Maintain your fitness and muscle strength for healthy aging
Resistance training is the most effective way to build and strengthen muscles at all ages. This means doing things like lifting free weights like dumbbells, using machine weights, resistance bands or bodyweight exercises such as push-ups and squats
Earlier this year, the RTÉ documentary lifted the nation’s spirits when it showcased septuagenarians and octogenarians dancing, swimming, boxing, running and rowing — living their best lives by maintaining fitness and muscle strength.
Dublin taxi driver and former comedian, Tom Reeves (83) dons his boxing gloves and hits a punchbag in his shed each day.
"I don’t want to go to heaven just yet," he said. "I want to hang out here for a while."
Fellow Dubliner Mick Dowling (76) is a renowned two-time Olympic boxer who continues to inspire and mentor kids of all ages.
Michael Curry (75) from Ringsend in Dublin, spends all his spare time on the Liffey and still rows up to Islandbridge and back.
From the age of 50 we lose muscle mass every year. This progressive loss of muscle mass as we age is called sarcopenia.
In her book , TCD professor Rose Anne Kenny describes sarcopenia as a "progressive and generalised ageing muscle disease characterised by loss in muscle mass, weaker muscle strength and infiltration of the muscles with fat. The main factors that cause sarcopenia are ageing, chronic diseases, low physical activity and poor nutrition. We lose 15% of muscle strength due to decline in muscles every 10 years after age 50. This loss in strength accelerates after the age of 70."
Up to two-thirds of people over the age of 70 have sarcopenia. Once it sets in it becomes more difficult to reverse and physical activity declines further leading to a chicken-and-egg scenario and further age-related weakness in skeletal muscle.
In an article in The Conversation in May, David Scott Associate Professor (Research) and Robin M Daly Professor of Exercise and ageing, both at Deakin University, Australia, discuss how sarcopenia increases your risk of falls, fractures, hospitalisation, loss of independence and many other chronic diseases.
"However, people who are active in early life and maintain this as they age can delay or prevent the onset of sarcopenia. The good news is it’s never too late to make a start, even if you are already experiencing the debilitating effects of sarcopenia."
The authors state that resistance training is the most effective way to build and strengthen muscles at all ages. This means doing things like lifting free weights like dumbbells, using machine weights, resistance bands or bodyweight exercises such as push-ups and squats.
A recent study found that just 20 minutes of daily activity can reverse frailty in people aged over 65, according to research by University College Dublin (UCD).
The study published in Age and Ageing shows how a combination of simple strength exercises and a protein-rich diet including milk, eggs, tuna, chicken or plant-based protein such as beans and lentils could help stop frailty and enhance physical resilience in those aged over 65.
The research identified significant improvements in the intervention group compared with the control group, including significant reversal of frailty, better grip strength, increased bone mass, and improved activity levels.
A 2020 systematic review in Sports Medicine showed that all adults — even very frail people over the age of 75 — can make significant gains in muscle mass and strength by doing progressive resistance training at least twice a week and that these improvements can be seen in as little as eight weeks.
Professor Kenny suggests that an exercise programme should work towards two to three sets of one or two multi-joint exercises per major muscle groups, two or three times a week and that programmes should be progressive. The HSE has developed a programme of indoor exercises for older people that include exercises to prevent falls and improve balance, strength and flexibility https://www2.hse.ie/living-well/exercise/indoor-exercises/overview/
"If training stops there will be a regression in muscle strength and fat infiltration into the muscles. So, try to keep it up and if you pause — start up again as soon as you can."
Professor Kenny also suggests that supplements to enhance muscle power are not the exclusive dominion of the young bodybuilder. As the production of protein is impaired in ageing, she suggests that protein supplements should be used to complement resistance exercise programmes.
"The most appropriate are supplements that target protein synthesis and thereby muscle metabolism and muscle strength, such as whey protein."
A recent trial of 380 adults with sarcopenia manifesting with low muscle power and low muscle mass showed that the group who were treated daily with whey protein and vitamin D for a three-month period had a significant improvement in muscle mass and in strength with no side effects from the supplements.
Professor Kenny concludes by saying that exercise and diet are some of the most important modifiable factors for biological ageing: "As we get older the inclination is to slow down with each year. I propose instead that we have a target whereby we strive to do a little more exercise with each passing year."
If that seems a bit daunting, think of the Super Agers — boxing, rowing, swimming, dancing and running well into their elder years. Resistance training combined with aerobic exercise, protein and vitamin supplements could be the beginning of a whole new and unimagined future.
- Dr Catherine Conlon is a public health doctor in Cork and former director of human health and nutrition at safefood
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