GROWING MUSCLES AT 60 AND BEYOND
The average adult in the US loses about six pounds of muscle per decade after the age of 30. Which means, on our 60th birthday, we’ve lost 18 pounds of muscle relative to our 30-year-old self. We generally don’t recognize this, and rarely does anyone talk about it, because the muscle loss doesn’t show up on the scale; it is masked by the fat gain that frequently accompanies aging.
The Prophylactic for Aging
A team of researchers including our close colleagues Dr. James Fisher, Dr. James Steele (both of Southampton Solent University in the United Kingdom) and Dr. Wayne Westcott recently published one of the most important scientific papers in perhaps a decade on the topic of strength training and aging. The paper, titled, "A minimal dose approach to resistance training for the older adult; the prophylactic for aging" appeared just three weeks ago in the Journal of Experimental Gerontology. As the title suggests, the authors summarize the many health related benefits of resistance exercise (strength training) and state that despite the preponderance of evidence supporting the efficacy of resistance training in delaying the onset of biological aging, the vast majority of adults still do not engage in resistance training. Thus, the focus of their paper was to introduce a prescription along with the benefits of performing a minimal dose of resistance training. Fisher and colleagues summarize their objective stating, "
However, this article is intended to determine the approximate minimal necessary volume and frequency to identify a 'minimal dose' of RT for the evidenced health benefits."
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