Author: Dr. Pete Murano

About the Book:

The pursuit of fitness used to be mainly a goal of the young. But with the advancing age of the baby boomer generation, more and more older adults are becoming interested in fitness. There is increasing awareness among older Americans that many health indices can be improved through age appropriate strength training. These include weight and body fat loss, decreased blood pressure, decreased insulin resistance, improved mental sharpness, improved physique and increased muscle mass and strength. Author Peter S. Murano has documented his strength training experiences and recommendations in his Old Man Muscle handbook, “The Older Man’s Guide to Building Muscle and Strength Later in Life”, providing the workout he recommends as well as carefully explained nutrition, lifestyle and spiritual strength training tips. The book is divided into seven chapters: (1) Introduction, (2) The Challenges We Face as We Age, (3) Before You Start Training, (4) The Old Man Muscle Workout, (5) The Importance of Lifestyle, (6) Spiritual Strength Training, and (7) A Better Life at Last. It contains in excess of 200 fact-filled pages, including 34 detailed tables, 80 eye-opening figures, over 200 defined glossary terms, and close to 300 references. It is simply an indispensable read for the adult man - of any age - interested in maintaining an independent quality of life into his later years.

About The Author: 

Peter S. Murano earned the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Human Nutrition and Foods from Virginia Tech in 1986 and 1989, respectively. He is a baby boomer, born in 1954.

 He served as Deputy Administrator at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Washington, D.C. from 2001-2004 during the George W. Bush administration. In that capacity, he supervised a dozen Federal nutrition assistance programs, most of which developed anti-obesity goals and objectives. He and his FNS Child Nutrition Division team created the Healthier US School Challenge (HUSSC) in 2003, a voluntary certification initiative recognizing schools enrolled in USDA’s Team Nutrition that have created healthier school environments  through promotion of nutrition and physical activity. In 2004, he received the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture’s Honor Award for Superior Service for implementing the National Fruit and Vegetable Pilot in five states and Indian Tribal Organizations, which has since become a permanent and expanding program for school children.

 At Texas A&M University since 1995, Dr. Murano serves as a research and teaching professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, and has published in a variety of academic journals including the Journal of Food Science, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Advances in Medical Education and Practice, Obesity Science and Practice, FASEB Journal, and Nutrients. He founded and directed the Institute for Obesity Research and Program Evaluation at Texas A&M from 2007-2013. In 2014 he was appointed Vice-Chair of the Texas State Leadership Council for Obesity Prevention.

 In 2019, Dr. Murano achieved certification as a personal fitness trainer through ACE (American Council on Exercise) and ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association). As owner and operator of the Old Man Muscle Fitness Studio, he is serious about helping men aged 50 and up get back into shape and build up strength in order to succeed in activities of daily life, combat aging, and remain independent for as long as possible. Using proven old school methods, he devised a brief but effective age-appropriate whole body workout for older men that is performed three times per week. He started using it at age 63 in mid-2017 after four decades of sedentary life, and has transformed his body and health status. Peter is also a firm believer in the value of being strong spiritually, and leads a weekly bible study.