I hear this a lot, “Don’t get old!” Getting older should never be regarded as a catastrophic phase in your life. Many people assume that aging equates to weakness and that it is considered part of the norm. While aging comes with normal physiological changes, there are things that we can do proactively to delay the effects of aging. One of the most important system in our body that directly affects movement is the musculoskeletal system. Ignoring your muscles may justify your difficulty to move later on in life!
👉Let’s learn a fancy word named “Sarcopenia” which refers to the decrease in muscle mass and function that occurs with aging. Regardless of one’s activity level, sarcopenic changes occur. After the age of 30, one loses as much as 3%-5% muscle mass per decade. It could accelerate to 10% per decade after the age of 50. Loss of muscle mass can result to decreased strength and power (ability to contract a muscle quickly) with age. Imagine how progressively weaker you can get if you don’t take any action! 🤔Think about having a hard time standing from a chair unsupported, climbing stairs, carrying your groceries or lifting your child/grandchild, getting tired easily, not having enough energy to walk like you used to, and God forbid --one of the worst outcomes is a fall with injuries such as hip fractures and traumatic brain injuries!
👉What could be some of the possible causes of age-related loss of muscle mass?
✅Physical Inactivity ✅ Malnutrition/ protein deficiency ✅Decline in growth hormone
✅ Inflammation ✅ Neurological changes such as loss of motor neuron input to muscles
The most important cause that we can readily control is physical inactivity! Walking alone is not sufficient, you have to add strengthening to your weekly routine . As the famous adage goes, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Individuals who participate in progressive strength training or progressive resistance exercise will have less acceleration rate of the age related loss in muscle mass. When it comes to aging, the strength and power on your legs is very vital to your function. So when you already find yourself struggling to stand from a chair because of weakness, it is time to act because not doing anything about it can lead to dependence with mobility later!
Believe it or not, older adults adapt to resistive exercise training the same way as younger people do! In order for a muscle to get stronger, there has to be adequate challenge or load. If you are doing the infamous 10 repetitions and however many sets of your prescribed exercises and you think you can easily do much more, then that means that the load is less than optimal to affect change in your muscle or function. That can be the reason why even if you religiously go through the pages of your prescribed exercise handouts from your doctor or therapist, you still have not noticed any improvement.
The general recommendation from American College of Sports Medicine, American Geriatrics Society, and American Heart Association to promote and maintain health and physical independence in older adults is to include muscle strengthening for a minimum of 2-3 times per wk allowing 24- 48 hours of rest between sessions of the same muscle group.
👉Developing the right muscle strengthening and power exercises for older adults is much more complex than giving out cookie cut exercise handouts! It requires the skills of a professional such as a physical therapist and occupational therapist who has the knowledge and expertise in the field of geriatrics because there are many factors to consider including physiological changes of aging, comorbidities, overall health , and baseline function of the individual before an effective strengthening exercise can even be designed. Don’t wait until you get weak or have an impairment before you see an occupational or a physical therapist!
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