Aging Bodies

The Importance of Maintaining Muscle Mass For Health

By Team eLifestyle Fitness and Lifestyle Expert Robb Armstrong

In last week’s Fit Tip we gave you Rule #3 – the last of three must-follow rules to help you look better, be stronger and burn more fat.

This week is our “Ask an Expert” segment where we answer questions sent in by you, our Fit Tip readers, as well as current and past fitness clients.

This week, Allyson Schonberger asks “I’m 58 years old with relatively good health, and I’ve heard that you need to maintain muscle mass as you age. Why is this?”

Great question Allyson! The answer is actually quite straightforward, and I’ve broken it down into three basic parts.

Research

Studies have shown that you lose muscle size and strength faster than you lose endurance or coordination. Research has shown that aging prevents muscles from responding to insulin, resulting in a direct cause of muscle loss.

What to Do

To combat this, introducing exercise and maintaining some level of a resistance training program helps to slow the decrease in muscle loss and strength by driving essential amino acids into muscles, which assists in the recovery process as well as to maintain muscle size.

Muscle Food

Next, you have to feed your muscles with the correct nutrients, and that means consuming regular servings of protein. Either plant sources – soy based, lentils, kidney beans, etc. or animal sources – chicken, fish, lean beef, etc. are good as both contain all the necessary amino acids required for cell growth.

We value your input and questions, so keep sending them to us through our website at www.elifestyle.ca under the “Contact Us” section.

Note: Check back every week for more helpful health and fitness tips from eLifestyle's Fit Tips by Robb!