Struggling to Build Muscle Due to Aging? Exercise Scientist Shares Tips for Muscle Hypertrophy Post 40

Started your fitness journey in your 40s or 50s? Don’t worry because Dr. Mike Israetel has got you covered. He has a PhD in Sport Physiology from East Tennessee State University and with all the knowledge he gained over the years, he put forth his learnings in a straightforward manner. While the Exercise Scientist recommended his fitness training series ‘Hypertrophy Made Simple’ in his latest YouTube video, he dished out a few pointers that people can easily incorporate into their existing routines.

The first suggestion that Israetel had was a “more careful” warmup, as it plays a crucial role in your lifting journey. He advised his viewers not to skip anything and to take three proper workout sets: light, moderate, and heavy, before the first lift. Then take one or two warmup sets between all your lifts, following the right technique and range of motion, and taking proper rest time. The Exercise Scientist, thus, advocates never skipping your workout if you’re in your 40s. 

The second vital factor he talked about on Renaissance Periodization on YouTube was slow eccentric control. “Instead of dumping the bar in your chest in a bench lower under control very slow. That maximizes the muscle growth.”

Next, the Exercise Scientist recommended that one take a small pause at the bottom of lifts. This allows a deeper stretch, aiding in muscle growth. Following this procedure decreases the risk of getting injured. Dr. Mike stated, “Getting deep into that stretch as deep as possible and pausing at the bottom for a second or two can actually improves both your flexibility and your strength through that range of motion, which means those two added together equal your mobility, can go up substantially.“

Additional pointers he mentioned were:
-Avoid ego lifting.
-Do sets of 10 or more repetitions.
-Start with low frequency and volume.
–Israetel does not recommend increasing weights more than 5lbs at a time.
-Deloading every 4-6 weeks.

How important is downtime?

In the video, Dr. Mike Israetel highly recommended a month of downtime. But isn’t a month too long? Well, yes, but the scientist made an interesting case. He said that after every five months, older folks ought to pick a special month and go very easy during their workouts. And during the last two weeks of that month, he suggested going on a nice vacation and not working at all!

But wouldn’t this result in losing your gains? “You will gain fat during that… you will lose muscle during that month… that one month is going to heal the living sh*t out of everything. So you get another five months of ultra productive training.”

It’s not just this. He suggested that there needs to be proper rest intervals while training every day.

Israetel is a co-founder of Renaissance Periodization and has coached several athletes with their diet and weight training. He is a competitive bodybuilder and professional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler. When he isn’t competing in bodybuilding events, he is known to bulk up to 250 lbs but cuts down to 225 lbs while competing.

Further, he has also worked as a consultant for sports nutrition with the U.S. Olympic Training Site in Johnson City, TN. Considering the fact that he also holds a PhD, it looks like his knowledge can certainly help the older folks stay fit. What do you think?