Older Trainer Mass

I am 55 years and have been training on and off for more than 25 years. Obviously I'm not as strong as I used to be, however can still throw the weight around a bit and put some of the younger guys to shame. I have been an intensity trainer more than sheer weight. I am finding it hard to keep mass and hardness, I am only using some protein powder as supplement, any ideas on what else to assist (not the gear) I train 5 days a week.

I am sure there is good info for older trainers out there it is a matter of finding it. I am lucky in as much as have experience, I see how difficult it is for guys my age and older just now taking it up so I want to make the most of what I can.

Any ideas and thoughts appreciated.


Ozzulu. Canberra. Oz.:icon_rolleyes:

Since you dont want anything to do with chems... you will have to experiment with different combinations/ratio of high protein low carb diets. Nothing to suggest on training side as you have said you are more into intensity and not the lifts. You could try Animal Cut & Pak for a couple of months with whatever you are doing right now... I like both of those two and have always found them to work great together!

Here are my thoughts. The body is an adaptive mechanism. New stress equals new stimulus which in turn most logically equals new growth. If you are at a point of stagnation from years of intensity training and your lifts(and strength) are diminishing, then it is possible that changing your training style, even for short microcycles, will lead to strength increases and new development. I'm sure you have heard "A bigger muscle is a stronger muscle" or "Strength comes before size" etc. Maybe all you need is a twist. Another factor to consider is the hormonal response. Where are your hormone levels, both naturally as a byproduct of aging and as a byproduct of intensity training? Do you need an extra rest day(or more of a spread out split)? To wrap this all into one, Dorian and others trained really heavy, with crazy intensity, and emphasized rest/recovery(four day per week training while on gear, sometimes less). Clarence Bass might be another one to check out in terms of frequency, etc. Best of luck with your gains and hopefully something here helps. If it doesn't I'm sure with your years of wisdom you'll figure it out.

The main thing about getting older is the decline in hormone production. This is usually associated with declining muscle mass and activity as well as ageing. So maintaining the mass is a key part of keeping hormones up.

The big thing is training to keep strength levels up while being joint healthy. I'd recommend looking at doing a program that is going to use heavy sets (85% or more of 1Rep Max) combined with some mass work that focusses on medium to high reps on big movements. This means you are still doing enough strength work (say 5 sets - I recommend following Prilepin's chart), but also doing mass work that is good for the joints (15 or more reps). Currently I'm doing a heavy and light day with medium load accessories on both days. You could split the week up into heavy, medium and light or do a single focus day with h/m/l exercises.
http://70sbig.com/blog/2012/05/prilepins-chart/

Either way, getting older is all about fighting to keep active and healthy. So just keeping active will go a long way to maintaining hormone levels and allowing the retention of muscle mass and strength. It won't be like your 20s and 30s (I'm loving my 30s, so easy to maintain mass and strength), but it will be higher than normal levels for your age.

In terms of diet, the same as always, good balance of foods, plenty of fibre and protein and post workout protein is good stuff.