Study: Men in 60s Gain Almost as Fast as 30 Year Olds

CFC

CFC

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This is a paper from an old study that the guys at Ergo-log recently had a look at. I just wanted to remind any older guys reading this that there's never a reason not to start lifting, regardless of goals. Dramatic changes are possible irrespective of age.

Unsurprisingly IGF and test levels were significantly lower in the older men (average age 62), but what is surprising is that it didn't stop them gaining about 2/3 the muscle mass of the 30 year olds following the same programme over 10 weeks.

In terms of strength, the gains were actually identical, and the older men's cortisol levels declined significantly (but not the 30-yr olds), which would be expected to result in some substantial overall health gains. The drop in cortisol may also account for some of the muscle gains in the older men, as myostatin should be attenuated, which would ultimately be expected to have some body recomp effects (lower visceral and subQ fat).

Read Ergo-log's write up and graphs >>here<<
 
CFC said:
This is a paper from an old study that the guys at Ergo-log recently had a look at. I just wanted to remind any older guys reading this that there's never a reason not to start lifting, regardless of goals. Dramatic changes are possible irrespective of age.

Unsurprisingly IGF and test levels were significantly lower in the older men (average age 62), but what is surprising is that it didn't stop them gaining about 2/3 the muscle mass of the 30 year olds following the same programme over 10 weeks.

In terms of strength, the gains were actually identical, and the older men's cortisol levels declined significantly (but not the 30-yr olds), which would be expected to result in some substantial overall health gains. The drop in cortisol may also account for some of the muscle gains in the older men, as myostatin should be attenuated, which would ultimately be expected to have some body recomp effects (lower visceral and subQ fat).

Read Ergo-log's write up and graphs >>here<<
Click to expand...

There's still hope for me yet...!!
 
I wouldn't call 2/3 almost as fast..... more like much slower.

As for the strength I assume we are talking about relative numbers and not absolute? Because I find it hard to believe that 30 year old men and 60 year old men were lifting the amount of weight after 10 weeks. Hell even finding enough 60 year old men that could lift as much as the 30 yos at the begining would be hard. And somehow going from an 100 kg squat to a 150 kg squat is more impressive than going from an 80 kg squat to a 120 kg squat despite both being a 50% increase (the numbers are completely pulled out of my ass as I have no idea what is the average 1rm squat for a 30 year old untrained man and what is the average 1rn for an untrained 60 year old man).
 
It's all a matter of perspective. Since people over 60 were at one point assumed to be unable to gain much at all, you'll find 2/3 is actually surprisingly fast.
 
I guess you are right about it being a mater of perspective although I never though that old people were unable to gain muscle (even old females).... my grandmother was above 80 and had congestive heart failure, chronic anemia unresponsive to large doses of epo and was sent by one of her doctors to physical therapy. And the improvement in her health was remarkable. It did not last as long as I would have liked, but she did get a large improvement in her symptoms and quality of life for at least a year. And not only that, the response was remarkably rapid, month, month and a half..... so if she could get gains then I'm sure much healthier 60 year old men can too.

But in absolute terms their gains will never be as good as with 30 year old men (especially if you look at a large amount of people, I'm sure you could cherry pick some 60 year olds that would get stronger and bigger than some cherry picked 30 year olds).
 
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