The basal metabolic rate (BMR) represents the calories your body burns to maintain life-sustaining functions like breathing and circulation, accounting for the majority of daily energy expenditure. While metabolism remains relatively consistent through your fifties, a measurable decline begins around age 60. This slowing, estimated to be under one percent per year, can contribute to unwanted changes in body composition. The primary driver of this metabolic shift is the natural loss of muscle mass, known as sarcopenia, but targeted lifestyle adjustments can effectively counteract these changes.
Prioritizing Muscle Mass
The single most effective strategy for increasing your basal metabolic rate after age 60 is to build and preserve skeletal muscle. Muscle tissue is metabolically costly, meaning it requires more calories to maintain at rest than fat tissue does. As the body naturally loses muscle mass with age, the BMR inevitably slows down. Countering this decline requires a focused effort on resistance training, which directly stimulates muscle protein synthesis.
Resistance training works by creating microscopic damage to muscle fibers, prompting the body to repair and rebuild them stronger and slightly larger. This process increases the amount of lean tissue, which in turn increases the number of calories burned while the body is at rest. To effectively stimulate muscle growth, the exercise must be progressive, meaning the resistance used should be challenging enough to cause muscle fatigue within a set. This can be achieved using free weights, resistance bands, or your own body weight for exercises like squats and push-ups.
For older adults, consistency and recovery are just as important as the intensity of the workout. Current guidelines suggest performing resistance training for all major muscle groups at least two times per week. It is highly recommended to allow a full day of rest, or about 48 hours, between sessions targeting the same muscle group to ensure optimal recovery and adaptation. While cardiovascular exercise is excellent for heart health, it does not offer the same powerful metabolic boost that comes from maintaining muscle mass.
Strategic Nutrition for Metabolic Health
Supporting your newly active muscles with the right nutrition is crucial for maximizing metabolic function. The most important dietary component for older adults is protein, which provides the amino acid building blocks necessary to repair and grow muscle tissue. Older muscles exhibit a phenomenon called anabolic resistance, meaning they do not respond as efficiently to protein intake as younger muscles do, requiring a higher quantity to achieve the same muscle-building response. Research suggests that older adults need significantly more protein than the standard recommended dietary allowance, aiming for at least 1.0 to 1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight daily.
Distributing this protein intake throughout the day is a strategic step for optimizing muscle repair and synthesis. Instead of consuming a large amount in a single meal, aiming for 25 to 40 grams of protein at each main meal helps to consistently stimulate the muscle-building process. Sources like lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, and legumes should be prioritized to meet these increased requirements.
Proper hydration also plays a direct role in metabolism, as water is necessary for nearly every cellular process. Consuming whole foods rich in fiber helps to indirectly support metabolic health by promoting stable blood sugar levels and maintaining insulin sensitivity. Stable blood sugar levels prevent the frequent spikes and crashes that can negatively impact the body’s ability to efficiently process nutrients and store fat.
Optimizing Sleep and Recovery
Metabolism is heavily regulated by hormonal signals that are powerfully influenced by sleep and stress levels. Chronic poor sleep, which is common after age 60, disrupts the delicate balance of metabolic hormones. Insufficient sleep elevates levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is linked to increased fat storage and decreased insulin sensitivity. This makes it harder for the body to manage blood sugar efficiently and increases the risk of metabolic disorders.
A lack of deep, restorative sleep limits the body’s ability to produce human growth hormone, which stimulates metabolism and aids in muscle repair. Consistently elevated cortisol levels that result from chronic stress or poor sleep can also promote muscle loss, further slowing the BMR. To counteract these hormonal disruptions, focus on improving sleep hygiene by establishing a consistent sleep-wake schedule. Ensuring your bedroom is dark, cool, and quiet also helps to facilitate the deep sleep stages necessary for hormonal balance.
Managing daily stress through relaxation techniques is another powerful tool to keep cortisol levels in check. Practices such as mindfulness, deep breathing exercises, or gentle stretching help lower the chronic stress response. By prioritizing both quality sleep and stress reduction, you support the endocrine system, allowing metabolic hormones like cortisol and insulin to function optimally.