Building Muscle in Your 30s, 40s + 50s

Your body’s needs evolve with every decade — and so should your approach to strength, recovery, and nutrition. So we asked our Personal Trainer Julie Wandzilak and our nutritionist Katie Lemons CNS to give us their best advice for building muscle throughout the years. Whether you’re building muscle in your 30s, supporting your joints in your 40s, or protecting your bones in your 50s, smart training and intentional nutrition can help you feel strong, resilient, and energized. Here’s what Julie and Katie had to say on how to move, fuel, and care for your body through each season of life.

In Your 30s

1. Push Your Limits – Your body is primed for strength gains, so focus on increasing weight, reps, or intensity over time to maximize hypertrophy. Progressive overload means gradually increasing the weight, reps, or intensity of your workouts to keep challenging your muscles and promote growth. In your 30s, you can push harder by tracking your lifts and aiming to improve slightly each week while maintaining good form.

2. Build a Solid Nutrition Foundation through blood sugar stabilization and optimal digestion.

1. Aim for at least 1 gram of protein per kg of body weight daily to support muscle repair and growth (to find your weight in kg, multiply your weight in lb by 0.45, so a 150lb woman would need 69g+ of protein per day).

2. Avoid eating carbohydrates or fruit solo, and instead focus on pairing them with protein, fiber, and healthy fats.

3. Ensure adequate digestion by working with a practitioner in order to optimally absorb calcium and other important nutrients. It's not just about eating more vegetables, dairy, or fish, but about assimilating those minerals that help build strong muscles and bones.

3. Balance Strength & Recovery – While you can train hard, don't neglect rest. Prioritize 7–9 hours of quality sleep and manage stress to support muscle recovery.

In Your 40s

1. Focus on Joint Health & Mobility – Incorporate dynamic warm-ups, mobility drills, and functional exercises to protect joints and maintain flexibility. Focusing on joint health and mobility to prevent stiffness and reduce injury risk, ensuring longevity in your training.

2. Prioritize Full Body Strength– Stick to squats, deadlifts, and presses, but adjust volume and intensity to prevent overuse injuries. This means prioritizing quality over quantity—lifting heavy enough to stimulate muscle growth while allowing sufficient recovery time between sessions to avoid burnout and joint strain. To learn more about what’s right for you, book a session with our personal trainer. 

3. Dial up Recovery & Hormone Support – Support muscle growth with proper nutrition, stress management, and possibly getting testosterone levels checked if recovery slows.

1. Increase protein intake to 1-1.5g/kg per day and consider adding in a collagen supplement if not getting adequate protein. The typical recommendation is .8 grams per kilogram for osteoporosis prevention, but generally more is needed - closer to 1.5g/kg/day. A higher intake of protein is associated with better bone mineral density because of its role with muscle stimulation and synthesis. Not meeting protein needs increases risk for sarcopenia, leading to more bone loss, balance issues, and ultimately more falls and fractures.

2. Fiber is also important as it’s needed to make vitamin K2 from gut bacteria. This in turn helps integrate vitamin D (more on that below!) and use it optimally for bone. Aim for 25-35g of fiber per day.

3. When looking at bone loss, inflammation is a huge driver. Omega 3’s, an anti-inflammatory source of healthy fat, help to improve calcium absorption and decrease calcium excretion. Aim for fish three times per week, or supplementing 1000 mg/day of omega 3 (not “fish oil”) if that isn’t available. 

In Your 50s

1. Prioritize Time Under Tension – Use controlled reps and slow eccentrics to build muscle without excessive joint stress. Eccentric training—slowing down the lowering phase of exercises— also improves tendon health and flexibility, making it a great tool for injury prevention and longevity in strength training. Pairing isolated movements with controlled eccentrics helps maintain muscle balance, correct imbalances, and support overall functional strength as you age.

2. Incorporate Resistance Training 3–4x Per Week – Strength training should be the foundation, but add in activities like Pilates or yoga for mobility and injury prevention.

3. Posture, Posture, Posture! 

1. There are two different types of fractures - compression fractures and fragility fractures. Fragility fractures are those that happen when falling from standing height or less. Compression fractures occur when bones fracture under pressure, meaning they don’t often occur from a fall. In those with osteopenia or osteoporosis, compression fractures have double the rate of incidence when compared to fragility fractures.

2. To prevent fractures, posture is vital - postural awareness, posture strengthening, safe movement, and body mechanics. This means how you’re moving in everyday life - walking up stairs, bending over, gardening, unloading the dishwasher, doing laundry, making the bed. Maintaining the natural curvature of the spine through proper posture is incredibly important for compression fracture prevention.

4. Maximize Recovery & Nutrition, especially particular vitamins and minerals – Now that a solid nutrition foundation has been established (emphasizing the importance of protein, fiber, and healthy fats in your 30s + 40s), it’s time to hone in on key nutrients.

1. Calcium - aim for 1000mg per day through sources like green, leafy vegetables (think: collard greens and kale), canned salmon or sardines with bones. Or fermented forms of dairy if easily digestible for you, like full fat greek yogurt or cottage cheese. And don’t skip on fortified sources! Fortified almond milk or certain non-dairy yogurts will help hit the intake goal. If consistently not hitting your daily calcium goal, work with a trusted practitioner to consider supplementation – though not too much! Excess calcium may cause calcium deposits in the arteries, tendons, muscles, and kidneys. Our nutrition team can help you find the right supplements + dosing for you.

2. Vitamin D3 with K2 - K2 is an important part of a vitamin D supplement because it directs calcium to the bone and not into the arteries. Depending on the lab, normal is usually anything over 30, but optimal is between 50-70. Aim for a vitamin D level of over 50. 

3. Magnesium: Magnesium helps to activate vitamin D, so it’s needed in the mix. While dietary sources of magnesium are important (looking at you, green leafy veg, nuts, seeds, legumes, avocado and dark chocolate), sometimes a supplement is necessary. The best absorbed versions of magnesium are glycinate and L-threonate – though citrate is great if you run constipated – with a recommended dose of 250 to 500 mg nightly.

5. Stress management: Chronic stress is considered a significant risk factor for osteoporosis, as it can disrupt the body's hormonal balance, leading to increased bone resorption (breakdown) and decreased bone formation, ultimately contributing to bone loss and a higher risk of fractures. This primarily occurs through the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, resulting in elevated cortisol levels which negatively impact bone health. Finding a consistent stress management practice is essential! We recommend meditation, gentle movement like walking or yoga, therapy, journaling, breathwork, creative outlets, etc. 

No matter your age, the goal stays the same: build a body that feels good to live in for the long run. Strength is about so much more than lifting weights — it’s about supporting your bones, muscles, joints, and mindset with daily habits that nourish and sustain you long-term. And you don’t have to figure it out alone. Our team at Indigo is here to help you customize your movement, nutrition, and recovery plan so you can stay strong, vibrant, and well — for life.