From birth to early adulthood, people build muscle mass. The turning point was reached around the age of 30. Then the curve drops – first slowly, then faster and faster. As the muscles shrink, the body gains fat. Without countermeasures, between 30 and 50 percent of the maximum muscle mass will be lost by the age of 80.
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This age-related decline is so rapid in ten to twenty percent of those over 75 that it becomes a danger – and doctors consider it an independent disease. You speak of sarcopenia, a pathological decrease in muscle mass and muscle strength.
Those affected can no longer manage the apparently simplest things on their own: getting up, getting dressed, climbing stairs, carrying shopping bags or opening a jam jar. “Sarcopen” are senior citizens whose muscle mass, muscle strength and walking speed are below certain limit values. If you can’t walk ten meters in 12.5 seconds while walking and who needs more than 15 seconds to get up from your chair five times in a row without supporting yourself, you will probably get the diagnosis.
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Many of the people affected consider such a decline to be an inevitable appearance of old age. But researchers have recognized that the loss is by no means predetermined. You can train your muscle cells into old age – and thus regain the zest for life that you thought was lost. In fact, seniors who have trained muscles are less likely to suffer from cardiovascular or metabolic disorders and are more agile in the mind.
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