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Building
Muscle After
50: The
Essential Guide
February 19, 2023 by
Andreas Abelsson

Key Points:

It’s never too late to

build muscle and
strength. You can
build muscle no
matter your age.
A proven strength
training program for
building muscle
after 50 is to lift two
or three days per
week, doing 10 sets
per muscle and
week, with about 8–
15 reps per set.
Eat a healthy high-
protein diet. A
protein supplement
can help you
increase your
protein intake if you
don’t get enough
from your regular
meals. Other helpful
supplements include
creatine, omega-3
fatty acids, and
vitamin D.

***

Building muscle after 50

is not only important for a
great-looking physique, it’s
also essential if you look
forward to a long life of
healthy aging in a strong
body.

Contrary to popular belief,

age is not an obstacle to
gaining muscle. Strength
training is both effective
and safe for older adults.

In this article, I’ll guide you

through everything you
need to know to start
building muscle past the
age of 50.

Remember:

It’s never too late.

Your Muscles
After 50
As you get older, starting as
early as your thirties, you
begin to lose muscle. At
first, it happens so slowly
that you don’t notice it.
However, as the years pass,
the loss of muscle mass
accelerates.1

As if that wasn’t enough,

you start losing strength
even faster than you lose
muscle, and fat begins to
infiltrate your muscles.2

Sounds bad?

It is.

This process leads to

reduced physical function
and a lower quality of life,
maybe even disability and
early death if unchecked.

Fortunately, you don’t have

to sit by and watch this
decline take place. On the
contrary, you can and
should do something about
it. 

The cure is called

strength training.

Strength training is the best

way to not only prevent the
decline from happening for
many decades, but you can
also reverse the process
and gain muscle mass and
strength instead. Best of all,
it’s not a bitter pill to
swallow, but fun, time-
efficient, and effective – all
at once.

I’m Past 50. Is It

Too Late for Me to
Start Training?
No.

I could end this paragraph

there, but let’s see what
science says.

Not only can you build

muscle and get stronger by
lifting weights after 50, but
you also get the health
benefits associated with
physical activity.3 Some of
these are unique to
strength training.4

Both men and women 50

and above experience
gains in strength and
muscle mass from lifting
weights.5 In fact, both men
and women respond
equally well to strength
training.6 Of course, men
usually have more muscle
mass to begin with,
meaning they build more
muscle from training in
absolute terms. However,
women can build just as
much muscle as men in
relative terms, based on the
amount of muscle mass
they have.

In just a few months, you

can expect to increase your
muscle mass dramatically
and lose fat simultaneously.
In one study, male
participants with a mean
age of 60 gained 2 kg of
fat-free mass while
simultaneously losing 2 kg
of fat mass during 16
weeks of training.7

Is It Harder to
Build Muscle After
50?
It is. You don’t have the
benefits of youth holding
your hand anymore. But
harder does not mean you
can’t do it. It doesn’t even
mean you have to train
excessively hard or spend
hours a day in a gym. You
have to challenge your
muscles, sure, but the
crucial thing is to train
smart. 

A few things aren’t the

same when you get older
and want to build muscle.

Recovery. You
probably don’t
recover as fast from
workouts.9
Hormones. Your
anabolic hormones
aren’t what they
used to be. As we
age, the hormones
that control our
muscle mass, like
growth hormone,
testosterone (in
men), and estrogen
(in women),
decrease.10 There
are things you can
do to slow this
process down, one
of which is living a
healthy lifestyle.11
Poor health
accelerates the
decline. Exercise,
including strength
training, and a good
diet are essential
parts of that healthy
lifestyle.
Anabolic
resistance. When
you’re young, you
stimulate muscle
protein synthesis
(the rate at which
your body creates
new muscle)
powerfully every
time you eat protein
or lift weights.
Sometime after the
age of 50, your
muscles start to
respond less to
training and eating.
You still build
muscle, but not
quite as much as
before. This
phenomenon is
called “anabolic
resistance”, and
inactivity and
systemic
inflammation are
two likely culprits.
Fortunately, it’s not
too hard to counter
these age-related
effects. A healthy
lifestyle (which
includes lifting
weights) takes care
of the inactivity part,
and physical activity
is one of the best
ways to combat
age-related
inflammation.
Combine that with
an increased
amount of protein,
properly timed, and
you’re good to go.12
13 14 15

In other words: yes, building

muscle is a bit trickier after
50 compared to, say, 25.
But challenges are meant to
be overcome. Both
anecdotal and scientific
evidence shows that you
can build muscle and get
great results after 50, 60,
70, and so on.

Do You Need to
Consult a Doctor
Before You Start
Lifting?
Maybe, but probably not. It
used to be the standard
recommendation to consult
a physician before starting
any kind of exercise
program. However, we now
know that the risks of
sitting on the couch far
outweigh any risks
associated with exercise.
Having to go to the doctor
even if you feel great is
another obstacle to taking
up exercise, which prevents
many people from starting
in the first place.

Accordingly, in 2015, the

American College of
Sports Medicine changed
its recommendations. You
don’t have to check with
your doctor before
participating in regular
exercise if you don’t suffer
from cardiovascular
disease, diabetes, or renal
disease, and you don’t have
any signs or symptoms of
these diseases.16

If you feel healthy, you’re

good to go.

Now, we’re not saying you

should jump into an elite
lifter’s training program
from the get-go. That’s a
bad idea, regardless of age.
A good training program
eases you into the habit of
regular exercise.

If you want to be on the

safe side, feel free to
consult your physician
before hitting the weights. It
doesn’t hurt, for sure.

Important: everything in
this article assumes that
you are healthy without any
severe medical conditions.
Everyday age-related
aches and pains are one
thing and part of life.
However, if you have any
serious injury, disease, or
other medical condition,
don’t jump into any exercise
program without talking to
your doctor first.

How to Build
Muscle After 50
The same basic principles
for building muscle and
getting stronger still apply
after 50.

You need to challenge your

muscles by forcing them to
do something they are not
used to doing. To build
muscle and become
stronger, you have to work
your muscles harder than
before.

You accomplish this by

gradually increasing how
much weight you use. Pick
a pair of heavier dumbbells,
add a small plate to the bar,
or move the pin on the
machine to a heavier
setting. You can also try to
do one repetition more with
a certain weight. However
you go about it, you must
strive to do a little more, lift
a little heavier. 

This method is called

progressive overload. It’s
the fundamental principle
to gain muscle for both
young and old. 

If you always lift the same

weights the same number
of times you can
comfortably do, your body
has no reason to become
stronger or to build muscle.
It can already do everything
you tell it to do!

Of course, if you’re new to

weight training, you should
ease into it to learn proper
form and get used to the
movements. However, once
you know how to perform
your exercises and feel
comfortable and
coordinated training, it’s
time to slowly but surely
ramp things up and
challenge yourself with
heavier weights.

How Many Times

per Week Should
You Train?
Research shows that
healthy older adults lifting
weights two to three times
per week build significant
amounts of muscle.17 18

You can split your body into

several training sessions
where you train a couple of
muscle groups every
workout, or you can train
your entire body every
workout. I suggest you go
for the latter if you are new
to strength training. That
way, you work each muscle
more often, allowing your
muscles, brain, and nervous
system to coordinate your
lifts better.

Training every other day is a

great way to both stimulate
your muscles over the
entire week and to allow
them enough recovery
between workouts. Working
out on Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays
gives you the weekend free,
but plan your training week
around your own life and
schedule.

Which Exercises
Are the Best for
Building Muscle?
You get the most bang for
your buck by focusing on
compound, or multi-joint,
movements – exercises
that work several muscle
groups simultaneously.
Isolation exercises,
meaning those that work
one muscle at a time, work
just fine too.19 Once you
get used to strength
training, adding some
isolation work, especially
for muscles you feel need
some extra love, can be a
helpful tool. Basic,
compound exercises
should be the mainstay of
your training, though.

It’s important you train your

entire body to avoid
imbalances and to develop
all your major muscle
groups. 

Starting from the bottom of

your body and going up, a
fine selection of exercises
for working your whole
body can look like this:

Squat. One of the

best exercises to
strengthen your
body and build
muscle. It trains your
legs, glutes (your
butt), adductors
(muscles that bring
your thighs
together), and your
lower back. An
excellent machine-
based option is the
leg press.
Bench Press. Often
called the king of
upper body
exercises, and for a
good reason. The
bench press works
your chest, front
deltoids, and triceps.
You can also
perform this
movement with
dumbbells or in a
chest press
machine, either for
variety or if you
simply prefer doing
so.
Deadlift. A hip-
dominant exercise
that strengthens
most of your body
but targets your
back, glutes, and
hamstrings in
particular. You’ll also
find that it’s a good
exercise for your
grip.
Barbell Row or
Seated Row. These
exercises are
excellent for training
your back, especially
your mid-back. They
also work your
biceps. You can also
perform machine
rows for more
stability.
Lat Pulldown.
Another back
exercise; this one
targets your lats
more than rows do. It
also hits your
biceps.
Overhead Press.
This great exercise
hits much of your
upper body but
targets your
shoulders and your
triceps in
particular. You can
perform the exercise
standing or seated
with a barbell, a pair
of dumbbells, or in a
machine.

If you perform these

exercises in a full-body
workout and do so 2–3
times per week, you have
an excellent foundation for
building muscle. You’ll work
most, if not all, of your
muscle groups in both an
effective and time-efficient
manner.

Most of the exercises

above are done with free
weights, but if you prefer
using corresponding
machines for some of the
exercises, that’s fine.
What’s important is
challenging your muscles,
not the tool you use.

Read More: Free Weights

vs. Machines – Which
Should You Train With?

What About My Arms?

All the upper-body
exercises I mentioned
above work your biceps
and your triceps very
effectively. For example,
studies show that lat
pulldowns make your
biceps grow just as much
as dedicated biceps curls. 

There is nothing wrong with

training your biceps and
triceps separately, but I
suggest you start by
focusing on compound
movements that work your
entire body, including your
arms. Later on, you can add
isolation work for your
biceps and triceps if you
feel you need to.

A Sample Workout
Using the exercises
mentioned above, here’s
what a sample workout
could look like:

Squat: 1–4 sets

Bench press: 1–4
sets
Deadlift: 1–4 sets
Seated row: 1–4
sets
Overhead press: 1–4
sets
Lat pulldown: 1–4
sets

Of course, you can use

alternatives to these
exercises, like the leg press
instead of the squat.

Start with one set per

exercise, and gradually
work your way up to four
sets per workout.

If you want to work out four

days a week, StrengthLog’s
Upper/Lower Body Split
Program is an excellent
choice. You also find this,
and many other, training
programs in our app
StrengthLog.

And speaking of sets …

How Many Sets

Should You Do?
Again, start conservatively.
Ease into it. Start with one
set per muscle group and
workout, adding a set every
few weeks until you
perform three sets per
muscle group. If you do that
three or four times per
week, you have reached the
optimal training volume for
building muscle.20 21
Alternatively, if you’ve
opted for two full-body
strength workouts per
week, gradually increase
the number of sets for each
muscle group per workout
to four or five.

Even a single set per

muscle is better than zero
sets, but more is better.
Just by performing two sets
instead of one, you can
expect 40% greater
gains.22 Ten sets per
muscle group per week
give you increasingly better
muscle growth.23

How Many Reps

Should You Do?
Contrary to popular belief,
you can build muscle using
almost any number of reps.
Both light training with
many reps and heavy
training with few reps build
similar amounts of
muscle.24 25

This holds true for older

lifters above the age of 50
as well. Research shows
similar gains in muscle
mass when you use
weights you can do 20 reps
with as when you go heavy
for eight reps.26

A recent study discovered

something interesting.

When older adults train

with heavy weights and low
reps, their fast-twitch
muscle fibers grow less
than with moderate
weights.27

Using heavy weights for

low reps is the most
effective way to increase
your max strength, but it
might not be the best idea
for you, as an older adult, to
focus exclusively on lifting
as heavy as possible. Not
only do you get similar
results by lifting moderate
weights for more reps, but
you might also reduce your
risk of injury. Strength
training is a very safe
activity, but going all-out
heavy puts more strain on
your body than using
moderate loads.

For the majority of your

training, I suggest you stay
within the 8–15 rep range.
It’s a sensible way to build
muscle and strength, with
less chance of injuries.

To Fail or Not to
Fail?
Very much connected to
reps, we have the concept
of failure. Failure is when
you perform a set to the
point where you can’t do
another repetition with
good form. The jury is out
on whether young lifters
build more muscle from
training to failure, although
some evidence suggests a
benefit from doing so.28
However, research shows
that training to failure is not
necessary after the age of
50. You likely gain just as
much strength and muscle
mass by terminating a set a
few reps before you reach
failure.29

Training to failure now and

then won’t do any harm. It
can even be fun to
challenge yourself. Doing
so all the time taxes your
muscles and nervous
system, though, and can
impair your recovery
abilities. Therefore, perform
most of your sets to the
point where you feel you
could do a few more reps if
you had to, but don’t go all-
out to failure. Leave a
repetition or three in the
tank.

How Long Should

You Rest Between
Sets?
As a general rule, long rest
intervals between sets,
around 3 minutes, are
better for building muscle
and strength, even though
the difference isn’t
significant.30 Resting
longer allows you to regain
most of your strength
before gripping the bar
again. That means you can
perform more reps, and
your training volume
increases as a result.
Training volume is one of
the major factors for muscle
growth.

That might not apply when

you’re above 50.

When it comes to
recovering from training,
you’d think young
individuals would have the
advantage. That might be
the case the hours and
days after a training
session, but in between
sets, it’s probably the
opposite, strange as it may
sound. Young individuals
might require twice as long
rest to recover properly
between sets.31 32

When you get older, your

muscles change their
composition. Your fast-
twitch muscle fibers, which
fatigue easier, become
smaller, while your slow-
twitch muscle fibers, which
are resistant to fatigue,
increase.33 That might, at
least partially, be why you
don’t require as long rest to
recover between sets as
you grow older.

Science backs this up in

practice as well. In one
study, 22 older men gained
more muscle and strength
with rest intervals of one
minute compared to taking
a four-minute break
between sets.34

In summary, if you feel

ready to hit the weights
again after 1–2 minutes of
rest, go for it. 

Now, if you want to rest

longer between sets, feel
free to do so. It won’t cost
you any gains. Your
workouts will take longer,
though. If that’s an issue for
you, don’t worry about
speeding things up a bit by
only resting a minute
between your sets.

Eating to Build
Muscle After 50
Lifting weights tell your
muscles to grow bigger and
stronger. However, they
can’t do so without proper
amounts of energy and
nutrients. You build muscle
both in the gym and in the
kitchen, and you can’t
ignore either if you want
good results.

Read More: Eating for

Muscle Growth: When,
How, and How Much to Eat
for Adding Lean Mass

Eating to build muscle isn’t

very different after 50, with
a few minor considerations.

You can use our calorie

calculator to estimate how
many calories you need. It
is based on the Mifflin-St
Jeor equation, one of the
most accurate formulas
available. All you have to do
is enter your sex, weight,
height, and age, in addition
to your estimated activity
level, and it will crunch the
numbers for you.

>> Click here to read more

about the StrengthLog
Calorie Calculator.

Sex
Man
Woman

Height (cm)

Weight (kg)

Age (years)

Activity Level
Sedentary (x1.2)
Work out 1–3 times/week
(x1.375)
Work out 4–5 times/week
(x1.55)
Work out 6–7 times/week
(x1.725)
Twice daily training
(x1.9)

You should aim for a little

more than your average
daily calorie needs to build
muscle effectively. The
exception is if you are
overweight and want to
lose body fat. Then you
need to eat fewer calories
than you need to keep your
body weight stable. As an
overweight newcomer to
the world of strength
training, you can both build
muscle and lose fat at the
same time without too
much trouble.

Protein
Protein is the building block
of your body, and if you
don’t eat enough of it, you’ll
have trouble building
muscle.

Older adults need more

protein than young adults.
Research shows that older
people need up to 1.3
grams of protein per
kilogram of body weight
per day to prevent age-
related muscle loss.35

However, you don’t want

just to maintain. You want to
gain.

That means you need even

more. 

Current recommendations
say you should aim for 1.6
to 1.7 grams of protein per
kilogram of body weight
per day to gain muscle.36
However, those numbers
are, more often than not,
based on studies with
young participants. To be
sure you get enough
protein to support optimal
muscle growth, consider
aiming for 2 to 2.2 grams of
protein per kilogram of
body weight per day. There
are no known side effects
to doing so, and it might
just be what your muscles
need to start growing.

Read More: Building

Muscle as You Age: Protein
Needs for the Older Lifter

Some good protein

sources, loosely ranked for
muscle-building properties
include:

Milk and dairy

products (milk,
yogurt, cheese,
cottage cheese,
quark, casein- and
whey protein
powder)
Eggs
Red meat (beef,
pork, lamb, game,
ostrich)
White meat
(chicken, turkey)
Fish and seafood
Soy-based foods
(tofu, tempeh,
edamame, soy
protein powder)
Quinoa
Beans, lentils
Nuts, almonds,
seeds
Grains

Source.37

You can get all your protein

from regular food, or you
can supplement your diet
with a protein powder to
reach your target intake.

Read more:

>> The Best Protein

Powder for Men and
Women Over 50

How Much Protein

Should You Eat Per Meal,
and How Often?

You can’t use an unlimited

amount of protein in one
sitting for muscle-building
purposes. Eating 90 grams
of protein at once does not
build more muscle than
eating 30 grams.38 That
holds for both young and
older adults.

A simple rule of thumb is to

eat 0.4 grams of protein per
kilogram of body weight
and meal. Spread meals of
that size evenly over the
day, every 3–4 hours or so,
and you provide your
muscles with a constant
supply of building
material.39 40

After a workout, aim for 40

grams of high-quality
protein. Twenty grams is
enough for young lifters,
but not older ones.41 42 43

Free Tool: Protein

Calculator: How Much
Protein Do You Need?

Protein Before Going To

Bed

Eating protein before you

go to bed allows your body
to keep building muscle
while you sleep. Research
shows that you need 40
grams of protein before
sleep to keep your muscle
protein synthesis elevated
all night long. Twenty grams
do not cut it.44

However, this does not

necessarily translate into
long-term muscle growth,
as long as you eat enough
protein during the day as a
whole.45 Regardless, if you
find it hard to consume
large amounts of protein in
every meal, adding an extra
protein meal before sleep
can help boost your total
protein intake.

Fat
Fat is vital for your
hormones, your cells’
health, and vitamin uptake,
among many other things,
including giving your body
plenty of energy to work
and train.

A daily fat intake of 20–

35% of your total calories
makes sure you get enough
for performance and
health.46 For example, say
you eat 2,500 calories per
day. If you want 25% of
those calories to come from
fat, you’d need to eat about
70 grams of fat. 

Current Dietary Guidelines

for Americans don’t specify
an upper limit on how much
fat you should eat for health
purposes.47 You don’t have
to follow a low-fat diet if
you train and want to build
muscle. On the contrary,
eating too little fat can
lower your testosterone
levels.48

Somewhere between 20–

35% of your total calories
from fat is probably the
best interval. There are no
harmful effects from going
higher, but if you have a
limited number of calories
to eat, an unrestricted fat
intake could mean less than
optimal amounts of protein
and carbs left to distribute.

For many decades,

saturated fats have had a
bad rep. Many blame them
for increasing the risk of
cardiovascular disease
(CVD) and other health
problems. While you
probably decrease your risk
of CVD by replacing
saturated fat with
unsaturated fats, saturated
fats might not be the devil
many think they are.49 50 51

You find unsaturated fats,

often considered the “good
fats” in olive oil, fatty fish,
nuts, seeds, and avocados,
to name a few sources.

Foods with large amounts

of saturated fat include
eggs, cheese, butter, and
meat. These aren’t bad
foods. Most of them are
excellent sources of
nutrients and the best
protein for building muscle.

As long as you eat a varied

diet based chiefly on
unrefined foods, avoiding or
reducing refined and ultra-
processed options, you
probably don’t have to
worry too much about it.

Read More: How to Build

Muscle on Keto

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates don’t build
muscle independently, but
that does not mean that
they are useless for building
muscle. You store the carbs
you eat in your muscle as
glycogen, which you then
use to fuel your workouts.
Carbohydrate is the best
fuel for intense exercise like
strength training.

Calculating how many

carbohydrates you should
eat is easy. First, determine
how many calories and the
amount of protein and fat
you need following the
outlined steps. Then you
add carbs to the calculation
until you reach your
intended calorie intake.

Base your carbohydrate

intake on good, healthy
choices instead of simple,
refined sugars. You don’t
have to avoid sugar, but
sugar-based foods should
be the little extra something
in your diet, not the
foundation.

These are some excellent

choices for your
carbohydrate needs:

Bread
Pasta
Grains
Rice
Potatoes, both
regular and sweet
potatoes
Bulgur
Quinoa
Beans
Lentils
Fruits
Berries
Vegetables

Do I Have to Count
Calories?
No, you don’t. However,
doing so at least once can
be helpful. You get a feel of
how much you need to eat. 

As an example, let’s go
back to those 2,500
calories. 

You have decided

on 200 grams of
protein and 70
grams of fat. 
Each gram of protein
and carbohydrate is
4 kcals, and each
gram of fat is 9
kcals. 
200 x 4 = 800 kcals
from protein.
70 x 9 = 630 kcals
from fat.
800 + 630 = 1,430
kcals from protein
and fat.
2,500 – 1,430 kcals
= 1,070 kcals from
carbohydrates.
1,070 / 4 = 270
grams of carbs, give
or take.

Now, grams here and kcals

there are not important.
These numbers are just
there to guide you. You
don’t have to weigh
everything you eat and
calculate grams and
calories precisely. Keep the
rough averages in mind and
go from there. When you’re
looking to build muscle, a
little too much food won’t
hurt, but not getting
enough can prevent you
from seeing the results you
want.

Meal Frequency
Providing protein for your
muscles regularly during
the day is beneficial, but
you don’t have to plan your
fat and carbohydrate intake
with any particular
diligence. It’s an excellent
strategy to include carbs in
your meals before and after
training, though.52 Eating
carbohydrates before
training improves your
performance, and doing so
afterward lets you replenish
your energy stores again. 

Supplements for
Building Muscle
After 50
A good diet is your
nutritional foundation for
building muscle and getting
stronger. However, getting
all the nutrients your body
needs is not always easy.
Or at least not convenient.
That’s where supplements
come in.

Protein Supplements
As we said before, you need
more protein for optimal
gains in muscle mass when
you get older. You can get it
all from regular food, but it’s
not always convenient. A
protein supplement is a
great way to increase your
daily protein intake.

Don’t expect any different

or better results from a
protein powder compared
to the same amount of
protein from food, though.
It’s just an inexpensive and
convenient source of
protein.

You have many different

types of protein
supplements to choose
from, which might be
confusing. Whey protein
and soy protein are two
common ones. Whey
protein comes from cow’s
milk, and soy protein comes
from the soybean. Both are
excellent choices. Soy
protein is likely the best
option if you don’t use
animal-based proteins, but
if you do, whey protein has
a slight edge.53

Read More: Whey or Soy

Protein for Building
Muscle?

Drinking a shake with

around 40 grams of protein
after your workouts is a
great way to make sure
your muscles have what
they need to grow bigger
and stronger. Young lifters
only need 20 or so grams,
but that’s not enough when
you get older. 

As for timing, you should

also aim to get some
protein down soon after a
workout. That doesn’t
matter much for young
lifters, but it might make a
difference in gains for older
ones.54

Creatine
Creatine is probably the
most effective supplement
for anyone who wants to
gain muscle and strength,
for both young and old.
Older lifters might benefit
even more from using
creatine.

In older adults, the

combination of strength
training and creatine has
many benefits. Not only do
you gain more muscle and
strength than with training
alone, but you also improve
your bone mineral density
and become more resistant
to fatigue when you train.
Your body handles your
everyday physical activities
better. Creatine can even
enhance some of the
functions of your brain.55 56
57

Creatine is inexpensive and,

best of all, safe for older
adults. Your muscles will
thank you for it.

Take 5 grams of creatine

per day, after your workout
on training days and with a
meal on rest days. Adding it
to a post-workout protein
shake is an excellent way to
remember to take it.

When buying creatine, go

for creatine monohydrate.
It’s the original and still the
best. Many other variants
have popped up on the
market over the years, but
none have matched
monohydrate, which is also,
by the way, the least
expensive.

Read More: Creatine:

Effects, Benefits and
Safety
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3s are essential
fatty acids your body
requires for many things.
They keep your cells
healthy and are crucial to
keeping your heart, blood
vessels, and immune
system in shape, amongst
other things.

In recent years, omega-3s

have received attention
because they might help
build and maintain muscle
mass, especially in older
people. One meta-analysis
found that 2 grams or more
of omega-3 fatty acids per
day may help you gain
muscle and strength.58
Another meta-analysis
found no such effects.59
That one didn’t focus
specifically on strength
training, though.

While the jury is still out,

mainly because of the
limited amount of available
research, a quality
supplement providing 2–3
grams of the omega-3s
EPA and DHA won’t do any
harm. Who knows, it might
help your gains somewhat,
in addition to potential
cardiovascular benefits.60

Also, supplementing with

omega-3 fatty acids
reduces inflammation after
a strength training
workout.61 In young people,
actively reducing the
inflammation a training
session creates can impair
muscle growth.62 However,
this is not the case in
individuals over the age of
50.63

Older individuals often have

low-level chronic
inflammations present.
Anything that helps deal
with those, like omega-3s,
enables you to gain muscle
more effectively.64 Anti-
inflammatory drugs do the
job but bring potential side-
effects at the same time. A
couple of grams of omega-
3s per day don’t.

Read More: Omega-3

Fatty Acids: Effects,
Benefits, and Safety

Multivitamin/mineral
supplements
These are supplements
providing most of the
essential micronutrients –
vitamins and minerals – in
one convenient package.
Many of these are crucial
for your muscles, but don’t
expect a
multivitamin/mineral pill to
be your key to muscle
growth. Instead, look at it
more as a precaution. You
don’t want to get too little of
any of the vitamins and
minerals you need for a
strong and healthy body.

You can get all these

micronutrients from a
varied diet. However, how
many of us eat that varied
diet? A quality
multivitamin/mineral
supplement is an excellent
investment to ensure your
muscles have all the
nutrients they need at their
disposal.

When choosing a
multivitamin/mineral
supplement, don’t go for
one with many times the
recommended daily intake
of any of the
micronutrients. Getting
enough is good, but more is
not better. It can even slow
your gains down instead of
boosting them. Some
vitamins and minerals can
become toxic if you
overdose on them long
enough.

Vitamin D
Your body requires vitamin
D to keep your bones
strong and to absorb
calcium. It also regulates
processes involving your
immune system and cell
growth, among many other
things. You get vitamin D
from the sun, some dietary
sources like fatty fish, and
from fortified foods.

Vitamin D plays an
important role in muscle
development and
performance.65 A 2019
study with more than 4,000
older participating adults
showed an association
between vitamin D
deficiency and lower
muscle strength and
performance.66

In other words, you don’t

want inadequate vitamin D
levels if you take your
training seriously.
Unfortunately, vitamin D
deficiency is widespread.
More than 40% of the US
population is considered
vitamin D deficient.67 Dark
skin prevents you from
making vitamin D from
sunlight, leading to a
whopping 82% of black
Americans being deficient.

Consider a daily vitamin D

supplement providing 2–
4.000 IU (International
Units) to ensure you get
enough of this vital nutrient,
especially if you are not
outside in the sun a lot and
don’t eat fatty fish several
times per week. That is a
safe dose and a proper
safeguard to ensure your
body and muscles get
enough.

Read More: Vitamin D:

Effects, Benefits, and
Safety

These are the supplements

I believe can benefit you
the most. Most other
supplements are
unnecessary or even
useless. Some, like caffeine,
are supported by scientific
evidence and help your
performance in the gym a
bit. However, the ones listed
above are the ones that can
either directly help you
build muscle or ensure you
don’t get too little of
something you need to get
good results.

Want to learn more about

dietary supplements?
Which ones are worth your
money, and which are
questionable or useless?
Check our StrengthLog’s
Supplement Guide, our free
guide where I review 26 of
the most popular
supplements.

I’ve Been Training

for a Long Time.
What about Me?
This article is mainly
intended for those over the
age of 50 who are new to
the lifting game.

If you’re an experienced
lifter with years of training
under your belt, you don’t
have to change anything.
Just listen to your body if it
tells you that you might
need more recovery to
perform its best now that
you’re over 50. 

The basic training

principles and the nutrition
parts of the article apply to
you as well, of course, but
other than that, you know
your own body and
capabilities far better than I
do. Keep doing what you’re
doing. You have already laid
the foundation of staying
ahead of the pack as far as
health, strength, and
muscle mass goes.

While you won’t be able to

keep building more and
more muscle indefinitely as
you get older, you already
have an incredible
advantage over any same-
age peers who aren’t lifting.

Summary
You can build muscle no
matter your age. Strength
training has proven to be
both safe and effective
even for older adults.

You might, however, have to

be a little more particular
about some of the details of
your training, diet and
recovery if you want the
best results.

Training:

Train every muscle

group 2–3 days per
week, using mostly
compound
movements.
Work your way up to
4 sets per exercise
and 8–15 reps per
set.
Practice progressive
overload by
increasing the
weights you use
when you are able
to.
Listen to your body
and get enough rest
and recovery to
perform well.

Diet:

Eat a balanced diet,

preferably with a
small calorie surplus.
Avoid going on a
weight loss diet if
you’re trying to build
muscle, unless you
are overweight.
Aim for a daily
protein intake of at
least 1.7 grams of
protein per kilogram
of bodyweight.
Eat 0.4 grams of
protein per kilogram
of bodyweight every
3–4 hours.
Supplements that
help you build
muscle are protein
powders (if you
don’t get enough
protein from your
diet) and creatine.
Supplementing with
omega-3 fatty acids,
vitamin D, and a
quality
multivitamin/mineral
tablet is a good way
to ensure you’re not
getting too little of
any vital nutrients.

There you have it! The

essentials of building
muscle after 50.

It’s never too late to start

building muscle. Yes, there
it is again.

Respect your body, engage

in regular strength training,
challenge your muscles,
and eat a healthy diet with
enough muscle-building
protein. As long as you do
so, you’re on your way to
building a stronger,
healthier, and more
muscular you, regardless of
your age.

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How to Build
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How Fast Can You
Build Muscle?

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Andreas Abelsson
Andreas is a certified
nutrition coach with
over three decades of
training experience. He
has followed and
reported on the
research fields of
exercise, nutrition, and
health for almost as
long and is a specialist
in metabolic health and
nutrition coaching for
athletes. Read more
about Andreas and
StrengthLog by
clicking here.

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