The Truth About Muscle Loss And How To Prevent It

Muscle loss accelerates as we age, but there are things you can do to slow down this process. A new study highlights the importance of maintaining your muscle to slow ageing. As well as some simple steps that will help you maintain your strength and mobility as you age.

Is it true that we lose muscle mass as we age? And how can we prevent it?

As we age, we lose muscle mass, especially if we don’t exercise. This happens because our bodies produce less growth hormone, which helps build new muscle tissue. Even though it is harder to gain muscle as we age, it is not impossible and now we have more proof of how important this is.

Muscle loss is linked to ageing faster.

Our habits, like our diet, smoking and exercise all affect our biological age. Two 50-year-olds may be chronologically the same age, but very different when it comes to biological age. Now we have more proof that older adults who maintain their muscle mass are ageing slower.

Researchers tested the grip strength of more than 1200 middle-aged and older adults and estimated the pace of ageing using DNA. They followed the participants for more than 8 years and found that both men and women had accelerated ageing with lower grip strength. In other words, maintaining your muscle keeps you younger.

Mark Peterson, Ph.D., M.S., lead author of the study and associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Michigan states,

“We’ve known that muscular strength is a predictor of longevity, and that weakness is a powerful indicator of disease and mortality, but, for the first time, we have found strong evidence of a biological link between muscle weakness and actual acceleration in biological age.”

Dr. Mark Peterson

Are There Any Ways To Prevent Muscle Loss?

Fortunately, there are ways to prevent muscle loss. Exercise regularly. All exercise will help strengthen muscles by increasing blood flow, nutrients, and oxygen supply to them. Most importantly do some type of resistance training. Whether you are starting with bodyweight exercises, free weights or using machines, resistance training is critical for building and maintaining your muscles.

The process of sarcopenia occurs when our bodies start producing less growth hormone and testosterone. These hormones help build muscle tissue. However, it is possible to preserve muscle mass as you age with progressive resistance training. A well-designed exercise routine will include 8-10 exercises that use all the large muscle groups. Doing 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions at a weight that is challenging is critical for maintaining muscle and slowing the ageing process.

Should We Be Worried About Losing Muscle Mass?

The short answer is yes. Being sedentary accelerates muscle loss which speeds up the ageing process. Not only will your cells age faster, but you will also lose your ability to maintain your balance, enjoy regular activities and be more susceptible to lifestyle conditions like type 2 diabetes.

Previous research has shown that grip strength is an extremely strong predictor of poor health. Even finding that it is a better predictor of cardiovascular events than blood pressure.

Dr. Peterson also says that lifestyle, including physical activity and diet, can affect muscle mass.

“Healthy dietary habits are very important, but I think regular exercise is the most critical thing that somebody can do to preserve health across the lifespan,” 

Dr. Mark Peterson

The 6 best exercises are here. Don’t worry if you can’t do them all, there are variations that will fit everyone’s abilities.

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla

PS you may have heard that you need more protein to maintain your muscles as you get older. More on that next week.