BELOW ZERO

60 AND ABOVE

Diet affects older men’s weight training success

Getting enough protein and moderate amounts of fat from food may help older men’s muscles respond better to weight training. Researchers from University of Jyvaskyla in Finland found that among 45 older men who went through a strength-training programme, those with more protein in their diets tended to have a greater short-term increase in testosterone levels right after their workouts. This hormonal response, in turn, was related to greater gains in muscle mass over 21 weeks of weight training, the researchers reported in International Journal of Sports Medicine.