How to Maintain Muscle Health in Your 60’s, 70’s, & beyond
by Alan Muir
Has your strength weakened overtime? Were you once a macho man or superwoman that was capable of scaling the highest mountains and lifting the heaviest weights? As you grow older, muscles become harder to maintain, decreasing strength and mobility, while increasing fracture risks. Muscle is often built by protein you consume through your food, but as you age the body has a harder time turning protein into muscle. Furthermore, insulin (a hormone released during a meal) fails to slow down the breakdown of muscle. This may be due to poorer blood supply that exists in older individuals. When this happens, nutrients and hormones cannot be delivered to the muscles.
A recent study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared a group of subjects in their 60s to subject in their mid-20s. Researchers reviewed insulin levels before and after breakfast, finding that insulin levels were utilized more in younger subjects to reduce muscle breakdown. Furthermore, researchers found that blood flow was slower in older individuals, suggesting the supply of hormones and nutrients is lower.
Resistance training can help restore muscle blood flow that easily decreases in older individuals. A study presented at The Physiological Society in Dublin integrated resistance training (three sessions/week for 20 weeks) to see if leg blood flow would increase in older individuals. Resistance training did increase leg blood flow in older subjects to levels that were seen in younger subjects.
It is never too late to start exercising. Individuals that are physically active are more likely to have longer, healthier lives. Even those that lead sedentary lives, but start exercising in their 80s are more likely to live longer. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine followed the rate of exercise among 1,861 elderly subjects (70 to 88 years old) for 18 years, finding active individuals (4 hours of exercise/week) lived more independently, performing activities like bathing, dressing, and eating on their own when they reached 85 years old.
To maintain your superman or superwoman-like spirit, integrate a resistance training program into your exercise routine. Also, stay hydrated, consume antioxidant-rich foods to prevent free radical damage caused by exercising, and follow your workout with protein to rebuild muscles.
References
Stessman J, Hammerman-Rozenberg R, Cohen A, Ein-Mor E, Jacobs JM. Physical activity, function, and longevity among the very old. Archives of Internal Med. 2009; 169(16):1476-1483.
Wilkes EA, Selby AL, Atherton PJ, Patel R, et al. Blunting of insulin inhibition of proteolysis in legs of older subjects may contribute to age-related sarcopenia. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Nov; 90(5):1343-1350.
