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Muscle Mass Mastery
by author Brad King, MS, MFS

If we’re not careful, by retirement, we could lose one-third to one-half of our muscle tissue. This debilitating condition, called sarcopenia, is now considered one of the top biomarkers of aging: its specific physical traits are used to measure the progress of aging. Unfortunately, with the loss of muscle tissue our metabolic rate lowers and excess body fat accumulates.

But sarcopenia is not just about shrinking muscles and bulging waistlines. Sarcopenia is also a condition of weakness, disability, and early death. Everyday events that we take for granted - carrying groceries or even rising from a chair - depend on our muscular strength. Lose it and we lose our quality of life.

When we are young and vital, we synthesize protein easily and anabolic processes, which rebuild and repair the body, work well. As we age, the body’s ability to construct new protein slows and our body begins to break down faster than it can rebuild itself. Consequently we lose muscle tissue and gain body fat.

Two natural ways to remain anabolic and stop sarcopenia include regularly performing resistance exercise and healthy eating. A proper resistance-training program practised over many years can prevent the lean tissue declines seen in sedentary individuals. The amazing fact is that some muscle tissue and strength loss can actually be reversed in a very short period. In 1990 a groundbreaking study in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association showed muscle size and strength were greatly improved in as little as eight weeks of weight training - even in 90-year-old subjects.

Another study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1999 presented two groups of men aged 51 to 69 who combined resistance training on only two days a week with either a meat-free diet or one containing meat, poultry, and fish. Both groups performed the same exercises. The meat eaters, who consumed approximately 16 per cent more protein, gained more muscle and strength.

Proper protein intake, especially as we age, is essential to increased protein synthesis. In the May 1998 Journal of Clinical Investigation, scientists were able to increase muscle protein synthesis in elderly patients&without exercise - by giving them mixtures of amino acids. The researchers concluded that increased amino acid availability can stimulate anabolic metabolism. Therefore muscle mass can be better maintained with an increased intake of protein.

Research published in 1998 in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition states that exercise more than doubles our need for protein. Consequently, increasing the recommended daily allowance for protein from 0.4 grams of protein per pound of body weight (0.8 grams per kilogram) to 0.8 g per lb of body weight (1.6 g per kg) will meet the minimum need for protein in people who exercise regularly with weights.

The best resistance exercises are compound exercises, such as squats, bench press, and dead lifts, which control the weight with more than one muscle group.

There you have it, the knowledge we need to ward off frailty with advancing age. All we have to do is engage in a properly designed resistance exercise program and consume sufficient high-quality protein along the way. A great place to start is by supplementing with at least one whey protein isolate shake a day (see fatwars.com for suggested recipes).

Brad King, MS, MFS, is a nutritional researcher and author of the international best-seller Fat Wars: 45 Days to Transform Your Body and the new Fat Wars Action Planner. To subscribe to the Fat Wars Chronicle, his free monthly newsletter, visit fatwars.com.

Source: alive #256, February 2004