Life may force you to move quickly, even if you are old. You won’t be pleased to know that your muscles have to be ready to keep up. Starting in your 30s and 40s, your muscles become smaller and less strong, making you vulnerable to falls, increased insulin resistance, decreased cognitive ability, loss of bone density, and other problems that make you indispensable. Rapid response.
“There is a certain amount of inevitable change as we age,” Marla Beauchamp, a physical therapist and assistant professor at the Institute for Research on Aging at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, told The Washington Post. “There is a decrease in both the number of individual fibers in our muscles and their size.”
Rates of muscle loss are associated with an increased risk of falls and fractures, and these risks are the leading cause of injury and death among adults over 65 years of age. After middle age, muscles steadily lose size and strength, ranging from 3 to 8% per decade.
The amount of decline someone experiences depends on a combination of factors, including their activity level, nutrition, and other health problems such as diabetes, which increases inflammation and denatures muscle proteins.
But the loss of muscle strength with age is greater than what can be expected from the loss of muscle size. Losing 5% of muscle size in your 50s may lead to losing 10% of its strength. Experts say changes that occur in the brain and nervous system as we age are to blame.
Brain control
“The strength of our muscles depends not only on the amount of muscle in the leg or arm, but also on how the brain and nervous system control that muscle,” said Brad Manor, associate director of the Center for Motion and Fall Research at Harvard University. Changes in the nervous system include a decrease in the size of the part of the brain responsible for movement, the loss of nerve cells in the spine and the interruption of the connection between nerve and muscle.
“In all of our daily activities, if you’re thinking about choosing the right walking speed or getting up from a chair, you have to do it not only with the right amount of force, but with the right amount of speed in order to be safe and effective in that movement,” Manor explained.
Every daily task involves an element of strength, even those at a slow pace, but this is especially true of the most sudden and catastrophic movements, such as falling.
“Falls happen quickly and from the moment you lose your balance, you don’t have much time to catch yourself,” Manor confirms. “When you stumble, you have to generate force very quickly to resist that force of gravity.”
Why is strength training important?
“Older people go to the gym and are told to do exercises slowly, they go to physical therapy and undergo rehabilitation very slowly,” said Sandro Freitas, a professor at the Neuromuscular Function Laboratory at the University of Lisbon in Portugal. He pointed out that there is a cultural environment that encourages older people to slow down, and this is not always the best way to stimulate aging muscles and maintain their strength.
For some elderly people, standing quickly is considered strength training because it trains the muscles to provide strength quickly. The difficulty of any exercise can be increased by changing the speed and base of support (balancing on one leg instead of two), adding resistance, or even incorporating a cognitive challenge (such as counting backwards from 20 or thinking of words that begin with the letter “M”) during the exercise.
Try these four exercises to build muscle
Beauchamp recommended starting with the following four muscle-building exercises, twice a week. But it is a good idea to contact your doctor before starting these exercises if they are new to you, or work on them with a trainer or physical therapist.
– Squats (core muscles affected: quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings)
Sit near the front of a sturdy chair with your feet flat on the floor. Lean forward and stand, pushing your body up through your legs. Slowly lower yourself down to sit on the chair. Repeat this 10 times. You can use your hands for support to help you push your body up if necessary. To increase the difficulty, you can cross your arms over your chest, or increase the speed at which you stand.
To do a squat, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back straight, slowly bend your knees and push your hips back as if you were sitting on a chair. Lower your body as much as possible and return to the standing position. Do this 10 times.
To increase difficulty, you can add a light weight, holding it with both hands. Increasing the speed at which you stand from the squat position will also increase difficulty.
– Wall push-ups (chest, shoulders and triceps)
Stand facing a wall, with your feet about a foot (30 centimeters) away from it. Place your palms open on the wall at shoulder level, leaving a distance of shoulder width between them. Bend your elbows and lean your body toward the wall, keeping your body straight from head to heels. Then push yourself back to the starting position by straightening your arms. Keep your body in a straight line throughout the movement. Do this 10 times.
– Leg raises (calf muscles)
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, distributing your weight evenly from side to side. Slowly stand on the tips of your feet, raising your heels as high as you can while keeping your legs straight. Hold 2 to 3 seconds at the top, then slowly lower your heels to the floor. Do this 10 times.
When starting out, or if you have problems with balance, hold on to a table or counter for support. As your performance improves, you can try it without the additional support. For the most challenge, try exercising on one leg, with the other off the ground, with or without holding on to a support.
– Stepping exercises (quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings)
To perform step exercises, stand in front of a step or low, sturdy bench, preferably with a “handrail” or something nearby to hold on to for support. Place one foot on the bench or step and use your other leg to step up on the step, lowering down with the same leg. Repeat 10 times, alternating between legs.