How much muscle mass is ideal in old age?.

Muscles are important for being mobile and independent into old age. In order to maintain the muscles, the right exercise and diet are essential.

Muscle atrophy in old age – a natural process?

The natural aging process brings with it many changes, including the loss of muscle mass and strength. This not only affects appearance, but also poses major health risks. But research shows that with targeted training and the right diet, this process can not only be slowed down, but in some cases even reversed.

In fact, between the ages of 30 and 40, the body begins to continuously lose muscle mass. And from the age of 65, this process accelerates again. This age-related muscle loss, known in technical jargon as sarcopenia, is completely natural and affects almost every older adult.

However, there are factors that additionally accelerate muscle loss. These include:

• too little exercise
• Overweight
• chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, arthritis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• hormonal changes
• Lack of protein intake

This loss of muscle mass has far-reaching consequences. Because then there is a risk of balance problems, weakness and frailty. This also increases the risk of falls and bone fractures. They, in turn, often lead to older people no longer being able to lead an independent life or even die as a result.

How much muscle mass is ideal in old age?

Due to the severe consequences of muscle wasting, the more muscle mass you have, the better – especially in old age. The average muscle mass for men between their mid-50s and mid-70s is about 32 to 35 percent. For women in this age group, the average muscle mass is about 27 to 30 percent. Subsequently, it continues to decline continuously in men and women.

However, it is never too late to train the muscles. And even at an advanced age, it is still possible to build muscle. Exercise and the right diet are particularly important for this.

Important to know

Anyone who has not been very active in sports so far should be examined by a doctor before starting training and changing their diet. This is important if there are underlying diseases such as cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis or osteoporosis. Depending on the patient’s physical condition, the doctor can make recommendations.

Strategies for maintaining and building muscle mass

Strength training is best suited to maintain and build muscle mass and muscle strength. However, it is important that untrained muscles, tendons and bones can slowly get used to the strains.

If you haven’t done any sports for a long time, you should therefore start with gentle sports that combine endurance and strength training. These include walking, swimming or gymnastics. Once a certain basic fitness has been built up after a few weeks, you can start with targeted strength exercises – but initially only with your own body weight. Squats, push-ups against the wall or arm circles are suitable here. You can then continuously increase the intensity with weights or elastic bands. In the long term, experts advise a combination of endurance and strength training. Because endurance training is good for the cardiovascular system.

Important to know

Especially in strength training, it is important to perform the exercises correctly. This reduces the risk of injury and prevents the body from being overloaded. It is therefore ideal for beginners to train under expert guidance in a gym and to be instructed in special courses.

Nutrition

But be careful: If you suddenly do a lot of sports with the aim of building muscle, you should definitely adjust your diet. Otherwise, you run the risk of achieving the opposite and harming your health.

The most important thing here is that you consume enough proteins and possibly more calories in total. Because protein is the most important building block for the muscles. If it is missing, muscle mass is lost. In addition, the body is less able to utilize protein in old age. The German Nutrition Society (DGE) therefore recommends that adults up to the age of 65 consume 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight every day. From the age of 65, it should even be 1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

Good sources of protein

Many animal and plant foods contain protein, including dairy, eggs, meat, legumes, whole grains, and nuts and seeds.

Therefore, to consume 70 grams of protein per day, you could eat:

• Breakfast: 100 grams of quark with 60 grams of oatmeal and fruit (about 20 grams of protein)
• Lunch: a portion of lentil bolognese with wholemeal pasta (about 25 grams)
• Snack: Handful of trail mix (about seven grams of protein)
• Dinner: Two slices of wholemeal bread with cheese (about 20 grams of protein)

You can find more protein-rich foods here.

If you generally consume too few calories, this is also bad for muscle building. Because then the body draws on its energy reserves – also from the muscles. Especially in people with a rather low body weight and little body fat, this further accelerates age-related muscle loss. Therefore, it is important to talk to your doctor beforehand.

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