Muscle mass is lost as we age. Are you doing anything to slow the process?

Yes. At age 73 I have the same muscle mass I had at age 18. I am managing to keep it without resorting to any supplements or testosterone replacement.

By James Russell

Six days a week I go to the gym. I spend 90 minutes lifting weights, then 30 minutes on the treadmill, then 20 minutes in the sauna. I do push-pull-legs, repeat, then a day off. My weight workouts are intense for my age as I do a set about every 3–4 minutes. I do the stuff older people generally don’t do. For example I do six sets of squats (low, with my thighs parallel to the ground). As I pyramid up, I am doing eight reps with 150 lbs on my shoulders at a body weight of 165. After squats, I do three sets of leg presses, three sets of deadlifts, three calf raises. Most people do leg day once a week. I do two leg days per week.

I do pull-ups.

I do four sets of seven reps slowly with strict form. Most of the young body builders in the gym can’t repeat my pull-up routine. The rest of my weight routine is what you would see with a much younger body builder.

But my real secret weapon is my diet.

I eat 1.8 grams (or more) protein per kg of body weight. I eat a very low carb diet with a limit of 50 grams of net carbs (carb grams minus fiber grams) per day. I eat all meals inside an eight hour window (eg. I eat all calories from noon until 8:00pm.) I periodically fast (I do a 36 hour fast every two weeks).

This low carb, time-restricted feeding, intermittent fasting diet has four important results:

It teaches my body to burn fat instead of carbs. It raises my production of human growth hormones, it raises my testosterone (indirectly, not directly). It lowers my rate of inflammation.

This allows me to add muscle even at age 73. The constant fat burning leaves me with zero belly fat and ripped all the time. The lower inflammation controls the typical arthritis most elderly folks have. The higher hormone levels allow me to gain muscle like a younger person without resorting to testosterone replacement therapy.

Here are the results: