Breaking the tough news about muscle to my older friend

I hang out with a bunch of people that are into working out and maintaining a good physique but there are also a group of people that I know that this was never really their thing. I get along with both groups and the reason why I call myself "normiefitness" is because I never really fully belonged to either group.

I was never super-dedicated towards fitness including all the nutrition non stop and supplements and i have never taken PED's. On the other side though, I regularly drink beer and hang out with the guys who eat just whatever.

Recently a friend of mine ended up having a universal gym given to him and his message to me was kind of funny.

I'm not really a fan of home gyms because it is my experience that almost anyone that has a home gym ends up turning it into a place to hang laundry but if you are getting it given to you for free, you may as well. Something like the thing in the picture is pretty decent I guess and it probably retails for around $1000 so getting it for nothing is a real deal and I would take it as well if it was offered to me but my landlord might have a problem with that since my floors are made of wood.

Well, his message to me was "I want you to teach me to get guns like you." I found that amusing because I love it when people refer to arms as "guns" and unless I am mistaken this was popularized by the film "Anchorman", a film that this friend and I quote frequently.

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_{let's see if she likes the goods!}

My friend that was speaking to me is a bit older than I am and is in his late 40's. I had to break some harsh truths to him about his perspective future.

For one thing, it is much more difficult for older men to develop muscle than it is for someone in their late teens or 20's. You have a chance in your 30's but at that point you already kind of missed you chance. I was doing a heavy protein diet and taking whey supplements in my late 20's and early 30's and was bulking/cutting as well. There was some sort of method to my madness even though I wasn't doing it exactly the way the pros would. Even though I was pretty dedicated by normie standards, the muscle growth still took a very long time.

This guy in question also has dietary hangups in that he doesn't eat beef, pork, or chicken. So getting the necessary amount of protein for muscle growth is going to be quite difficult for him.

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The "Science" about this is always changing so that influencers have something to tweet about but the rule is basically the same: If you want muscle growth, you must consume a lot of protein.

The general rule of thumb is that you need to have 1.2 - 1.5 grams MINIMUM, of protein per kg of existing weight in order to build muscle. If you do not do this you will still get stronger but more so in a sinewy sort of way and not gain bulk. This is just simple physiology and if you talk to any trainer that is being honest with you, muscle growth is as much about what you consume as it is how much you lift.

Knowing what I know about my friend who is about to receive the free home gym, I think he might stick to this sort of thing for about a week or two and then go back to eating just whatever. He will get frustrated at the lack of gains and probably barely ever use the home gym.

Home gyms are easy to ignore because they are so close to your sofa and computer/tv as well. I am not hoping he will fail of course, I just don't think that he has what it takes to have 6 eggs for breakfast and I guess in his situation he would need to have 400 grams of salmon every day and this would get expensive very quickly.

I have already suggested to him that he get a sugar-free protein whey powder, but when you consider that this stuff is around 25 grams per scoop, he is going to have to drink a lot of these things to get to his protein goals.

This is the harsh reality of building muscle and he has his age working against him as well. The reason why I can build muscle at my age is because I already had it from doing this sort of thing in my 20's and 30's. I'm not saying it is impossible, but without a personal trainer and some serious dedication, it is incredibly unlikely.

I will cheer him on and try to motivate him though, regardless.