Live strong and prosper: the importance of skeletal muscle strength for healthy ageing (Study summary)

1. Introduction
2. Ageing and the resultant loss of muscle mass
3. Effects of loss of muscle mass (due to Sarcopenia) on the Quality of life
4. Effects of loss of muscle strength (due to Sarcopenia) on health
5. The impact of exercise on muscle mass and muscle strength retention
6. Live strong and prosper (and chase them gains!)
7. References

Introduction

flowchart for le lazy people :^)

Hey guys. Today, I will be talking about how muscle can lead to improved quality of life (or healthy ageing) as you age.

You’ve probably heard or seen somewhere from the bros that “Lifting is a lifestyle”. In this case, the Bros are probably right because there are some solid evidence to show that lifting SHOULD be a lifestyle for EVERYONE. You saw it right the first time, E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E. And in the next few sections, I will be making a solid case for that stance.

Ageing and the resultant loss of muscle mass

Everyone ages. I don’t think I need a scientific reference for that statement.  With ageing, there is a risk of losing muscle mass and strength. It is estimated the 30% of one’s overall muscle mass is lost by age 80 [1]. This loss of muscle mass (and strength) due to ageing is clinically known as Sarcopenia.

Effects of loss of muscle mass (due to Sarcopenia) on the Quality of life

Some of you might be thinking, “Ha, I lose muscle mass, big deal, it happens.” But it is a big deal, because the loss of muscle mass in the ageing progress has tremendous consequences on your health.

Sarcopenia is a risk factor for falls [2], in a study which showed that sarcopenic individuals were 3 times more likely to fall during a follow-up period of 2 years relative to non sarcopenic individuals, regardless of age, gender and other confounding factors [2]. This fact should NOT be taken lightly, considering the fact that problems arising from falls in the elderly in the UK are estimated to cost £1.7 billion annually [3].

Sarcopenia is also closely associated with physical disability (being defined as having difficulty performing activities of daily living [5]) based on a Cross-sectional survey done on over 4000 americans aged 60 and older [4].

In the same survey, it was also found that sarcopenia is associated with functional impairment [4], which is defined as having limitations in mobility performance e.g walking, climbing stairs, standing up from chair etc [5].

As you can see, the loss of muscle mass in ageing has serious implications, all of which will most certainly adversely affect your quality of life.

Effects of loss of muscle strength (due to Sarcopenia) on health

Sarcopenia is not only a progressive loss of muscle mass, but also muscle strength as the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) recommends using BOTH the loss of muscular mass AND strength as criteria for the diagnosis of Sarcopenia [6].

A huge study in 2008 by Ruiz and colleagues which followed over 8000 participants for 18 years investigated the influence of muscular strength on healthy ageing [7]. For individuals aged 60 years and above, those in the lowest third for strength were 50% more likely to die of all cause mortality than those in the upper third for strength.

An analysis for deaths due to cancer also saw the same trend, indicating that muscular strength might have some form of protective effect from cancer (correlative and not causative) [7].

This monumental study unequivocally provided evidence that higher levels of muscular strength is closely linked to healthy ageing [3].

The subsequent question would then be “What interventions can be done to improve both muscle mass and muscle strength across lifespan?”.

The impact of exercise on muscle mass and muscle strength retention

Physical activity levels can affect the trajectory of sarcopenia, as a study in 2008 finds that even 10 days of bed-rest in supposedly healthy older adults (aged 67 +/- 5) resulted in a sizable decrease in knee extensor strength and stair climbing power [8].

Thus, it would make sense that the elderly should be involved in some form of resistance exercise for the purpose of healthy ageing. Even though there is data to indicate that the elderly showed an age-related anabolic resistance to exercise [9], the summative effects of long term training can promote muscle growth in the elderly, provided if consistency is sustained [10].

For example, a study done in 2012 by Geirsdottir and colleagues had elderly participants (aged 73 +/- 5) perform a 12 week resistance program, in which they found that this significantly improved muscle strength, mildly improved muscle mass and most importantly significantly improved quality of life [11].

Live strong and prosper (and chase them gains!)

It is now clear that 1) maintaining muscle mass and muscle strength is the numero uno approach to healthy ageing and 2) resistance exercise is essential in doing point number 1.

Therefore, it is an imperative for everyone to have some form of resistance training program that they can sustain throughout their lives (till death do you part!).

Also as an ending note, I think this really resonates with the theme of my blog, because truly, deadlift is medicine.

Happy reading and of course, live strong and prosper!

If you want to know what I think is the best supplement for both muscle mass and size, check out my article here.

References

1. Janssen, I., Heymsfield, S. B., Wang, Z., & Ross, R. (2000). Skeletal muscle mass and distribution in 468 men and women aged 18–88 yr. Journal of applied physiology, 89(1), 81-88.
2. Landi, F., Liperoti, R., Russo, A., Giovannini, S., Tosato, M., Capoluongo, E., … & Onder, G. (2012). Sarcopenia as a risk factor for falls in elderly individuals: results from the ilSIRENTE study. Clinical nutrition, 31(5), 652-658.
3. McLeod, M., Breen, L., Hamilton, D. L., & Philp, A. (2016). Live strong and prosper: the importance of skeletal muscle strength for healthy ageing. Biogerontology, 17(3), 497-510.
4. Janssen, I., Heymsfield, S. B., & Ross, R. (2002). Low relative skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) in older persons is associated with functional impairment and physical disability. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 50(5), 889-896.
5. Janssen, I., Baumgartner, R. N., Ross, R., Rosenberg, I. H., & Roubenoff, R. (2004). Skeletal muscle cutpoints associated with elevated physical disability risk in older men and women. American journal of epidemiology, 159(4), 413-421.
6. Cruz-Jentoft, A. J., Baeyens, J. P., Bauer, J. M., Boirie, Y., Cederholm, T., Landi, F., … & Topinková, E. (2010). Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosisReport of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older PeopleA. J. Cruz-Gentoft et al. Age and ageing, 39(4), 412-423.
7. Ruiz, J. R., Sui, X., Lobelo, F., Morrow, J. R., Jackson, A. W., Sjöström, M., & Blair, S. N. (2008). Association between muscular strength and mortality in men: prospective cohort study. Bmj, 337, a439.
8. Kortebein, P., Symons, T. B., Ferrando, A., Paddon-Jones, D., Ronsen, O., Protas, E., … & Evans, W. J. (2008). Functional impact of 10 days of bed rest in healthy older adults. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 63(10), 1076-1081.
9. Kumar, V., Selby, A., Rankin, D., Patel, R., Atherton, P., Hildebrandt, W., … & Rennie, M. J. (2009). Age‐related differences in the dose–response relationship of muscle protein synthesis to resistance exercise in young and old men. The Journal of physiology, 587(1), 211-217.
10. Walker, D. K., Dickinson, J. M., Timmerman, K. L., Drummond, M. J., Reidy, P. T., Fry, C. S., … & Rasmussen, B. B. (2011). Exercise, amino acids and aging in the control of human muscle protein synthesis. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 43(12), 2249.
11. Geirsdottir, O. G., Arnarson, A., Briem, K., Ramel, A., Tomasson, K., Jonsson, P. V., & Thorsdottir, I. (2012). Physical function predicts improvement in quality of life in elderly Icelanders after 12 weeks of resistance exercise. The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 16(1), 62-66.