You'll see it said a million different ways on countless fitness or strength programs: Build muscle! Get strong! But what if the size of your muscles didn't have as much to do with strength as previously thought? Could Arnold Schwarzenegger have been Mr. Olympia with less bulge and more beanpole? That might be hard to say. But researchers have recently authored a paper in the journal Muscle & Nerve that argues for re-examining the decades-old assumption that big muscles caused by exercise do not, in fact, increase strength. A bodybuilding trainer might want to pump you up, but it doesn't mean the bigger your muscles swell the stronger you are. And, in fact, that might not matter to you, if you're more after the look than the strength. The authors also point out that this has been shown in high- and low-load resistance training: While you might grow stronger from a higher resistance load, you're not necessarily going to bulk up more significantly. And after stopping training, your muscle mass decreases but you still maintain muscle strength. So don't get too caught up with having the biggest guns in the gym. If you're going for strength, bigger doesn't always mean better. Another interesting study done in 1988 suggested that muscular strength can be maintained for up to three months after training is reduced.
After age 30, your lean body mass begins to decrease at a more rapid pace than it did in your 20s, so it's a great time to take action to slow those losses. Building muscle mass after 30 isn't hard, but it does take finding the right strength-training program and being consistent with it. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, these losses typically begin after a person turns the big 3-0. By the time people are 75 or 80, most have lost half the muscle mass they had in their 20s, reports a review published in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology in October 2014. According to the University of Mexico, the body uses more calories to maintain muscle than it does fat. In fact, muscle mass accounts for 20 percent of total daily energy expenditure, while fat only accounts for 5 percent. Therefore, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn all day long. Weight gain and obesity are linked to many serious diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even some types of cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So building muscle doesn't just make you look better - it can also help protect you from illness and injury. Read more: What Are the Benefits of Gaining Muscle Mass? Simply becoming more active is a great first step. Spend less time sitting and more time walking, jogging, riding your bike, hiking, taking the stairs or playing in the park with your dog or your kids. Mow your own lawn and Learn more rake your own leaves instead of paying someone else to do it. They also burn calories and fat. But you may also need to add in some dedicated exercise time to meet the amount of physical activity recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Finding other dedicated cardio and strength-training activities you enjoy will help you hit the target and achieve your muscle-building goals. Barre exercise: Combines ballet-inspired moves with yoga, Pilates and functional training. Vinyasa yoga: A physically challenging type of yoga that involves dynamic, flowing sequences linking breath to movement.
Classes usually inspire camaraderie and are sometimes held outside. Indoor cycling: Much more than just riding a stationary bike inside, these classes involve high-intensity cardio and often include strength-training moves on or off the bike. Pilates: A low-impact workout that targets the muscles of the core, as well as all the other muscles in the body. It is either done on a mat or on a machine called a reformer. Dropping into a class or the gym here and there isn't going to cut it. Schedule your workouts into your calendar just like you would a meeting and only skip them if absolutely necessary. If you are a self-motivated type, you can save a lot of money and time by doing strength-training exercises at home. You don't even need much space or equipment - using only your own body weight can help you build strength and mass. An easy way to organize a home workout for building muscle at age 30 is in a circuit.
You choose several exercises for your upper body, lower body or total body. How many exercises you choose depends on how much time and energy you have to work out. You can choose to work on your upper body one day and lower body the next, or you can hit all your major muscle groups in one session. Perform one set of each exercise in a row with little to no rest in between. At the end of the round, rest for a minute or Prime Boosts two and then repeat for your desired number of rounds. You can do each set for a number of reps or for a certain amount of time. For example, Prime Boosts you can aim for 10 to 15 reps of each exercise, or you can set an interval timer and do each exercise for 30 or 45 seconds. This type of workout will keep your heart rate elevated because you're not resting for long between sets. This is an efficient way to build muscle and cardiovascular endurance.