Can You Build Muscle After 40? Yes.

It's simple to believe that gaining muscle is unattainable right now if you're an out-of-shape man over 40 with a demanding work since you don't have the time or energy you believe you need.

The truth is that it's still possible to gain muscle after age 40 without giving up all of your professional projects in favour of the gym.

However, in contrast to those heydays in your 20s, we need to make a few adjustments to our training and 'vintage' bodies in order to make muscle gain at this age feasible.

There are three primary areas we need to get ‘right’:

Get the body primed and ready to respond to your workouts;

Adapt weekly workouts to what a 40+ body will respond best to;

Tweak your diet to make to make sure your body obtains the muscle-building fuel required.

So if you’re a guy over 40 and want to finally fill out your work shirts in the right way, keep reading…

After 40 we have this tremendous hormonal imbalance, where:

Testosterone is lower than it should be (lack of sleep, too much work stress, not challenging the body enough, too much alcohol, too much belly fat); -while Cortisol, the stress hormone, is too high, pushing Testosterone further lower.

What this means is that if you start working out, you’ll find it hard to make progress even if you’re slugging your guts out in the gym.

Low testosterone means growing muscle is nearly impossible, as your body finds it so difficult to manufacture protein to build any.

Make sure you’re sleeping enough every night, seven to eight hours. Get to bed at a decent time, eliminate the screens half an hour before bedtime too.

Supplement with Zinc and Vitamin D3, to make sure your body’s natural testosterone production is buzzing like well oiled motor.

Make sure that your workouts are brief and concentrated – extended arduous ones increase Cortisol and take you too long to recover from after 40 anyhow.

Take a couple of minutes for some more targeted stretching, some bodyweight squats for example, just to get that area primed and ready, and avoid damage.

Well I recommend 3–4 workouts (approximately 40–45 mins each) using Whole Body Routines each week, hitting every body area a little bit every time you go to the gym, rather than having a Legs Day and a Back Day etc.

Pick four exercises for each workout (3 sets of 12–15 reps, chasing a burrrrn :-)):

1 x Upper Body Push (Shoulders/Chest)

1 × Upper Body Pull (Back)

1 x Lower Body Push (Legs/Quads)

1 × Lower Body Pull (Legs/Hamstrings)

Then add in 5–10 mins of specific abdominal and arms work at the end.

Hitting each body part with a little dosage of ‘damage’ each workout means every body part gets a growth stimulus 3–4 times each week.

Here’s a simple method to get enough protein each day:

High Protein Breakfast — 4 eggs any-style, or 0% Fat Greek Yogurt with a scoop of protein powder

Mid Morning Protein Shake/bar

High Protein Lunch — Big Salad topped with chicken, turkey, tuna

Mid Afternoon Protein Shake/bar

High Protein Dinner – your normal go-to dinners, just make sure there’s more meat/fish than usual on your plate!

You know how to work out, and that you just need 2–2.5 hours each week.

You know how to acquire adequate protein in your diet.

You CAN grow muscle after 40, without upsetting your boss and colleagues by neglecting your actual work in favor of working out.

A couple of hours of training time per week is enough, as long as you take the time to make your body and nutrition ready to respond the way you desire.