Thursday, October 18th, 2007...5:54 am
Study Shows Old Muscle is just as Good as Young Muscle
There are many people who accept the belief that it is natural and unavoidable to gain weight as we age. Clarence Bass put this theory to the test and wrote his findings in an excellent study called Metabolism Myth: There’s No Biological Reason to get Fatter as You Grow Older
The article doesn’t deny that many people tend to get fatter with age. But, the study goes on to say, this doesn’t have to be the case citing that the increase in bodyfat is more a function of inactivity rather than aging. The inactivity is blamed for a loss of muscle which is the metabolic engine of the body. This loss of muscle slows the body’s metabolism, it is not that your metabolism wears out. The muscle that is present in your body as you age is every bit as metabolically active as the muscle in your younger body, the only difference is the amount of muscle you carry.
And don’t think you can’t add muscle and strength as you age. Researchers at Tufts University conducted an 8-week strength training program on women between the ages of 87 and 96 who were confined to a nursing home. What were the results? The ladies tripled their strength and increased their muscle size by 10%!
What do you think? Can you teach an old muscle new tricks?
1 Comment
October 18th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
I think that thinking that you must get fatter the older you get is just a thought, and it’s only true if you believe it is!
There’s really no reason (unless medical) to stop exercising or building muscle just because you’re getting older, just like you pointed out in the results of the study of the women between 87 and 96.
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