Over 30? Your muscles may already be getting weaker
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Once you reach your 30s and 40s, muscle loss may begin, often before you even consider the possibility of needing assistance to perform simple tasks. Fitness expert Deborah Good explains that muscle mass and strength usually reach their peak during early adulthood and begin to decline once you hit your 30s and 40s. However, this decline can be slowed down significantly with regular exercise.
The initial signs of weakening muscles are frequently functional rather than visual. You might start to notice that getting up from a low chair, carrying groceries, or climbing stairs requires more effort than before. Your walking pace may slow down, and your balance may become less reliable. Activities that once came naturally now demand more effort.
Good emphasizes that losing muscle strength is not something to dismiss casually. Muscles play a crucial role in maintaining mobility, metabolic health, resilience, and independence as we age. It's never too late to start exercising, even if your most recent strenuous activity was lifting a remote with one hand and holding a beer with the other.
For those who have been largely inactive, Good recommends engaging in two full-body strength sessions a week using weights, resistance bands, or body weight. Begin with gradually increasing resistance as your strength improves, targeting the legs, hips, back, chest, shoulders, and arms.
While walking is beneficial, strength training remains essential. International guidelines suggest 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week, but this can seem daunting when you're starting from scratch. Good advises beginning with what you can manage and progressively increasing your activity. Walking briskly for 20-30 minutes most days is an excellent place to start.
Balance and mobility exercises should also be incorporated, particularly from your 50s onward. Lastly, remember that exercise needs nutritional support. Adequate total energy and protein intake are crucial for building and maintaining muscle. Consistency is far more important than perfection, as regular strength training over the next decade will have a significant impact on healthy aging, far more than an intense six-week program that you abandon after a month.
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
