How old is too old for bodybuilding

An over 50 workout does not have to be that much different from one designed for any other age if you live an active lifestyle and are in good health. The main difference you will find, according to Shannon Clark, writing for Bodybuilding.

When you were in your 30s, Clark says, you could do an incredibly long and intense workout one day and then do it again the next. Now that you are in your 50s, Clark explains, it takes longer for your muscles to recover. The best way to train so that you can build muscle, Clark advises, is to make sure you target every muscle group from head to toe in each workout, but take one day off in between each strength-training session.

This gives your muscles time to recover and rebuild , and it also ensures that the workout schedule is not so intense that you will get discouraged and give up. If you are concerned about being too inactive on your off days, do something more moderate like taking a long walk, swimming, dancing, bicycling for pleasure rather than speed, or playing with children or pets. There are about as many ways to start a bodybuilding program as there are different types of bodies.

The best way to start building muscle after 50 is to set small, attainable goals. You will not be competition-ready in 30 days, and setting goals of losing inches in your waist or gaining them in your biceps are not always easy to attain with any predictability. Feeling that workouts are too hard is the main reason most beginners quit, according to Tim Henriques, owner of the National Personal Training Institute of Virginia.

Henriques recommends that your beginner workout should include all of the following, in this order:. The most important fuel you can provide to your body when you are trying to build muscle is protein.

Proteins are found in meat products such as meats, poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy. You can also get it from plant sources such as legumes, nuts, spinach and kale. And you can combine foods to get a full complement of amino acids, such as when you eat beans and rice together. The protein found in animal products is considered a complete protein because it contains the entire set of 10 amino acids that your body needs to process protein efficiently.

The amino acids in proteins are sort of like molecular Legos. They come in an almost endless variety of shapes and sizes; they can be put together, taken apart and reconfigured to suit whatever need your body has for them. While nutritional supplements are very popular among bodybuilders, certified sports dietitian at the University of California - San Diego Suzanne Smith explains that a diet based around lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables should be enough to fuel you as you build muscle.

There are different ways to measure success. If you are wondering whether you could build an amazing physique, improve your health and fitness, and grow your social circle, then yes. You can have a lot of success in bodybuilding, even if you wait until 30 to start. If your idea of success is lifting a Sandow trophy and retiring early thanks to your career earnings, then you may have left it too late. Most Pro bodybuilders start in their late teen years, and many of them are competing in their early 20s.

With the amount of time it takes to build significant muscle, you will be hitting your peak size right around the time that many bodybuilders are retiring. You could still compete in Masters categories. Still, many people take up running or tennis or boxing in their 30s, and they never even consider becoming a professional athlete. Maybe bodybuilders need to be a bit more realistic in their desires. Bottom Line: You can create an amazing physique, but it will take a lot of time, and you should forget about becoming a top pro bodybuilder.

It is incredibly rare to be successful as a bodybuilder. Sure, there are a few examples of bodybuilders who started competing after If you have been powerlifting from age 18 through to age 29, then becoming a pro bodybuilder is perhaps possible. Even then though, you would be playing catch up. Bodybuilding has a lot of specific skills and training techniques that you would have to learn.

Also, if you are starting out at 30, you have missed out on years of anabolic steroid use. Think how much muscle your competitors would have piled on in that time.

It takes years to build muscle, and while you will see huge gains within the first 5 years or so, building the muscle mass of a pro bodybuilder can take 15 years roughly. Nor will you have enough time to catch up.

There are two reasons why becoming a successful natural bodybuilder is marginally more likely, but still very unlikely. Firstly, natural bodybuilders have not been taking anabolic steroids, though as my article on steroids and bodybuilding demonstrated, this is not guaranteed. That being said, they will still have years head start on you.

Which you are unlikely to claw back, no matter how hard you train. Secondly, the competition is smaller and therefore it is a fraction less challenging to reach the top. But it does mean that the competition is a little less fierce. At the end of the day, you are still going to struggle to compete with the best of the best, unless as above you have spent your 20s building muscle mass from non-bodybuilding related activities such as powerlifting, wrestling, Olympic lifting, etc.

Of course, there are many other benefits to following a natural bodybuilding career. Larry started bodybuilding at the age of 16, and won Mr Idaho at age He won Mr Olympia at the ages of 27 and He last competed at the age of 41 years old.

He appears to have got into bodybuilding at the end of the war when he would have been around 18 years of age. He won Mr Olympia at age 26 and stopped competing at age 44 he managed 8th at Mr Olympia that year. He won his first Mr Olympia title at 23 years of age. He retired at age Columbu first met Arnold at a bodybuilding competition at age 24 though, so probably around years of age. All well-worn quotes usually written on pictures of sunsets and posted on Facebook by kind-hearted people who are definitely glass half-full types.

How old are you? What would your definition of a bodybuilder be? What would your definition of success be? For instance, is the act of training to be a bodybuilder — no matter how poorly thought out and followed — enough to make you a bodybuilder? A terrible accountant is still technically an accountant, a guy who has written unpublished Star Trek fan-fiction ebooks is still technically a writer. Going by this logic, anyone of any age can start bodybuilding.

What counts as being successful? Would getting in excellent shape count? Or do you need to win a competition? Would an amateur bodybuilding competition be good enough? Or are we talking pro cards and supplement sponsorship? When you give yourself excuses all the time. Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

I started at age 43 on year after a heart attack. I think you can manage. Dont think you will get any yes's to that question here. Go for it. Probably mid 30s with good Genes and super supplements Otherwise: never too old to start. Your test may be too low to make significant gains, and your joints might not be happy with heavy lifting, but it's definitely doable. You're never too old to start!