How to Prevent or Delay Muscle Mass Loss Due To Aging

It really hurts when after years of blood, sweat and pain, you begin to lose muscle mass due to aging. After the early 40s, most of the adults begin to lose muscle mass. The loss of muscle strength, mass and function due to aging is called sarcopania. Those who are living physically inactive lifestyle after 30s are likely to lose 3 to 5% of their muscle mass, strength and function.

Sarcopenia Causes 

Most of the physical inactive adults are prone to sarcopania. However, people living physically active life are also likely to suffer from sarcopania. According to researchers, following are the causes of sarcopania:

• With time, nerve cells that send signals from the brain to muscles are reduced. Muscles receive very less or no signal from the brain to start a movement.
• The body also loses its ability to convert protein into energy.
• The concentration of testosterone, insulin and other growth hormones is also lowered.
• Calories and protein body gets everyday are not enough to increase and sustain muscle mass.

When you begin to experience weakness and loss of stamina during a physical activity, you might be suffering from sarcopania. Those who spend most of their time in the gym will definitely want to defeat or delay sarcopania.

How to Prevent Muscle Loss Due To Aging?

The effect of age on muscles can be delayed with regular exercise and proper diet. Many personal fitness trainers say that with resistance training, we can build muscle fast and prevent loss of muscle due to age. It is never late and there is no good or bad time to hit the gym. You can join online personal fitness training and with the help of a certified personal trainer, you can get personal workout sessions and set up a diet plan.

Exercise

By sticking with a sedentary life style, you are actually speeding up the sarcopania. The best way to address muscle loss is regular exercise. Personal trainer recommended exercises improve muscle protein synthesis, and increase strength and aerobic capacity. In addition to this, it also increases mitochondrial enzyme activity which plays a key role in retaining and increasing muscle mass, strength and movements. Never miss a workout. If regular exercise is not possible, you can exercise at least three times a week. 

Diet 

              

Protein is extremely essential for repairing and building muscle fibers. A person suffering from sarcopania must eat 1.2 to 1.5 g of protein/kg a day. There is a simple formula to calculate the amount of protein you must eat per day. Measure your weight in kilograms and multiply it with 1.2. For example, if your weight is 67.5kg then you must eat 81 grams of protein a day. An egg or a cup of milk will give you more than 8 grams of proteins. Apart from this, omega 3 acids also promote muscle protein metabolism.

Hormone Balance

After the 40s, check the level of testosterone and DHEA. In the case of deficiency of these hormones, this problem can be addressed with doctor’s recommended natural supplements.