Our muscles are such amazing organs. Muscles keep us strong and active, but also do so much more. Muscles play an important role in protecting our body by keeping us strong, giving our body structure, and improving balance to help stabilize the body, all of which help prevent and protect us from falls.
Muscles also play a large role in maintaining our bone density. We reach our maximum bone density by the mid 20s, so it is important we do what we can to protect our bones to keep them from declining. As we work our muscles, the muscle attachments stimulate the bones to become stronger by putting tension on the bones in a healthy way.
Muscle even helps support us systemically. Through maintaining our skeletal muscle mass, we can help regulate many different hormones which can protect against various health problems and also help keep us feeling good. Our muscles also support our circulation which sometimes becomes less efficient as we age (think about varicose veins) and are a key part of blood sugar control, working to absorb the sugar in our bloodstream. Our muscle mass even plays a key role in our metabolism. In fact, muscle mass is the primary factor in determining a person’s basal metabolic rate (BMR), the amount of energy or calories needed for the body to maintain daily functions. A better BMR makes it easier to manage our weight!
Our muscle mass and strength increase throughout our childhood, rapidly increasing with puberty and then plateauing by our early 30s. After age 30, our bodies start to lose muscle at a rate of 2-5% per decade. By the time we’re 60, this accelerates to up to 8% per decade. We know, given the critical role muscles play in overall health and safety, that these losses can lead to illness and injury that in some ways can be prevented or delayed.
While we can’t completely prevent the effects of aging on muscle loss, we can certainly slow it down and give ourselves the best baseline to work from by consistently working our muscles through resistance training. Resistance training can be done many different ways. Resistance training is a form of exercise that builds strength and endurance of our muscles by loading them in a controlled way with weight. This can be done through our own bodyweight or by using equipment such as free weights, machines in the gym and even exercise bands.
When it comes to resistance training, sometimes it is hard to know where to start, especially if this is something that is new to you. I recommend the following:
1. Consistency: Find a program you can be consistent with. This type of training is for long term goals so will need to be something accessible enough to become a regular part of your weekly exercise routine.
2. Safety: Make sure you feel comfortable and safe with your training program. Lifting heavy is great and has known health benefits, but may not be for everyone. Light weights can still get the job done. Talk to your doctor about a safe training program based on your own health history and injuries. Physical therapists are incredible resources to visit to help design a set of resistance exercises that are best for you.
3. Variety: Work on incorporating resistance exercises that can challenge multiple muscle groups for best results. This doesn’t have to be done at the same time. Your training program may vary throughout the week to hit on all the important muscle groups without doing too much at once.
Once you have found the resistance training program that is right for you, it is recommended to try to strength train 2-3 times per week. However, any training is beneficial. Try to get in what you can. In older adults, studies have shown that even adding just one 20-30 minute strength training session a week can give you significant health benefits.
Finally, once you have added resistance training to your program, you will want to support your body in recovering from all the work it just accomplished and give it the tools to grow that muscle. Proteins are the building blocks we use for repairing our body, including our muscles. It is recommended to try to get a minimum of around 0.5-0.8g of protein in your diet per lb. daily to support our muscles when we are strength training. For example, a 200lb adult would need around 100g/day on the low end of protein intake, which is often much less than we usually get in our diet. Whether you have already incorporated strength training or are not yet doing this, I would recommend reviewing your diet to make sure you’re getting enough protein.
In summary, supporting our muscles is a key part of supporting our health. While the above recommendations are important to consider while we are aging, they are equally important to add in while we are young and healthy to create a good baseline of musculoskeletal health to move into middle age and beyond. Maintaining our muscle mass helps us not only in regards to longevity but more importantly, it gives us a better quality of life in the years we have to do the things we enjoy while feeling our best.
