Keep Your Muscles from Deteriorating With Age
Keep Your Muscles Strong as You Grow Older
Age has its benefits, but it also has its problems, especially when it comes to keeping our muscles from deteriorating with sarcopenia. Sarcopenia or age related muscular atrophy can start as early as age 20. The rate of sarcopenia accelerates as we age; from 50 to 70 years of age, we lose 30 percent of our muscle strength.
In addition to resistance training to lower blood pressure and Whole Body Vibration Machine exercises, research has concluded that progressive strength training can counteract age related muscular atrophy. The elderly need strength training more and more as they grow older to stay mobile for their everyday activities.
The goal of training is to reduce the loss of muscle mass and the resulting loss of motor function. The study found that progressive strength training in the elderly is efficient, even with higher intensities, to reduce sarcopenia, and to retain motor function. These successes consequently had a preventative effect with regards to preventing injuries and falls.
Higher intensities of training produced better effects compared to low and moderate intensities. To be able to increase muscle mass, a 60 to 85 percent intensity of the one-repetition-maximum is necessary. To be able to increase quickly available muscle force, greater intensities (85 percent or more) are necessary. The ideal amount of exercise for healthy older people is 3 to 4 training sessions each week.
