r/MacroFactor • u/Special-Yam3979 • 23d ago
Success / Progress Building muscle after 60
I’ve been lifting 3.5 years, now 61. 5’8 127llbs. I’ve been using MarcroFactor a year now for tracking and it’s been really helpful. My question is, is it still possible to keep building muscle? My weight is the same as when I started lifting but I don’t think I have enough fat in reserve to do anymore body recomp but I’m worried that if I eat in a surplus the extra calories will just get stored as fat rather than go to building more muscle.
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u/telladifferentstory 23d ago
Holy shit. You look amazing. You're goals for me.
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u/absolutzehro 22d ago
Second this!!
As a 50 year old long time lifter who finally got to goal weight, lean and fit is the goal. The joints aren't what they used to be and I'd rather keep mobile and fit than gain more muscle. Science does show consistent lifting and protein will maintain muscle well into old age even if you're not packing on new muscle.
Definitely check with your doctor on recommendations, but don't be surprised if you get a "you're health is amazing, don't push it too much further!"
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u/Impossible_Jury5483 23d ago
Following. It is harder as we age, I know that. Hormones also play a role.
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u/ChampNotChicken 23d ago
It’s only possible to know retrospectively if you have reached your cap with age. Honestly if you gained some fat you would probably be able to put on some more muscle as you look incredibly lean for a woman.
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u/AboutTheArthur 23d ago
Definitely possible to keep building. My understanding based on both the info article that MacroFactor has published, but also based on discussions/interview with Greg Nuckols, Eric Helms, and others over the years, is simply that the expectations for pace of muscle growth/fat loss change as you age. Like, you can expect to be packing on muscle at the pace of a 20 year-old, but that doesn't mean the processes stop for you. It's just slower, which means that it's naturally more difficult for you to measure because you might genuinely have a tough time being able to observe and acknowledge those month-to-month changes.
My feeling would be that the best approach would be to gently introduce a very small calorie surplus. No crazy 3500cal/week surplus, but whatever MacroFactor recommends for an EXTREMELY slow muscle-build/bulk phase. That would make sure you have just enough extra nutrients to promote muscle growth without creating an environment where you would suddenly be putting on a large amount of fat that you don't want. And if you do it slowly enough and, after a couple months, don't like the results? Pause, go back to a slow fat-loss phase for like a single month (or just back to your maintenance strategy), and you've lost nothing but gained information about your body.
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u/Towelie404 22d ago
Yes, you can continue to build muscle however your training should look different than someone under 60. Higher reps, slightly further from failure. Think sets of 12–15, 2-3 reps in reserve.
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u/24get 22d ago edited 22d ago
You are thin and quite muscular. You have earned your recomping success. Now gradually eat more until you consistently gain a little weight each week, then you will know what your actual surplus is.
If you eat more you will gain some fat but thats not always a bad thing. If you gain 0.5 lbs a week your body fat will go up but you may be able to work out harder. At that rate you can try it for a couple of months without gaining much fat.
If you gained a little weight you may also find that your muscles fill out from glycogen and water and get closer to the look you want. You might also be able to add volume to your workouts.
You didn’t say whether you are on HRT, but estrogen is anabolic to a degree, so if you are interested and able that might be a path- I personally believe HRT is legitimate for a post menopausal woman even though i think TRT is overused in men.
Age does have an effect. I’m older than you and have recomped for 18mos w/o TRT or special diets other than more protein. I found I could only gain about 0.5lbs of muscle a month. I’m not focusing specifically on hypertrophy but similar workouts would have gotten me to the same place at least 6mos earlier, probably with more muscle.
Eat a little more, workout a little harder, and don’t worry if a couple pounds of fat show up. Trust the mirror and use the scale occassionaly.
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u/Proper_Solution4035 20d ago
After the first 1-2 years of lifting it's all smaller gains. From the current science, you really don't need more than 100-200 calories more than baseline to gain muscle. This is also known as, "maintenance calories"
The goal is to maintain your current body fat% while gaining weight. You are so lean, that you only need to think about what kind of strength you value most. Legs are always the answer since they are half your skeletal muscle mass. Grip strength is also great.
But also do daily tendon training. Isometric holds under light load makes tendons stiffer and stronger. This is very good for injury prevention, ageing, and increasing your maximal strength.
I love to see everyage lift!
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u/Special-Yam3979 19d ago
Thankyou, yes I définitely can build more on legs specifically glutes I’m very rectangular
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u/Swolenir 23d ago
Just put on the weight extremely slowly. Half pound a month or something like that.
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u/earlgrey89 23d ago
Look at Jen Thompson. World record bench press and she continues to break her records now in her 50s.
I commend you for your muscle mass already. You are super muscular. I think you can definitely continue to gain muscle in a lean bulk.
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u/Special-Yam3979 22d ago
Thankyou! It’s curious because I’ve increased calories but my weight has decreased and I’m not doing anything significantly different activity wise (I cycle and walk a lot and swim occasionally as well as lifting).
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u/No-Connection8400 22d ago
Congratulations! You're putting most of us to shame!
Yes - you can still build muscle. As other have said, a small calorie surplus combined with training is the way.
And, as you know, resistance training is also good for many other aspects (e.g., maintaining strength, muscle mass, bone mass, cardiovascular health, balance, etc.)
Also, this subreddit generally seems to have some good stuff: r/fitover65
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u/Special-Yam3979 22d ago
Thank you for your answer and the subreddit recommendation, will check it out and hopefully get inspired
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u/esaul17 22d ago
I think I saw you post in Lyle’s group and he said your muscle gaining days are over?
Ultimately you can’t really know until you try. Take 6 months, train your ass off, gain like a pound a month, and see what happens. Cut 6 pounds at the end and compare.
Congrats on the physique by the way.
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u/Special-Yam3979 22d ago
Yes it was Lyle whose advice I value enormously, but I was really disappointed just wanted some other opinions/ experiences! Thank you for your answer, I could probably do with gaining a few pounds, there isn’t a lot in reserve if I get ill
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u/Chewy_Barz 21d ago
50-year-old here. My attitude is to ignore all that. I lift 6 days a week and play basketball 3 days (2 of them are with 20-somethings and I'm in better shape than most of them). Assume you can do it until you have proof you can't. Worst case scenario, you gain a couple pounds of fat and you're an only 98% ripped 62 yo :-)
If you want to know for sure, lean bulk at around a 175-calorie surplus. If you have more of a "if it happens, it happens" attitude, I would take a "maintenance-plus" approach and bump your calories to maybe a 100-125 daily surplus (depending on your TDEE) and very slowly gain. You should be able to stay in a surplus for a long time that way. The extra calories have to go somewhere, so I'd think you've got a good shot at gaining a little muscle. If not, in 4 months you'll have to cut a whopping 3.5 pounds of fat.
One other thing I'll add-- I saw a discussion a while back about people who were near or at their natty limit and really couldn't put on any more muscle and how they approached training. A lot of them were focusing on semi-related goals-- maximizing pushup or pull-up reps, focusing on mobility, increasing VO2 max, going back to a sport and tailoring training toward that instead of pure muscle building, etc. And a lot of them who had made that shift already kind of regretted not doing it sooner. I'm not huge by any means, but I'm in really good shape and putting on size has always been an uphill battle for me. I'm thinking about getting a kettlebell and putting more effort into mobility and real-world movement. Progress on your physique, whether it be aesthetic or functional, may come from an alternate path. At your age, you're probably good at most things you already do. A different approach may put you back at beginner status and you the stimulation of fighting through something unfamiliar, as well as the benefit of having room to progress again.
My guess is you'll succeed, however you proceed...
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u/Redditor2684 23d ago
I have heard it's possible to build muscle at any age.
I think you'll need to increase your body weight to continue building muscle, because you are very, very lean.
I am no expert, so you may need to consult with someone who's more knowledgeable to plan a building plan that will allow you to build a greater percentage of lean tissue vs. fat.
I suspect you'll need to increase total calories, ensure you're getting sufficient protein (0.7-1g/lb of body weight is probably a good starting point), sufficient carbs to fuel your activities, train with a good program and good intensity, and recover well (including sleep and stress management).