I have seen a number of advertisers recently claiming that their protein product can “grow muscle”. These are intended for older adults and suggest that their products can counter the age-associated loss of muscle mass without exercise. While some protein supplements may be superior to others and protein is important for maintaining muscle, one needs to recognize the most important factor in maintaining (let alone gaining) muscle tissue—physical activity. Specifically, it is the quality and quantity of physical activity that will affect muscle mass as one ages.
Muscle has high energy demands. Hence, the body is inclined to lose muscle tissue it is not using. It is also less inclined to add muscle without the right conditions—overload and a hypercaloric diet. This is the basic principle of reversibility—“use it or lose it”.
The type of exercise is important for maintaining (and gaining) muscle mass as we age. As the tendency is to shift to more aerobic (i.e., “cardio”) exercise as one ages, there can be a significant loss of muscle mass, even when one is exercising frequently. It is simply not efficient for the body to carry excess weight during endurance activity. (How many marathoners look like they train regularly with heavy weights? Certainly, zero at the front of the race. There are some who manage a level of success in both strength/power and endurance sport—e.g., Alex Viada, The Hybrid Athlete—but this require very specific exercise programming.) This is why slow-twitch (endurance muscle) has a limit capacity for hypertrophy and the initial gains one sees with weight training are neurological (e.g., improved motor unit recruitment and motor control) and hypertrophy appears more significant after many weeks of training. It is all about using protein wisely. Thus, for most, gaining muscle is hard (and, thus, losing muscle is easy).
One cannot grow muscle without an appropriate stimulus. Protein is absolutely necessary, and quality of protein is important, but diet alone will not significantly preserve muscle mass. One has to engage in some heavy lifting. Now, for those how are less inclined to strap on a weight belt and squat a high percentage of their 1-RM (or who don’t care to know what a 1-RM is), it is not important to lift weights, per se, to maintain muscle. It is most important that the muscle be stressed under a heavy load. This can be accomplished (though one should not expect to maintain as much muscle as one ages) by maintaining a more strenuous lifestyle that includes intense activities such as vigorous yard work and household chores, as well as challenging recreational activities (e.g., hiking and biking).
Retirement is associated with leisure—hence, a decrease in strenuous physical activity and an increase in recreational activities. As such, we tend to see the most rapid loss of muscle after the age of 50. There are certainly some hormonal and, perhaps, genetic contributions, but, most specifically, this is associated with the distinct changes in the nature of one’s physical activity. I am increasingly convinced that our exercise should shift, as we age, from cardio to strength training (unless, of course, one is a strength/power athlete whose early focus was on building muscle mass and strength with near complete neglect of the cardiorespiratory system). Cardiorespiratory function is much easier to maintain than is muscle strength and hypertrophy. Thus, a weight training program is recommended for all ages, and it is never too late to start. It need not involve hours a day at the gym, but it required a bit more an supplemental protein to maintain a healthy amount of skeletal muscle.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!