No matter when you decide to get back to the gym, you are making an awesome choice. This article investigates the best gym plan for men 45+ who want to regain lost muscle mass and stay fit for life.
Has it been 1 year since you last worked out? 2 years? 5 years? That’s ok, muscle has a degree of memory and getting it back can happen in no time. Maintaining a sound fitness plan enhanced by targeted and timed healthy dietary choices can really make the process streamlined. Let’s look closer into why men may lose muscle over the years and how it can come back. 
Top Reasons Men Lose Muscle in the First Place
The number of reasons that men can lose muscle mass over the years is endless. Some of the most common reasons include:
- Lack of exercise.
- Lack of power exercise or strength training.
- Focusing exercise solely on cardio and endurance training.
- Health issues such as low testosterone, illnesses, and injuries.
- Poor diet choices.
- Work, raising a family, and personal obligations.
Whew, as if there couldn’t be more, there are endless reasons why men 45+ might lose muscle mass, but these are the common reasons. With that in mind, how do men overcome these obstacles and dedicate to a lifetime of fitness?
How Men 45+ Can Overcome Obstacles for Muscle Recovery
Men 45+ an work to overcome a variety of obstacles to help restore lost muscle. Here are a few options to help you get started so you can be successful.
- Set Exercise Goals. Whether you’re new to exercise, a veteran, or wanting to get back to your old ways, setting goals is vital to success. Every man 45+ should aim to meet general exercise guidelines which includes 150 minutes of physical activity weekly, including at least two-three days of resistance training. If you have no idea where to start in your goals, this is a great one.
- Focus on Muscle Building. If you want to restore lost muscle, then you need to focus on building it. If it’s been a while or you get bored easily in workouts, then consider high intensity interval training (HIIT) to create fast gains.
- Schedule your Workouts. Look, you schedule so much on your calendar with work as it is, why not schedule your workouts too? Scheduling workouts sets your day up and reshapes your tasks as well.
- Bring your Family with You. Gyms know you have a family and that’s ok. Many gyms offer childcare services and if they are old enough to be safe, bring them to exercise as well. Families who exercise together stay fit together.
What Workouts are Best for Building Muscle?
Overcoming obstacles to exercise hopefully is a thing of the past, which means fitness programming needs to occur. Finding the type of exercise is just as important as the workout itself. Here are some proven ways to create a workout for success.
- Hypertrophy training. Installing progressive overload principals to your training may be the best way to restore your lost muscle. Progressive overload will include heavy weight, lower reps, and working until fatigue for best results.
- Pyramid stacks. If you want to regain your muscle, look to pyramid stacks to help you achieve progressive overload. Pyramid stacks require adding weight after each set and dropping the reps to fatigue the muscles. Aim for a pyramid that includes reps of 10, 8, and 6 with increasing weight after each set.
- HIIT workouts. Interval training is an effective and quick way to get your workout in while making gains. HIIT utilizes your time and fits exercises in that make working out seem to go by fast. This type of exercise is important for anyone, even if you haven’t been to the gym in some time.
Creating the Best Gym Plan for Men 45+ Who Want to Regain Lost Muscle
Finding a gym plan that can help men 45+ to regain lost muscle mass is a matter of trial and error sometimes. However, following this plan can help to set you up on a regular routine and help you to be consistent in the gym.
[wpcode id=”229888″]4 Week Progression Plan
Monday. Arms day. Focus on biceps curls, triceps pulldown, shoulder press, lateral raises, and forearm curls. Arms day is typically fun and consider using a pyramid stack of 10, 8, 6 with weight that is challenging to finish on each set.
Tuesday. Legs day. This day needs to have heavy lifts such as a deadlift, back squat, leg extensions, leg curls, calf raise, and lunges (weighted or not). Utilize the same pyramid of 10, 8, and 6 with weight that is also challenging to finish with every set.
Wednesday. Cardio, chest, back, and core day. This should involve posterior exercises such as the Lat pulldown, seated rows, reverse flies, and a back extension. For the core, aim for crunches, planks, side crunches, and trunk twists. Add in 20-30 minutes before, after, or during to encourage time optimization and consider a spin bike or stair climber if possible.
Thursday. Arms day #2. Still go after the same muscle groups, but consider adding different variations in your lifts on this day. Still aim for a pyramid program to encourage progressive overload.
Friday. Leg day #2. Push yourself to do different lifts here as well such as a leg press, weighted lunges, box jumps, and weighted step ups. Maintain a pyramid stacks still with reps of 10, 8, and 6 with weight that is challenging to complete with each set.
Saturday. Cardio, chest, back, and core day #2. Continue the same protocol as Wednesday and change the cardio up. If you previously did the stair stepper, do spinning today.
Sunday. Rest, yoga, or light stretching. Look, the body need to rest and so does the mind. Resting and giving the body a break can help to recover muscles and clear the mind so you can come back stronger next week.
How to Progress Through this Program
The gym plan above should be on two-week blocks; so, you will increase your weight by roughly 5-10% (or however you can with weight plates). This progression every other week allows for steady gains and can help your body to reach new heights.
Wrapping it Up
The best gym plan for men 45+ who want to regain lost muscle above really takes aim at steady progression. Reevaluate your weight every two weeks for best results and maintaining a program over the long-term is most important in any workout regimen.
Resources
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11699837
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36199287
image sources
- pexels-guto-macedo-13013768: Gute Macedo on Pexels
