First things first, according to the researches we can easily say that bodybuilding can’t make any difference to your life span. Is muscle gain your only goal or what?
Muscle mass decreases when we get older.But it’s still achievable to increase your muscle mass when you’re an elderly person or geriatric.
According to a research by the UAB Center, seniors can’t be able to create new muscle like younger people but they can strengthen their remaining muscle fibers and still gain muscle mass.
You don’t have to be a good competitor as long as you live or there is no need to get the best results. Because nobody can be the best forever. There is one big thing which is neccessary, to be your best.
According to the studies conducted by the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine at the University of Alabama it’s obvious that people who are above the 60s and also 70s were found to be able to build muscle mass and strength.
You can use different type of exercises and workouts, resistance and weight training programs like bodyweight exercises or heavy weight lifting programs. There is nothing wrong unless you do it in the right way.
Additionally to having bigger muscles you can gain another advantage, increased bone mass. Resistance and weight training exercises also increases bone mass.
Lifting your body or anything that increases resistance on your muscles is the secret of hypertrophy.
If you really don’t know how to start you have to relax first. There is nothing much complex. For example starting with the available weights or bodyweight technique that require you to do max 8 to 12 repetitions is the key. The important thing is you have to exhaust the muscles at the end of the repititions.
How often you should do is up to your regeneration period but mostly working out 2 to 3 times a week is enough and ideal.
The right amount of exercising can differ from person to person. You have to learn to listen what your body is telling you. If something is wrong you must stop exercising or you have to lower the intensity and weights.
If you are not familier to bodybuilding you should use lighter weights. Completing a set until failure will bring you good results. There will be a time you can do it better. High reps with light weight increases muscle endurance while low reps with heavy weight tends to increase muscle mass.And also it can prevent injuries.
Maybe you can’t grow your muscles so much with lighter weights but it triggers the other type of muscle fibers, known as type 1 or slow twitch muscle fibers.
You can lighten the weights % 20-30 and increase the repetition. Also some experts advice to do one set only after the proper warm up moves. One set of 8-12 repetitions is usually efficient for any muscle group.
But if you want more muscle gain you should avoid doing more than 15 reps. Many researches indicate that this type of training (drop set) is the most efficient way to get maximum muscle gain. Because it impacts more muscle fibers and causes higher stress on the muscles.
Give your body enough time to rest! Bodybuilders need enough time for recovery process and repairing your muscles causes increase in muscle mass.
Can Bodybuilding Cause Heart Problems?
Dyings of ex-bodybuilders because of hearth complications appears to be steroid abuses. There are too many bodybuilders have had health problems but for instance Arnold Schwardzenegger has had an hearth surgery in 2020.
It’s a known fact that most of the bodybuilders are taking performance enhancing drugs such as steroids. Yes, it’s true that every professional bodybuilder are taking steroids. But it doesn’t mean you can’t get sofisticated results without taking any performance enhancing drug.
Many researchs suggest that exercise can sometimes increase the risk of hearth attack. But also a thorough medical check-up is important before starting.
If you have health issue, hearth disease or you’re not monitoring your activity properly then you should avoid exercising until you get well.
But on the other hand bodybuilding health benefits are accepted according to the studies . By increasing lean muscle mass you can get more vascular system volume and thus it can reduce your bloor pressure and health related problems. Bodybuilding decreases risk of developing coronary heart disease.
And also more muscle means burning more calories even when your body is at rest.
Bodybuilding also helps to improve blood sugar levels and thus people with diabetes with glycemic control.
The American Heart Association recommends strength training at least twice per week.
According to the study below less than an hour of weekly resistance exercise can lower the risk of metbolic syndrome by 29 percent and lower the risk of hypercholesterolemia by 32 percent compared with no resistance exercise.
Yanghui Liu, Duck-chul Lee, Yehua Li, Weicheng Zhu, Riquan Zhang, Xuemei Sui, Carl J. Lavie, Steven N. Blair. Associations of Resistance Exercise with Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2018; 1 DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001822