Fight Muscle Loss: Lift Weights…You are likely suffering from Sarcopenia.
I know nobody wants to think about getting older. Unfortunately, unless someone finds the fountain of youth, everyone is doomed to grow older. As you age, guess what happens. You start to walk slowly, move more carefully and let others do things for you (to be fair, I have been letting others do things for me since I was little, but you get my point). In short, as you age you become frail or weak : ( booooo.
Guess what? Everyone 25 years of age or older suffers from muscle loss, the fancy term for this is sarcopenia (don’t ask me how to say it). However, there are ways to combat muscle loss and slow down the aging process.
The solution…keep reading : )
What is sarcopenia?
Sarcopenia is fancy talk for losing skeletal muscle mass and strength. Ok, I will admit you don’t need to know what I am about to say, but I took one year of Greek so I feel like I owe it to myself to explain. “Sarco” is the Greek word referring to flesh, and “penia” means a reduction in amount. Thus, the word describes a progressive weakening of the body caused by a “change in body compensation in favor of fat and at the expense of muscle.”1
Super frowning face right?! Not only do you lose muscle, but your body replaces muscle with fat!
Although everyone begins this process around the age of 25 it isn’t until around age 40 when you will start noticing the symptoms. Especially for women, a crazy stat I found said the most women at the age of 40 will lose almost half-pound of muscle every year and replace it with fat!2 That is a crazy and scary factoid! Unfortunately, for both genders this whole losing muscle thing really picks up at the age of 65.
As a result of sarcopenia, your body will become weaker, your sense of balance will decline, your confidence to go out and about with family will decrease, and your ability to recover from falls and the like, will slow down. In short, as you lose muscle, you lose strength, and as a result you become less active. Why? If you have less muscle, it takes much more effort to move, and you will fatigue more easily. Also, with loss of strength comes loss of balance and stability. Plus, the fear of falling keeps many people inactive and an inactive lifestyle opens the floodgates for chronic illness.
The Solution!
Now for some epic news! You can delay sarcopenia and even reverse it. How? By lifting weights. I know, sounds too good to be true : ). You won’t be able to grow new muscles cells to replace the ones you have already lost, but you can develop the ones that you have left. In fact, most people will be able to become stronger then ever before, by simply beginning a strength training program.
Don’t make the excuse that you’re too old, it’s never too late. Even patients in nursing homes have seen transformation upon starting a carefully planned strength training program. After strength training, bedridden patients were able to begin walking with walkers, walker-dependent patients graduated to canes, and so on.3
For you young peeps, it is not too early to start! By starting early, you can significantly delay the effects of sarcopenia.
In conclusion, as you begin lifting weights, you will notice a transformation in your body. You will have more energy, you will perform everyday tasks with noticeably more ease and your clothes will begin sagging on you, because you will be building muscle and burning up the fat deposits. You will have greater balance and more confidence. And maybe one of the best perks of all is that you will be saving money on your insurance policy. Instead of paying super high premiums, you will get lower rates, and you won’t have to pay the deductible because you will be less prone to get injured. All those perks just because you chose to lift and build a strong foundation for your later years.
In short, are you WILLING to strength train and store up health, independence and the ability to live well…not just long?
Don’t let another day go by that you are losing muscle. Take it back, and get ready to feel better than you ever have!
Now go and be awesome!
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Sources:
1 Biomarkers by William Evans Ph.D. and Irwin Rosenberg M.D. Page 23.
2 Strong Women Stay Young by Miriam E. Nelson Ph.D. Page 22.
3 Younger Next Year for Women by Chris Crowley and Harry S. Lodge M.D. Page 178
