3
0

Can a 55 year old man add 20lbs of muscle?


 invite response                
2022 Feb 7, 5:01am   986 views  27 comments

by GNL   ➕follow (1)   💰tip   ignore  

I've lost 20lbs of fat. Now I look skinny but lean and healthy. But now I want to add 20lbs of muscle. Impossible at 55 years old?

« First        Comments 7 - 27 of 27        Search these comments

7   Ceffer   2022 Feb 7, 10:06am  

After 55 LOL! It isn't about building infrastructure, it's about preserving infrastructure. Keep joints moving at maximum excursions, use small weights to build endurance rather than strength, and respect your knees if you want them to last for any length of time.

Cartilage wears out but does not renew, and it's the buffer plastic for your joints. Don't pound it to death. Any strenuous over buff wears things out. Also, it doesn't matter what peak physical condition you achieve, it melts away in a couple of months without constant input, so exercise smart for the long run rather than narcissistic for the short run.

The body was designed to move, so keep yourself in motion with manageable, moderate stresses and don't think about things like static appearance.
8   GNL   2022 Feb 7, 10:36am  

Ceffer says
After 55 LOL! It isn't about building infrastructure, it's about preserving infrastructure. Keep joints moving at maximum excursions, use small weights to build endurance rather than strength, and respect your knees if you want them to last for any length of time.

Cartilage wears out but does not renew, and it's the buffer plastic for your joints. Don't pound it to death. Any strenuous over buff wears things out. Also, it doesn't matter what peak physical condition you achieve, it melts away in a couple of months without constant input, so exercise smart for the long run rather than narcissistic for the short run.

The body was designed to move, so keep yourself in motion with manageable, moderate stresses and don't think about things like static appearance.

I'd like overall better daily needed strength. I've heard of people tearing muscles from doing simple things as they get older. I want to avoid torn rotator cuffs from simply slipping and having to catch myself. But looking a little bulkier wouldn't be a bad thing also. 6-pack abs etc.
9   GNL   2022 Feb 7, 10:37am  

joshuatrio says
Make sure you are eating plenty of protein and healthy fats, reduce carbs

Yep, this is how I lost the 20lbs of fat. I cut out almost all sugar also. I only use sugar in my coffee. No deserts or chocolate anymore.
10   Patrick   2022 Feb 7, 10:45am  

I'm about your age, height, and weight @WineHorror1

When I was forced to start working from home, I took the opportunity to finally use my free weights, and rapidly ramped up, working out 4 or more times per day.

But then I developed join pain in my shoulder, elbow, and even hands. So I took a break until the pains went away, and now for about 6 weeks I've been slowly ramping up again with just one weight workout per day, and a good hard bike ride up some hills.

That seems to be working better. I can see visible gains in muscle, and my ability to bike up hills has improved as well, and I have no more joint pain. I'm going to keep slowly ramping up to my former workout, just once per day, and if the join problems come back, I'll reduce it until they go away again. You can do only as much as your body allows.

I try to avoid sugar, seed oils, and palm oil. On Fridays I reward myself with a nice dessert.

I've also stopped having a beer at night, and I sleep better for it. I have a small glass of red wine with lunch, and that does not seem to bother my sleep at all, nor do I really feel the alcohol. Somehow daytime metabolism is different.
11   Al_Sharpton_for_President   2022 Feb 7, 11:12am  

6 ft, 178-180 now. The weight trajectory is heading down, slowly. I have consciously avoided carbs. Eat lots of vegetables. What really helps keep the weight down is to have a big salad for lunch everyday. I have a variation on a Euro breakfast just about everyday - unsweetened mini shredded wheats, oat milk, lots of cinnamon, raw almonds, white raisins, blueberries and a large spoonful of Greek yogurt. Do HIIT on alternate days, elliptical, exercycle, frequently hit 100% max HR. Resting HR 52 BPM, although it does drop below 50. Hand weights and kettle balls as well. For the longest time, my weight was 185-190, even going a bit over 200.
12   mell   2022 Feb 7, 4:25pm  

Lift weights and drink a gallon of milk per day. Doable.
13   GNL   2022 Feb 7, 4:36pm  

mell says
Lift weights and drink a gallon of milk per day. Doable.

What the...?
14   Patrick   2022 Feb 7, 5:33pm  

Works for young cattle!

Probably works in people too.
15   porkchopXpress   2022 Feb 7, 5:49pm  

6'4" and 200lbs at about 11% bodyfat. Mid 40s. I've been a gym guy since I was 18. I don't have the genetics to bulk up too much, but I do a lot of weight lifting and I'm fairly strong.

My advice? Don't go too heavy but go slow and controlled. You'll build more muscle if you do it that way, and drastically reduce your chance of injury.

Years ago, I followed the advice of Jason Ferrugia and bought his workout online. I've been using it for years now. It's about doing fewer compound lifts vs more isolation lifts. You'll spend less time in the gym, build more muscle and burn more calories.
https://jasonferruggia.com/Whats-The-Best-Muscle-Building-Workout-Split/?source=patrick.net

If you want the workout I use, let me know and I can email it to you since I already paid for it. It builds in periodization and confusion so you don't repeat too many lifts.

I'm now also on an awesome protein that's the purest and highest quality I've found. It's made by Transparent Labs and it's their whey protein isolate. It kicks ass.
16   GNL   2022 Feb 7, 5:59pm  

porkchopexpress says
6'4" and 200lbs at about 11% bodyfat. Mid 40s. I've been a gym guy since I was 18. I don't have the genetics to bulk up too much, but I do a lot of weight lifting and I'm fairly strong.

My advice? Don't go too heavy but go slow and controlled. You'll build more muscle if you do it that way, and drastically reduce your chance of injury.

Years ago, I followed the advice of Jason Ferrugia and bought his workout online. I've been using it for years now. It's about doing fewer compound lifts vs more isolation lifts. You'll spend less time in the gym, build more muscle and burn more calories.
https://jasonferruggia.com/Whats-The-Best-Muscle-Building-Workout-Split/?source=patrick.net

If you want the workout I use, let me know and I can email it to you since I already paid for it. It builds in periodization and confusio...

Hey, thank you very much.
erikccccc@yahoo.com
17   Hircus   2022 Feb 7, 6:01pm  

lol

decades ago they had a program call "squats and milk" for packing on muscle. supposedly it worked pretty well, and its not surprising why - squats are a terrific full body strength and mass building exercise, and milk has high quality protein. It was simple, but not optimal by todays standards. Maybe the genius in it was that it emphasized what matters: heavy, compound free weight exercises + quality food (lots of protein).

I was pretty swole when I was younger. Looked like an amateur bodybuilder.

I think you can do it, but 20lbs of muscle will likely take 1-2 years.

Use mostly free weights - bullshit trendy machines are ok if you need to isolate a muscle (like if you have an injury, and isolating allows you to exercise without pain) but in general I would avoid. use compound exercises, like squats, deadlifts, dumbell presses, power cleans, dips, pull ups, etc... Heavy weights generally work better for gaining strength and muscle gains, but you really need to watch out for injuries at your age. Warm up well, and ramp up to heavier weights over 6 months, giving your body time to adjust and strengthen ligaments and stuff.

I wish I could quantify what "heavy" means, but I'm not sure whats appropriate for your age and body condition. But when people say "heavy" or "light" it refers to a weight that will allow you to reach failure at a certain rep range. Young people who have some experience lifting weights, might use a weight that allows them to "reach failure" at about 6-8 reps, and that would be called heavy weight. Maybe you would target a lower weight that allows ~12 reps or so, where the failure tends to come relatively more from exhaustion, and less from mind-muscle nerve recruitment strength. A 12rep weight might be called moderate weight.

Research proper exercise form for the exercises you pick, and make good form a top goal of yours, to avoid injuries. Some exercises are more stressful to joints / more likely to cause injuries. I would research on that to find safer exercises. If during an exercise you feel pain, or a twinge / discomfort / something unusual etc... STOP.

Dont overtrain - its a great way to injure yourself, while also reducing your gains. People really vary in whats an optimal amount of weekly weight lifting. It depends on many factors, including how intense your workouts are. I overtrain easily, and so usually only did about 30-45 min of weight lifting, 4x a wk. 30min isnt long, but they were intense sessions. Some people do 2-5x that much per week, but it really depends on the person, and exercise intensity. You can research how to identify overtraining.

There's lots of online forums for bodybuilding, and you can usually find knowledgeable people who are happy to help.
18   🎂 Tenpoundbass   2022 Feb 7, 6:03pm  

Let me know how you make out. I've been just stuffing inflatable swimming wings under my shirt sleeves.
Chicks dig it!
19   mell   2022 Feb 7, 6:05pm  

WineHorror1 says
mell says
Lift weights and drink a gallon of milk per day. Doable.

What the...?


I'm not kidding. By no means a body building expert, but nutrition wise milk is the probably the best building block to bulk up. Regular cows milk, contains igf1 etc. The few body builders I know swear by it.
20   mostly reader   2022 Feb 8, 4:14am  

porkchopexpress says
It's about doing fewer compound lifts vs more isolation lifts.
Not the other way around? Info at the url suggests the other way around, no?
21   GNL   2022 Feb 8, 5:07am  

I'm a bit worried about some compound lifts. Especially squats. Worried about knee issues.

I should have noted that I have a neck problem (C4-C5). Years ago I was told by 2 surgeons that I needed surgery but I went to a chiropractor instead. This was 18 years ago. The Chiropractor did a great job but I won't even ski anymore because I am worried I might reinjure it. The Chiropractor did say I should not lift weights over my head.
22   clambo   2022 Feb 8, 5:41am  

Milk contains stuff that makes calves grow fast, Mell is on to something.
My physical therapist recommended that I not use a barbell, but rather dumbbells.
I’m not going to do squats holding any weights.
I used to love the rowing machine.
I’m going back into the gym next month.
23   porkchopXpress   2022 Feb 8, 7:03am  

mostly reader says
porkchopexpress says
It's about doing fewer compound lifts vs more isolation lifts.
Not the other way around? Info at the url suggests the other way around, no?
No. His philosophy is that more full-body, compound lifts are much more effective at creating results than smaller, isolation exercises. Here's a quote from the link:

A day consisting of snatches, ring dips and squats will always dominate a day consisting of lateral raises, front raises and upright rows.
24   porkchopXpress   2022 Feb 8, 7:05am  

WineHorror1 says
I'm a bit worried about some compound lifts. Especially squats. Worried about knee issues.

I should have noted that I have a neck problem (C4-C5). Years ago I was told by 2 surgeons that I needed surgery but I went to a chiropractor instead. This was 18 years ago. The Chiropractor did a great job but I won't even ski anymore because I am worried I might reinjure it. The Chiropractor did say I should not lift weights over my head.
Then don't do the squats...just follow the upper body lifts and eliminate the leg workouts from his regimen. You can always do just lunges or squats with just body weight, or don't do your legs at all if it's that detrimental.
25   joshuatrio   2022 Feb 8, 7:37am  

WineHorror1 says
I'm a bit worried about some compound lifts. Especially squats. Worried about knee issues.


Squats can make or break you, but overall not hard to do properly.

Watch YouTube videos on proper form and then train with a bar and mirrors.

The main takeaway is to not let your knees go past your toes. One trick is to make sure you can lift your toes all the way up - throughout the entire squat - and that will usually keep your center of gravity, hips and glutes back far enough to keep the pressure off the knees, and your glutes/hams will be doing the work.
26   NuttBoxer   2022 Feb 8, 8:32am  

mell says
I'm not kidding. By no means a body building expert, but nutrition wise milk is the probably the best building block to bulk up. Regular cows milk, contains igf1 etc. The few body builders I know swear by it.


Cow milk is fine for cows because their bodies are made to absorb it. For humans, cow milk in an inflammatory. Now that could be mostly due to the processing and hormone's, which that last could be why body builders are swearing by it. If you drink unpasteurized/raw milk where the healthy enzymes have not been cooked off, it's a different story. But goat milk is actually the closest to human breast milk, so that's probably your best bet.
27   mostly reader   2022 Feb 8, 8:52am  

porkchopexpress says
mostly reader says
porkchopexpress says
It's about doing fewer compound lifts vs more isolation lifts.
Not the other way around? Info at the url suggests the other way around, no?
No. His philosophy is that more full-body, compound lifts are much more effective at creating results than smaller, isolation exercises. Here's a quote from the link:

A day consisting of snatches, ring dips and squats will always dominate a day consisting of lateral raises, front raises and upright rows.
Right, that's how I read it. I was referring to your quote "doing fewer compound lifts vs more isolation lifts.", which seems to me the opposite of the message.

Please register to comment:

api   best comments   contact   latest images   memes   one year ago   random   suggestions