EX-e: What is the MINIMUM Exercise to Maintain Muscle?

[@Physionic]

AMENDMENT: Nutrition was not accounted for and while we might assume nutrition was similar when looking at individuals of a similar age, because the groups would dilute any outliers, these groups are vastly different in age. This is a potential issue, because older individuals tend to eat less (overall), which could contribute to the reduced muscle maintenance at the measured volumes. (Credit to Lisa Shannon for the idea)

[@Physionic]

Maybe good news for those that don’t have access to a gym at the moment. Technically, this does not answer the question in full, but 1/9th volume is extremely little work, so anything below that is pretty negligible. Also, this is after 8 months, so this may not be sufficient after 2-3 years, for example. Still, 8 months is a long time!

[@Ryan-my5lz]

What is considered “older” I’m 38 years old. Am I “older”?

[@MDMGANG]

​@@Ryan-my5lzyour levels of Testosterone might be a little bit lower then when you where 25-30 but I'm pretty certain you aren't considered "older" because your testosteron production is still in good condition ( depends on if you eat healthy and sleep enough)

[@jedibuilder3546]

Clear and cut straight to the point with facts. These are the best videos around

[@Adrian-mb6wt]

Really good video. Answered all my questions. You deserve way more views!

[@Physionic]

I'm really glad, J. Thanks for letting me know.

[@nigelmarboah69]

Great video, just what I needed. This seems to be the only video on KZbin that covers this topic!!

[@Physionic]

Glad to hear I could help, Nigel.

[@soonny002]

Thanks for the information! I've got one question though... The younger age group is 20 - 35 years, and the older age group is 60 - 75 years, that leaves out a large swath of the population between 36 - 59 years! I'm assuming this group can maintain their muscle if they do somewhere between 1/3 to 1/9 of initial volume. But it's just curious why the researchers separated their groups as such. I suspect the difference is going to be really hard to tell (i.e. statistically insignificant) if they included all those in the middle age group.

[@Physionic]

Great question. I think the researchers focused on the two extremes, because, as you said, it would be difficult to see a statistical result. If I had to guess, though - I'd venture that people 36-50 or so can still follow a similar pattern as younger individuals. I'm basing that on other research that shows muscle mass doesn't truly decline until age 50 or so. That is, of course, just an educated guess, so I could certainly be wrong. It would be interesting to add a middle age group in the future. Thanks for chiming in, Circe.

[@jonfreelove]

Nice job pal always appreciate your knowledgeable videos

[@Physionic]

Thanks, Jonathon!

[@americohagim1131]

I’m not lazy I’m just uninterested now. I’m 17 and for over 3 years I’ve been training almost every day and now I’ve finally reached the point where I’m just bored of it. Looking towards college and academics and business and money now. My physique is complete.

[@yuussee]

I'm towards the end of my first year and plan to reduce the volume after 3/4 years too. So did you manage to find the sweet spot of sets per week to maintain muscle mass?

[@americohagim1131]

@@yuusseei do around 1 set per exercise for 7 exercises per workout day from 3-6 days depending on the week

[@MacA60230]

Great video as usual, I've been wondering about this specific question forever

[@Physionic]

Glad I could help shed some light on it, Nero. All the best with your training.

[@nottt5203]

ty for answering this question. I've been looking for an answer to this question for weeks

[@Physionic]

My pleasure. Be sure to share if you found it useful. Thanks, N.

[@SuperOptiman]

Dr. Longo recommends increasing the protein intake by 10% for people over 60 years old. Personally I found this also true for myself. The study may need to be modified to compensate for protein requirement changes versus age. The overwriting question is: what causes muscle atrophy? If the body does not have sufficient protein from food then we would expect atrophy. The body would end up consuming muscle to satisfy protein needs.

[@Physionic]

That's true, Ken. Normally, people that are a little older need to be consuming slightly more protein. I forgot how much they consumed in the study, but if they didn't adjust, I could see your point being a factor here.

[@Magnulus76]

Most people in the US are consuming ample amounts of protein that I doubt it would be a factor. More plausible is poor cardiovascular support of muscles due to aging, specifically aging blood vessels. The work of Dr. David Sinclair, in particular, might be illuminating.

[@miguelmiranda9122]

Excellent, as always. Thanks.

[@Physionic]

Thanks for stopping by again, Miguel!

[@ImJarlen]

Very relevant at the moment!

[@Physionic]

That’s not a coincidence. :) hehe

[@mrbanana5251]

What if you keep the volume the same but decrease the intensity?

[@wolfslipper]

Just the info I needed not to feel guilty on a day off. :)

[@Physionic]

Glad I could help - enjoy your rest day.

[@miguellorenzosingian1562]

Perfect! Just what I needed. I’m planning on taking a few months lifting to maintain so I can focus on distance running. I’ll lift more than 1/9th volume, maybe closer to 1/2 volume, to correct for the increase in endurance training. Did that study also measure strength, or was it just muscle size? I’d like to maintain strength as well.

[@Physionic]

I have another video on muscle strength. They covered strength, as well.

[@AidanArentz]

@@Physionic my physio told me this last year. The amount of effort to maintain muscle mass is surprisingly low - he specifically mentioned the 1/3 maintenance method. Even 1/3 of my usual training effort and volume is pretty easy to hit. You can literally do one decent full body training day each week and you will be good

[@mysteretsym]

How much of a resistance trained individual are you? Doing endurance running and cutting your volume by 2/3 is going to kill your gains.

[@sdere1000]

Amazing video! Just what I was looking for I was a 105 kgs in 2022 summer, started going to the gym, now I’m just shy of 90. It’s been a great transformation but I noticed that lifting weights made me bulky and I didn’t want that. So I stopped lifting and started doing basic exercises to maintain my weight (push ups, crunches etc.) but I definitely notice a loss in my muscle gain like you said. I don’t want to get bulky by lifting heavy weights again but I think I have come to the conclusion that maintaining exercise is the best way to achieve the result I want! Thanks for the video it was really helpful Keep up the work :)

[@rickyteee]

Good info. Thank you

[@Physionic]

My pleasure, rickyteee.

[@jevonyethman8045]

This was so helpful

[@ashutoshgoswami914]

Hey! man this was a very useful video on muscle maintenance!! can you also let us know how much protein is required to maintain the muscle mass as per the lean body mass

[@Physionic]

Thanks, Ashutosh. It depends on circumstance (age, weight, sex, and caloric status). More protein is needed with advanced age, being male, being lower weight, and being hypocaloric. I'm actually doing a detailed seminar on this topic this week for my Insiders community.

[@aminemezzour8403]

How about advanced / intermediate + lifters? (5+ years of serious training)

[@muhammedal1510]

Very informative indeed What about doing 1/2 of the sets with same weight, will that ensure muscle maintenance for older folks ? Or slightly more ?

[@andrewfix5445]

Super helpful, thank u

[@Physionic]

My pleasure, Andrew. Consider sharing on social media if you don’t mind. Thanks!

[@faizmalik2757]

As a 20 year old can i maintain muscle mass by body weight excercises.

[@Jane_Friday]

This us not conclusive for older trainees. Cutting back to 1/3 or 1/9 is drastic. What is abou cutting back to 75% or 50% in volume? Also... if at any age you cut back this drasticalky, will you really maintain training weights? I highly doubt it. My experience says otherwise.

[@breezothetheologian7486]

how much do i cut my sets that i perform?

[@lisakeenharpist]

Was diet looked into this as a factor? Older people generally appear to eat less than the younger ages. If they were actually in a defecit and the younger age group was at maintenance or surplus, wouldn't this have a significant impact on the muscle retention outcome?

[@Physionic]

That's a great point, Lisa. If I remember correctly, it was not looked into, which could be a confounding factor. I think I'll add that to the amendments. You can access the paper to see if they did work with the nutrition, in the description box. Great point.

[@Physionic]

Thanks for your input, Lisa. I added an amendment to my notes document and pinned it to the top of the comments.

[@nayrzepol1592]

Great quality work man. My question: Would this also apply to more intermediate to advanced lifters who are natural and produce significantly higher work intensity?

[@Physionic]

Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6XMnpKqjdCJpbM Glad it helped, Nayr.

[@BfSkinnerPunk]

I'm happy where I am at, and am reducing my volume by half. However, from this study, these older buys went "**all the way back to baseline*** when reducing their volume? Meaning, they lost ALL gains??? that's kind of strange

[@supernova1976]

Thanks for sharing , i am assuming the age effect is gradual as we get older there is no direct cut off ? or it is probably linked to the reduction in Testosterone gradually dropping from the age 40 ?

[@Physionic]

Hey Supernova, The effect is gradual, but tends to be most pronounce after age 50-55, where it mostly accelerates. Testosterone tends to begin decreasing in our thirties.

[@mariahg2208]

But what is old ? Because I’m 35

[@Nando_lifts2021]

Older meaning what ages

[@ketogenicru]

Perfect as usual and will be represented to Russian speaking audience today🤝

[@Physionic]

Thanks, as always!

[@bottygerjoe]

I’m 47. What do I do?! 😂

[@homerdadon6363]

the only thing I hate is that lots of studies are done on the UNTRAINED population

[@Physionic]

Too true, Homer.

[@cherubino95]

what do u mean with young and with old? A 40 years old is young or old?

[@Physionic]

Young.

[@cherubino95]

@@Physionic ty

[@anonymousonez]

Please be specific. What were the age groups