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Reverse Muscle Wasting Due to Age (Sarcopenia)
Aging may be the greatest threat to your freedom and independence you’ll ever know, only because of what it does to your muscles.
“The anabolic hormones that are responsible for maintaining muscle decline with age,” says Brandon Grubbs, PhD, assistant professor of exercise physiology and co-leader of the Positive Aging Consortium at Middle Tennessee State University. “Older adults also tend to be less active and consume less protein, which is important for muscle mass.”
Not only that, but the “satellite cells” responsible for muscle repair become less responsive, says Grubbs, and the muscle fibers hold on to fewer of them. So growing muscle gets harder too.
Research shows we begin losing muscle around age 35, and the process picks up after we hit 60. While many of us are dreaming up fun plans for retirement, we’re also losing as much as 3% of our muscle per year.
But the loss of muscle due to aging, known as sarcopenia, affects more than your reflection in the mirror. It can greatly influence your health and well-being.
Sarcopenia has been linked to type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. It may increase the risk for heart disease and stroke, and take years off your life. It also jeopardizes your freedom to live on your own, not to mention travel, spend time with grandkids, or do so many of the things that make older adulthood joyful and fulfilling.
“Physical frailty,” says Grubbs — that is, weakness, slowness, unintentional weight loss, and fatigue — “is intertwined with sarcopenia.” If your body starts wasting, so does your ability to go about your daily life and do things you enjoy.
Luckily, there is a powerful remedy: lifting weights.
“Strength training mitigates the loss of muscle function that occurs with age,” says Grubbs. “It stimulates muscle growth and enhances muscle tissue quality, meaning you can generate more force with a given amount of muscle.”
Strength training boosts connective tissue strength and bone mineral density, Grubbs adds. “It can extend someone’s ability to remain living independently and reduce the risk of falls and fractures. It’s also good for one’s psychological well-being.”
Yet, only 9% of people over 75 perform strength training regularly — that is, at least two times per week. It’s not hard to see why.
Keep in mind that any move can be made easier to suit your fitness level. You may not need to drop into a deep squat if a quarter-squat (squatting only a quarter of the way) feels challenging enough.
Rest between sets can be 2 to 3 minutes.
Focus on Power Training
Interestingly, while traditional resistance training will build muscle and strength, Grubbs suggests that older adults focus more on power — the skill of applying force quickly. “Power is better related to older adults’ ability to perform activities of daily living,” he says, including walking speed, and going from sitting to standing.
In fact, a 2022 review showed that power training may be more effective than traditional strength training in improving older adults’ “functional performance.” Meaning you’ll have an easier time climbing stairs, getting out of a car, and standing up from a chair or the toilet.
The good news is power training is no more complicated than strength work, and it actually feels less challenging. With power, speed of movement is the focus, so you choose a light weight — around 40% to 60% of your one-rep max, or really any load you can move quickly — and lift it as fast as you can (but safely, and with control). Take a second or two to lower the weight and reset. Repeat for three to six repetitions, or until you feel your form may be compromised, or you’ve lost significant speed. Do one to three sets.
What kind of moves are “power” moves? You can do the same ones you use for strength, just faster. If you want to maximize your results, Grubbs says you can cycle your workouts, keeping the same movements but changing the speed at which you perform them and the level of weight you use to build muscle, strength, and power. For instance, you can train with heavier weights one day to focus more on strength, and then use lighter weights with faster rep speeds in your next workout to promote power. Keep going back and forth from there.
According to Laura Grissom, the Health and Wellness Education Coordinator at St. Clair Senior Center in Murfreesboro, TN, one exercise that all older adults should practice is the “sit to stand,” which is just what it sounds like.
“Sit at the edge of a chair, with your feet on the floor, and cross your arms over your chest,” says Grissom. “Lean back until your back touches the back of the chair, brace your abs, and then come forward and stand up.” That’s one rep. Take it easy at first, with three sets of 10, and then work on doing it faster, as power training.
How to Get Started
If you’re brand-new to exercise, you may consider working with a physical therapist, who can help you come up with a customized plan, educate you on proper form, and advise how hard you should be working. If you have a medical condition, talk to your doctor, too. Medicare may cover physical therapy with a doctor’s referral.
A personal trainer can be great if you have the budget. (Some are specially certified to train older adults, such as those with the National Academy of Sports Medicine’s Senior Fitness Specialization.) But if not, look into group fitness classes like the kind Grissom runs. Your local senior center may offer them, Grissom says. You can also search for a SilverSneakers class near you. Designed just for adults 65-plus, SilverSneakers fitness programs are available in thousands of gyms and community centers nationwide (and virtually via Zoom), and the cost is covered by many Medicare plans.
Working out in a group setting may be one of the best ways to see that you continue to work out at all. A study in Health Psychology found that adults 65 and up who exercised together in a program designed to foster a sense of social connectedness had greater adherence to their workouts.
“People don’t come to our seniors’ classes just to exercise,” says Grissom. “It’s a social event. When a person is retired, they find themselves with more time on their hands and not around other people as much. But when they come to class, they make friends and have accountability. If someone doesn’t show up to a class a couple of times, someone else in the class is going to call them and ask if everything’s OK. Once they get into the camaraderie of the classes, most people come back again.”
Seeing the benefits can help keep you motivated, as well.
“So many people have told me over the years that they’ve been able to stop taking medication because they came to my class,” says Grissom. “They’ll say, ‘My blood sugar and cholesterol went down…. The pain in my shoulder went away….’ If you have a health problem, the best thing you can do is exercise.”
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