99% of men over 40 get a few things wrong about building muscle and it's why most of us will never build as much muscle as we're actually capable of the truth is as we get older most of us end up losing muscle mass but here's the deal just because we're getting older it doesn't mean our muscle gains have to slow down research shows that older men can build just as much muscle as younger men this study for example compared the effects of resistance training on older men ages 35 to 50 and younger men ages 18
to 22 not only did the older men gain just as much strength but they also gained 177% more muscle mass the question then becomes why are most men over 40 gaining less muscle as we get older that's exactly what I want to share in this video a few things most men over 40 get wrong about building muscle and make sure you watch till the end because I'm going to share the exact workout program you can follow to make sure you're getting bigger and stronger as you age so without further Ado let's Jump Right In the
first thing 99% of men over 40 get wrong is protein timing in your 40s 50s 60s and Beyond eating 1 g of protein per pound of body weight isn't going to cut it this is because as we ate age we experience anabolic resistance in simple terms this is a reduction in muscle protein synthesis rates in response to dietary protein this is why younger men can stimulate muscle protein synthesis maximally with 20 G while older men need almost twice as much to accomplish the same result in this study for example researchers compared the muscle protein synthetic
response to 0 10 20 and 40 G of protein post exercise they saw a 65% increase from 20 g of protein and a 90% increase from 40 G the evidence is pretty clear that our protein needs increase as we get older but increasing our daily protein intake alone is not enough you see the largest protein synthetic response came from older adults who consumed more protein per meal not per day in other words consuming larger protein doses per meal has a more significant impact on muscle growth than simply increasing your total daily protein intake based on
the current research men over 40 should aim to consume around 40 to 50 gram of protein per meal to maximize their anabolic response so while consuming 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight is enough splitting your protein up into 3 to 5 meals at 40 to 50 g of protein per meal would be more optimal another thing men over 40 get wrong is training intensity plenty of research shows that whether you're training for 1 to 5 reps 8 to 12 reps or 15 reps and above you'll gain muscle just as quickly so whether
you're training heavy for lower reps or using lighter weights and Performing higher reps what really matters is how hard you're pushing yourself during those sets when we're lifting heavier weights MUSC muscle fiber activation is already maximal from the first rep meaning the entire muscle experiences a significant growth stimulus right away when we're training with lighter weights muscle fiber activation relies on fatigue mechanisms which typically kick in after several reps thus you'll need the train closer to failure the question then becomes how do I know if I'm pushing hard enough A good rule of thumb is
as follows when it comes to heavy comp pound lifts aim for an RP of eight in other words push to the point where you have two reps left in the tank with isolation exercises because they're less taxing feel free to push to failure or close to it the next thing most men over 40 get wrong is training volume as we age we tend to reduce our training volume to avoid over trining or Aid recovery but what if I told you that we should be doing more volume in the gym not less this metaanalysis found that
workout programs with higher training volumes led to significantly greater increases in lean body mass among older adults this 2012 study comparing younger and older men revealed that while increasing exercise volume had minimal impact on younger participants older men who doubled their exercise volume experienced a significant increase in muscle protein synthesis rates this suggests that upping your training volume is a powerful strategy to counteract the age related decline in muscle anabolism this isn't to say we need to double the amount of sets we do but rather we should aim to do more sets per muscle group
gradually over time and the last thing most men over 40 get wrong is recovery one thing that does slow down with age is our ability to recover and Recovery isn't just about avoiding muscle soreness it's about how efficiently our muscles can repair there are three important recovery times we get wrong the time we rest in between sets the time we rest in between training days and the time we spend sleeping one 2016 study showed that participants who rested for 3 minutes between sets saw significantly greater muscle growth compared to those who rested for just one
minute another study compared one group resting for 5 minutes between sets and another group resting for just 1 minute they found that the group with a longer rest periods experienced double the muscle protein synthetic response and while we don't all have time to spend hours at the gym I do recommend aiming for at least 3 minutes in between sets for your big heavy compound lifts as for the rest between workouts allow about 24 to 48 hours between sessions that Target the same muscle group and while some individuals can get away with less others may need
a bit more a simple rule of thumb would be this if you're still sore rest a little longer and if you're not sore don't worry about waiting an extra day and last but not least sleep Muscle Recovery is kicked into overdrive while we sleep a number of Studies have shown that sleep deprivation negatively affects physical recovery and performance but sleep deprivation also affects your hormone production the the most important of which is testosterone this study showed that men who only slept for 6 hours or less had testosterone levels that were more than 14% lower than
men who routinely slept for more than 8 hours similarly this 2011 study discovered that men restricted to 5 hours of sleep per night for just 7 Days experienced a 10 to 15% drop in testosterone levels and if that wasn't enough sleep deprivation has also been directly linked to increased rates of fat gain and muscle loss thus if you're not getting enough sleep you'll not only gain more fat but you'll also lose your heart earned muscle ideally you should aim for 7 to 9 hours of high quality sleep each night now doing more sex eating more
protein per meal and getting enough rest are all pretty straightforward and if you're doing all of these things you'll have no problem building muscle despite getting older but if you're looking for optimal results then check out our video on three workout splits guaranteed to build muscle for men over 40 there you'll find three science-based workouts to choose from just use the guidelines in the video to determine which one is best for you did you find this video helpful if so click the like button below as it'll truly help out the channel and if you haven't
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