Anupam Kher's Fitness: Building Muscle After 60
Anupam Kher is 71. He has been visibly, publicly fit for years, at an age when most people have quietly stopped expecting anything from their bodies.
What interests me professionally is not that he trains. Plenty of people train. It is that he has repeatedly changed his physique for roles, in both directions, at an age where the body resists both.
That is worth explaining properly, because the assumption that body composition is fixed after 60 is wrong, and it costs people years of quality of life.
Check out this video of me reacting to one of his interviews about changing his diet , The Indian Express even covered it , read it here
What actually changes with age
Three things shift, and they compound.
The first is sarcopenia. From roughly the fourth decade onward, adults lose skeletal muscle steadily. Estimates vary, but the commonly cited range is three to eight percent per decade, accelerating after 60. This is not simply cosmetic. Muscle is where you store glucose, where you generate heat, and what keeps you upright when you stumble. Losing it quietly raises your risk of falls, fractures and metabolic disease.
The second is anabolic resistance, and this is the one almost nobody has heard of. A younger person eating 20 grams of protein triggers a robust muscle protein synthesis response. An older person eating the identical 20 grams gets a blunted response. The machinery still works. It just needs a bigger signal to switch on.
The third is recovery. The window between a hard training session and being ready for the next one widens. Connective tissue takes longer. Sleep quality typically declines, and sleep is when most repair happens.
Why this changes the plan rather than ending it
The practical consequence of anabolic resistance is that older adults need more protein, not less. This runs directly against what most people over 60 are told and what most of them actually do.
General population guidance sits around 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. That figure was derived largely from younger adults and is widely considered inadequate for older people. Expert consensus groups have argued for meaningfully higher intakes for adults over 65, and higher still for those training.
Distribution matters as much as total. Three meals each carrying a solid protein dose will do more than the same daily total loaded into dinner. Each feeding needs to cross the threshold that triggers synthesis, and in an older person that threshold is higher.
Resistance training is not optional here. It is the other half of the equation. Protein without a training stimulus mostly gets oxidised. Training without adequate protein produces fatigue rather than adaptation. Neither works alone, and this is the single most common mistake I see in older clients who are genuinely trying.
Running the change in both directions
Gaining for a role and then losing for the next one presents a specific problem at this age.
On the way up, the risk is that the gain arrives as fat rather than lean tissue, which worsens insulin sensitivity, loads the joints and makes the subsequent cut harder. So the surplus stays modest and controlled, protein stays high, and training continues rather than pausing.
On the way down, the risk is muscle loss, and it is a bigger risk than it would be at 30. An aggressive deficit in an older adult will take lean tissue readily. So the deficit stays moderate, protein goes up rather than down, and resistance training continues at genuine loads.
That second point catches people out constantly. When someone decides to lose weight, the instinct is to eat less of everything and add cardio. For an older adult that combination is close to a worst case. You get lighter, weaker and more fragile at once, and the scale tells you it is working.
The anti-ageing element
There is a legitimate nutritional conversation here that sits separately from marketing claims.
Skin integrity depends on protein availability, vitamin C for collagen synthesis, and zinc. Bone density depends on calcium, vitamin D and, importantly, mechanical loading, which is another argument for resistance training. Chronic low-grade inflammation rises with age and responds to omega-3 intake and overall dietary pattern.
Vitamin D deficiency is extremely common in Indian adults, including in sunny cities, largely because of indoor lifestyles and skin pigmentation reducing synthesis. It is worth testing rather than assuming.
None of this is exotic. It is unglamorous, measurable, and it works.
Frequently asked questions
Can you build muscle after 60? Yes. The response is slower and requires higher protein intake and consistent resistance training, but the capacity for hypertrophy is retained well into later life.
How much protein does someone over 60 need? Requirements are higher than standard general population guidance, and higher again for those training. The specific figure depends on body weight, kidney function and activity level, and should be set with a professional.
Is resistance training safe for older adults? For most people yes, with appropriate loading and progression. Anyone with existing cardiac, joint or bone conditions should be cleared by their doctor first.
Why do older adults lose muscle when dieting? An aggressive calorie deficit combined with low protein and no resistance training signals the body that muscle is expendable. Adequate protein and continued loading are what prevent it.
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