5 Ways Men Over 40 Can Gain Muscle

Gaining muscle is never easy. It needs time, concentration, and lots of effort. And, when you fall into the ‘men over 40’ category, it becomes that much hard to notice gains.

You also can’t lift as much as you could while you were younger, plus it takes longer to recover from each workout.

There are ways to overcome these issues, though. After all, men in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s can still look shredded. You just have to be smart about how you work out.

We’ve done our homework and found 5 ways that can help you gain muscle if you’re over 40 and still want to be healthy—and ripped.

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1. Lift Less

Your body naturally can’t handle the kind of weights you could lift in your 20s or 30s. So, don’t force it. Use moderately heavyweights, where you don’t feel like you’re pushing yourself too much.

Heavyweights will cause aches and pains in your shoulders, elbows, wrists, and knees, and it will only get worse.

You should also moderate how much you lift within the week and the intensity of your workouts. This will allow your recovery to be faster.

It will also help you to gain muscle without burning yourself out. You will thus be able to gain muscle faster than if you were pushing yourself hard but taking longer to recover.

2. Eat Well

You don’t have to be a health nut and count calories on everything you ingest. Instead, simply focus on eating healthy and having enough protein each day.

When you’re working out to build muscle, your body consumes a lot of calories. So, it’s crucial that you don’t deprive your body of the nutrients it needs.

Whatever healthy diet you decide to have, just make sure that you eat more calories than you burn. This will help you recover faster. It will also keep you from feeling fatigued every time you want to work out.

3. Men Over 40 Should Rest Longer

When you’re over 40, one of the most vital things to focus on is resting. Your body needs more rest time so you can recover better.

We recommend working out for a maximum of five days a week. But ideally, try aiming for three days a week. And on rest days, avoid any intense physical activity.

When you train every day of the week, fatigue will build up. This will affect the quality of your sleep, and if you don’t sleep well, you won’t be able to recover well.

This will further impede your training progress, and you’ll eventually be forced to quit working out.

4. Don’t Rush

Many young workout enthusiasts will enter the gym and immediately start lifting the heavy weights.

While this method can work for them, anyone over 40 should not attempt it under any circumstances. Even if you’re in a hurry, warming up first is essential.

It could be low-intensity cycling, a quick jog on the treadmill or even a rowing machine. Basically, do any form of cardio that gets the blood pumping.

This will raise your body temperature, reduce the chances of injury as you work out, and improve your performance.

We also recommend starting your workout with an empty bar. This will help to prepare the muscles and joints for the forthcoming weights.

5. Stretch When Needed

For most people, static stretching generally doesn’t do much. A lot of research shows that it doesn’t do a lot to prevent injuries or even lower muscle soreness. However, it can still come in handy.

Some muscles sometimes feel tight—usually the quadriceps, hip flexors, hamstrings and glutarals and other times, one of your limbs might feel tighter than the other.

In such cases, stretching can be useful. Simply stretch the tight spots for 60 seconds each day. This should help to lower that tightness, and it can also help to increase your flexibility with those muscles.

Do you fall in the “men over 40” category? How has your workout changed?

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