One of the downsides of aging is how it affects our minds and bodies. We might complain about the fine lines and wrinkles that sprout up on our skin as the years go by, but we should also be concerned about what’s happening at a deeper level, our organs and the framework that holds up our body – muscles and bones. It’s common to experience loss of muscle mass and strength, along with bone loss. This age-related phenomenon is known as sarcopenia. The good news is that by making key lifestyle changes, you can slow this muscle wasting process.
The Importance of Maintaining Muscle Mass
You need strong muscles to stay mobile, to avoid frailty, and to lower your risk of falling. But there’s more. When you lose muscle, your metabolism slows as muscle is more metabolically active than fat tissue. Plus, muscle helps take up glucose from your blood stream, so it increases insulin sensitivity and helps lower your blood sugar level.
So, preserving as much muscle mass as possible is crucial for maintaining your health and quality of life as you age. Let’s look at science-backed strategies you can use to preserve muscle mass and strength now and as you age.
Strength Training
If there’s one thing you can do to preserve muscle size and strength, it’s to work them against resistance. Strength training creates small microtears in your muscles and when your body repairs those tears, your muscles grow and, over time, you have more muscle tissue, and your muscles can generate more force.
There are two main types of muscle fibers – fast-twitch and slow-twitch. Fast-twitch muscle fibers are designed for generating force quickly, but they fatigue fast. Slow-twitch fibers are built for endurance. They can keep contracting for extended periods of time, like when you walk long distances, because they’re resistant to fatigue.
Here’s the scoop. You lose more fast-twitch muscle fibers as you age than slow-twitch ones. A sobering fact: By the time you turn eighty, you may have lost almost half of your fast-twitch muscle fibers. Frightening, isn’t it? So, your muscles become less capable of generating force and generating it quickly (power), yet you retain muscle endurance due to relative preservation of your slow-twitch fibers. Plus, research shows some fast-twitch fibers convert to slow-twitch ones later in life.
Aim for 2-3 strength sessions per week targeting all your major muscle groups. This could involve weightlifting, resistance bands, bodyweight exercises, or a combination. It’s never too late to start! Even frail adults can benefit from appropriate strength training programs tailored to their abilities, although they should work with a trainer to strength train safely. The key is providing enough stimulus to challenge your muscles to do more than they’re accustomed to, so they must adapt and grow.
Since you lose more fast-twitch muscle fibers than slow-twitch ones, lifting heavier weights, where you can only complete 4 to 6 repetitions before fatiguing are more effective for preserving these fibers. Also doing explosive weight training helps preserve power skills.
Boost Your Protein Intake
Protein, protein, protein – yes, you need it to preserve, repair, and build muscle tissue. And you may need more of it as you age due to a phenomenon called anabolic resistance. As the years go by, your muscles become less responsive or “resistant” to signals that tell them to grow. Scientists aren’t sure why anabolic resistance occurs, but they believe an age-related increase in inflammation is a factor.
Experts recommend older adults consume 1.2-2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day from sources like lean meats, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes, and protein supplements. It’s also smart to consume protein throughout the day in increments of 25-30 grams of high-quality protein with meals or snacks.
Why is protein so important? Getting enough helps counter the negative effect of anabolic resistance. Studies also suggest that eating a diet that contains long-chain omega-3s reduces anabolic resistance. Talk to your doctor before taking them in supplement form.
Maintain Healthy Levels of Key Nutrients
Vitamin D gets lots of airtime these days. You can think of it as the “sunshine” vitamin, as the best source, for most people, is exposing their bare skin to sunlight. In response to exposure to ultraviolet light, your body can synthesize vitamin D. Older adults are at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency, as the machinery for synthesizing vitamin D does work as well. Plus, older adults spend more time indoors. And this is a factor in sarcopenia too.
Vitamin D affects muscle protein synthesis and metabolism. When you’re deficient, muscle growth and repair can suffer. Plus, vitamin D helps regulate genes that support healthy muscle growth and repair. One way it does this is by blocking myostatin, a protein that blocks muscle growth. That’s why it’s important to get enough vitamin from sunlight exposure or take a vitamin D supplement if you can’t.
Preserving age-related muscle loss requires a multi-modal approach. One study found that combining vitamin D supplements with exercise and protein supplements improved grip strength. So, vitamin D may give your muscles the extra support they need to stay healthy. Other nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, creatine, and antioxidants may also benefit aging muscles when combined with exercise and a protein-rich diet.
Get Adequate Sleep
Don’t underestimate the power of sleep. It’s during rest and recovery time that muscles recover and rebuild. Plus, getting sufficient quality sleep is essential for allowing your muscles to recover and repair after strength training. Chronic sleep deprivation is linked to lower muscle mass and strength in older adults. Lack of sleep places stress on your body, enough to raise the stress hormone cortisol. When cortisol rises, it breaks down muscle tissue.
Not getting enough quality sleep also reduces the release of key hormones your muscles need to grow and repair. These include growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and testosterone, which promote muscle protein synthesis and growth.
Aim for 7-9 hours per night by practicing good sleep habits. One study found that not sleeping for one night reduced muscle protein synthesis by around 18%.
Reduce Stress
Mental and physical stress also causes a rise in cortisol that’s harmful for your physique. Cortisol contributes to muscle breakdown and makes it harder for your muscle to repair. Managing stress through relaxation techniques, social support, exercise, and a balanced lifestyle may help minimize its negative impacts on muscle health.
Conclusion
As much as you’d like to, you can’t completely avoid some degree of muscle loss with aging. But you can slow it down and limit its effects. When you take a multi-pronged approach, it gives you the best chance of preserving muscle strength, function, and independence for your later years.
References:
Talbot J, Maves L. Skeletal muscle fiber type: using insights from muscle developmental biology to dissect targets for susceptibility and resistance to muscle disease. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 2016 Jul;5(4):518-34. doi: 10.1002/wdev.230. Epub 2016 May 19. PMID: 27199166; PMCID: PMC5180455.
Uchitomi R, Oyabu M, Kamei Y. Vitamin D and Sarcopenia: Potential of Vitamin D Supplementation in Sarcopenia Prevention and Treatment. Nutrients. 2020 Oct 19;12(10):3189. doi: 10.3390/nu12103189. PMID: 33086536; PMCID: PMC7603112.
Cheng SH, Chen KH, Chen C, Chu WC, Kang YN. The Optimal Strategy of Vitamin D for Sarcopenia: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Nutrients. 2021 Oct 14;13(10):3589. doi: 10.3390/nu13103589. PMID: 34684590; PMCID: PMC8541573.
Genario R, Gil S, Gersiel Oliveira-Júnior, et al. Sleep quality is a predictor of muscle mass, strength, quality of life, anxiety, and depression in older adults with obesity. Scientific reports. 2023;13(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37921-4.
Plotkin DL, Roberts MD, Haun CT, Schoenfeld BJ. Muscle Fiber Type Transitions with Exercise Training: Shifting Perspectives. Sports. 2021;9(9):127-127. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9090127.
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