Exercise in old age: it's never too late for exercise!
Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for
More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.Carrying your shopping home or climbing the stairs to the third floor: As you get older, everyday tasks become more and more difficult. The reason: the body breaks down muscle mass. A small study has now examined how the muscles of seniors over 70 years of age react to strength training - and the results are astonishing.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham suspected that the muscle loss in old age was due to hormonal changes in old age, a reduced reaction of the muscles to movement stimuli and impaired protein synthesis. Her theory: strength training could prevent the loss.
How does strength training work in old age?
It has long been known: "Starting training in young adulthood can prevent this effect," said the researchers working with Dr. Leigh Breen. How strength training affects older beginners has so far hardly been investigated.
The scientists therefore compared the muscles of seniors who have been active in endurance sports all their lives with those of those who are new to sports. They analyzed protein synthesis and signal transmission in their muscles. Seven men between the ages of 70 and 80 who were in top shape and regularly active formed a study group.The second group consisted of eight healthy men of the same age who, however, had never been regularly active in sports.
The muscles of all participants were monitored for 48 hours at rest, and muscle protein synthesis was examined by means of a biopsy. This was followed by three training sessions with unfamiliar resistance exercises - including weights. The scientists monitored the reaction of the muscles to this unusual stimulus by means of further studies.
Strength training stimulates muscle growth
The analysis of the tissue showed that both groups reacted similarly to the strength exercises and the protein synthesis in the muscles increased to the same extent - regardless of whether they were a trained athlete or not.
"Our study clearly shows that everyone benefits from training, even if they have never done sport before," says study director Breen. "Even those who start late can work out to counteract age-related weakness and muscle wasting." One limitation of the study, however, is the small and exclusively male number of participants.
50 million suffer from old age
Around 50 million people worldwide suffer from severe, age-related muscle wasting (sarcopenia). The loss not only complicates everyday life, it can also promote accidents. According to experts, the number of people affected could rise to 200 million in the next 40 years. Eating a high protein diet and getting enough exercise and strength training could stop muscle breakdown in many cases.
Tags: dental care skin organ systems
