Muscles in old age – their strengthening is the key to health

We notice how it’s getting harder to carry shopping bags and climb stairs, and after playing with children and grandchildren, our knees often hurt. These are all natural changes in our body that affect the health of older people over time, and it is about the fact that bones and muscles lose mass in old age.

The muscle mass loss and decreased muscle strength and function associated with age is officially called sarcopenia. So, the muscles in old age decrease in strength and potency. Sarcopenia occurs already after the age of 40 and accelerates after the age of 70. Sarcopenia is characterized by weakening body functions, increased risk of falls, and muscle and bone mass loss.

After the age of thirty, the natural physiological loss of muscle mass is between 3 and 5% every 10 years, and during our lifetime, we lose approximately 30% of muscle mass.

Why are muscles so crucial for health

Sedentary people are likely to suffer from pronounced sarcopenia in old age. Lounging in front of the TV is a sure way to lose muscle mass significantly. Muscle mass is an essential component of our health, especially when considering older people’s health, and it is quite underestimated.

Muscle mass and strength are not only essential for physical activity but also for everyday life. Muscles are essential for maintaining adequate body mass because they are the ones that consume energy, so the more of them, the better control the body has over body mass. There is evidence that healthy muscle mass is vital in preventing chronic diseases. For example, muscles are the primary place for storing glucose in the blood and are crucial for maintaining an adequate blood glucose level. Thus, metabolic changes in the muscle can lead to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and obesity. Also, muscles can communicate with other organs in our body using myokine molecules. These muscle messengers support:

• bone work
• pancreas
• liver
• fatty tissue

Muscles in old age and beyond – the dangers of weak muscle mass

Weak muscle mass, especially characteristic of muscles in the old age, causes physical instability and pain in body parts that provide structural support, such as pain in the lower back, knees, and feet. Greater muscle mass has many advantages:

• gives more stability
• strengthens joints and bones
• reduces the risk of falls causing hip fractures and other injuries

The forces from the muscles help keep the cartilage in the joints and the discs in the spine healthy because since these tissues have no blood supply, they rely on movement to feed themselves and remove waste products. These tissues become brittle and thin without action, resulting in osteoarthritis and other degenerative diseases. Activity reduces the risk of arthritis and does not contribute to its development as many think. Greater muscle mass enables more action, freedom, and a better quality of life for older people.

Older people should perform resistance exercises

Although muscles in old age will inevitably lose mass, we can still slow down and delay sarcopenia. The solution is regular physical activity, but not just any kind. Recommendations for physical activity are mainly focused on cardiovascular health and advise, for example, at least 30 minutes of brisk walking per day. However, older people should perform strength and resistance exercises to strengthen their muscles. These are exercises that use:

• light weights or elastic bands for exercise
• performing push-ups against the wall
• Performing squats from a chair

Due to such exercises, the muscles will gain strength in old age and generally improve the health of older people.

A prerequisite for physical activity is healthy bones and joints

Aggravating circumstances or reasons why older people avoid exercise are typical ailments of the third age. Arthritis, joint pain, weak bones, and excess body weight are the main reasons. However, it is a vicious circle that needs to be broken.

Resting due to, for example, arthritis will lead to a more substantial decline in muscle mass, just as avoiding movement due to obesity will lead to an even more significant increase in body mass. It is necessary to carry out regular exercise that is suitable for the state of health, to understand physical activity as therapy, and to carry it out systematically as, for example, drug therapy is carried out.

In addition to exercise, we can strengthen bones, muscles, and joints with an adequate diet rich in vitamins C, D3, and K2 and strengths with a sufficient amount of protein.

Muscles in old age and bones will gain mass with our Motion Support+, a food supplement containing unique patented collagen called UC-II®, vitamin D₃, vitamin K₂, and vitamin C.