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Hey, Brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here.

If you think that getting stronger means slinging around a bunch of iron at the local gym, think again.

And if you think building muscle is only for buff guys and tight tank tops, think again, again. Building muscle is for

everyone at just about every stage of life. It's a critical part of staying healthy. And you don't

need to pump iron to do it. You don't need bulging veins.

You don't even need to know the difference between a trapezius and a deltoid.

Today, let's talk about the science of building muscle, also known as muscle hypertrophy.

For the article of this episode is based on, How Stuff Work spoke with Dr. Brad Schoenfeld,

the graduate director of the human performance and fitness program at Lehman College.

He said, it's not only about growing muscle, it's losing muscle.

If you don't resistance train whereby you're looking to build muscle,

it's really a static choice because you end up losing muscle.

Resistance training is just working your muscles against some kind of resistance. That resistance

can come in the form of weights, stretchy bands, commonly called resistance bands or exercise bands,

or even your own body weight.

If you're doing a push-up, you're using your body weight to force certain muscles to work,

and that counts.

Schoenfeld said, after about the age of 35, the average person who's not lifting weight is going to lose roughly a half percent of their muscle mass per year. And that percentage

starts to accelerate when you get into your late 50s, early 60s, and then it's exponential after that.

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