Experts warn: there are no muscles after fifty, and it's the only way to avoid the effects of aging

Get enough protein to prevent muscle breakdown after 40.

"The imperceptible loss of muscle mass, due to reduced levels of normal activity, can be detrimental to our long-term health," Peta Bee, health and wellness editor at The Times, tells us, quoting the words of Jamie McPhee, Professor of Musculoskeletal Physiology at Manchester Metropolitan University said: "Normal muscle loss with age will turn into more neglected muscle wasting; without a commitment to exercise from age mature, most people will become weaker in their 40s."

When we watch the Olympics and professional sporting events that feature the pinnacle of human athletic ability, we rarely see a competitor over 40, or an athlete over 50; "Because with each additional year that we live, the response of the body and muscles to exercise gradually decreases." As Roger Fielding, professor of medicine at Tufts University, USA, mentioned in an article published by The Conversation.

Fielding, who leads a team of scientists studying the health benefits of exercise and resistance training for older people, confirms that "the decline in body and muscle response to exercise after age forty is reason enough to continue exercising as you age."

Muscle and aging

As you build strength, the difficulty you initially felt lessens, as your muscles increase in strength and size over time. Lifting weights and doing push-ups and other strength exercises makes muscles grow and strengthen, until they reach the “bulge” stage.

This is "the stage in which your muscles gain more fibers and muscle cells, allowing you to lift heavier weights"; According to Fielding, "Continuous exercise allows you to gradually increase the weight until your muscles get bigger and stronger. Absence or lack of exercise will allow many biological processes to make the muscles less effective." It is therefore difficult for older people to build strength unless they continue to exercise.

Fielding and his colleagues found that "a little exercise produces a strong signal to trigger many processes that lead to growth and strength in young muscles; in old age, the signal that tells muscles to grow is much lower. These changes begin to occur when a person is around 50 and become more noticeable over time.

Fielding and his team also used a technique that can measure changes in thousands of genes when they respond to resistance exercise, showing that "when young people exercise, changes occur in more than 150 genes, but in the case of older men, there are changes in only 42 genes." This difference in genetic change explains the difference between the response of young and old muscles to strength training.

Sport is one of the most important activities after forty

Most experts agree that the imbalance that leads to muscle loss is a natural process called sarcopenia, and it can lead to weakness, increased risk of falls, and loss of balance. It occurs in everyone from around the age of 50, although some studies indicate that it can start earlier, but they agree that "a sedentary lifestyle hastens the process of deterioration ".

"After the age of 40, our muscles begin to lose at a rate of 5-10% every 10 years of our lives; it's worse in men because they have more muscle," says Beta B By age 80, "most people have about 40% less muscle mass than when they were young." It is the deterioration that increases when we are inactive, “even for short periods, even for two weeks”.

As for Fielding, "Once the differences in the level of response of older people to strength training have been established, the conclusion becomes that they do not gain muscle mass as young people, but that should not discourage them from exercising, but rather encourage them to exercise more as they age." He points out that “exercise is still the most important activity older people should do for their health,” as strength training can help maintain overall physical fitness, “and keep you going. things you love as you get older".

Reconstruction is possible

Fielding's research showed that "older people who exercise have a 20% lower risk of disability and a 20% lower risk of disability for physically frail people if they do the same exercise."

Which means that "older people get incredible health benefits from exercise, including physical strength and reduced disability." Therefore, Fielding advises everyone over the age of 50: "When you sweat during exercise, remember that you are building muscle strength which is important for maintaining movement and good health throughout the exercise. life."

According to Professor of Musculoskeletal Physiology McVeigh, "Some strength can be rebuilt even in the eighties, provided we are willing to put in the effort, because atrophic fibers can be increased in size with proper exercise and additional pressure on the muscles, as the main catalyst that causes them to adapt and even increase in size.".

Also, making sure you're getting enough protein helps prevent muscle breakdown. A study conducted by McMaster University in Canada found that getting enough protein (1.6 grams per kilogram of your body weight per day) significantly improves the effects of strength training, and that "Those who ate it amount improved their strength by an additional 10% and gained about 25% muscle mass.

This is backed up by physical therapist Gary Calabrese, saying, "Fortunately, it's not too late, and you can fight muscle loss by staying physically active throughout life, and seeing nutrition as important," recommending patience, "Results may take 6-8 weeks."