What is sarcopenia? It is an age-related loss of muscle and loss of function associated with aging. What many of us fail to realize is loss of muscle effects more than bicep curls and leg press. It affects our ability to get up out of a chair, carry in a bag of groceries from the car and balance when walking across a grassy lawn. While we see sarcopenia in our aging population, it doesn't start with aging. Losing muscle mass actually starts around the age of 40 and with each year we lose .5-1.0 % per year. So where does this leave us at age 80 not to think about age 90? Talk about being a frail elder! The positive side is to prevent loss of muscle mass building it in the earlier years. That's crucial. Starting at age 60 to save for retirement is like swimming upstream and the same for strength. It's not impossible, just harder. In the younger years we need to focus on some high intensity weight training (safely) to build muscle. Once we have to deal with sarcopenia, we need to manage it with a good fitness routine and healthy nutrition.
Resource: Roberta Anding. MS, RD IDEA author and presenter
