Use It Or Lose It: Exercise Is Essential For Maintaining Muscle Strength
Use It Or Lose It: Exercise Is Essential For Maintaining Muscle Strength
September 6, 2018
You’ve probably already noticed it: Maybe you can’t open jars the way you used to or it’s becoming harder to lift those free weights at the gym. It’s no surprise that as we age we naturally lose some of our strength and muscle mass. And that can lead to a vicious cycle: the weaker we become, the more inactive we are, which leads to further weakness and increased disability.
Newly published research has reported that muscle strength, as measured by handgrip, can be an important predictor of overall health and longevity and that those with low muscle strength are 50% more likely to die earlier. Other recent research has confirmed that post-menopausal women have lower muscle strength and power, suggesting that menopause has a negative influence on strength. Together, these studies reflect what most of us already experience and probably see in our own arms and legs: as we get older, we lose muscle mass and strength which can have profound negative effects on our health and independence.
How to respond? It’s the old adage: use it or lose it. We have clear evidence that exercise can not only stave off what seems like inevitable weakness as we get older but can, in fact, reverse and restore the strength we used to have. Being a couch-potato can accelerate muscle aging and weakness and lead to lots of health problems. But being active and exercising is the one proven method to prevent or reverse this process. Bottom line? To extend your health and vital years, it’s essential that you exercise.