Slow metabolism, slow recovery, decreased muscle mass, increased body fat, decreased ability to build muscle, (man boobs!), we’ve all heard the rumors about how the big 4-0 can slowly kill our fitness gains.
However, like most rumors, the idea that you can’t build muscle after forty is absurd and completely untrue.
Yes, you may—or may not—have to change the way you work out slightly (and that doesn’t necessarily mean working harder), but it’s entirely doable and will probably make your workouts more effective and enjoyable.
And if you’re new to strength training, your forties are a perfect time to start!
Why Everyone Should Focus On Building Muscle After 40
A glorious trend is sweeping the health and fitness space, with the over-forties taking over the gyms.
Specifically, they’re training with heavy weights for the primary purpose of building muscle.
What’s interesting is they’re not just doing it to look better or even to lose weight (although these are pleasant side effects).
They’re following the research, which has shown multifaceted benefits of building muscle over 40, including:
- Supporting a healthy metabolism
- Increasing daily caloric expenditure
- Preserving bone density and strength
- Enhancing sleep quality
- Promoting cardiovascular health
- Supporting hormonal balance in all genders
- Reducing symptoms associated with perimenopause and menopause
- Lowering stress
- Supporting cognitive function and brain health
In other words, building muscle helps create resilience while supporting healthy aging and maintaining youthful integrity of body and mind.
And the best part? You’re not even close to too old to build muscle.
Even if you’ve been a cardio-only buff since your twenties or never worked out a day in your life, your forties are a great time to start and/or up your game.
The following are ten tips to help you safely and efficiently build muscle after forty and maintain a lean and healthy physique.
10 Tips To Help Build Muscle In Your 40s
Turning 40 does not mean you have to change your muscle-building routine, especially if it’s working for you.
However, suppose you’re new to strength training or have noticed your current routine is falling short, not working as well, or making you extra sore and miserable. In that case, these tips will help you maximize muscle building and recovery.
1. If You’re New to This, Consult an Expert
Strength training isn’t difficult, but proper form is essential to prevent injury and maximize efficiency.
This is especially important for anyone who has never lifted weights, has had a physical injury, or has any condition that affects their joints, heart, bones, or muscles.
It’s also advisable to check with your doctor before beginning a new exercise program, as they may recommend training with a physical therapist if you have certain pre-existing conditions.
If you’re otherwise healthy, working with a personal trainer for even a few sessions can help ensure you’re lifting with proper form, selecting the optimal weight, and creating an effective and efficient routine to help build muscle.
Pregnant over forty?
Chances are, you can still benefit from building muscle, but check with your healthcare provider first, especially if you’re new to strength training or are in the high-risk category.
2. Don’t Be Afraid to Lift Heavy
Lifting heavy (heavier weights and fewer reps versus lighter weights and higher reps) is trendy for men and women.
The idea is that you’ll experience faster muscle building, which will benefit your health and increase motivation.
Although you can still build muscle by lifting lighter weights and doing higher reps, lifting heavy can help speed up your workout and muscle gains.
The key is to start slow but to choose heavier weights than you think you can manage.
For example, if you’re used to using 5-pound weights, reach for 8-10 pound weights, or heavier for lower body and back exercises (large muscle groups).
For example, most people can deadlift at least 30-50 pounds no problem, but likely need to go down in weight for bicep curls or tricep kick-backs.
When lifting heavier, you’ll generally want to decrease your reps and use your level of fatigue as a barometer.
The last few reps should feel challenging. If they don’t try going up in weight, but not so heavy that you sacrifice form.
Again, a personal trainer or PT can be very helpful in guiding you to select the right weight and exercises to fit your needs, and when to increase your weight or reps.
3. Pay More Attention to Pain, and Lighten up Accordingly
Getting older puts wear and tear on our muscles, ligaments, and joints, which can cause aches and pains where there were none before.
If, during your workouts, you notice pain (not just general “this is challenging” discomfort), it’s time to check your form, reduce the weight, or try another exercise.
Although you may have been able to push through it in your twenties or thirties, pushing through the pain in your forties could more easily result in injury, which could set you back weeks or even months in your muscle-building journey.
Yes, you want to lift heavy when you can, but only if it works for your body. When it doesn’t, try lighter weights with more reps, which will also help you gain muscle.
If an exercise still hurts, consult your trainer or look up another exercise to work that same muscle group without the pain.
If the pain continues, be sure to see your doctor or healthcare practitioner.
4. Increase Your Protein Intake
Getting enough protein is essential for building muscle, workout recovery, satiety, and various aspects of health.
This is especially true when you’re building muscle, as weight lifting and other strength training exercises cause microtears in muscle fibers, which must be repaired using amino acids from protein.
This is how we break down and then rebuild our muscles to be stronger.
How much protein do you need to build muscle?
This depends on your diet, your health, your goals, and (frankly) who you ask.
The general recommendations for protein intake for muscle building are between 0.8 and 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight.
Some experts recommend more, and others recommend less, and there is no definitive research showing what’s best for everyone.
Check with your healthcare practitioner for individual recommendations:
- Clean whey and vegan protein powders, such as Biochem Grassfed Whey and sustainably-sourced Vegan Protein, are a great way to help supplement your diet and meet your protein targets.
- Our Grass-fed Whey is certified vegetarian, comes in vanilla or chocolate, and contains 20 grams of protein per serving.
- Our Organic Vegan Protein Powders are genetically verified vegan, sustainably sourced, and contain an essential amino acid profile and 20 grams of protein plus fiber per serving.
5. Keep Up With Cardio, But Maybe Do Less
Strength training becomes even more essential after forty to preserve muscle and bone integrity and support metabolism.
For this reason, many people switch their focus from cardio, but that can be a mistake.
Although strength training provides many of the same benefits as cardio, you still want those heart-pumping cardiovascular benefits.
The good news is you don’t have to run a marathon or do hour-long HIIT sessions.
Research has shown shorter cardio sessions, which mix high-intensity effort with low-to-moderate intensity effort (such as walking combined with running), can be as effective as lengthy cardio sessions.
HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is also an excellent and efficient way to get your cardio with proven metabolic and fat-loss benefits.
In contrast, many experts recommend just 30 minutes a day of walking or aiming for 7,000 to 10,000 steps daily in addition to strength training 3-4 days a week.
The bottom line is to include some cardio in your workout schedule while leaving enough gas in the tank for strength training.
6. Create A Clean Recovery Strategy
Most people over forty will tell you they don’t recover the way they used to.
That doesn’t mean you should quit; instead, you need to adjust your recovery strategy.
Here are some helpful tips to create a clean and faster recovery:
- Lengthen your warmups and cooldowns and include stretching, deep breathing, and mobility exercises
- Lift enough to challenge yourself, not cause pain
- Drink enough water
- Enjoy an Epsom salt bath
- Eat enough protein for faster muscle recovery
- Consider natural supplements, like turmeric/curcumin, boswellia, and magnesium, to help curb muscle soreness
- Invest a few bucks in a foam roller and/or massager
For more tips, see: 12 Tips for Clean & Efficient Muscle Recovery Post-Workout
7. Try BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids)
Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) are an amino acid group made up of leucine, isoleucine, and valine.
They are commonly used as a workout recovery supplement, shown to help support muscle protein synthesis, muscle growth, and to aid in post-workout recovery.
Studies suggest they work best when consumed before or immediately after a workout.
Biochem offers a clean vegan BCAA Powder in a tasty, junk-free mango-peach flavor that’s instantized for easy mixability, and formulated with the preferred 2:1:1ratio to support protein synthesis & muscle building.
8. Eat Enough Carbs
Many people over forty, even fit people, struggle with unexplained weight gain, especially around the midsection.
This can lead to experimenting with different diets, including those that promote low- to no-carbs in favor of high-protein.
Although everyone is different, restricting carbs can be counterproductive when trying to gain muscle.
The reason is that your body requires glycogen, a form of glucose from carbohydrates, to build muscle and to recover optimally.
That doesn’t mean you should carb-load, but you should generally avoid severely restricting carbs while building muscle either.
If you’re set on cutting back on carbs or find it benefits you, nutritional approaches like protein cycling or carb cycling, where you restrict carbs on certain days and increase them on others, may be a good compromise.
Otherwise, include some healthy carbs in your diet daily, especially on strength training days, from whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
9. Try Creatine
Creatine supplements are trending due to their demonstrated benefits for muscle growth, faster recovery, better energy, and enhanced exercise performance. The body naturally produces creatine, and it is also found in certain animal foods.
However, many people, especially women (who make much less creatine than men) and athletes, experience benefits from creatine supplementation.
Research suggests creatine works due to its effects on boosting ATP (your cell’s energy source), which can help you work out more efficiently, build muscle faster, and recover quicker.
Learn more in: The Benefits (And Drawbacks) Of Creatine For Women
Shop Biochem’s clean Creatine Monohydrate here.
10. Include Body Weight Exercises
Body weight exercises, such as planks, air squats, push-ups, tricep dips, and yoga poses are all excellent ways to preserve and enhance mobility while working various muscle groups and building muscle.
In fact, many people get lean and strong using body-weight exercises only and/or doing a combination of body weight and weight lifting, kettlebells, etc.
Try incorporating at least a few body weight exercises into your strength training routine for added variety, mobility, and flexibility.
Hate lifting weights? Yoga can be a viable alternative.
Although you may not see the same muscle gains, strength-focused yoga classes, such as power yoga, can be a challenging and effective strength, cardio, core, and mobility workout in one.
How Biochem Can Support Your Muscle Building Goals
The right combination of supplements can be game-changing for building muscle, improving recovery, and promoting endurance after forty.
Biochem offers a simple line of sports nutrition supplements to help fuel your workouts and post-workout routine, including:
- Grass-fed Whey: Ranked as one of the cleanest protein powders by Consumer Reports, our whey is available in vanilla, chocolate, naturally-sweetened or sugar-free, and certified vegetarian, and contains 20 grams of protein per serving
- Organic Vegan Protein Powders: Sustainably-sourced with a complete amino acid profile and genetically-verified vegan with 20 grams of protein plus fiber per serving
- BCAA Powder is formulated with the preferred 2:1:1 ratio of three-branched-chain amino acids and provides 5 grams per serving to support muscle recovery and protein synthesis in a tasty peach mango flavor.
- Creatine Monohydrate: Micronized for easy mixability, this clean Creatine Monohydrate is made with the most studied form of creatine and contains no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners
- Glutamine: This pure glutamine powder offers post-workout recovery support. Tested for purity as per pharmaceutical standards with no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners
All Biochem products are laboratory-tested for purity and potency, and manufactured in cGMP-certified facilities, ensuring you get the cleanest supplements to power your health, fitness, and recovery.
Shop all Biochem supplements here.
References mentioned in this article:
- “Muscular adaptations in low- versus high-load resistance training: A meta-analysis”. Eur J Sport Sci.
- “Effect of short- and long-term protein consumption on appetite and appetite-regulating gastrointestinal hormones, a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials”. Physiol Behav.
- “The Role of Protein Intake and its Timing on Body Composition and Muscle Function in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials”. J Nutr.
- “The effects of protein supplements on muscle mass, strength, and aerobic and anaerobic power in healthy adults: a systematic review”. Sports Med.
- “Are Dietary Proteins the Key to Successful Body Weight Management? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Studies Assessing Body Weight Outcomes after Interventions with Increased Dietary Protein”. Nutrients.
- “A high-protein diet for reducing body fat: mechanisms and possible caveats”. Nutr Metab (Lond).
- “Twelve Weeks of Sprint Interval Training Improves Indices of Cardiometabolic Health Similar to Traditional Endurance Training despite a Five-Fold Lower Exercise Volume and Time Commitment”. PLoS One.
- “Evidence-Based Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training on Exercise Capacity and Health: A Review with Historical Perspective”. Int J Environ Res Public Health.
- “Branched-Chain Amino Acid Ingestion Stimulates Muscle Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis following Resistance Exercise in Humans”. Front Physiol.
- “Co-Ingestion of Branched-Chain Amino Acids and Carbohydrate Stimulates Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis Following Resistance Exercise in Trained Young Men”. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab.
- “The Effect of Ingesting Carbohydrate and Proteins on Athletic Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials”. Nutrients.