These days, people tend to look older than they should be. It’s common to see men in their 50s looking like they have already reached senior citizen status. This is largely due to the steep decline in testosterone levels in men 40 and older, which accelerates the aging process.
How great would it be if you can reverse the clock, and look younger instead? An emerging trend in the fitness sphere is the ripped grandpa trend, were men, 50 and older, sporting a silver fox appeal, and a physique that would put most 20-year-old boys to shame.
More men over 50 are now discovering the techniques to get fit and ripped when most guys their age would rather be comfortable at home. In this article, we’ll discuss the steps to having a ripped grandpa bod, and how you can prepare your body for the ultimate transformation.
Why you should work out in your 40s and 50s
This may sound surprising, but many of those ripped grandpa pictures you see on social media are from men who recently took fitness seriously, but as you may have expected, it took a lot of work, discipline, and dedication from these men to get their bodies from being fat, wrinkly, and bloated, to a fit and ripped physique.
Your 40s and 50s are the best time to work out; it’s right at the perfect time when your body is still capable of changing and adapting to your physical activities. Hence, you can still gain muscle, burn fat, increase your metabolism, and improve your strength during this critical time. When you start your workouts in your late 50s and 60s, your body may have weakened to a point that it can no longer sustain the demands of grueling strength and conditioning workouts.
However, when you start early, the less you have to worry about your physical performance later on in life. As you build strength and muscle in your younger years, the easier it would be to maintain your physical performance even beyond your sixties.
Important fitness and workout tips for middle-aged men
As you get older, your fitness and nutrition requirements will change. If you relied on energy drinks and pre-workout blends in your younger years to get ready for a workout, taking the same amount of stimulants may not be safe for men your age. Going all-natural is the proper way to protect your health. You may not go as hard on your workouts as you did when you were younger, but it’s okay as long as you keep yourself active.
This may also be the best time to cut down on all your unhealthy habits, such as alcohol, smoking, and recreational drug use. These will only slow your progress down even more, and could potentially develop different health issues as you get older.
Talk to your doctor
No workout advice would work for all middle-aged men because chances are, many have already developed health problems at that stage in their lives. It’s important to discuss your fitness plans with your doctor, so you can be guided about your limits, what you should watch out for, and what you can do to further improve your health and fitness.
Figure out a diet that works for you
Having a diet is even more challenging for older men who have existing health issues that involve nutrition. High cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, should all be considered in your diet, and you may need to talk with a professional who would help you figure out a diet that would help you lose weight and build muscle without compromising your health.
Make weight loss your priority
As an older gentleman, it’s more important for your health and physical performance to focus on weight loss at first. When you lose weight, you reduce your cardiovascular stress, which helps you have better stamina during your workouts. Cardio workouts are the best workouts to help you burn fat, and this also boosts your cardiovascular health by reducing cholesterol and hypertension. Cardio can also help lower your blood glucose and improve your overall metabolism.
Weight loss workouts not only improve your overall health; it also helps you prepare you for more intense strength and conditioning exercises that would help you build muscle.
Go with resistance training
Resistance training, or training with your body weight, resistance machines, and free weights, is different for older men. You need to consider your joint health and other injuries you may have sustained before you go head-on with your training. Be mindful of your workouts, and always consider workouts that do not aggravate your weak points.
It’s always best to start slow and work your way up as you gain strength and confidence. For most men, working out helps alleviate joint stress and pain, which helps you in the long run.
Always keep in mind that your goal is to progressively overload your workouts, meaning that you have to keep challenging yourself with heavier weights and resistance to keep building strength and muscle, but never overexert yourself.
Take testosterone-boosting supplements
Testosterone levels decline as men get older, and it’s a key factor that limits the progress of older men. You need optimal testosterone levels to restore your youthful physical performance, which will help you progress further in your workouts.
Testosterone helps by promoting tissue growth, increasing growth hormones, and improving muscle protein synthesis. It’s an open secret that most ripped older men take testosterone of some sort, but the last thing you want at this point is to take testosterone injections, which could kill your body’s natural testosterone production. It’s much better to take the safer, more practical route and go with natural testosterone-boosting supplements that help your body’s natural testosterone production to increase and sustain your testosterone levels.
Older men benefit the most from taking testosterone-boosting supplements since it also elevates energy levels, plus it also improves mood, drive, and motivation to work out – and that’s only on top of better muscle growth and performance.
Not all testosterone-boosting supplements are made equal. You’d want a superior testosterone-boosting supplement like Male UltraCore that has all the best ingredients and standardized extracts to help you consistently increase your testosterone levels, improve your muscle performance, and maintain your muscle mass.
