5 Science-Backed Ways to Combat Muscle Aging

February 20, 2022

by Cathe Friedrich

You have more than 600 muscles that help you stay upright and mobile. When these muscles are strong, you have better body alignment and greater functionality and balance. Here’s the unwelcome news. By the time you reach the 7th decade of life, you will have lost as much as 30% of that muscle. Age-related loss of muscle and gains in body fat is known as sarcopenia, and it’s not just harmful to your physique; it’s bad for your health.

Fortunately, lifestyle plays a role in muscle aging and the onset of sarcopenia. By adopting certain lifestyle habits, you can slow muscle aging and stay fitter and more functional even as you enter the latter decades of life. Research shows there is much you can do from a lifestyle perspective to maintain muscle fitness throughout life. Let’s look at five ways science says you can slow muscle aging.

Strength Training

Strength training is “the bomb” for slowing muscle aging, and studies confirm that. By working your muscles against resistance, you create small microtears in the fibers of the muscles you worked. When your muscles repair those tears, satellite cells step in and contribute their nuclei to the damaged muscle fibers. These additional nuclei form a template for building new protein strands or myofibrils, the contractile elements of a muscle. In response to training, the muscle fibers increase in thickness, and the muscle becomes larger and stronger.

Strength training is the number one way to delay muscle aging, and it is never too late to start. Studies show that nursing home residents in the ninth decade can boost muscle size and strength by working their muscles against resistance.

A well-balanced strength training program includes exercises that work muscles in the upper body, lower body, and core. You’ll get the most benefits and improve your functionality the most if compound exercises, those that involve movement around more than one joint simultaneously, make up the bulk of your workouts. Think squats, lunges, push-ups, and deadlifts, to name a few.

Optimize Protein

According to Today’s Dietitian, older adults need more protein than young adults to maintain muscle mass and slow muscle aging. Many older adults don’t get enough, and it contributes to muscle weakness and loss of functionality. Older adults also have anabolic resistance, meaning muscle protein synthesis isn’t as robust in response to strength training.

Although inactive younger adults only need around 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day, even inactive older adults need more, around 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. Active adults may need even more after 60, as much as 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For that reason, you should include a source of protein with every meal and have an after-workout snack with a 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein. Your muscles need protein to repair and rebuild and they need carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores to fuel your next workout.

Get Enough Omega-3s

After 60 years of age, anabolic resistance makes building muscle harder than during early and middle adulthood. Experts believe an increase in low-grade inflammation due to aging may play a role in anabolic resistance. Some small studies suggest consuming omega-3 fatty acids may help counter anabolic resistance and make it easier to preserve and build muscle.

The study results are mixed at this point, but some suggest that omega-3 fatty acids support healthy mitochondria within muscle cells. By their effects on muscle cell membranes, these beneficial fats also enhance muscle protein synthesis. There is also evidence that older adults who consume more omega-3 fatty acids gain greater muscle strength and size. Fatty fish, like wild-caught salmon, is one of the best sources of long-chain omega-3s, the form linked with the most benefits.

Sit Less

Sitting contributes to muscle aging too. How? Too much time in a chair causes muscles to atrophy and weaken. If you strength or move your body more, you can offset this to some degree, but if you’re sitting far more than you’re weight training, sitting can accelerate muscle loss. Sitting weakens your hamstrings and glutes, and tightens your hip flexors, leading to muscle imbalances that can trigger lower back pain. Even if you strength train regularly, get up every 20 to 30 minutes from your chair, walk around and stretch.

Manage Stress and Sleep

Stress and lack of sleep age your muscles by leading to muscle breakdown. Two factors that increase cortisol are chronic sleep and a lack of quality sleep. Cortisol also causes other undesirable body changes. People with a high cortisol level build up more fat around their waistline and mid-section. In fact, elevated cortisol due to stress is a common reason so many people try to avoid the muffin top.

How can you prevent this cause of muscle aging? Make sleep a priority and have a way to manage stress. Yoga, Tai Chi, gentle stretching, and deep breathing exercises are examples that work for some people.

The Bottom Line

The benefits of slowing muscle aging are numerous. A lower risk of frailty and a better physique is a reward in and of itself but muscle loss also slows your metabolism and reduces insulin sensitivity, so you have lots of reasons to keep strength training.

References:

Protein for Fitness: Age Demands Greater Protein Needs. By Densie Webb, PhD, RD. Today’s Dietitian. Vol. 17 No. 4 P. 16. April 2015.
Buoite Stella A, Gortan Cappellari G, Barazzoni R, Zanetti M. Update on the Impact of Omega 3 Fatty Acids on Inflammation, Insulin Resistance and Sarcopenia: A Review. Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Jan 11;19(1):218. doi: 10.3390/ijms19010218. PMID: 29324650; PMCID: PMC5796167.
McGlory C, Calder PC, Nunes EA. The Influence of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Skeletal Muscle Protein Turnover in Health, Disuse, and Disease. Front Nutr. 2019 Sep 6;6:144. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2019.00144. PMID: 31555658; PMCID: PMC6742725.
Thau L, Gandhi J, Sharma S. Physiology, Cortisol. [Updated 2021 Sep 6]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan-. Available from: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538239/
Lopez P, Pinto RS, Radaelli R, Rech A, Grazioli R, Izquierdo M, Cadore EL. Benefits of resistance training in physically frail elderly: a systematic review. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2018 Aug;30(8):889-899. doi: 10.1007/s40520-017-0863-z. Epub 2017 Nov 29. PMID: 29188577.