Posted on 09/16/2009 3:46:48 PM PDT by JoeProBono
It’s a sad fact that muscles shrink as adults age. But new studies are starting to unravel how this happens — and what to do about it.
Past research has shown that the bodies of older people build muscle from food less efficiently than young people.
Now researchers at the University of Nottingham in England have also found that a mechanism that prevents muscle breakdown works less effectively in people over the age of 65, resulting in a “double whammy” effect.
For the elderly, less muscle mass means not only a loss of strength, but also increases the likelihood of injuries from falling. However, the new research suggests weight training may help older people retain muscle. The study, detailed in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, compared the effects of insulin (a hormone released to slow muscle breakdown after eating) on a group of people in their late 60s to a group of 25-year-olds.
The subjects were examined before breakfast and then re-examined after they were given a small amount of insulin to raise the hormone to a level similar to having eaten a bowl of cornflakes or a croissant. To calculate how much “wasting” was happening in the leg muscles of both groups, the researchers tagged an amino acid (a building block of muscle protein) and performed blood analysis to determine how much of the amino acid was delivered to the leg and how much was leaving it.
“The results were clear,” explained Michael Rennie, a professor of clinical physiology at the University of Nottingham.
“The younger people’s muscles were able to use insulin we gave to stop the muscle breakdown, which had increased during the night. The muscles in the older people could not......”
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
But I digress....
Doctor tells me to keep walking....preferred that over going to an exercise room.
I go to the store 2 or 3 times a day...Walk end to end...safe, doesn’t rain or snow in the store and more fun than a gym...
50 pushups every night, 35 miles a week on the stationary bike, viagra as needed and all my muscles are good to go.
been kinda common knowledge that weight trainnig is good for “every body”.
holy shit,congrats .....50 push up was boot camp....
OOOO I hate weight training! DARN!
One thing I’ve noticed now that I”m older and trying to get back into shape, I don’t get results nearly as fast. I have been walking 2 miles per day for about 2 months now, and really, I can’t tell any difference. I know I need to up the distance/time, but until it gets cooler here it’s the best I can do. When I was younger it seems like I went from sedentary to pretty good shape in short order.
Oh, I also wanted to do something for my upper body, so I was going to start push ups. I couldn’t do even ONE! So, I saw somewhere about doing them against a wall, have been doing about 20 of those per day. At least its’ something.
Once more we see that exercise is the key to a longer more productive life. Surprise, surprise!
Wow. A picture of great health! Thanks so much for posting this article and the picture!
TUE THUR SUN —Jog 6 each day
MON WED SAT —Weights and Machines for 1 HR at LA Fitness
FRI -25 miles on my bike on the road and SE PA ain’t flat
6 FT 155 lbs
Don’t need Viagra
AGE 73
Well, that’s not ME!
Good news is, I don’t need viagra. And I never will. :)
Me neither:)
I don’t lift weights or excercize. But today at work I had to momentarily lift a chunk of cast iron clean off the pavement that weighed somewhere around 350-400 lbs. And due to a recent bout with swine flu, I currently weigh-in somewheres south of 170lbs. I seem to have lost most of it from my thigh muscles.
That’s my life. I don’t need no exercize.
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