Look around at really old people and we see the sobering future of our own bodies – then we blank that out and move on with living today. Typically our bodies change very gradually and we just adapt and tolerate the limitations as they show up. Frailty comes on slowly and, for most of us, will accelerate after age 75. The big question is: can we do anything about it, and is the benefit (longer health-span) worth the effort? My answer has always been a resounding YES!
Here is a practical way to push frailty out a couple of decades… 

The process of muscle loss (and strength and mobility loss) resulting from aging actually starts shortly after we mature, about age 25 -30. We gradually lose muscle mass and bone mass with each passing year unless we are using the muscles (and bones) in such a way as to make them grow again.

The most effective way to grow muscle is Resistance or Weight Training. I have been pumping iron since my thirties, and can readily get my muscles to gain strength and grow in size, even as I’m about to turn 77, but I have to play a few tricks on my body to see rewarding results. The tricks come from the bodybuilding world – these guys have been pushing the muscle-growth technology for decades and many studies show that bodybuilding supplements and exercise strategies work well for those of advanced age.

The trick I want bring to your attention today regards a strange signalling chemical our bodies make to limit our muscle size. You may have seen pictures of really muscular bulldogs or bluish colored bulls. These are animals bread to have massive musculature by lowing the activity of the gene that produces MYOSTATIN. Myostatin (Wikipedia) is a protein that limits the size of our muscles. People who produce lots of myostatin are skinny and those who produce little are muscular – the world just isn’t fair, is it?

Leave it to bodybuilders to come up with a supplement that lowers myostatin; and it proves to work at every age. The loss of muscle with age is called Sarcopenia (Wikipedia) It is the reason that, if you live long enough, you will eventually be unable to stand up from a chair, and that usually marks the end of your independent living.

One of the causes of sarcopenia is a rise in production of myostatin with age. Fortunately, we can drastically knock myostatin down with a product named Myo-X from the company MHP. I use this at night before bed  2-3 times a year. It actually promotes restful, restorative sleep wherein repair and muscle growth can occur during the night. I see visible changes (lower fat content and greater muscle mass) in the mirror every time. I encourage you to give it a 1-2 month test to see visible, positive returns from any form of exercise; just click the link to the Myo-X page at Vitamin Shoppe and order at very attractive pricing.

If you want to double those results you can add a growth hormone secretagogue, also taken at bedtime, for very good sleep and muscle growth. The key benefit from boosting growth hormone production periodically is better, faster repair of everything. It will even stimulate joint cartilage regrowth. The product I have the most experience with is Secretagogue Gold, also from MHP. This one works as advertised for me and I suspect you will be very happy with your results.

Using these tricks 2-3 times a year for a month or two is a practical way to literally reverse age in terms of strength, and body shape and most other markers of aging. You get a pretty big BANG for your bucks, and a lot more out of your work in the gym.

To your Greater Health and Fitness –

Frank Wilhelmi,

Your Senior Fitness Coach