work multiple muscle groups at the same time. Effective strength exercises include:

Push-upsBench pressOverhead pressPull-upsSquatsLungesPlanks* * For muscle maintenance and gains, strength train at least twice weekly; three or four is preferable. Experiment with 1-2 lower body and 1-2 upper body days until you find an enjoyable routine; aim for three sets of 5-10 reps each training day until close to fatigue is reached.

Measuring body weight gives only an approximate idea of muscle gain or loss; DEXA imaging offers far more precise estimates (it measures lean mass, fat mass and bone density.).

Tracking your body composition every 6-12 months provides accountability that few can match.

Track your efforts in the Exercise section of Carb Manager app for added motivation. There you’ll also find tutorials and videos to assist in creating your program.

How Much Protein Should You Be Consuming for Muscle Growth Lifting weights alone won’t suffice to promote muscle growth – according to one study, frail seniors gained no muscle with just strength training alone; without supplementation of some sort.

Are You Needing Too Much Protein? More Than the Recommended Daily Allowance Would Indicate A controlled dietary study discovered that RDA of 0.8 grams per kilogram bodyweight wasn’t enough to support muscle synthesis in “virtually all older people.”

Evidence-based recommendations call for targeting an intake of 1.6 g/kg body weight; however, many of us prefer simpler approaches like 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily instead. You’ll have some wiggle room to meet this target without risking overshooting its maximum limit of 3.5 g/kg daily intake.

So if you weigh 160 pounds, aim for 160 grams of daily protein intake as part of an anti-ageing strategy. Here are some helpful strategies that may assist.

How Can Older Adults Meet Their Protein Needs

Consuming your weight in protein grams may seem daunting, but with proper planning you can do so with ease.

Plan Your Meals Around Protein mes Structure each meal around protein sources. That could mean including eggs for breakfast, turkey for lunch and steak as the main course at dinner time.

Each meal should contain 35-50 grams of protein depending on your needs, plus an optional shake containing 30-40 grams for easy reaching your goal.

Here is an example high-protein meal plan with chef-created Premium recipes:

Breakfast Pepper Pizza Recipe[/recipe-link]

Lunch: [recipe-link id=”ug:82f8c572217a42988b87be64ac59146f”]Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Cups[/recipe-link].

Strawberry Cheesecake Protein Smoothie [recipe-link id=”ug:844ea36491e6489c83d3b69100d7ce85″][/recipe-link]

Dinner: Chili Lime Steak Fajitas [recipe-link id=”ug:8b2b74c0e3dc45dfb37e36fa165b91be”].

If time is of the essence, eggs, tuna cans and healthy protein bars provide quick-and-easy protein sources.

Distribute Your Protein Spread out your protein consumption over several meals so you can absorb more for muscle protein synthesis rather than using up extra as energy.

Consume High-Quality Protein
In general, animal proteins like eggs, meat, fish and whey tend to be superior for building muscle than plant sources (beans, soy and pea). This is partly because animal sources contain more anabolic amino acids like leucine.

Vegan and vegetarian individuals may need to adjust their protein targets accordingly in order to compensate for reduced protein quality, with soybean and pea proteins coming closest to meat and eggs; it would be prudent to prioritize them where possible.

Track Your Protein In Carb Manager, log all meals eaten as you work toward reaching your daily protein target so you know where you stand. That way, when making meal decisions or setting new ones, it will always be clear where your progress stands.

Most of us consume much less protein than we realize, so reviewing your data may serve as a helpful reminder of this fact.

But the kick comes with an upside: an increase in dopamine every time you hit your target, driving you forward more with each success-filled day. Over time, your motivation to succeed grows steadily stronger!

Over time, your strength-and-protein muscle regimen will put you among the healthy agers who can pick up their grandkids when they turn 100.