Muscles after 35 years

Hi Andrea, I wonder why, although it is scientifically proven that after 35 years is no longer possible to increase muscle mass, there are many sites that promote weight training in the gym, and in particular the squat, an exercise that also in very few they perform. Is not it better to focus only on endurance sports?

In reality it is not true that after 35 years muscle mass can no longer be increased. There are studies that show an increase in strength and muscle mass even on subjects who are over 80 years!

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What happens after 35-40 years is the physiological decline in performance. But that happens only if you start from the top of the form.

If a 40-year-old bodybuilder, who has never raced in his life, starts a training session for the race, he will have many months or years of continuous improvement before him, refuting the thesis.

Ditto if a 40-year-old runner starts to do weightlifting or any other sport where strength is a fundamental element.

What happens after 35-40 years is the maximum potential of an athlete , not the ability to reach the maximum potential !

If you stop training your strength and train only the resistance, you will always remain close to your maximum resistance potential while your strength will decrease more and more, perhaps falling below the “guard level”. I know, you’ll be able to find yourself at 80 in perfect shape, managing to run 10 km in an hour, but you will not even be able to open a jar of jam because you’ve stopped training the strength 30 years ago or you’ll never coached!

You can also find yourself with 5 kg less muscle and therefore a lower metabolism.

In my opinion, a modern conception of sport, oriented towards health, envisages keeping to a good level all the physiological characteristics (strength, endurance, power, flexibility), avoiding injuries to maintain joint integrity. Practicing only one sport is very difficult to meet all these requirements, probably only the swimming master (ie swimming done in a “tough” way) is able to do it.

Practicing different sports, maybe seasonally, it is very simple to have a balanced, lean and strong body, limiting the risk of injuries and without having to go to the gym.

Speaking of the squat, it is true that it is a fundamental exercise, but it is equally true that it is difficult to perform and to execute it badly means to risk getting hurt.