YOUR MUSCLES COULD BE WASTING AWAY!

From birth until around 30 years old most of us are building or maintaining muscle. However muscle mass begins to decline and physically inactive people can lose as much as 3% to 5% of their muscle mass each decade after age 30. The cause is age-related sarcopenia or sarcopenia with aging.

At first, individuals cannot play sports as they could in high school. With years of inactivity and loss of strength, they may have trouble performing even simple movements required in everyday tasks.

Some people eventually have trouble getting out of a chair, bathtub, or automobile, walking up a flight of stairs, or performing light chores in the yard.

With poor strength, it is easy to slip in the tub or injure your back when lifting even "light" objects.

As people age, motor nerves (the nerves that turn-on muscle fibers) become disconnected from individual muscle fibers- -they develop "loose" connections between the nerves and muscles.

Muscle physiologists estimate that by age 70, in most people, 15% of the motor nerves have disengaged from their muscle fibers.

Strengthening exercises can retard much of this loss.

Muscles have fast and slow motor units, Quick powerful movements require large, fast motor units, while slower movements for maintaining posture use smaller, slower motor units.

In older muscles, the slower motor units start to predominate, which makes powerful movements more difficult. Muscles become slower from physical inactivity. Doing strength exercises helps to minimize this loss.

Practicing resistance exercise with weights, weight machines, or body weight resistance, is important for fitness and wellness. Strength training makes movements more powerful, helps to maintain muscle mass (important for weight control), and contributes to healthy joints.

The message here is clear. If you want to maximize your quality of life as the years go by then hit the gym asap.

If you care about some of your older relatives then encourage them to start modest levels of exercise with supervision and guidance by a qualified fitness professional.