How to gain & maintain muscle when over 40

Regardless of your age, it’s vital to stay fit and healthy to ensure a high-quality life, whether it’s for work, or for your relationship. When you get older, muscle decline becomes more common, which it’s why it’s even more important in your older year to build and maintain muscle. If you’re over 40 are looking to gain or maintain your muscle, this article is for you. Here are some tips on how to gain and maintain muscle when you’re over 40.

Cardio exercises to get rid of fat

• The primary goal of doing cardio isn’t to build muscle, it’s to help you lose weight – but cardio does help in a unique way, it helps get rid of the fat that’s blocking your muscle – making you look better and when you’ve gotten to the point of showing the muscle, it’s easier to see the visual effects of muscle gain. Cardio helps get your heart rate up and will give you more energy and stamina for long-period muscle exercises. Walking, running, jogging – there are many ways to do cardio that’s simple and effective.

Start using weights to achieve great results

• Exercises that increase your strength are a vital part of gaining muscle. If you’re over 40 and want to gain more muscle, you should try to hold a dumbbell in each hand when doing squats – this will help build your muscle in hamstrings, glutes, and quads. You shouldn’t focus on one location on your body, as this can result in body structure issues if you exercise one area too much. Dumbbell curls, rowing, push-ups, crunches, and kickbacks are great ways to help gain muscle and your overall strength. You should be careful and watch out on the number of weights you’re training with – don’t lift more than you can consistently use.

Create a workout schedule that works for you

• Making a workout schedule that’s effective is a vital part of gaining muscle – in order to avoid injuries, you should start with a few reps until you’re tired, then over the next few days work up to more until you’re doing 20-30 reps consistently. If you’re looking to gain muscle, do your strength-training on Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays, and your cardio schedule on Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturday.

A protein-focused diet makes all the difference

Your diet plays a huge role in achieving muscle gain, protein is essential for this role, protein contains ammo-acids that are the reason why people gain strength. They also repair and rebuild the muscle in your body after workouts – you should be eating food that’s high in protein like eggs, nuts, and grains. Along with meat! You should be eating lean proteins like chicken and steak consistently.