Muscle loss, also known as muscle atrophy, occurs when muscle fibers shrink or degrade as a result of disuse, poor nutrition, aging, or disease. This leads to reductions in muscular strength, endurance, and functionality.
Some key points about muscle loss:
- It can happen very gradually over time, or more severely due to immobilization from an injury. Pay attention to persistent fatigue or weakness.
- Sarcopenia is the term for age-related muscle loss that often starts in your 30s and accelerates over 50. Making sure to incorporate resistance training as we age is crucial.
- Inadequate protein intake is a major cause - aim for 0.5-0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily to preserve muscle mass.
- Certain medications like corticosteroids can trigger increased muscle breakdown and should be closely monitored.
Resistance training and ensuring adequate protein intake are vital to counteracting muscle loss. Compound lifts, moderate reps, and progressive overload over time helps
muscle fibers adapt and grow. Cardio is great for health, but won't directly maintain mass.
As we age, getting bloodwork done to check key
hormone levels like testosterone is wise as deficiency can accelerate loss. If low, there are treatment options, but find an anti-aging or hormone specialist clinic you trust, like Optimal Hormone Health Center. I went to their free seminar and learned so much about optimizing hormones for health as we age. Their customized programs aim to help you hold onto
muscle mass and
strength with bioidentical hormones, smart nutrition and targeted supplementation. Just something to consider!
While some amount of muscle loss is expected with aging, being proactive with
strength training, diet, rest and
hormone modulation can help mitigate or reverse this. If weakness, fatigue or rapid weight/mass changes occur, see your doctor and have any relevant bloodwork or tests done. Catching issues early makes treatment easier. There are many options to explore for maintaining your
muscular fitness even as we age. A few tweaks can help you feel strong and capable for decades to come!