Back in a past life, I attended a gym in Croydon. As a weedy individual, it was a little scary. Hulking male bodies abounded, all wearing ripped t-shirts. What was that all about? The muscles on show looked as if they supported a mass of steroids, but nobody ever offered me any drugs. So, it comes as a shock for me to join the bodybuilding fraternity. A pack of whey powder, over 50 quids worth arrived, for Ann and me. However, am I just playing with words when I state that our interest is in protein. We are not narcisists. The real question is are we short of protein? The only answer is a trial period hence buying the whey. It’s a rather addictive substance, creamy and sweet. However, a glassful offers 23 mg of protein. Pensioner bodybuilding is, to say the least, interesting.

Meat consumption

I have written before about finding ways to add protein to our diet. Ideally, that protein ought to be first class, so not plant based. Consequently, you need to eat more meat, eggs and cottage cheese, but they all add calories and fat. Even eating those, we still failed to reach high levels. Meanwhile, I sense that my leg muscles continue to shrink. That, by the way, is with over 20 miles running and loads of gardening each week. Much of that running is also uphill but is not building muscle. So, over time I argued myself into trying whey for a period of two months. That is, basically, a single drink each day. Those really keen can drink three amounts each day.

Pensioner Bodybuilding

It is early days so no real evidence of this working. I have no weight gain or loss. I prepare the drink each morning, a mugful each, and then chill it in the fridge. We sip at it because too much is rather sickly. Neither is it a substance to have in your stomach if you are gardening. All that bending, stooping and stretching soon has you feeling sick. However, it is very filling, as is most forms of protein. Whilst consuming this, I feel a need to stress the muscles as much as possible. If not running or gardening, I pick up heavyish things and feel all those muscles straining. Perhaps I should just accept ageing and grow old gracefully, and as weedy as ever!