After you turn 30 your body loses muscle mass at the rate of almost 1% every year. Meaning, by 50 you will have lost 20% or more in most individuals who don’t weight train their bodies.

This loss of muscle (Sarcopenia) results in losing strength, shrinking in height and volume, poor gait, and under performance in your daily chores. The cumulative impact of all this means that, as you grow older, you will have, most probably, shortened your life by 4 to 6 years. Simply put, musculature is the one thing that has the highest correlation with longevity.

So what do you do to build muscle? You start weight training to build and/or retain that muscle. That’s the most important solution that various eminent exercise physiologists have prescribed.

To build muscle you need to pay attention to a protein-rich diet. Yoga will not help build muscle – neither will aerobics – and certainly not long distance running. In fact, long distance running will destroy muscle mass. It actually incinerates Type 2 (fast oxidative glycolytic) muscle fibres – the increment of which is a result of resistance training.

Gaining back lost muscle is a challenge to most, especially after thirty. You need to focus on heavier weights, explosive exercises and power movements on a regular basis. So don’t run for it! Rather, weight-lift for it!*

Zareer Patell – Black Belt, Fitness / Personal Trainer, Fitness Columnist and Consultant on Call (since 1972).