How To Gain & Maintain Muscle Mass

As we get older unfortunately our bodies start to lose muscle mass naturally, also referred to as "Sarcopenia". There is no real cause underlying here, it is just an aging related process that happens to everyone. There may be nothing we can do to stop this process from occurring, but we can make choices that will help counteract its effects...

Making sure we have enough protein in our diet is important at all ages, but as we get older this will help us maintain the muscle mass that we currently have. It does become more difficult to put on muscle mass as we age but it can still be done. It is said once we turn 25 each year we start to lose 1 to 2% of our muscle mass per year. Protein contains essential amino acids which our body uses to repair and build muscle tissue. During resistance training our muscle's getting tiny little micro tears, and are re built with the protein we eat. Protein is not only important for building muscle, but also plays an important role in many of our bodies daily functions, maintains anti-bodies to help our immune system and is part of every cell in the body.

Resistance training specifically will help us maintain and build muscle mass, depending on your goal. Whether you are looking to maintain or build your muscle, some form of weight training should still be done. Meaning you are using your body to push against some type of external force or weight. Doing so with free weights allows you a different range of exercises and different options to isolate certain muscles if needed. Resistance training can also be done with bands, machines, and even your own body weight. To really see a difference in your bodies muscle mass you will need to train at least 2-3 times per week. How many reps/sets and what style of workout you do in general will depend on whether you are looking to build muscle or maintain what you have already worked for. Building muscle mass does not necessarily mean lifting that heavy, sticking between the 8 to 12 rep range is best with a moderate to heavy weight. Building muscular strength without trying to gain a lot of size is when you will want to try and dip below 8 reps, however you will still see increases in your strength when working in the 8 to 12, they just may not be to the same extent. Certain muscle fibre's are activated when we start to lift in this rep range, those being our fast twitch muscle fibres. Our body has 2 different types, slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch muscle fibre's are fatigue resistant, and used during sustained long distance movements and controlling our posture. They contain more mitochondria and myoglobin, and are aerobic(use oxygen) unlike fast-twitch fibres. Fast-twitch muscle fibres are used during more powerful forces, but for shorter durations and fatigue quickly. They are anaerobic(do not use oxygen) and work with less blood supply. These fast twitch fibres can also be separated into 2 different types, the second type (2a) being where we start to see work during these heavy strength workouts with less than 6 reps. Maintaining our current muscle or what a lot of people refer to as "toning" is seen in the 12-15 rep range and even reaching 20 with a lighter to medium weight.

Stretching and maintaining our flexibility will ensure our bodies are moving properly in the way they should be. This will help to prevent injury and keep our muscles in good health. The saying "with length comes strength" is very true! Our muscles have more room to build if they are longer and working in the proper range of motion. It will also help our daily movements and tasks become more efficient and improve our quality of life. The better your technique when lifting, the more you will be able to do. When trying to build muscle it's important to pay attention to how we lift, to make sure we are activating all the proper muscles in specific movements and do not create any imbalances. Again, this will help us move better in our day to day lives, imbalances leading to injuries when we go to do small movements that can lead to big painful injuries. Stretching our muscles especially post workout when they are their tightest will help prevent injury and make sure we can continue to work our muscles properly!