How to Keep Building Muscle after Your Twenties

There’s a lot of hype nowadays in the fitness world about whether or not you can continue to build muscle when you cross the thirty-year mark as well as you did when you were in your twenties. While it has been scientifically proven that your body will go through some changes as you get older, it’s not like you should throw in the iron towel just yet.

In fact, a recent study conducted at the University of Oklahoma concluded that both men in the 18–25 age group and the men from the 35–50 years of age were able to build the same amount of muscle following the same training split! What does this tell us? It tells us that the fight is still on. That said, there are certain rules of the aging game you need to follow in order to maximize your muscle-building potential and remain injury-free. Here’s what you should do.

Keep pushing no matter what

It might be a cliché, but it’s true — age is just a number. Well, for most people, at least. However, if you stop exercising, lose muscle mass, and get fat, you’ll soon find out that age is not just a number, it’s an ominous premonition. A premonition that your health could deteriorate rapidly should you abandon your healthy fitness habits.

So before you tell yourself that you’re too old be lifting weights and building muscle, just stop to think for a moment that you have many healthy years ahead of you, and that your true potential waits somewhere in the distance. It doesn’t matter that your natural testosterone production decreases when you cross the thirty-year mark, and it doesn’t matter if you’re 30 or 65 — the important thing is that you maintain a healthy workout routine.

Nail your new diet needs

Yes, you should keep working out, and even push your limits at the gym, but you shouldn’t forgo your dietary needs. Eating when you’re 20 and eating when you’re 30 or 40 is not the same, and if you keep gulping down on whatever you find in the fridge now that your metabolism is way slower, you’re going to notice some unwanted fat accumulation.

As you age, your daily calorie requirements are going to change, and your macronutrient ratio is going to change as well. Because fat accumulation from excess carbs and calories in general becomes easier, you need to find a balance between energy needs and energy expenditure, and tailor your nutrition according to your goals. Hey, if you want to bulk up and be a powerlifter, go ahead, but if your sole goal is to keep building lean mass, then you will need to eat right. So, calculate your calories and divide them into their respective macronutrients.

Supplement for better performance and recovery

Before you start thinking that supplements are going to get you the body of your dreams, understand that they can’t do it on their own. No amount of supplementation will be able to outpace a crappy diet or a poor workout split, so you really need to get those two in order first. That said, muscle growth supps can and most likely will help you improve the muscle-building process and take your fitness game to the next level.

These supplements are mostly based on protein and its anabolic effect following a workout. Given the fact that muscle-protein synthesis is elevated 24–48 hours after disrupting the homeostasis in your body and producing muscle breakdown, it would be a wise and prudent idea to supplement with protein. On the other hand, you’ve got creatine — the most researched supplement on the planet.

Along with whey protein, this is a supplement that just works, and truth be told, everyone should be taking it. Not only can it have inhibiting effects on cognitive decline and brain-degenerative illnesses, but older people should also use it to improve their force output, pack on strength, and increase their muscle-building potential.

Stay mobile and prevent injuries

Another thing that does change as you age is your body’s ability to recover fully after an injury. The recovery process is much slower, and usually the injury won’t quite as heal as it should. This means you have to become more aware of your training method, and how it can lead to injury down the road.

That said, this doesn’t mean that you should start training light. Rather, you should keep pushing as you always did, but with an emphasis on proper form as well as autoregulation. Listen to your body, do your mobility drills, warm up properly, and tend to proper post-workout recovery.

Know your goals, adapt accordingly

Last but not least, should your training stay exactly the same? Yes, and no. Working out is a journey. At times you will need to stick with what works for you, and sometimes you will need to switch things up in order to retain your sanity and present a new challenge for your body to overcome.

With that in mind, it’s important that your training split is in line with your long-term goals. If your goal is to pack on quality muscle mass, then you should follow a bodybuilding split that emphasizes free weights and incorporates functional movements.

In the end, age doesn’t matter. What matters is whether or not you’re going to believe in the hype, or keep your eyes on the prize and push forward as you always have. You can build muscle at any stage of your life, just make sure you tailor your approach accordingly in order to one day become the ripped grandpa everyone loves.