Muscle Loss with Aging: Inevitable?
With aging, it takes more effort and time to walk up stairs, mow the lawn, fix a faucet or wash the dishes. Tasks that you did without effort when you were younger can become major ordeals that leave you exhausted when you are older. Dr. Jerome Fleg, a cardiologist at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, tested 800 men and women over several years and found that their ability to sustain exercise decreased rapidly as they aged. The older they became the faster they lost what researchers call aerobic capacity (Circulation, July 26, 2005).
Aerobic capacity is a measure of your ability to use oxygen to do work. If your body can process more oxygen than that of
...further hinders weight loss. Most of the exercises in fitness programs are designed for both men and women, who exercise at a rate that is right for their individual needs. So, there you have it. The differences in the fitness ...
This study was done with people who were healthy enough for vigorous exercise on a treadmill that measured their exercise capacity. People who have had heart attacks, strokes, diabetes or other wasting diseases would lose aerobic capacity much faster than healthy people. The results showed that
...of the benefits of aerobic exercise is a healthier looking body. As you work out regularly, your muscles respond by hardening and becoming leaner; fat is burned off. This can leave you looking years younger. The aerobic exercise benefit to ...
The loss of aerobic capacity with aging explains why older people cannot compete effectively against younger ones in endurance events. The good news is that a regular exercise program can increase your maximum heart rate. By exercising regularly and vigorously, your will develop stronger skeletal muscles. When you contract your leg muscles, they squeeze against the veins in your legs and pump blood toward your heart. When your leg muscles relax, the veins dilate and fill with blood. This alternate contacting and relaxing pumps extra blood
...your physician). You ll find that as you work through the more intense phase of workouts for a few months, your performance will show similar improvement until it eventually flattens out. Once it does, you ll then need to transition ...
Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com [http://www.drmirkin.com/email/newssign.asp]Free weekly newsletter on fitness, health and nutrition













