Muscle mass is a term that describes the amount of muscle tissue on your body. When you increase your muscle mass through exercise, you provide your body with a variety of potential health benefits. Fifty-year-old men, and men and women who are even older, can typically gain muscle and enjoy these benefits.
Basics
You naturally lose muscle mass as you grow older, and if you don't offset this loss, your body will eventually replace your lost muscle with fat, according to Dr. Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center. Exercises that help you maintain or increase muscle mass and prevent fat buildup are commonly known as strength-training exercises. Activities that fall under this general heading include lifting with weight machines or free weights, working out with lengths of rubber tubing called resistance bands and performing calisthenics, or body weight exercises.
Benefits at Any Age
You can benefit from the muscle-building effects of strength training at any adult age, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. While you might think that health problems associated with advancing age --- including arthritis, obesity and heart disease --- would make strength training impractical, participating in muscle-building exercises can help you reduce the signs and symptoms of these ailments. Regular participation in a muscle-building program can also help you control your weight more easily, improve the strength of your bones, reduce your chances of losing your balance and falling, increase your ability to properly control your blood sugar and improve your state of mind and sleep patterns.
Muscle-building Routines
The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association recommend that adults under the age of 65 perform strength-training exercises at least two days a week. Each individual strength-training session should contain eight to 10 exercises that work all of you major muscle groups, including those located in your arms, legs, shoulders, hips, back and chest. To gain the muscle-building benefits of your activity and simultaneously protect yourself, perform each exercise with enough weight to tire your muscles out in anywhere from eight to 12 repetitions.
Considerations
Review your health with your doctor before you begin a strength-training program. If you have high blood pressure, participation in weightlifting can endanger your health if you hold your breath, use poor technique or lift too much weight while exercising. However, for most individuals with high blood pressure, the muscle-building benefits of weightlifting exercises offset the potential risks. Typically, you must also engage in aerobic activities, which improve your heart and lung function, to gain the full health-related benefits of exercise.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Strength Training; Getting Stronger, Leaner, Healthier
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Growing Stronger; Strength Training for Older Adults
- American College of Sports Medicine: Physical Activity and Public Health Guidelines
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: How Much Physical Activity Do Adults Need?
- MayoClinic.com: Exercise; A Drug-Free Approach to Lowering High Blood Pressure
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