According to the "Nutrition Action Health Letter", once you hit 40, you start to lose muscle at a rate of 12% per decade. Losing muscle mass will make it harder for you to lift your grandchildren or even just do simple tasks around the house, or even take care of yourself when get older. Losing muscle is the reason many people end up in a care facility and need help with their daily tasks like dressing themselves, walking, showering, etc.
We tend to think that losing muscle is just a problem of old age, but the problem really starts early on. Unfortunately, this problem which is medically termed sarcopenia, is not talked about as much as osteoporosis. People know they need to take calcium to keep their bones strong, but many are not aware of the importance of maintaining muscle mass. However, the truth is that "women in their 40s and men in their 60s lose muscle strength at a rate of about 12% per decade", says Ben Hurley, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Even if you are suffering of sarcopenia due to a sedentary lifestyle, the good news is that you CAN reverse the effects! Professor Hurley says that within two months of resistance training, you can increase your strength by a whopping 40%. Pretty amazing! The KEY is to exercise your major muscles, which are located around your thighs, arms, shoulders and back. Don't rely solely on walking, jogging or cycling; include two to three days a week of strength training exercises. For women, start with a 3-5 pound weight if you haven't exercised before, and work up to using 10-15 pound weights; for men, start out with 10-pound weights and increase slowly to 20 or 30 pound dumbbells (you can add more later once you get strong, if you want).
As far as your diet goes, in order to increase your muscle mass, it is necessary to get enough protein in your diet, which usually means that you need to increase your protein intake. The RDA recommends that you get 0.35 grams per pound of body weight. So, for example, if you weigh 125 pounds, that would be 45 grams (125 X 0.35). If you weigh 150, it would be 55 grams, if you weigh 200, it would be 72 grams. Just take your weight, in pounds, and multiply it by 0.35 and find out how much protein you should be getting daily. Don't go overboard on protein, though. As with everything, more is not better. Just concentrate on taking in the RDA recommended amount. You can get your protein from good sources like soybean products, whey products, and legumes. Chicken and turkey breasts are also excellent choices, as is fish.
So, prevent sarcopenia by leading a healthy, active lifestyle, which includes not only aerobic exercising, but also strength-training. Also, make sure you are taking in enough protein to help your body build and maintain your muscle mass. The earlier on in your life that you start building up muscle mass, the better it will be for you; you will be glad you did that when you get older. If you are already over 40, don't worry - you can still increase your muscle mass by eating enough protein and strength training twice to three times a week. No matter what your age, lead a healthy active lifestyle and eat enough protein and you will prevent sarcopenia in your old age.
