Being physically strong is integral to health. You need strength to perform any task—be it carrying groceries, getting out of bed, carrying a load, or pushing a broken car off the road.
As we age, building muscle gets harder. In fact, people between the ages of 30 and 35 start to lose muscle, and those who are not physically active can experience a 3-8% loss of lean muscle mass every decade. This is because testosterone levels in men and estrogen levels in women are lower, and these hormones help build muscle. Moreover, changes in blood cells and nerves, and how the body converts proteins into muscle tissue, also contribute to challenges in building muscle.
So how can this be reversed? The way to that is through consistent training and healthy lifestyle changes that help build and maintain muscle.
Muscle-Strengthening Activities
Lifting weights, doing push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, using resistance bands, and even some types of yoga are examples of muscle-strengthening exercises. Even your daily activities, like gardening, carrying groceries, climbing stairs, and walking, can strengthen muscles. Usually, people who perform muscle-strengthening exercises at least twice a week focus on the major muscle groups: shoulders, legs, back, hips, arms, chest, and abdomen.
Choose Your Weight And Reps
When you’re working out to build muscle, the goal is to fatigue the muscle and feel challenged throughout the process. So even lifting moderate weights for fewer reps can go a long way toward building muscle and strength.
Ideally, you can focus on three sets of an exercise, with 8 to 12 repetitions per set. You can increase the weight by 5 pounds for the upper body and 10 pounds for the lower body once the workout starts feeling a bit easier. When you gradually ramp up the weights you can lift, you can lower the number of reps until you find a range where you feel challenged but still capable of completing the workout. This way, you can gradually increase your weight and resistance, eventually reaching the process called progressive overload.
Rest And Muscle Growth
Rest is a very important aspect of building muscle because it is during rest that the body repairs and strengthens muscle. When you overtrain or don’t get enough rest, it can hinder your fitness progress and even increase your risk of injury.
It is recommended that each muscle group be rested for 48-72 hours before exercising again. Therefore, you can alternate upper- and lower-body workouts on different days.
Protein To Build Muscle
Exercises are important, but they have to be paired with a healthy diet. This serves as a key factor in supporting muscle strength. Foods that are rich in protein play an important role, and it’s important to consume the required amount of calories per day.
Protein should account for 10-35% of total calories for adults. So when you want to build muscle by starting physical exercise, you may require protein on the higher end of this range. Ideally, you should aim for three servings of fat-free or low-fat dairy products and protein-rich foods such as lean meat, beans, fish, and poultry each day. Whole grains are great too, but on their own, they are not enough to meet the protein target.
Carbohydrates To Strengthen Muscle
Carbohydrates are foods that can fuel the muscles. This is because they can be partially converted into glycogen, a form of energy stored in the muscle. This energy is crucial to power your workouts.
Adults need about half of their daily calorie intake from carbohydrates. The focus should be on good-quality carbs rich in dietary fiber, such as cereals and whole-grain bread. Dairy products like yogurt and milk are great, too, but be sure to opt for fat-free or low-fat varieties to limit your saturated fat intake. Another important tip is to avoid foods that are rich in dietary fiber right after or during your physical activities.
Fats For Building Muscle
A general rule of thumb is that fats should make up 20-35% of your total calories. The body depends on fats to provide energy to the muscles during certain physical activities. Make sure you focus on heart-healthy fats, such as olive oil, avocado, nuts, and fatty fish like salmon, trout, and herring.
Get Sufficient Sleep
Sleep is extremely important because this is when the muscles have the best opportunity to heal and repair after all the work they do throughout the day. Make sure you give your body the rest it deserves by setting up a healthy bedtime routine to help you get a full night’s sleep.
To aid muscle recovery, you can have some whey-based casein or protein before bed, as it can greatly support recovery. Greek Yogurt or a glass of milk also serves this purpose.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot of interest in building muscle fast. However, what truly counts is not the speed; rather, it’s discipline and consistency. Don’t treat muscle training as a race to get ahead of someone else. That approach will only lead to you overloading too much weight or pushing yourself, even through pain, which can make you more susceptible to injury.
As long as you’re moving your body, that’s what matters. Do what you can do, not what others are doing, and once you find yourself capable of pushing yourself more, do it steadily, but consistently!
