Muscle Maturity – Looking Better As You Age

August 27, 2008

There is a term you may or may not of heard of called muscle maturity. The way I look at it is that over time your muscles get more and more defined from repetitive use. Over time you gain the ability to contract your muscles harder, which results in greater muscle definition. The biggest reason you don’t see a lot of older people with great muscle definition is either due to inactivity or excessive amounts of body fat.
surfing dad
[A father and daughter wake up early to catch some waves.]

A Word To the Younger Readers (under the age of 30)

Many of the questions I get are from younger people who want better ab definition. Many of the guys want better upper pecs to get that line down the middle of the pec area…or that “v” muscle near the hip bones that shows when they have low rise jeans on. Here’s the deal…a lot of that stuff will come with time. I know you want to look perfect today, but sometimes it takes a long time for certain muscle groups to reach their potential.

A Quick Personal Story About Muscle Maturity

I graduated high school in 1988 weighing 180 at about 8% body fat. I look a weight training class senior year, I was 175 when I started. I went to college and decided I want to get big. My goal was 240 (what was I thinking), but after 4 years I got up to 220′ish. After being that weight for a number of years, I decided it wasn’t a good look and didn’t even feel very healthy. I spent the next few years slimming down considerably and now I’m about 185 and around 8% body fat. If you were to take a picture of me then and compare it to present day, there is no comparison…I look much more defined today then I did 20 years ago…even though my stats are almost identical.

Don’t Fear Getting Older…Plan to Look Better As You Age

I think that older people are more interesting to look at than younger people. Old people have character and look much more unique then their younger counterparts. I love seeing a man and woman in their 60′s out 70′s swimming, water skiing, playing volleyball, etc. If you stay active, the body looks great over time.

Another Reason Not to Gain Excessive Amounts of Muscle

I see a lot of older gym members in my gym when I work out in the mid-day. A lot of these men and women are retired and want to hit the weights before it get’s busy around 5 pm. The men and women who train a bit on weights and hit the cardio hard look much more healthy and agile than the men and women who focused on muscle mass their whole lives. The large amount of muscle sags over time and just doesn’t create a good look as a person ages.

Stay Lean and Trim Your Entire Life. Why Not?

I will never go back to putting on more muscle mass. From this point on I just want to maintain my same body weight, but challenge myself with tough cardio and slowly but surely gain strength. I know that at some point I won’t be able to lift as heavy as I do now, or run as fast…but I will always have that lean, healthy look. Why not just make the decision to look great your entire life? Get in shape within the next 6-12 months…and be in “maintenance mode” for the next 60 years?

Note: This is one of my shorter posts, but I think the mind set here is really important. Society expects people to let themselves go as they age. I guess I want to live my entire 80-90 years to the fullest.

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{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }

Frank September 5, 2008 at 10:51 pm

Rusty,

Your post reminded me of Jack Lalanne:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_lalane

This guy’s amazing, as always your posts further inspire me and has made me more optimistic on my physique outlook into my 30s, 40s, 50s and many years past that. Most of us recent college grads do tend to blow up or jello out cause of inactivity… just have to force discipline onto yourself, since it’ll pay off so much in the long run.
Also…. what is your opinion of swimming? How should one do HIIT in the pool, since I’d like to be able to get in about an hr of hard cardio a week, mixing steady state with HIIT. Do you think swimming should be more on the steady state, or the HIIT? Thanks man.

Fred September 7, 2008 at 9:03 pm

Ever enjoy your posts Rusty. If anyone wants to see what mature muscles look like check out Clarence Bass cbass.com. Even in his seventies he looks amazing.

cheech September 9, 2008 at 4:47 pm

so if I exercise my abs as usual (for me, bicycle crunches and the plank 2-3 times per week), that muscle will (gradually) develop of it’s own accord?

Frank May 10, 2009 at 7:47 pm

Lol, they call it old man strength for a reason.

Mark - Look Sharp Fitness May 27, 2011 at 10:37 am

Man I guess I’m going to have to weight a good 20 years til I look my best seeing as how I’m 15 now :(

Oh well! That means more time for me to get in tip top shape! :D

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