Old age: Here’s why it’s important to focus on gaining muscle – not losing weight – as you age

In a video that has reached millions of people on social media, a lady who appears to be over 70 lifts a barbell with weights in the gym. In the footage, the image shows her doing the same, but with races.

The message of the video coincides with the one that American doctor Gabrielle Lyon has been trying to convey to her patients for years: to age well and have a quality of life in old age, it is necessary to build and maintain muscles.

“Maybe we don’t care so much about wearing a bikini, but we care a lot more about being self-sufficient, about having the strength to hold our grandchildren in our arms. Carrying your own groceries, living in a way autonomous, this is the first reason to worry about maintaining good muscle mass,” explains the geriatrician, author of the book The Muscle Revolution, published by Intrínseca in March.

“But it goes well beyond that. Maintaining muscle mass helps prevent chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease… Conditions that become more common as people age.”

While the call to gain muscle is more popular among younger generations, who are looking to improve their body appearance or athletic performance, Lyon says it is the over-50s who should be most concerned about body composition .

“There’s definitely this transition with age, of less attention to the physical. When you’re young, you focus on appearance, and that’s okay because it creates good habits. But there is has a difference: it’s not always just about aesthetics and really, it’s never too late to get stronger and gain muscle.

The natural process of gradual loss of muscle mass and strength begins to occur, albeit slowly, from the age of 30.

When we reach the age of 50, a greater loss of muscle mass begins, which can reach 2% per year.

But certain factors, such as a sedentary lifestyle, a low-protein diet, chronic illnesses and hospitalization can cause this decline to start sooner.

This major loss of musculature, known as sarcopenia, can lead to decreased functional capacity, increased risk of falls, and disability.

“Often, lost muscle is replaced by body fat, reducing muscle strength and mobility while disrupting metabolism,” describes Lyon.

The doctor points out that over the past decade, much of the research, as well as awareness campaigns, have focused a lot on obesity and the need to lose weight.

“This has damaged the way people think about fitness. As we age, the lack of muscle can cause more damage than the amount of fat in the body,” he says.

And for those who manage to maintain a good reserve of muscle mass, he explains, fat burning is also enhanced, because muscles expend more energy at rest than other tissues.

Here are examples of diseases that muscle mass can help prevent:

The disease causes insulin, a substance produced by the pancreas that helps regulate blood sugar, to not be used properly by the body, resulting in high blood sugar.

A body with more muscle needs more energy to function – and so it uses more sugar to turn into energy.

Thus, muscle mass helps regulate blood sugar more effectively, helping both to prevent type 2 diabetes and to regulate the condition of those who suffer from it.

Strength exercises make the heart work harder to pump blood to the muscles.

The extra effort helps strengthen the organ, which reduces the risk of heart disease.

During exercises such as lifting weights, muscles contract and exert force on bones through tendons.

This movement stimulates bone remodeling, which makes bones denser and helps prevent osteoporosis, a condition in which bones become brittle and prone to fracture.

According to Lyon, the musculoskeletal system is the most underestimated organ in the body, especially when it comes to older adults.

“And when you’re older, if you eat and train like you did when you were younger, you may not be able to maintain muscle health. You need to make a focused effort to do this, plan a routine that works for YOU.”

Lyon maintains that training to gain muscle doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective.

“There are no specific exercises or specific movements that are crucial. The idea is to continually stimulate the muscle tissue – and there are many ways to do that.

Many scientific studies suggest that for hypertrophy (muscle gain), a very effective method is to go “to failure”, that is, to your maximum effort, with conventional strength training exercises.

This does not necessarily mean that the person must lift very heavy weights or do a very high number of repetitions – but rather that they exercise in their current physical condition.

And for those who are taking the first step out of a sedentary lifestyle, the inclusion of exercises in the routine can be done gradually.

“Carrying a backpack or heavier items that you have at home, thinking about activities that involve lifting something above your head… This helps to understand the importance of maintaining balance and muscular strength, and above all, the importance of leg strength. You don’t need to do squats at maximum weight, but you need to be able to get up off the ground”, illustrates Lyon.

The support of a physical education professional is recommended to be able to align an effective plan with the objective – and this is even more important in the case of elderly and sedentary people, in order to avoid injuries and falls during exercise.

Another essential measure for gaining muscle mass is a balanced diet with a particular emphasis on protein.

According to the International Society of Nutrition and Sport, for muscle growth and maintenance of lean mass, as well as for physical exercise, an intake of between 1.4 and 2.0 grams of protein per kg per day is necessary .

A 70 kg person would therefore need to consume between 98 and 140 grams of protein per day.

Lyon maintains that it’s never too early to start training.

“What I mean by that is that physical activity should be a way of life. I’m a mother of two young children and we already exercise as a family – of course, in their case, d ‘a child-friendly way If you train from a young age, it prepares the muscle to be healthier in the future.’

But even for someone who has been training since he was young and constantly, the doctor admits that losing muscle mass is still quite easy.

“In one week of inactivity, we are already seeing significant losses. This becomes very clear when we look at people who have been admitted to intensive care, for example.

On the other hand, more optimistically, Lyon explains that muscles have a kind of memory.

“It’s a lot easier to get fit than to get fit from scratch. If you start young, it’s even better.”

But she explains that this should not scare those who are going to start exercising at an older age: it is possible to achieve good results at any age, and a balanced diet and training focused on your personal characteristics can only bring benefits.

“The body depends on activity. We were made to be active creatures, and when we reduce physical activity, we run the risk of physical disabilities.

She argues that as we age, we need to become more active, not less.

“Inactivity is not an option for a healthy person. The more healthy muscle mass you have, the greater your ability to survive against all kinds of illnesses, whether it’s cancer, falls or any other something else, is greater. The more healthy muscle mass you have, the better your ability to be self-reliant and survive. There is nothing more important to the elderly population than having muscle.

And for those looking to escape a sedentary lifestyle, Lyon leaves some advice.

“Don’t expect motivation or rely on specific goals. The most important thing to think about is that the years you have left to live can be changed if you make good choices about yourself.