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How Your Body’s Ability to Build New Muscle Mass at the Gym Changes After 50

Woman lifting weights on a cable machine at AFAC gym

Think about the times you’ve witnessed jaw-dropping examples of athletic power. It might have been a receiver on the football field, a figure skater on the ice, or a snowboarder on the slopes. Regardless of where it happens, when you see these talented stars perform seemingly impossible feats, chances are they’re young – in their teens, 20s, 30s, or maybe 40s. Rarely do you see someone in their 50s or above reach their peak of athletic prowess.

There are multiple reasons why athletic performance tends to decrease as the years go by. One main culprit is, as our bodies age, our muscles don’t respond to exercise the way they used to.

While people of all ages build muscle in the same way, as you get older, the biological processes that turn your gym workouts into muscle become less effective. This makes it harder for you to build strength, but at the same time, it makes your workouts at the gym that much more important as you age.

Read this blog to learn more about how your body builds muscle, how that process changes as you age, and how you can stay fit at our Thornton gym.

How Does My Body Build Muscles at the Gym?

The type of exercise that builds muscle is called strength training. Examples of strength training at the gym include:

When you start strength training at the gym, over time, workouts that felt difficult at first will become easier as your muscles grow in size and strength. This process is called hypertrophy. Your bigger muscles have larger cells and fibers, allowing you to lift heavier weights. As you keep working out at the gym – and increase the difficulty and weight of the exercises you’re performing – your muscles will become bigger and stronger.

What Happens to My Muscles During Strength Training at the Gym?

While it’s easy to see that your strength training efforts at the gym are making your muscles bigger, have you ever wondered what’s happening inside your muscles that causes them to increase in size and strength due to resistance training?

Muscle Contraction, Mechanical Damage, and Metabolic Fatigue

Any time you move your body, it’s possible because of a pulling and shortening of your muscles. This process is called contraction. Muscles contract to produce movement and generate force. When you lift a heavy weight, the contractile proteins in your muscles generate force to overcome the resistance of the weight.

This can result in structural damage to your muscles. Mechanical damage to your muscle proteins stimulates a repair process in your body.

At the same time, metabolic fatigue occurs when your muscle fibers exhaust their available supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This is the most basic form of energy in your body’s cells and plays a fundamental role in muscle function. Once your muscle runs out of ATP, it can no longer lift the weight properly.

Both mechanical damage and metabolic fatigue are important in your quest to achieve muscular growth, or hypertrophy. To get the results you want, you don’t necessarily need to work your muscles to the point of failure (which means you’re not able to follow through with a repetition), but you do need a significant amount of metabolic stress on your muscles, as well as a moderate degree of muscle tension.

When You’re Under 50

When the body of a healthy young person detects the mechanical and chemical changes that occur during strength training, several specialized chemical pathways are turned on within the muscle. These pathways trigger the production of proteins that are incorporated into the muscle fibers, causing the muscle to increase in size.

For several hours after a strength training session at the gym, genes that code for specific proteins in the cells are also activated.

The overall result of these workout-induced changes is that your muscles will repair themselves and get bigger.

When You’re 50 or Older

The basic muscle-building process is the same for all people, young and old. But research shows that in young muscle, a small number of exercises produces strong signals for muscle growth. In older muscles, the signal that tells them to grow is much weaker for any given amount of exercise. These changes begin to occur around the age of 50 and become more pronounced as time goes on.

One study that measured the changes in thousands of genes in response to strength training found that when younger men exercise, there were changes in the expression of more than 150 genes. In older men, there were changes in the expression of only 42 genes. This difference in gene expression seems to show, at least partially, the variation between how younger and older people respond to weightlifting at the gym.

Staying Fit and Gaining Muscle Mass at the Gym as You Age

When you examine the molecular differences in how older adults respond to strength training, it’s clear that older people don’t gain muscle mass as easily as young people. But this reality shouldn’t discourage you from working out at the gym – if anything, it should encourage you to exercise more as you age.

Whether it’s caused by the reduced ability to build muscle mass, lower levels of testosterone in men and estrogen in women, or increasingly sedentary lifestyles – or all of the above – most people will see their muscle mass diminish around 3%-5% per decade after turning 30. Unfortunately, as your muscle mass diminishes, so does your risk of breaking a bone if you fall.

However, none of this means you can’t boost your overall muscle mass if you’re 50 or older. Before you try a new exercise routine, talk to your doctor about the options you’re considering.

Exercise remains one of the most important activities that older adults can do to maintain their health. Even though your body’s response to training might lessen as you age, it is by no means reduced to zero.

Research has shown that older adults with mobility problems, as well as people who are physically frail, can reduce their risk of becoming disabled by 20% by participating in a regular program of aerobic and resistance exercise.

Gaining Muscle Mass Through Strength Training

Resistance exercise like weight training at the gym is one of the best ways to reverse the loss of muscle mass as you age. It’s beneficial for both men and women. You can increase the amount of muscle on your frame through full-body strength training 2 to 3 times per week, ideally with rest days in between. In addition to increasing muscle mass, strength training:

Gaining Muscle Mass Through Cardiovascular Exercise

Most people don’t realize that cardiovascular exercise – also known as aerobic or endurance exercise – works slow-twitch muscle fibers through many repetitions. Your slow-twitch muscle fibers are those that can stay contracted for long periods of time. Continuous cardiovascular exercise helps these muscles become stronger and more efficient.

Examples of endurance exercises include walking briskly, jogging, running, biking, spinning, stair climbing, and rowing. When you begin adding endurance exercises to your workout routine, start slowly and build over time.

Staying Fit and Fabulous at AFAC Gym

While our younger gym members might get stronger and build bigger muscles faster than their older counterparts, our older members still get in great shape at AFAC gym, as well as enjoy all the other incredibly valuable benefits from regular exercise like improved strength, physical function, and reduced disability. So, the next time you’re sweating it out at AFAC gym, remember that you’re building muscle strength that is vital to maintaining independence, mobility, and good health throughout a long life.

It’s always a good idea to consult with one of our personal trainers before you start a fitness program at AFAC gym. They can ensure that your form is correct and you’re not lifting more weight than you can handle. Professional advice will help you avoid injury and give you the results you’re hoping for.

If you’re curious about the best strength training exercises to do at the gym to achieve your fitness goals, please feel free to ask a member of our staff for assistance. We’re here to support you and all other gym members who are working to achieve their fitness goals and get the best results possible.

To learn more about AFAC gym and why we’re the best gym in Thornton, Colorado, please stop by or give us a call anytime. We’ll be happy to assist you. You can also contact our gym owner, Susan, at 720-849-0245 or susan@adventurefitness.club for assistance.

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