You may not know what sarcopenia means, but you probably know that muscle loss causes aging difficulties.

Age-related muscle loss, or sarcopenia, starts in your 30s when you begin to lose muscle mass and function. Physical inactivity hastens the decline, as exercise apathy and lethargy can lead to a loss of as much as 3-5% of muscle mass each decade after hitting 30.

Life is a beach when you're in shape.

Everyone Experiences Age-Related Muscle Loss

Do NOT make the mistake thinking age-related muscle loss only afflicts those who lead a sedentary lifestyle. Sarcopenia also affects people who stay physically active. This means that age-induced muscle loss afflicts everyone reading this blog, along with other factors that contribute to developing sarcopenia.

Here are some contributors to age-related muscle loss.

• Insufficient caloric and/or protein intake to maintain muscle mass
• Decreasing capacity to convert protein into energy
• Reduction in hormones (growth hormone, testosterone, and insulin-like growth factor)
• Loss of nerve cells that send signals from the brain to muscle initiate movement

Most men reach max muscle size at age 25, and later at age 50, things begin to really fall off. Testosterone, HGH, DHEA and fast-twitch muscle fibers start declining.

Sarcopenia’s Recent Acknowledgement

Interestingly enough, the term “sarcopenia” wasn’t coined until 1988. Muscle was taken largely for granted by the scientific health community. That may not be a coincidence.

Strength training is the #1 way to prevent and/or inhibit age-induced muscle loss. The pharmaceutical industry will never make a dime off a pill for sarcopenia. Thus it’s no surprise that sarcopenia has largely been ignored and brushed aside. That was 30 years ago. Things have changed since.

More research and focus is being given to sarcopenia today and it’s finding that muscle mass is key to maintaining our health and preventing disease as we get older.

Aging = Muscle Loss = Disease  Are You At RISK  Learn More