Whey Protein Promotes Muscle Gain in Seniors

Muscle mass loss as people get older

Are you one of those people who believes that past a certain age no one can build muscle
mass? If so, then you are terribly mistaken, but you are also not alone in making the assumption. It turns out seniors aged over 70 can gain muscle. More than that, it wouldn’t take as much as most people think—whey protein alone is enough to get things going. Therefore, seniors trying to add more muscle to their physique should try to consume these drinks a little more often. 

Many people know that at a certain point in a person’s life, muscles and strength
begin to waste away. The condition is called Sarcopenia; and it sets in at the age of 50. Besides the loss in muscle mass, this condition can also make many matter-of-fact daily activities very laboring or even impossible. 

But in a study where a group of men aged over 70 was given whey protein while the other
was given a placebo, it was discovered that those who took the whey protein reported a significantly higher muscle gain. On average, the men who took the protein shakes ended up gaining 700 grams more than those who didn’t.

After a period of six weeks the men were then put on an exercise program. While this program enabled all of them to gain muscle mass, those who also took whey protein while also working out reported greater muscle gain. 

The Conclusion of the Study

The highlight of the study was that protein shakes could help seniors gain muscle, even
without the need to do any exercises. And along with the muscle gain benefits of these drinks, the seniors also benefited from a reduction in blood pressure and better physical fitness. 

So, whey protein is enough to make people of this age attain better health, a feat previously thought possible only through exercise. Although this is not a recommendation that older people do away with exercise and rely exclusively on whey protein as a way to gain muscle and attain better fitness, it does offer a way out for seniors where physical exercise might not be an option due to one health condition or another. 

In fact, when the exercise element was introduced into the study, it was noticed that the muscle gain results were much better. Therefore, the best approach is to combine the whey protein consumption with exercise for superior results where that is a possibility. You can use discount coupons http://www.lifetoliveit.com/muscle-and-strength to buy your own Whey protein much cheaper.

The Protein Shake  Unavailable in the Market

However, it turns out that seniors who have been waiting for this happy news might have
to wait a while before getting their hands on the particular type of protein shake the study used. The protein shake the researchers used has whey protein, creatine, calcium, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty  acids.

At the moment, the researchers involved in the study are working on getting a patent for the supplement since there is nothing like it in the market. Each of the servings the research team used had 30 grams of whey protein, 2.5 grams of creatine, 400 mgs of calcium, 1,500 mgs of omega-3 fatty acids, and 500 IU of vitamin D. 

Generally speaking, this is a higher than normal amount of protein, but that is in consideration to the age of the participants in the study. As people age, they lose their sensitivity to protein, which is why a little more is required to attain the same nutritional effects. 

How To Use Workouts to Maximize Muscle Gain Results

For those who can afford to put in some gym time and do muscle building workouts, there are plenty of ways to make sure the weight gain benefits of whey protein go a lot further. The truth is that there are lots of muscle gain programs out there which claim to offer superior muscle building results. 

But while there is some truth to their claims, the important thing to understand is that there are many ways to build muscle, and you don’t have to stick to a single muscle building method. 

There are four fundamentals to muscle building, and you can combine them all in your routine to ensure better results. The first is mechanical tension, an exercise program whereby you try to limit heavy weights, almost the maximum your body can handle. This means you should be expecting to have 1 or 2 reps at most.

Another approach is to introduce metabolic stress to the muscles. For this to work, lots of reps will be required, with the goal of forcing the body to rely on anabolic respiration. Studies have shown that this environment promotes muscle growth and they also help you build a toned a ripped body.

Taking the metabolic stress route often means doing many reps in quick succession, while
the mechanical tension option entails doing 1 or 2 reps at most. That is why you should also make Maximum Time under Tension exercises part of your routine. These exercises entail moving heavy weights slowly so that the muscles can truly feel the load and experience the burn.

The last aspect of your muscle gain training should be progressive overload. This is
whereby you take into account your progress and change your weights over time. Once you exercise, muscles adapt up to that strength level, and they will have no need to keep growing if your weights remain as such. 

But if you add more weights over time, they will have to adapt further by becoming bigger
and stronger. Ways of raising the bar include increasing the number of repetitions, the weight sizes, the frequency of the repetitions, and even adding more exercises to your regular routine. You can also reduce the amount of time you spend resting between workouts.