1 hr 1 minWhy Building Muscle Is Key to Aging Well After 40
With JJ Virgin
Guest on the show
JJ Virgin
JJ Virgin is a triple board certified nutrition expert, fitness hall of famer, four-time New York Times bestselling author and host of the Well Beyond 40 podcast.
Episodes with JJ Virgin
1 hr 1 minWhat JJ talks about
Ep. 371: Why Building Muscle Is Key to Aging Well After 40
Nikkiey Stott sits down with JJ Virgin, triple board certified nutrition expert, fitness hall of famer and host of the Well Beyond 40 podcast, to talk about why muscle is the real currency of aging well. JJ explains that muscle does far more than hold everything in tighter. It improves insulin sensitivity, gives carbs a place to go besides your fat cells and liver, and its contractions support mood, immunity, bones and brain health. She is blunt that cardio is not a fat loss strategy, and that Pilates and yoga are great for mobility and stability but are not how you build muscle.
The two also respectfully disagree on under-eating. JJ believes most women are not under-eating or overtraining, while Nikkiey shares what WarriorBabe coaches see when women start tracking. Where they agree is the fix: weigh and track your food so you have real data, eat your protein first, and aim for at least 0.7 grams per pound of target body weight. JJ also shares her own story of going vegan in her 20s and climbing to 25% body fat, how she approaches carbs, and what her experience with thyroid and hormone therapy has looked like.
They close on why aging can be something to look forward to, why compound lifts give you the most for your effort, and why simple daily movement, like steps and short bursts of air squats, is one of the most underrated tools for blood sugar, mood and fat loss.
- Stop using cardio as your weight loss strategy, because JJ says it makes you hungrier and does nothing to build the muscle that drives your metabolism.
- Weigh your food and log it in a tracking app for a while, since JJ notes even dietitians underestimate what they eat by 30 to 40 percent.
- Eat your protein first at each meal so you get it in before you fill up on other foods.
- Use 0.7 grams of protein per pound of target body weight as your minimum benchmark, and going higher is better than going lower as you age.
- Doing 30 to 60 air squats after eating works like going for a walk in pulling carbs into your muscles and blunting your blood sugar response.
In JJ's words
Questions JJ helps answer
Ask Nikkiey →
Fat Loss After 40
Is cardio or weight training better for fat loss?
Weight training wins. Nikkiey explains that cardio burns calories only while you're doing it and doesn't create long-term changes in your metabolism, while muscle keeps burning calories at rest. Her priority order for fat loss is nutrition first, then weights, then cardio, because you can't out-train a diet that isn't dialed in.
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Strength Training for Women
Does Pilates build muscle?
Not in any meaningful way once you're past beginner level. Nikkiey explains that Pilates can help you maintain muscle and is great for mobility, flexibility and balance, but it can't grow new muscle the way strength training can. Building muscle takes progressive overload with dumbbells and barbells, and Pilates classes don't provide that kind of load.
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Protein for Women
How much protein do women over 40 need?
Most guidance on The WarriorBabe Show lands at about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day for women over 40, based on goal weight if you have a lot to lose. Nikkiey says strength-training women may need 1.2 or even 1.3. Some episodes and guests cite 0.7 grams as the floor.
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Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting
Does metabolism really slow down with age?
Mostly no, according to the show. Guests on The WarriorBabe Show cite research showing metabolism stays fairly steady through midlife. What slows it is losing muscle, which happens quietly from your 30s on unless you strength train and eat enough protein. Nikkiey adds that moving less as we age plays a big part too.
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Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting
How do I know if I'm not eating enough?
Nikkiey points to five signs: constant fatigue, irritability or anxiety, bloating and constipation, poor sleep and recovery, and stalled fat loss or weight gain while eating less. Not feeling hungry on very little food is another red flag. The only way to know for sure is to weigh and track what you eat for a week.
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Common questions
Does cardio help you lose weight after 40?
JJ says that if you use cardio as a weight loss strategy you will fail, because it makes you hungrier and the minute you stop you start gaining weight. It also does nothing to build muscle, which she calls your metabolic currency.
Can Pilates or yoga build muscle?
JJ says Pilates and yoga are great for mobility, stability and flexibility but are not built for muscle growth. If you are building muscle with them, it is because you are deconditioned, and once you are well conditioned you need resistance training.
How much protein should women over 40 eat?
JJ recommends a benchmark of 0.7 grams per pound of target body weight, with higher being better and lower not. She suggests eating your protein first at meals, because anabolic resistance makes it harder to trigger muscle protein synthesis as we age.
Will lifting weights make women bulky?
JJ says that in more than 40 years she has never had a woman get bulky from lifting weights and eating correctly. Nikkiey adds that women do not have the testosterone men do, and women who look very bulky online are most likely taking drugs.
Does your metabolism really slow down with age?
JJ says the idea that metabolism slows with age doesn't really hold up, and what changes is that you lose muscle. She explains that falling estrogen, rising insulin resistance, higher cortisol and poorer sleep make you better at storing fat, especially around the midsection.
Are most women over 40 under-eating?
JJ doesn't believe most women are under-eating or overtraining, though she agrees most under-eat protein. Nikkiey says many WarriorBabe women are surprised by how little they eat once they track, and both agree that weighing and tracking food is the way to find out.