Eugene Sandow, George Hackenschmidt, Bobby Pandour, and Jack Lalanne all built muscle without steroids, and you can too. I’m going to take this one step farther because you can do this over 50.
Today we’re going to go over the 6 things you need to do to build muscle at any age.
First, we’ll talk about training because no matter how perfect your nutrition is, if you don’t train, you’re not going to build muscle.
Of these old-school guys, Bobby Pandour was a Gymnast. Both Eugene Sandow and Jack Lalanne were proponents of lightweight training. Although they also performed incredible feats of strength, you don’t find out how strong you are without moving heavy things. So at some point, they had to train heavy.
Finally, we have George Hackenschmidt, who believed in heavy weight training.
But who’s right? Lightweights high reps, or heavyweight? Or bodyweight training? This is the wrong place to look.
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First, we need to establish a regular and progressive training program. Research has long established to build muscle. We need to train close to failure. It’s those last few reps before failure that build muscle regardless of the weight used or the number of repetitions done.
Doing this just once or a few times isn’t going to build muscle. You need to train your whole body regularly at least 2 or three times a week, slowly increasing the amount of weight you are using, focusing on compound movements.
The next 3 points all have to do with nutrition. First, eat enough protein. Protein provides the building blocks for muscle growth. If you don’t have enough of the amino acids that come from protein, your body isn’t going to be able to build muscle.
I recommend 30 to 35% of your diet being protein. The old school rule of one gram per pound of bodyweight works better if you apply it to your fat-free mass, especially if you are overweight.
Next, get lean. If you are overweight, prediabetic, or diabetic, you’ll benefit from losing excess body fat and the improved insulin sensitivity that comes along with it.
Insulin isn’t the only hormone that works better at a lower body fat level, as both testosterone and growth hormone have been shown to increase as a man loses belly fat.
If your testosterone is in the normal range, your going to be able to build muscle even if it’s at the lower end of normal.
An improved hormone profile is a great reason to lose excess body fat. But it’s not the only reason. It’s a lot easier to build muscle in a calorie surplus, if you’re already overweight, adding in more calories only compounds the problem.
The goal should be to get under 15% body fat. You could stop at a higher percentage, but I like under 15 because it’s easier to see your progress when it isn’t hidden under a layer of fat.
The leaner you are, the longer you can be in a calorie surplus, going as low as 10% is still quite safe.
I’m losing body fat right now, so I can put myself into a slight calorie surplus for the next year. When I do enter into a surplus the goal will be to gain a pound a month. I accomplish this by adding a 100 calories a day into my meal plan and then assessing my weight every couple of weeks to see if I need to make any changes.
At the very most, you’ll want to add no more than two pounds of weight to your frame a month, as most natural guys won’t build more than a pound of muscle a month and long time lifters will add even less. The goal is to minimize the amount of fat we are adding and maximize muscle growth.
Protein isn’t the only macro that’s important. To maintain proper hormone function, we need a minimum of 20% of our calories coming from fats.
There’s no reason to be scared of carbs, either. Once you’ve lost weight and your hormones are functioning correctly, carbohydrates not only provide us with the energy to train, but they are very anti-catabolic, preventing muscle breakdown.
Shoot for at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night.
Supplements are not necessary to build muscle, and your money is better to spend on real food.
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00108.2009