Muscle loss

What is muscle loss?

Muscle loss, known as sarcopenia or muscle atrophy, occurs when muscle fibers shrink and strength declines. This leads to reduced muscle mass and has many causes including aging, illnesses, poor nutrition, and inactivity.

Muscle loss can start as early as age 30 but becomes more significant from age 50 onwards. After 50, adults may lose up to 3-5% of their muscle mass per decade. This accelerates after age 60 leading to disability, frailty, and loss of independence if preventative steps are not taken.

Causes of Muscle Loss

• Aging: Progressive loss of motor neurons causes muscle fibers to shrink. Hormone changes also negatively impact muscle maintenance.


• Inactivity: Not exercising leads to loss of muscle mass and strength over time. As we age, activity is key to maintain muscles.


• Poor nutrition: Lack of protein, vitamins, and minerals causes the body to break down muscle for energy needs.


• Illnesses: Certain diseases and treatments like chemotherapy can accelerate muscle loss.

Preventing Muscle Loss

There are several effective ways to prevent, reduce, or reverse age-related muscle loss:

• Resistance training: Lifting weights triggers muscle growth by directly overloading the muscles. This is the most potent way to boost muscle mass at any age.


• Adequate protein intake: Consuming foods high in protein like meats, eggs, and dairy ensures the body has amino acids available to maintain and build muscle tissue. Most experts recommend 0.5-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight daily.
• Staying active: Simply staying active with cardio, yoga, Pilates, golf, and other activities also helps minimize muscle loss, although not as effectively as lifting weights.

By combining resistance exercise, sufficient protein intake, hormone management, and an active lifestyle, significant muscle loss can be avoided. Most adults can maintain healthy muscle mass well into old age with proper exercise and nutrition habits. Reaching out to a medical provider can also help diagnose any underlying causes of accelerated muscle loss. Maintaining lean muscle should be a lifelong priority for health, fitness and independence.