KEEP your muscle as long as you want!

One of the hallmarks of aging is sarcopenia, which is a decline in muscle mass and strength.

We often think of muscle just as a tissue that helps us move and lift things. BUT muscle does WAY MORE than that. It’s crucial for the health of our brain, hormones, heart, immune system, and every other physiological process in our body!

So, it’s no shocker that losing muscle and strength as we age age leads to a whole bunch of health issues like higher risk of falls, hospitalization, functional decline, decreased quality of life, metabolic syndrome, poor cancer prognosis, and SO MUCH MORE!

It was previously thought that the age associated changes in muscle size and function were inevitable. That it’s just part of getting older, and can’t be reversed, ESPECIALLY if you’re over 80.

BUT THATS NOT TRUE!!! A recent study grouped 197 participants by age - 20-36, 60-79, and 81-97 years old - to analyze the muscle related changes with aging and to see if strength training is able to fend off or even reverse those changes.

The findings?! While it’s true that muscle strength and mass do decline with age, just 3 months of strength training 3x per week actually REVERSED this trend. HOW COOL IS THAT?!!

So, the takeaway here is that the age-related decline in muscle mass and function more about NOT EXERCISING than just getting older! It’s a classic example of “if you don’t use it, you lose it”.

SO GO GET YOUSELF SOME MUSCLE! IT’S NEVER TOO LATE!

STUDY REFERENCE:

Soendenbroe C, Karlsen A, Svensson RB, Kjaer M, Andersen JL, Mackey AL. Marked irregular myofiber shape is a hallmark of human skeletal muscle ageing and is reversed by heavy resistance training. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2024 Feb;15(1):306-318. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.13405. Epub 2023 Dec 20. PMID: 38123165; PMCID: PMC10834339.