5 Foods That Grow Muscle Fast After 50

If you believe you are “too old to gain muscle,” think again, says one fitness expert. Cori Lefkowith is the founder of Redefining Strength and is devoted to helping people get in shape no matter their age. “Stop lying to yourself. Stop giving yourself an excuse not to work hard and move forward. Because while our body needs and goals do change as we get older, and yes, it a hundred percent becomes harder to build and retain the muscle, we can still achieve fabulous results and build muscle at any and every age,” she says in one viral YouTube video, offering 7 tips on how to build muscle after 50.

Many People “Cling to Improper Dieting and Workout Practices” That Worked When They Were Younger

According to Lefkowith there might be a big mistake you are making. “The reason we don't see the results we want as we get older is because we cling to improper dieting and workout practices that we may have gotten away with when we were younger,” she says.

Instead, You Need to Adjust with Age

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“At every stage of life, we need to be adjusting our fueling and our training. Nothing works forever. Our body and lifestyle are constantly evolving and so should our diet and training habits meet us where we're at currently so we can always move forward and be functionally strong till a final day on this planet,” she says. “That's why I wanna share with you seven tips to maintain your lean muscle and even gain muscle as you get older.”

Tip 1: Use It Or Lose It

Tip number one is use it or lose it, says Lefkowith. “So often the reason we see more dramatic shifts in body composition and lose more muscle mass as we get older is because we've stopped doing what makes us fitter and stronger. We simply accept decline, and we use age as an excuse instead of finding ways to really challenge ourselves, things do get harder. We may feel more awkward with balance moves. We may feel like we even recover slower. We may even dislike coordination moves because they're uncomfortable. Even mainstream media has been telling people to stop doing what kept them strong in the first place, but if you don't use it, you'll lose it,” she says.

Do Moves That Challenge Your Coordination

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“If you wanna keep your mind-body connection strong, which can lead to better muscle hypertrophy or muscle gains, you've gotta do moves that challenge your coordination,” she continues. “And if you not only wanna gain muscle, but stay functionally strong and avoid falls, you've gotta do those awkward balance moves. Use it or lose it. Keep challenging yourself and training those movement patterns in the gym so you move better in everyday life.”

Tip 2: Stop Dieting

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“Tip number two, stop dieting,” she says. “Muscle helps keep our metabolic grade higher. It helps us burn more calories to rest and stay leaner. As we get older, we become less able to utilize protein as efficiently, making it even harder to build and retain lean muscle mass. But this is why it's even more key.”

Larger Caloric Deficits Will Make It Harder to Lose Weight and Keep It Off

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If you continue aiming for “larger and larger calorie deficits” it “ultimately sabotages” results. “It leads to more muscle mass being lost in the process of us trying to lose weight, which only leads to metabolic adaptations and worse body composition. It leads to us actually making it harder on ourselves to lose the weight and keep it off. Plus the metabolic adaptations mean we burn even fewer calories at rest. This leads to us then slashing our calories lower and lower to try and keep losing, perpetuating the horrible weight gaining cycle as we get older,” she says.

Instead, Fuel Lean Muscle Mass

Shutterstock

“Instead, we need to focus on fueling that lean muscle mass,” she says. “We need to focus on macros first in a very slight calorie deficit so we can help ourselves retain that lean muscle. Even as we wanna lose fat, we may even find we first need to retrain our body to eat more so we can build that lean muscle with a small calorie surplus before we even consider creating a slight deficit to lose.”

Tip 3: Do Moves That Challenge You

“Tip number three, do moves that challenge you,” she says. “Many of us have heard that strength training is key to gaining muscle, especially as we get older, and it is by challenging our muscles, we force them to rebuild and grow stronger. It's why we don't wanna fear heavy lifting as we get older.”

Lift Heavy

Shutterstock

“The key is recognizing what lifting heavy is. For us, it may mean body weight training starting out, especially if you haven't trained before or haven't trained consistently in a while, or maybe using resistance bands or dumbbells over barbells. The key is not fearing loads and truly challenging yourself instead of going lighter just because you've hit a certain age. Fitness is about ability, period. We always have to meet ourselves where we're at,” she continues.

Don’t Avoid “Awkward or Uncomfortable” Moves

Shutterstock

“This also means we can't avoid awkward or uncomfortable moves that challenge our mind-body connection,” she says. “Neuromuscular efficiency or that ability to recruit muscles quickly and in the right sequences to perform movements is key to us moving well and even improving our reaction times and coordination in everyday life. Not to mention that ability to recruit muscles quickly, that muscle activation will also improve your muscle hypertrophy results. So if you wanna be able to gain more muscle, you wanna improve that mind-body connection with moves that challenge your balance and your coordination while also challenging yourself with loads.”

Tip 4: Increase Protein Portions

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“Tip number four, increase your protein portions per meal,” she recommends. “As we get older, we can develop anabolic resistance and we are less able to utilize protein as efficiently. This means we actually need to increase our protein intake, especially when we're training hard and lifting to build muscle because our muscles don't respond by increasing muscle protein synthesis in the same ways when we're younger.”

20 to 30 Grams of Protein Per Meal Is Key

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“Increasing a portion of 20 grams of protein to 30 may be super key,” she suggests. “And if we're training harder, you may see an even better benefit from 40 grams, especially after a hard training session.”

Divide Protein Throughout the Day

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“The reason I don't just say increased protein intake overall is because as we get older, we can also often see a decline in our appetite. This decline in appetite can be purely age related, but it can also be based on how we fueled in the past to try and lose weight with more extreme deficits. It can also be hard to eat a ton of protein in one sitting because it can make us feel fuller,” she says. “By increasing our intake, each meal over trying to get in a ton of protein at one meal, and even adding in a pre and post-workout snack that is protein centric, we can break up our protein intake to see results.”

You Can Also Supplement

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You may even find that you can see an added benefit from BCAA supplementation during your workouts as leucine especially is so critical to stimulate muscle protein synthesis,” she says. “There can also be some benefit of breaking up your protein intake to keep a positive protein balance multiple times a day to promote better muscle growth.”

Tip 5: Do Mobility Work

Tip number five, do your mobility work. “We can see changes in our recovery and aches and pains can feel like they're adding up so much more as we get older. Too often we simply blame our age over recognizing the movement compensations and balances, overuse and overload that have been occurring for years that we haven't addressed. But whatever the reason, we can't ignore these issues if we wanna be able to train hard consistently to see result,” she says.

It Helps You Move Better and Recover Faster

Shutterstock

Mobility work “is so key” because “it can help us move better and recover faster, even helping us better manage chronic inflammatory conditions that could fight our muscle gains so we can train consistently and challenge ourselves to build that lean muscle without proper recovery,” she says. “We end up training to a point of diminishing returns where we're just constantly beating our body down over allowing for proper recovery and growth. When we rest, we rebuild.”

Do 5 to 10 Minutes a Day

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“We do this mobility work in every warmup so we can train to build that lean muscle more efficiently. You'll be surprised by how much even five to 10 minutes of mobility work a day helps you train harder without needing extra days off to recover,” she says.

Be Strategic with Meal Timing

Shutterstock

“Tip number six, be strategic in your meal timing. I say this as a person who personally loves intermittent fasting as a meal timing. Fasting can backfire when gaining muscle is your goal, especially if you're a hard gainer,” she says. “And as we get older, we have to realize that fasting and fasted training may hinder us from gaining muscle. As in a fasted state, your muscle protein balance is negative. Basically, you break down more muscle than you build. So we put ourselves at greater risk for losing muscle the more we put ourselves in this negative protein balance. Not to mention when you train fasted, you don't necessarily have that readily available stored fuel. You need to truly push hard during a session and rebuild after you've created the muscle tissue damage.”

Eat a Pre-Workout Meal

Shutterstock

She recommends considering including a pre-workout meal with protein “to have amino acids readily available in your system, and even a carb source for immediate fuel to allow you to push harder in your sessions without fatigue,” she says. “Studies have found the resistance exercise combined with amino acid ingestion elicits the greatest anabolic response and may assist the elderly in producing a youthful muscle protein synthetic response. Provided sufficient protein is ingested following exercise. This post-workout protein consumption can even help you improve your recovery. So you can include more hard training sessions over the week.”

Tip 7: Stay Active on Recovery Days

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The final tip? “Stay active on your days off,” she says. “Recovery and rest days don't have to be do nothing days. And the more we can actually use these days to prep our body to move better during our training sessions, the better off we'll be. Include five to 10 minute mobility routines.”

Take a Walk

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One activity she recommends is going for a long walk. “Honestly, walking is one of the most underutilized tools we have to stay functionally stronger and improve our body composition even as we get older. Walking can help us avoid unwanted fat gain, keep our aerobic base strong, and even help us recover from previous training sessions without being catabolic to our muscle mass. Unlike more intense forms of steady state cardio, walking can also be a great way to destress and help our mind and body recover,” she explains.

Or, Do Other “Light Movement”

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“So as much as it can be hard to take a day off, your body needs it, your muscles repair and rebuild when you give them time to recover. But to stay active, don't be afraid to include light movement and mobility work on those days off. You may be surprised by how much even this light activity helps you sleep better,” she says.

Bottom Line: You Can Build Muscle at Any Age

Her final message? “We can and should focus on building muscle at any and every age. We are never too old to see results and our workout routine and diet should always be based on our needs and goals, meeting us where we're at currently, but our age,” she says. “That simple number should never determine what we can or can't do. We have to remember that if we wanna stay strong, it really is a case of use it or lose it.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 15 Quick Ways to Lose Body Fat Percentage in a Week.

Feeling stuck in your muscle-building journey? You're not alone. Many busy professionals struggle to find effective ways to pack on muscle while juggling demanding careers. That's where Zach Rana, a fitness coach with a background in biochemistry, comes in. Having transitioned from long workdays to a career in health and fitness, Zach understands the challenges faced by time-strapped individuals. In this article, he shares his top five tips to help you build muscle quickly and efficiently, complemented by insights from other fitness experts.

Fuel Your Muscles with Protein

Zach emphasizes the importance of protein consumption for muscle growth. "Eat 0.8 to one gram of protein per pound of body weight," he advises in his post. For instance, if you weigh 180 pounds, aim for 180 grams of protein daily. While this may seem daunting at first, Zach assures that with practice and the right systems in place, it becomes second nature.

"At this point, I don't even really think about my protein intake because I have so many protein snacks around," he explains. "Every single one of my meals has 30 to 50 grams of protein, and so I hit my goal pretty easily without even trying at this point. Once you have those systems in place where all the right foods are around you, it's actually pretty easy to hit your protein goal."

RELATED: I Shrunk From Size 22 to 8 With These 15 Tips That Actually Work

Create a Caloric Surplus for Growth

To build muscle, you need to provide your body with sufficient resources. Zach recommends eating in a caloric surplus by adding 250 to 500 calories above your maintenance level. "As an example, my maintenance calories are 180 pounds, with about 15% body fat being 2,700 calories. So when I want to gain, and I'm in a gaining phase, I'll eat 2,950 to 3,000 calories around there," he shares. For a leaner bulk, stick to the lower end of this range.

Zach explains, "The reason we have the range of 250 calories to 500 depends on how lean of a bulk you want to have. I like to keep my bulks pretty lean, so I try to do 250 to 300 calories above my maintenance because that's going to allow me to put on muscle without putting on too much fat."

Embrace Carbohydrates for Energy

Contrary to popular belief, carbs are not the enemy, especially when you're in a muscle-gaining phase. Zach debunks common myths, stating, "The marketing people out there are lying to you when they say you have to do keto. You have to do this. You can't eat carbs. They're bad sugar, bad whatever. Not true." He recommends consuming carbs both before and after workouts.

"Before your workouts, you want quick digesting, simple carbs. What are some examples of this? Rice cakes, rice Krispies, white bread, potatoes," Zach suggests. For post-workout, he recommends "slower digesting carbs that are higher in fiber, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, quinoa, whole wheat bread, beans, pasta, like all of that stuff is great things to have after a workout."

Lift Heavy and Progressively Overload

To stimulate muscle growth, you need to challenge your muscles beyond their current capacity. Zach explains the concept of progressive overload: "If my muscle was currently capable of lifting 80 pounds, I need to try to lift 85 pounds, and what's going to happen is the first couple times I do that, it's going to be really hard and really uncomfortable, but eventually my capacity will grow to reach 85 pounds."

He underlines the importance of continuous challenge: "Every single time we work out, we need to be giving our muscles a higher stimulus than what it's currently capable of that's going to force it to grow."

Luke Jones, a certified personal trainer and movement coach, adds, "Pullups are often referred to as the king of bodyweight exercises. They build muscle mass through the back and biceps, strengthen the abdomen, and support a more upright posture." For those new to pull-ups, Jones advises starting with hanging exercises and progressing to assisted pull-ups before attempting full ones.

RELATED: I Lost 250 Pounds With 5 Simple Walking Tricks

Master Carb Timing for Optimal Performance

Timing your carbohydrate intake can significantly impact your workout performance and muscle growth. Zach recommends consuming carbs 30 minutes to an hour before your workout and immediately after. "Trust me, once you nail this carb timing down, it is a game changer for how strong and how full you'll feel during your workouts," he says.

However, he cautions against eating large meals or high-fiber carbs too close to your workout. "Don't eat a lot of proteins or fats right before your workout because they're going to slow you down and they're hard to digest. Also, if you eat a lot of high-fiber carbs before your workout, those also take longer to digest, and so then you'll basically be putting energy that should be going to your muscles into your stomach," Zach warns. His final advice? "No big meals two hours before a workout."

Incorporate Compound Bodyweight Exercises

While weightlifting is crucial, don't underestimate the power of bodyweight exercises. Christopher Clarke, a certified personal trainer, says, "Push-ups are the crème de la crème of upper body work—push-ups strengthen your shoulders, triceps and pectoral muscles. Push-ups also lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and improve posture by strengthening core muscles."

Eric Rakofsky, a certified personal trainer, recommends the single-leg walkout with a push-up: "It's like a more sophisticated burpee but with less wear & tear on your body and more beneficial. Perform 10 reps per leg with 1 minute rest for 3 sets."

Don't Neglect Lower Body Training

Clarke regards squats as the cornerstone of lower body exercises: "Squats strengthen glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and abdominal muscles, helping improve balance and preventing back pain." Jones adds, "Simply performing bodyweight squats for high reps can be an effective way to build muscle, as can single-leg squats and lunges."

Focus on Core Strength

A strong core is essential for overall muscle development and stability. Clarke recommends crunches: "Considered one of the best exercises to develop and strengthen your abdominal muscles, crunches target the oblique, rectus, and transverse abdominal muscles. They improve posture, lower back pain, and boost mobility."

For those looking for a low-impact core exercise, Leslie Ann, a personal fitness trainer specializing in postpartum fitness, suggests pelvic tilts: "This exercise engages your core muscles, including your abdomen and pelvic floor. By engaging and activating your transverse abdominal muscles, you stabilize your core and help improve muscle tone to the tummy area."

RELATED: I Went Sugar, Gluten, and Dairy Free for 60 Days and Here Is What Happened

Stay Consistent and Patient

By implementing these tips from Zach Rana and other fitness experts, you'll be well on your way to building muscle faster and more effectively. Remember, consistency is key, and results take time. Stay committed to your goals, and you'll soon see the gains you've been working towards. As Zach says, "Try these things out. Let me know in the comments how they go for you and how you feel." And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 31 Fitness Tips Every Beginner Needs to Look Sexy, According to Coaches.

Cori Lefkowith of Redefining Strength is a fitness expert and social media influencer whose mission is to help with “building habits that seamlessly become a part of your lifestyle, ultimately reshaping your identity,” she writes in her bio. In a new post, she blasts the fallacy that “I am too old to gain muscle,” she says. “Stop lying to yourself. Stop giving yourself an excuse not to work hard and move forward. Because while our body needs and goals do change as we get older, and yes, it a hundred percent becomes harder to build and retain the muscle, we can still achieve fabulous results and build muscle at any and every age,” she says.

What Worked When You Were Younger Won’t Work When You Are Older

“The reason we don't see the results we want as we get older is because we cling to improper dieting and workout practices that we may have gotten away with when we were younger. But at every stage of life, we need to be adjusting our fueling and our training. Nothing works forever,” she says in the video.

Diet and Training Should Evolve

Shutterstock

“Our body and lifestyle are constantly evolving, and so should our diet and training habits,” she continues, “to meet us where we're currently so we can always move forward and be functionally strong till the final day on this planet. That's why I wanna share with you seven tips to maintain your lean muscle and even gain muscle as you get older.”

Tip 1: Use It Or Lose It

Shutterstock

Tip number one is to use it or lose it. “So often, the reason we see more dramatic shifts in body composition and lose more muscle mass as we get older is because we've stopped doing what makes us fitter and stronger. We simply accept decline, and we use age as an excuse. Instead of finding ways to challenge ourselves, things get harder. We may feel more awkward with balance moves. We may feel like we even recover slower. We may even dislike coordination moves because they're uncomfortable. Even mainstream media has been telling people to stop doing what kept them strong in the first place, but if you don't use it, you'll lose it,” she says.

Do Moves That Challenge Your Coordination

Shutterstock

“If you wanna keep your mind-body connection strong, which can lead to better muscle hypertrophy or muscle gains, you've gotta do moves that challenge your coordination. And if you not only wanna gain muscle but stay functionally strong and avoid falls, you have to do those awkward balance moves. Use it or lose it. Keep challenging yourself and training those movement patterns in the gym, so you move better in everyday life,” she says.

RELATED:I Got Into the Best Shape of My Life at 50 by Following These 6 "Basics"

Tip 2: Stop Dieting

Shutterstock

Tip number two: stop dieting. “Muscle helps keep our metabolic grade higher. It helps us burn more calories at rest and stay leaner. As we get older, we become less able to utilize protein as efficiently, making it even harder to build and retain lean muscle mass. But this is why it's even more key. We stop dieting in extreme deficits,” she explains.

Don’t Continue Cutting Calories

Shutterstock

“While it can feel harder and harder to lose any weight we've gained, so we feel like we need to turn to larger and larger calorie deficits. This ultimately sabotages our results. It leads to more muscle mass being lost in the process of us trying to lose weight, which only leads to metabolic adaptations and worse body composition,” she says.

It Makes It Harder to Lose Weight

Shutterstock

“It leads to us actually making it harder on ourselves to lose the weight and keep it off. Plus, metabolic adaptations mean we burn even fewer calories when we are at rest. This leads to us then slashing our calories lower and lower to try and keep losing, perpetuating the horrible weight-gaining cycle as we get older,” she says.

Work on Fueling Lean Muscle Mass

Shutterstock

Instead, you should “focus on fueling” that lean muscle mass. “We need to focus on macros first in a very slight calorie deficit so we can help ourselves retain that lean muscle. Even as we wanna lose fat, we may even find we first need to retrain our body to eat more so we can build that lean muscle with a small calorie surplus before we even consider creating a slight deficit to lose,” she explains.

Tip 3: Do Moves That Challenge You

Shutterstock

Tip number three: do moves that challenge you. “Many of us have heard that strength training is key to gaining muscle, especially as we get older, and it is by challenging our muscles we force them to rebuild and grow stronger. It's why we don't wanna fear heavy lifting as we get older,” she says.

RELATED:I'm 50+ and These 7 Fat-Blasting Habits Keep Me in the Best Shape of My Life

Start Lifting

Shutterstock

The key is recognizing what lifting heavy is. “For us, it may mean body weight training starting out, especially if you haven't trained before or haven't trained consistently in a while, or maybe using resistance bands or dumbbells over barbells. The key is not fearing loads and truly challenging yourself instead of going lighter just because you've hit a certain age. Fitness is about ability, period. We always have to meet ourselves where we're at,” she says.

Don’t Avoid “Awkward or Uncomfortable” Moves

“This also means we can't avoid awkward or uncomfortable moves that challenge our mind-body connection. Neuromuscular efficiency, or the ability to recruit muscles quickly and in the right sequences to perform movements, is key to us moving well and improving our reaction times and coordination in everyday life. Not to mention that the ability to recruit muscles quickly and muscle activation will also improve your muscle hypertrophy results,” she says.

Improve the Mind-Body Connection

Shutterstock

“So if you wanna be able to gain more muscle, you wanna improve that mind-body connection with moves that challenge your balance and your coordination while also challenging yourself with loads,” she adds.

Tip 4: Increase Your Protein Portions Per Each Meal

Shutterstock

Tip number four: increase your protein portions per meal. “As we get older, we can develop anabolic resistance, and we are less able to utilize protein efficiently. This means we actually need to increase our protein intake, especially when we're training hard and lifting to build muscle because our muscles don't respond by increasing muscle protein synthesis in the same ways when we're younger,” she says.

Aim for 20 to 30 Grams Per Meal

Shutterstock

“Increasing a portion of 20 grams of protein to 30 may be super key, and if we're training harder, you may see an even better benefit from 40 grams, especially after a hard training session,” she says. “However, the reason I don't just say increased protein intake overall is because as we get older, we can also often see a decline in our appetite.”

It Can Be Hard to Eat a Lot of Protein in One Sitting

Shutterstock

“This decline in appetite can be purely age-related, but it can also be based on how we fueled in the past to try and lose weight with more extreme deficits. It can also be hard to eat a ton of protein in one sitting because it can make us feel fuller,” she says.

RELATED:20 Superfoods for People Over 50

Breaking Up Protein Intake Will Help You See Results

Shutterstock

“By increasing our intake each meal over trying to get in a ton of protein at one meal, and even adding in a pre and post-workout snack that is protein-centric, we can break up our protein intake to see results,” she says. “You may even find that you can see an added benefit from BCAA supplementation during your workouts as leucine is especially critical to stimulating muscle protein synthesis. There can also be some benefit of breaking up your protein intake to keep a positive protein balance multiple times a day to promote better muscle growth.”

Tip 5: Do Mobility Work

Tip number five: do your mobility work. “We can see changes in our recovery, and aches and pains can feel like they're adding up so much more as we get older. Too often, we simply blame our age for over-recognizing the movement compensations and balances, overuse, and overload that have been occurring for years and that we haven't addressed. But whatever the reason, we can't ignore these issues if we wanna be able to train hard consistently to see results,” she says.

Mobility Work Will Help You Move Better and Recover Faster

Shutterstock

Mobility work “can help us move better and recover faster, even helping us better manage chronic inflammatory conditions that could fight our muscle gains so we can train consistently and challenge ourselves to build that lean muscle without proper recovery,” she says. “We end up training to a point of diminishing returns where we're just constantly beating our body down over allowing for proper recovery and growth.”

When We Rest, We Rebuild

Shuttestock

“When we rest, we rebuild,” she says. “We do this mobility work in every warm up so we can train to build that lean muscle more efficiently. You'll be surprised by how much even five to 10 minutes of mobility work a day helps you train harder without needing extra days off to recover.”

6. Be Strategic in Your Meal Timing

Shutterstock

Tip number six: be strategic in your meal timing. “I say this as a person who personally loves intermittent fasting as a meal timing. Fasting can backfire when gaining muscle is your goal, especially if you're a hard gainer. And as we get older, we have to realize that fasting and fasting training may hinder us from gaining muscle. As in a fasted state, your muscle protein balance is negative. Basically, you break down more muscle than you build,” she says.

Don’t Train Fasted

“So we put ourselves at greater risk for losing muscle the more we put ourselves in this negative protein balance. Not to mention, when you train fasted you don't necessarily have that readily available stored fuel. You need to truly push hard during a session and rebuild after you've created the muscle tissue damage,” she says.

Consider a Pre-Workout Meal

Shutterstock

“So consider including a pre-workout meal with protein to have amino acids readily available in your system, and even a carb source for immediate fuel to allow you to push harder in your sessions without fatigue,” she says. “Studies have found the resistance exercise combined with amino acid ingestion elicits the greatest anabolic response. It may assist the elderly in producing a youthful muscle protein synthetic response, provided sufficient protein is ingested following exercise. This post-workout protein consumption can even help you improve your recovery. So you can include more hard training sessions over the week.”

Tip 7: Stay Active on Recovery Days

Shutterstock

Tip number seven: stay active on your days off recovery. “And rest days don't have to be do-nothing days. And the more we can actually use these days to prep our body to move better during our training sessions, the better off we'll be,” she says.

RELATED: 10 Swimming Tips to Lose 45 Pounds Like I Did

Walk or Do Mobility Exercises

Shutterstock

She recommends including five to 10-minute mobility routines or going for a long walk. “Honestly, walking is one of the most underutilized tools we have to save functionally stronger and improve our body composition even as we get older. Walking can help us avoid unwanted fat gain, keep our aerobic base strong, and even help us recover from previous training sessions without being catabolic to our muscle mass, she says. “Unlike more intense forms of steady state cardio, walking can also be a great way to de-stress and help our mind and body recover. So, as much as it can be hard to take a day off, your body needs it. Your muscles repair and rebuild when you give them time to recover. But to stay active, don't be afraid to include light movement and mobility work on those days off. You may be surprised by how much even this light activity helps you sleep better.”

Bottom Line: You Can Build Muscle Mass at Any Age

“We can and should focus on building muscle at any and every age. We are never too old to see results, and our workout routine and diet should always be based on our needs and goals, meeting us where we are currently and our age. That simple number should never determine what we can or can't do. We have to remember that if we want to stay strong, it really is a case of use it or lose it. So use these seven tips to help you feel lean, strong, and fabulous till your final day on this planet,” she concludes. And if you enjoyed this article, don't miss12-3-30 Walking Method: 20 Proven Tips to Lose Weight Faster.