When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Katherine Tallmadge, Alpha Surge Male testosterone support M.A.,R.D., is a registered dietitian, author of "Diet Simple: 195 Mental Tricks, Substitutions, Habits & Inspirations" (LifeLine Press, 2011) and a frequent national commentator on nutrition topics. This article is adapted from one that first appeared in the Washington Post. Tallmadge contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. One of my 50-something clients recently lost 20 pounds through a combination of a few nutrition, eating and behavior modification tricks I provided to her, along with her increased pedometer steps and added weight training. Afterward, she confided in me that she feels sexy for the first time in years! On the tennis court, she performs better and is more flexible, stronger and quicker. Who could ask for more in your 50s - or 40s, 60s and beyond? Who needs more exercise: Women or men? To get results like these, weight training is key.

My answer: What you eat and when you eat it profoundly improves your ability to build muscle mass and strength, and new surprising studies show an ancient beverage - and an ancient exercise - can make a huge difference, too. While nutrition is important, the quality of your strength-training workout is a key factor for building muscle mass. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends doing strength training for Alpha Surge Male testosterone support all of your major muscle groups at least twice a week. I encourage all my clients to get some kind of strength training so that when they lose weight, they not only look more toned and have more strength (who wants to be a flabby skinny person?), they're also healthier. You can do this by working with a skilled trainer, but also through vigorous yoga, Pilates and even swimming. Whenever there is resistance and you work your muscles to exhaustion, such as when you can't do just one more pushup, you're building muscle.

And getting stronger comes with more healthy benefits. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories your body burns. In other words, muscle mass increases metabolism. That's why a man who weighs the same as a woman can eat so much more, and will lose weight more easily. He has relatively more muscle, Alpha Surge Male testosterone support so he burns more calories - even at rest! For seniors, strength training can make big quality-of-life improvements. Studies of 80-year-olds show muscular strength can mean the difference between independence and a nursing home: it improves balance and walking ability, while reducing the risk of falls. But, for a variety of reasons, it's not easy to build muscle. First, muscle mass declines as you age, starting in your 30s. An average person will lose 5 to 7 pounds of muscle between ages 35 and 50 due to disuse. For every pound of muscle lost, you lose the capacity to burn 35 to 50 calories per day.