Many have never heard of the word sarcopenia, but it’s probably the most important factor in determining if you will be healthy, active and independent as you get older.
Far too often, we hear men and women of our age say things like:
- “Getting old sucks!”
- “My body has aches and pains that it never had when I was younger. I’m just getting old”.
- “No one our age wants to exercise. It doesn’t matter anyway. We’re just getting old”.
- “We need to start thinking of downsizing. We won’t be able to navigate stairs, do the lawn work, shovel the snow because we are getting old”.
It can be very frustrating to listen to these statements when we know they’re simply not true. For example, we have many personal training clients who defy these misconceptions, and recent research out of Tufts University shows that aging doesn’t mean a decline into dependency.
This is where sarcopenia comes in. Sarcopenia is the slow loss of muscle mass that occurs with aging and robs men and woman of their independence. Here are some of the facts about sarcopenia:
- It occurs in 15% of people over 65; 50% in those older than 80.
- It begins in your 30s and increases by 1% a year.
- Without regular exercise, men and women at 80 years old have lost anywhere from 30% to 50% of their muscle mass.
- Women are more at risk than men because they have 1/3 less muscle to begin with. However, women tend to live longer than men, so they have a longer time to lose more muscle.
Is sarcopenia inevitable?
Absolutely not! If you exercise regularly (starting in your 30s), you can retain or increase your muscle mass. Even if you haven’t exercised before 30, you can recover from sarcopenia.
So, how to get started?
Older men and women are generally encouraged to walk for fitness, but this type of exercise is not enough to build the muscle needed to stay independent. Intense weight training is the key to building muscle and making you stronger, and it’s the intensity in particular that is needed to grow muscle. Older people should not be afraid to lift heavy weight.
Here are some other things you can do:
- Avoid weight gain. This makes it more difficult to build muscle because of fat in the muscle cells.
- Don’t shy away from doing everyday tasks just because they may be causing discomfort. Doing so will increase the risk of sarcopenia.
- Eat lots of protein. Low levels of protein consumption will cause loss of muscle in a matter of weeks. You need about ½ your body weight in protein each day to build muscle along with your weight-training program.
It is time to stop sending yourself and others the message that getting old is a given after 50. Healthy, active and independent aging is all within your control. Our Defy Aging System is the perfect tool to avoid sarcopenia. With step-by-step workout plans and healthy eating guides, there are really more excuses for thinking you are “just getting old!”
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