Is Building Muscle After 40 A Folktale Or a Reality? We Have The Answer, Along With Some Advice To Help You Out With The Process | Testosterone Therapy for Men
It’s probably no shock to you that muscle doesn’t come as easily as you age. You probably look around at all your friends and feel like you’re never going to get the body you used to have, and neither are they. It’s just a fact of life that all you have to accept… right?
Here’s the thing: you don’t have to roll over, surrender, and chalk it all up to aging, which is out of your control. Instead, turn to testosterone therapy for men in Asheville, NC, and the surrounding areas, along with some other helpful tips.
Muscle building after 40 isn’t impossible.
What’s Affecting Your Muscle Mass
If you’re wondering what’s holding up the process of building muscle, it’s a bit more complex than just age. It’s an occurrence stemming from anabolic resistance, a process that happens when your muscles are no longer as sensitive to the signals that encourage muscle growth, including strength training and protein consumption.
Your growth hormone and testosterone levels are also falling, and these support muscle growth and recovery. A little-thought-about factor is a rise in inflammation that makes it harder for your muscles to repair themselves.
Your age has one more effect on your muscles. And it’s one you probably haven’t considered. Over the years, you no longer have the energy you once did, nor the motivation, so you may not be putting much into your workout at this point.
What You Can Do
You have two options… one, you keep trucking along, living life normally, and don’t worry about it. Or two, jumpstart your workout and take active steps to support muscle growth and repair.
While one seems like a smart choice that requires little effort, it’s not always the best. The latter allows you to work and grow at your own pace and retain a more youthful, athletic appearance as you age.
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Resistance Training Is a Necessity
Back in the day, muscles may have come easily. You may not have gone to the gym at all or only when you thought about it and had some time with the guys. That’s not enough anymore. If you want muscles, and you want them now, it’s not merely a hoping-and-waiting game. Now, it’s basically essential that you have a schedule you follow.
At least two to three times per week, you should exercise the same muscle groups while leaving one to three days between each session to allow for rest and recovery. Even if you don’t look like you’re making progress, resistance training has a positive effect on your health. You’re strengthening your bones, decreasing your risk of osteoporosis.
Insulin resistance, cognitive function, coordination, balance, flexibility, and joint health may all improve from resistance training. Once you get used to exercising regularly and take other steps, you’ll notice an improvement.
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Increase Your Protein Intake
Your body isn’t responding to protein like it used to. To compensate, you’ll need to increase your consumption for each meal.
Generally, aim for 1.2 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of your body weight each day if you’re active or looking to build muscle. If you’re just starting out, stick to the lower end of the spectrum. On the other hand, if you’re more advanced or are losing weight, lean toward the higher end.
Not sure what to eat? These are some excellent high-protein options:
- Chicken, pork, steak, turkey, or ground meat
- Dairy
- Eggs
- Fish
- Tofu
- Lentils
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Avoid Extreme Dieting
Unfortunately, weight gain tends to arise when you’re in your 40s. too. Logically, you may think the right way to combat it is to decrease your caloric intake and give up all that unhealthy junk you love. However, that’s vague and not a recipe for success. Decreasing how many of calories you consume too drastically can hinder muscle building.
Your practitioner can help you find a diet plan that’ll facilitate weight loss while providing you with all the nutrition needed to support a healthy body and muscle building.
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Testosterone Replacement Therapy
Starting in your 30s, your testosterone is dwindling little by little, one percent per year to be exact. You often don’t notice because it’s so gradual. Once you’re in your 40s and 50s, though, you may start to feel it.
You feel like you don’t have as much energy. When your partner is in the mood, you may not be. In fact, you may notice you’re not in the mood nearly as often as you were. And let’s not even get started on your body composition. Your muscles aren’t as large and firm as they used to be, and you might have a bit more of your stomach area than you want.
These are all signs your testosterone is low from your Leydig cells not working like they used to. Through testosterone replacement therapy in Asheville, NC, your levels get back to normal, and your body starts functioning more like it did when your hormones were at their peaks.
You can then start exercising like you once did because you’ll have more energy. You may also notice a change in your muscle composition since you’ll have the testosterone necessary to build new tissue.
Learn more here: Men: Could Your Hormone Levels Be Affecting Your Relationship?
Visiting Carolina Wellness for Hormone Replacement Therapy
First and foremost, our practitioner will ask about your symptoms and your goals. You then may receive a recommendation for hormone replacement, which you can opt for in pellet, patch, injectable, or cream form, to name a few options.
And to further help you along your journey, Carolina Health & Wellness also offer growth hormone-releasing peptides that assist with muscle building, such as a combination of ipamorelin and CJC-1295. This can be used as your sole treatment if you’re not quite ready for testosterone replacement therapy.
We get that some men are a bit skeptical and may not feel this treatment will work, so we want to take a moment to demonstrate the types of results our patients have had under our care.
Call us at (828) 579-4880 to book an appointment and discuss how you can keep your muscles large and body looking sculpted with testosterone replacement therapy in Asheville, NC. We’re less than two miles from Moogseum, a unique tribute to Robert Moog.
