Q: Mike, I'm 55 years old, and in pretty decent shape at 5"10" and about 170 pounds and work out at least 3 times a week. I have a little fat around the middle which I want to lose but what I'm wondering is if it is possible for a guy my age to gain weight by adding muscle, or has my time come and gone?

A: It's hard to tell without seeing you or knowing approximately what your bodyfat percentage is. It depends on how much fat that 'little fat around the middle' is. You are definitely not overweight at 5'10 and 170 pounds, so it's a matter of how much of those 170 pounds is fat and how much is muscle. Even at 55 you can gain new muscle by working out and adding new weight, but with new weight you will certainly gain new fat as well and it might only push your overall bodyfat higher which is probably not what you want since you say you already want to lose the extra fat.

If you are quite muscular already and are literally only a few bodyfat percentage points away from getting a six-pack (six-pack usually means 10% or lower bodyfat) at 55, then realistically you are about in as good a shape as any 55-year old can hope for (and huge congratulations to you on that!) It is unfortunately impossible for vast majority of men to drop to six-pack levels of bodyfat. You could certainly try to gain weight and you will gain some muscle too, but along with it will come new fat and your overall bodyfat percentage will likely only go up -- not what you want.

On the other hand if you don't have much muscle anywhere and all the extra fat is around your stomach you might well be able to lower your bodyfat to maybe around 15% while gaining muscle. At 55 it's not nearly as easy as at 25, but it can still be done with a good diet and exercise program and as gradual weight gain/loss as possible (meaning only gradual and minor calorie increases/decreases). Read my Nutrition and Weight Training articles to get started. Remember to keep your diet as healthy as possible and gain weight as slowly as possible (certainly no faster than 2-3 pounds per month). You should be able to add maybe 5-10 pounds of new muscle and 5 pounds of new fat in around 6 months. After that you can lower your calories slightly and maybe increase cardio and work to lose some extra fat for a few months (again, slowly!). In 8-10 months you would then be back at your current 170 pounds but with more muscle and less fat.