This is the most glaring issue I’ve seen throughout my 32 years of helping people transform their bodies…and it shows up still almost every time someone new first walks through the TheLIFTGym door –
not enough muscle.
And yeah…it is a problem…a major problem.
The average person loses 3-8% of their muscle mass every decade after 30 (your mileage may vary).
By 50? That adds up to some serious loss.
And here’s what that means in real life:
- Slower metabolism (our brains and our skeletal muscle ARE OUR METABOLISM!)
- Weaker bones
- Poor posture (we’ve all seen poor posture…not pretty)
- Less energy
- Decreased mobility
- Higher injury risk (low muscle mass=a body that is broken or will break)
Liberty to digress ⇣
What is it about getting older that is going to
Improve our mobility?…
Improve our strength?…
Improve our flexibility?…
Improve our metabolism?…
When we scan new members on our InBody (average age is 50-ish), we consistently see the same thing – a “C” shape body composition graph (overweight, under-muscled, excess body fat), when a “D” shape graph (reasonable bodyweight, sufficient muscle mass, healthy body fat percentage) would be much more desirable.
And while other exercise options like yoga, Pilates, and spin classes have their place, they’re not the solution to this problem. You need to focus on one thing first:
Building STRENGTH & MUSCLE through progressive resistance training.
Why?
✔️It’s the only proven way to build and maintain muscle mass
✔️It strengthens bones (crucial as we age)
✔️It boosts metabolism (yes, even at rest)
✔️It improves everything else you want to do (running, hiking, climbing, skiing, riding, swimming, playing with the kids/grandchildren…getting down and up off the ground)
Here’s what I know for sure after three decades of being a strength coach for ‘the people’…
Getting STRONG through smart resistance training fixes almost everything:
muscle mass
flexibility
mobility
sleep
energy
physical competence…
We are never too old to get strong.
