How to help muscle loss with aging

How can resistance training benefit older adults? How will this help with muscle loss?

Sarcopenia is a process of muscle loss with aging characterized by decline of muscle mass, quality and strength.

It is estimated that we lose 3-5% of our lean muscle mass per decade of life after the age of 30 – if we remain INACTIVE.

Resistance training has long been identified as the most promising method of increasing muscle mass and strength among older people. There is a wide body of evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of resistance training on improving muscle mass, strength, balance and endurance among older people, even nursing home residents.

Promisingly, research has shown that the response of the muscle tissue at a cellular level is similar between young and old people exposed to resistance training. This provides good rationale for the use of this type of training to improve and even prevent sarcopenia in older people.

What this also tells us is – it’s never too late to start!

Taking up some resistance training either in a gym, in a class or at home at any time and at any age can and will lead to improvements in your strength, therefore improving your daily function for the activities and hobbies you enjoy doing.

If you decide to take up some resistance training and want to keep your body a well oiled machine or just get a tune up, please see our services.

Or you can book a free discovery session if you are unsure if physiotherapy is the right fit for your problem will we can go through your issue and a short movement screen to see if physiotherapy can help you.