Let’s be honest – building muscle after 50 is tough, but it’s so worth it! I genuinely believe muscle is medicine, however, if you’re a woman in midlife, especially facing menopause head-on, I know just how daunting exercise can be. That’s why I’m here today to break down the best ways for women over 50 to build strong muscle, backed by tons of research and my 30 years of experience! 

In this episode, I share my top tips that have worked wonders for me and my clients when building muscle, from progressive strength training and optimizing nutrition for muscle growth to getting specific about cardio that aligns with your goals. You won’t want to miss these strategies to stay strong, healthy, and ready to take on the world so you can truly enjoy the years to come.

Want FREE access to my brand new four-week strength training plan, Strength Without Stress? Head over to hollyperkins.com/review where you can upload a screenshot of your review and gain immediate access. This is a limited-time offer before it sells for $197, so be sure to grab it now!

Topics Covered:

• Why you need to really WANT to build muscle 
• Understanding sarcopenia 
• How muscle relates to bone density
• Tips for your specific progressive resistance strength training 
• Methods for optimizing your protein intake 
• The truth about supplementing with creatine
• The importance of being specific with cardio 

Resources Mentioned:

• Listen to the first 40 episodes of Holly Perkins Health Podcast HERE
• Listen to Episode 34: Viral Topic - How to Calculate Your Protein Intake Easily HERE
• Learn more about The Body Composition Project HERE
• See The Body Composition info session HERE
• See the research on sarcopenia HERE
• See the research on sarcopenia in menopausal women HERE
• See the research on the role of estradiol HERE
• See the research on bone remodeling in post-menopausal osteoporosis HERE
• See the research on creatine supplementation for muscle growth HERE
• Transcripts can be found on the official blog page for this episode at hollyperkins.com/blog

Follow Me: 

Find me on Instagram: @hollyperkins

Learn more on my website: hollyperkins.com

Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/HollyPerkinsFitness/

Disclaimer: Content and information as part of The Holly Perkins Health Podcast is for general interest, education, and entertainment purposes only. The use of information on this podcast or materials or products linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.

Building muscle gets exponentially harder every decade after 40. This means it's even harder, statistically, to build muscle at 50 than it was at 40, and yet even harder at 60 as compared to 50, if you want to protect your health by improving your muscle strength, quality and size, it's absolutely critical that you've got the right strategy. Today, I'm sharing what I know to be true so you can get strong muscles after the age of 50. So keep listening. Hello and welcome to a brand new episode. I am thrilled that you're here. Thank you. If you're new around here, welcome. I'm Holly Perkins and I help women build strong muscles and bones so you can actually enjoy your years ahead, rather than sitting on the sidelines as life passes you by. If it's important to you to build muscle or protect the muscle that you have, and it should be, this episode will help, because if you haven't yet heard, muscle is magic, and you need every fiber you can get, I think it's pretty much universal that as people age, you start to experience more fatigue, aches and pains and loss of muscle tone. Put these together, and it's really no surprise that most women gain body fat after 50. Sadly, I do believe this is what happens during this life stage, if, and that's a big if you don't do something about it, if you feel tired and weak and see your body aging faster than before, stay with me

In this episode. You'll learn the insights that are coming from my coaching clients. So you know what's actually working for women around the age of 50, you'll learn how muscle and bone are linked. The cardio protocols that I see are working now for my clients, and the nutrition piece that's absolutely critical for getting the most from your strength workouts. So I just wrapped up the first round of my newest program, the body composition project, and it has provided me with some really incredible insights into today's topic. The body composition project is a six month group coaching program to help you become more muscle and less fat. It's a very hands on, and how shall I say, high level program. It is not just a workout program or a fitness challenge that you see so many of these days. It's a science based protocol to really make a difference in your muscle quality and your body composition, obviously, and we get really detailed about nutrition, cardio and anything that can optimize protecting your muscle. Over the 30 years that I've been in practice, I've learned that science can inform us of best practices, and despite what the data show, what works in real life for real women like me and my clients can actually be a very different story. And oh, by the way, science can be conflicting, and a lot of it really depends on who's sponsoring the science and what the goal and the outcome is. So science isn't always truth that being said. You know me, I always link numerous research in the show notes so that you can see the studies that I am looking at. I spend anywhere from two to four hours every single week for every brand new podcast episode, poring over so much research, so that everything that I teach and use in my programs is informed by evidence, that all being said, there is something to be said for anecdotal evidence. So in this episode, I want to share some observations and updated tips for getting strong muscles around and after the age of 50. Now that I have some evidence, if you will, from my own research, as to what I see as working for women in my community, you know you may have heard or not, there's really not a lot of research yet. That is. Specifically focused on this specific life stage as it pertains to effective progressive resistance and nutrition. We have a lot of research on our elderly populations, people over 70 and 80, but we don't have a lot of women specific research that used subjects in this life stage. And so again, I'm having to extrapolate a lot from the research, and I have an education in this. I do have a degree in exercise physiology and nutrition, so I know basic human science and physiology, and I'm applying that to my programs, but we still have to look at what's actually working for you.

The first thing to know is that getting strong muscles, good quality muscle tissue that protects your health starts with a real desire and continued commitment. You have got to really want this. My friend, building muscle is so hard for everyone, even 20 something year old men. And as you age, it gets harder. If you're a woman, it gets harder. And at this life stage, it's not going to happen by mistake, and it's not going to happen by lifting up a few dumbbells here and there. You have to be really trying every day for at least four to five months in order to see significant improvements. Judging by the DEXA scan of my clients, what I'm seeing is that these women are putting effort in every day, all day, in their nutrition, their habits, their cardio, their strength training, and they are having to fight for two to four pounds of muscle. If you're worried about bulking up. I get it. I honor that. I respect that. But let me tell you, the evidence from my coaching practice shows it's unlikely that that's going to happen. Because if you fight, fight, fight for one to two pounds of muscle on your entire body, that's not gonna equate to bulk and listen, building muscle is something that you should want, because aging means a loss of muscle, and with that comes an increase in your risk of health issues and diseases. Sarcopenia is the natural loss of muscle as you age. It happens. In other words, you will lose muscle if you're not working to keep it, if you're not going after it like a beast, you're losing muscle right now from the age of 30, muscle mass decreases by around three to 8% per decade, and this loss accelerates after the age of 60. So after the age of 70, the loss of muscle mass declines by a half a percent to 1% per year. After the age of 75 the loss is close to 1% per year in women. This is a lot. And hold up, because I got some real numbers on that for you in a moment. PS, as always, I've linked some research in the show notes above or below. Make sure you check that out.

Loss of muscle directly contributes to the increased risk and prevalence of aches, pains and injuries. So if you're in this life stage and you just ache more than normal, if you've got more joint issues than you have in the past, this is directly related to muscle. If you don't have good quality muscle tissue holding you up and moving you about the day, it really does add to any loss of stamina or fatigue issues that you might already have. Loss of muscle directly contributes to osteopenia and osteoporosis. And you might think, Wait, how does muscle relate to my bone density? Let's talk about that for a moment. Because if you're not worried about protecting your bone health, you should be by the age of 70 years, bone mass has decreased by 30 to 40% that's crazy. Healthy bone requires continuous remodeling, which is pivotal for bone density maintenance. It is estimated that nearly 10% of the bone is updated. By this process every year. And you may not know this, but your bone cells are constantly going through a breaking down and a building up. This is the activity of osteoblast and osteoclast cells. So what impacts this remodeling process is number one, genetics for sure. Number two, your nutrition and number three, activity. So take a closer look at that. Two thirds of those factors are related to your lifestyle choices, how you're eating and what you do with your body. Sadly, most of the media focus on genetics when we talk about osteoporosis, which is something you can't change, and you'll often hear tips around nutrition, which is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to your bone health, and while nutrition is absolutely key in protecting both muscle and bone, your activity is way more powerful at building strong bones, so that the muscle then keeps your bones strong. And this is something, what very few people are talking about. See when your muscles contract, they pull and tug on your bones to create movement or to simply hold you up in space. Have you ever really thought about how and why you move your muscles create movement, but your bones help keep you upright. Otherwise, without bones, we'd be snakes, right? We would just be a lump of muscles slithering around. But bones are what keep us upright, but your bones don't do that. The muscles do mechanical pulling on the bone shaft causes the stimulation of bone forming cells called osteoblasts. Listen, this is bone health 101, that I learned way back in college, and yet I'm astounded that no one other than me really talks about this much, and it's a big reason why I've narrowed my conversation down to being about muscle so much, because by focusing on your muscle, you improve your bone. I could go on and on and on and on here. My point is to say that you should be focused on improving your muscle quality, because it impacts bone density. They're interrelated. And as a person loses muscle due to sarcopenia, the aging process that loss contributes to weaker bones, and this lovely combo means a reduced quality of life for you and me, so please prioritize getting and keeping strong muscles so that you also Have strong bones.

Let's jump in to the best ways to get strong muscles after 50 as informed by one research and two what I've observed in the very women who just this week, completed the body composition project, the first, best and most important consideration of all that matters way more than anything is progressive resistance strength training and your specific protocol. Nothing matters more than this, not your diet, not your genes, not your health history, if you're not strength training in a progressive way, you will not build muscle, and you will lose muscle as you age. Eating protein will not build strength or muscle. It is a very important part of building muscle. But do not believe the marketing claims that say that their protein powder builds muscles, it doesn't lifting builds muscle, and protein helps to repair the muscles so they grow and become stronger. Eating protein might slow sarcopenia muscle loss, but you have to be strength training in order to build a muscle or become stronger. Three to four dedicated strength training sessions each week, at a minimum is a must if you want to get strong muscles after 50. Please note that I said dedicated, meaning that your. Sole intention for those three to four sessions is to lift progressively heavier weight loads. There are certain protocols that are better for this than others. So some tips strength workouts should be between 30 and 75 minutes if you're working hard in the session like a beast as you should be. Longer than 75 minutes is unnecessary and it's completely counterproductive. More is not better. In fact, in my experience, less is more, and you really need at least 30 minutes to accumulate enough volume and exposure in a workout where you're following next tip, any protocol where you work so hard during a set of 10 that you need to rest for at least 30 seconds, if you're doing a set, and then you're able to jump right into another set, or have a conversation, or you feel good, that intensity wasn't where it needs to be. This means that your workout happens in your set, not in the workout overall. Yeah, tracking me, this isn't about keeping your heart rate up during the workout. It's not about sweating so that you feel systemically tired. This is about focusing all of your effort and intensity and heart and soul on the movement in the set. This is called intra Set Intensity. So much so that you have to rest in order to have enough juice for your next set. That is the intensity that you've got to hit at this life stage to really build muscle. Next tip, I'm finding that 10 reps is really the sweet spot for building strength and muscle. Now, in a program like the body composition project that's six months long, I do program some variability, and some months where we're hitting 12 reps, because you do have to have some variety in your rep scheme, depending on your skill level, your fitness level and your history of strength training, but you will never see me programming a working set of more than 12 reps. You won't see it. And I find that 15 reps, even 13 reps, 1314, 15 or more, is unproductive for building muscle and strength if you're over 50 and next, lastly, regarding strength workouts, the biggest hurdle that we see in our clients is helping them to really understand what a quality set looks Like. According to what I've just said your improvement is dependent on the intersection of technique and the last two reps. You've heard me say this before, but I'm gonna say it a little differently. You've got to first know great technique, then you have to make sure that your last few reps, anywhere from two to three, are truly hard, so hard that you can't keep perfect technique. You've got to get your technique perfect, but then you still have to be using a weight load that is heavy enough where at least the last two reps, maybe three, if you're more skilled, maybe even four or five of the last reps are impossible to do with perfect technique. Your last few reps shouldn't be perfect, and they're not imperfect because you're trying to make them imperfect. They're imperfect because you're trying so hard to keep perfect technique, but you can't, because the muscle is fatigued and isn't able to hold your joints and bums in place because they're tired from those first few reps you get it? What we're finding is that this is actually a very tricky concept for most women to grasp, depending on again, your skill level, how hard is hard enough, but not too hard, and what does perfect technique look like? If your weight loads are too heavy for your skill level or your technique, you're going to compensate with unintended muscles, and you won't develop your musculature in the most esthetically pleasing but also architecturally balanced way. Form does follow function. I. And then you also need to be using a heavy enough load that actually taxes the muscle. Okay, so it's a balance between this weight load and technique, and there's an arc to this.

In a moment. I've got three more tips for you, so stay with me, but first in a moment, I've got three more quick tips for you, hopefully quick so you can get strong muscles after 50. But I also wanted to say that there is a brand new round of the body composition project starting this week at the time of this podcast publishing, and there might be one to two spots available before we sell out, which we will if you're interested in spending six months with me and a great group of women, and you're ready to get serious about this conversation and about improving your body composition so that you can be more muscle and less fat. You can come to my website and watch the info session. Then if you're ready for a program like this, you can submit an application on the very same page. Come over to Holly perkins.com forward slash, body comp, that's all one word, B, O, D, y, C, O, M, P, body comp to watch the information session and then submit an application if it's right for you. And if you're listening to this episode after we've closed the doors for the Fall 2024 round, be sure to add your name to the wait list so that you can get first dibs when we open up again next year to be notified of the next session, add your name to the list@hollyprickens.com body wait list, all one word.

The second thing I'm finding absolutely critical if you want to get strong muscles after 50 is to truly optimize your protein intake. Now listen before you think this means one more person is emphasizing protein intake. Keep listening, because it's not as simple as blindly eating more protein. Number one, you do have to make sure that you're getting the bare minimum of protein intake each day to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, and this is where I think it's important to sit down with a piece of paper and a calculator, and listen to the viral topic, episode number 34, of the holly Perkins health podcast right here, where I walk you through some of the specific details, actually all the specific details, so that you can get it right. But then number two, you've got to hit that protein target each day, while also getting enough carbohydrates to balance it again. More is not more. I wish it was more is so fun, especially more caffeine and more protein. But more is not more. You can't just eat protein, protein, protein and disregard the amount of carbs and fat that you're eating. If you only focus on protein, you'll most likely be eating predominantly fat, possibly predominantly protein, but more likely high fat, all the while under eating carbs, which are critical for muscle building. I've got plenty of episodes on macronutrient balancing to help you get this right. And number three, regarding protein, you want to look at the sources of protein. Also. Collagen is a supplement, and it does have protein. It is protein, but it doesn't have the complex, extensive amino acid profile as other proteins like chicken, fish, Turkey, beef, egg whites, dairy, etc, animal products, sure, use your collagen to bump up your protein a little bit, and to get the benefits of collagen, like for your hair, your skin, your nails, your bones, etc, I do love collagen, but don't rely on it as your protein. Boy, ooh, the marketing claims that are coming out now, there's so many brands and companies that are promoting collagen, and they really lead you to believe that it is pure protein, which it is, but it's not the real complex, solid protein that we get from real food sources or from protein isolates. You need dietary protein from dedicated sources, and collagen and gelatin are more like supplements. As someone who has a very restricted diet because of autoimmune issues, I know that protein powders are very helpful, and I personally would be lost without them. I love protein powders in all their forms, but. This is where you want to get isolated proteins in a powder form, like egg white protein powder and isolate or vegan protein powder, or my personal favorite is beef protein powder. I wish there were more on the market. If anyone is listening in that industry, please, please give us more beef protein powders. That's probably a business opportunity I should look into. I am not a fan of whey and casein, and I usually suggest the other sources of protein powders that I just mentioned. This isn't about protein powders, although I probably should do an episode on that, but let's leave it at that.

So the third tip of the four today is another consideration that is absolutely helping my clients, and that is supplementing with creatine for a long time, honestly, most of my career. I mean, I have been watching and observing creatine for over 30 years now. I mean, holy cow, we discussed it way back when I was in college and for most of my career. Until now, I was completely reluctant to suggest it to my clients. But as the research continues to pile up, I am now of the stance that it is an incredible supplement that women over 50 need. I would go so far as to say everyone needs it. PS, no, I am not a doctor. I am not your medical doctor. Please don't rely on anything I say in this podcast as medical advice. Check in with your trusted professionals. But what is interesting is that now we're seeing research that shows therapeutic benefits to the brain. When supplementing with creatine, your brain is one of the most concentrated sources of creatine. It's fuel for your brain. I believe in the future, creatine will be a common intervention for neurodegenerative disorders and health issues. In general, doctors are already using it for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients, it's not just a good big muscles Broy fitness supplement anymore. In fact, this is really interesting. When I saw this research, it can cause manic episodes for people who have been diagnosed as bipolar, and, oh, by the way, I have several friends and people in my life that have been diagnosed on some level or degree of bipolar. It's more common than we realize, and I think it's really interesting. I think this gives us a lot of insight into the fact that creatine could be that problematic on the brain. It's not just a get big muscles supplement. Creatine is a non protein amino acid, and it's present in muscle tissue cells. It's in yours, and it's in the animal meat that you eat, and it helps your body produce energy and maintain a continuous supply of energy to your muscles and your brain during exercise. If you're not supplementing with it, you'll be getting it from the meat that you eat, and your body can produce it from other amino acids that you get from other food sources. It's hard to fully optimize your own stores of creatine from food and that is why some people supplement with it. Supplementing increases the amount stored in your muscles and helps your body produce more ATP your body's fuel source during activity. So think of creatine like putting gas in the tank, putting fuel in your muscles, it is important as a fuel source, and it actually improves strength during workouts so that you can lift heavier naturally. It's like giving your muscles juice. I am a huge fan, and I can't imagine a day without it, and I now recommend it to my clients. I believe it helps, and it may be something that you want to research for yourself, especially if you're over 50 and want to build strong muscles.

Tip number four, once these things are in place, the final piece to the puzzle is getting your cardio right. Cardio is important for the following reasons. It promotes recovery from your beast mode strength workouts and. If you're working hard in your strength sessions, your body will need a bit of help recovering and steady state cardio is awesome for that, provided it's at the right intensity. Cardio boosts mood, and I think we all need some of that each week, especially during this life. Stage number three, cardio is important for cardiovascular health and overall cardiovascular fitness, different things. This is where some kind of interval training comes in. More on those specifics in a moment. Number four here, cardio does help to promote beta oxidation, which is the metabolic process where fatty acid chains are broken down into Acetyl Co A, acetyl coenzyme A, which provides fuel during activity. This is the process where you feel good during steady state cardio, and the majority of calories burned through that process come from fat, not carbohydrates. This is why I'm a fan of moderate intensity steady state cardio. It's a metabolic environment that feels good, preserves glycogen and carbs, and does burn fat. But we do it not specifically to burn fat. We really do it because of these associated benefits, because of these things. Cardio is important, but the mistake most women are making is getting the wrong types and intensity of cardio for the wrong duration and frequency. Most people, before they work with me, are all over the place with their cardio, and therefore you're spinning your wheels, wasting your time and wasting your muscle. Some things I know from being in the coaching seat, you need a mix of steady state cardio and interval training, but not hit. I'm really not a fan of true hit for a number of reasons. Instead, I find that interval training, not high intensity. Interval training works best when you follow timed segments and avoid going higher than 90% of your true maximal heart rate, steady state. Cardio is not the same as low intensity activity, like getting 10,000 steps each day for neat non exercise activity time. Think about that. Non exercise activity time, getting your steps in isn't considered a workout. It's activity, and it's super valuable. I love this goal. I love walking. I love it, but it's not the same as a dedicated, moderate intensity, steady state workout, where you find the sweet spot in your heart rate, which is around 70 to 75% of your max heart rate. And lastly, frequency matters too much. Cardio is a problem because it's catabolic to muscle. The very thing that is the central theme and focus for all activity, it's your number one. Nothing matters more than building or maintaining muscle, so all other efforts should support that, and too much mindless cardio, even too much walking, is terrible for muscle, therefore, I generally recommend three to five cardio sessions per week, depending on the person's body composition and fitness level and goals to sum this up, cardio is important, but you should be as specific about it as you are about your strength and nutrition protocols.

There you have it. My friend my four top tips for getting strong muscles after 50, as per what I'm learning by coaching real humans and the research to support it. Now listen, if you're battling the earthquake of perimenopause and menopause, I encourage you to stay vigilant during these dark times. This is a brutal time for some of us that challenges you, physically, energetically, emotionally, existentially and mentally, and there are going to be days when the last thing you care about is your exercise, the body changes are real. Please stay focused and remember that exercise is medicine and it improves so many aspects of your life you really do need to create the body that you need. Especially for this life stage, to survive it and then enjoy your years ahead. While some days it is hard to stay consistent with your habits, I promise you, it pays off in huge dividends. I promise, as I always say, anything is better than nothing. So on the days when things are hard, do moderate steady state cardio or do a modified strength workout, just get it in, even if there are some days where you gotta phone it in, everything in life gets better as you become more fit. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please let me know by leaving a comment or review wherever you're listening and stay tuned for another brand new episode on Tuesday of next week. Stay strong, my friend.