Muscle is important for good health – here’s how to maintain it after middle age

While it’s almost unnoticeable at first, almost every cell, organ, and biological process gets a little worse every year we’re alive from the age of 30 or so. The sum of these processes is what we know as aging.

For most of us, loss of strength and muscle mass are some of the first and most obvious age-related changes we see. While this may start out as just a couple of little extra aches and pains, over time a lack of muscle mass can lead to a host of issues, including poor balance, frailty, and loss of independence. It is also associated with a multitude of health problemsincluding an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and even dementia.

While researchers aren’t entirely sure why muscle mass declines so much as we age, the good news is that we know that regular exercise can help lessen this impact, and may even slow some of this inevitable muscle loss. Regular physical activity has also been shown to lower risk of preventable diseasesmaintain physical function well into old age, and even improve immune function.

Move

Given how important muscle is to our health, the best way to maintain it after 30 is to keep moving.

But let’s say you’re someone who hasn’t exercised regularly in a few years, or never done muscle-building exercises before.

First of all, remember that getting older doesn’t mean you should avoid intense exercise. Our research suggested that younger and older men similarly recovered to heavy resistance training for muscle development, as long as the training was tailored to each participant’s fitness level.

However, it is important to consider your abilities before you start exercising. A common mistake people make after not training for years (or even decades) is trying to do what they used to do, or doing too much too fast in those first few workouts. This can lead to injury, so it’s important to build up your workouts gradually.

Realistically, the best training plan to follow is the NHS Physical Activity Recommendations for young people from 18 to 65 years old. This says that people should aim to be physically active most days and do muscle-building exercises. at least two days a week.

But what kind of bodybuilding exercises should you do? Well, there are actually a myriad of different types of resistance exercises to choose from, and they are all more or less you too What beneficial like the other. The cliché that people immediately think of is big, muscular people lifting heavy weights in a gym, but there are so many more options.

So if you prefer to do bodyweight exercises like pilates, use resistance bands, or work hard while gardening instead of lifting weights, that’s what you should aim to do twice a week. Enjoyment counts for a lot, especially if it means you’ll keep doing your new exercise routines.

Resistance-based exercise (like walking, running, and biking) is also great for you in multiple ways, beyond just building muscle and improving heart health. There is also a very clear relationship between longevity and making light physical activity daily.

However, it’s important not to do too much of a good thing, especially high-intensity resistance-based training. Research shows that doing more high-intensity vigorous physical activity than recommended is not associated with substantial longevity benefits. For clarity, these data do not suggest that high intensity is negative in terms of health, just that more is not necessarily better.

From a dietary standpoint, many older people don’t eat enough protein. Sufficient protein intake is necessary for increase and maintain muscle mass – even more so if you exercise regularly. Current guidelines recommend a minimum of 0.8 grams of protein per kg of body mass per day for all adults.

But you will need to double this to 1.6 grams per kg of body mass if you want work the muscle. So for a person weighing 70kg, you would need to eat around 112g of protein per day to build muscle. This would be the equivalent of roughly eating a large chicken breast, a protein shake, three eggs, and a can of tuna (although it will vary depending on the products you use, so be sure to check the labels).

This seems to be especially important for physically active older people(over 60 years old). It’s also good to spread the protein you eat evenly throughout the day to help your body absorb as much protein as possible. for food.

While muscle will inevitably continue to decline with age, no matter how much you exercise, physical activity often remains one of the best ways we know of when it comes to maximizing both good health and fitness and life expectancy. And the sooner you make exercise a habit, the better off you’ll be in old age.