Have ever noticed that you aren’t as strong or as coordinated as you once were, you’re not alone. As we age, our bodies inevitably lose strength and coordination due to a physiological phenomenon called “sarcopenia”. Without physical activity we will always be losing muscle mass as our bodies adapt to meet the demands of our everyday lives. We lose on average 5-15% of our muscle mass between the ages of 20-50 which ramps up as we get older and begin to lose a massive 30-40% of our muscle mass between the ages of 50-80.
A significant loss in muscle mass like this results in losses in functional ability (ability to perform everyday tasks like standing from a chair or brushing your teeth), and an increase in frailty, physical disability and risk of falls. Falls can significantly reduce life expectancy of older adults if an otherwise “healthy” person falls and breaks a hip, they may need hip surgery followed by lengthy physical therapy (sometimes upwards of 8-12 months) with no guarantee that their functional ability will be able to return to what it was previously and may even be left with a physical disability depending on the severity of the injury.
All of these possible negative health outcomes due to physical inactivity can be avoided if we just ensure we do what we can to prevent sarcopenia. In order for our muscles to become stronger – and avoid losing muscle mass – we can engage in any type of resisted physical activity. This can come in many different forms, from walking the neighborhood with hand and ankle weights to resistance training in a gym using dumbbells and barbells (the most effective) to walking laps in a pool with chest high water or even just performing daily body weight exercises – anything that provides more difficulty and resistance than we normally experience throughout our daily lives. There are many activities we can incorporate into our lives to prevent sarcopenia but the most important factor to consider is that we must choose something that we enjoy doing in order to continue our progression for years to come.
Engaging in regular resisted physical activity is one strategy we can use to prevent age-related loss of muscle mass. Another strategy we can implement is to make sure we are eating enough protein to repair our muscles from resistance training in order to improve our strength, not just prevent strength loss. One of the reasons older adults age ~80 and up lose muscle mass is because our bodies digest and absorb protein less efficiently as we age. For this reason, older adults aiming to prevent sarcopenia should aim to consume 1-1.3g protein per lb of body mass (150lb person should eat 150-200g protein per day). This is more similar to the protein recommendations for athletes as older adults need almost twice as much protein as younger adults to experience the same effect!
Eating adequate protein through animal sources like meat can be difficult if we do not have enough time to cook all of our meals so in this case, we can meet our protein requirements by adding in some whey protein shakes throughout the day. Creatine can also be used as it has been shown to slow sarcopenia even with an inactive lifestyle but can have its effects improved with the addition of resistance training.
Any type of resistance training will help prevent sarcopenia but the single most effective form of exercise to preserve and improve muscle mass is a safe and effective form of weight training with dumbbells, barbells and machines. Once you are certain progressive overload is being implemented to your resistance training program, we can completely largely reduce or even completely prevent sarcopenia from occurring and in turn, mitigate instances of falling, and improve our quality of life by reducing our risks of physical disability.
If you are someone who isn’t as strong or as coordinated as you once were and want to make some changes, here at PTS we have many qualified professionals who are eager to help you reach your goals! Give us a call to find out more information on how to start getting an individualized program.
References:
– Jepsen, Ditte Beck et al. “Effect of whole-body vibration exercise in preventing falls and fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” BMJ open vol. 7,12 e018342. 29 Dec. 2017, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018342.
– Tromp, A., Pluijm, S., Smit, J., Deeg, D., Bouter, L., & Lips, P. (2001). Fall-risk screening test. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 54(8), 837-844. doi:10.1016/s0895-4356(01)00349-3
– DEVRIES, MICHAELA & PHILLIPS, STUART. (2014). Creatine Supplementation during Resistance Training in Older Adults-A Meta-analysis. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 46, 1194-1203. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000220
– Nowson, C., & O’connell, S. (2015). Protein Requirements and Recommendations for Older People: A Review. Nutrients, 7(8), 6874-6899. doi:10.3390/nu7085311