To maintain youthfulness like a young person even as you age, you need to increase your muscle mass and build strength, which form the foundation of physical fitness. However, middle-aged and older adults have already experienced significant muscle loss, making it easy to get injured by lifting heavy dumbbells at the gym. What kind of exercise should they do?

 

To live young, you must definitely maintain your muscles

 

Muscle mass naturally decreases after the age of 40, declining by about 1% per year in the 50s and losing up to 60% of total muscle mass by the 80s. Muscles play a role in supporting bones and joints to prevent them from colliding, so when muscle mass decreases, it puts strain on bones and joints. A reduction in muscles involved in overall vital activities increases the risk of metabolic diseases. Muscles consume 20 kcal per kilogram, so when muscle mass decreases, energy sources such as fat and carbohydrates that were not fully used remain in the body.

 

These substances circulate in the blood vessels and can cause metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In fact, domestic research has shown that the presence of sarcopenia increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 3.6 times, diabetes by 3 times, and hypertension by 2 times. Additionally, as physical strength declines and physical activity decreases, chronic diseases increase, and degenerative diseases accelerate.

Walking, the best exercise

 

The easiest exercise for the elderly to maintain muscle mass is walking. For seniors, walking is a moderate-intensity aerobic activity. When done properly, it can be as effective as strength training.

Rather than just walking

 

Walking sideways

Walking on the heels

Walking on tiptoes

▲ Sit down and stand up every 10 steps

▲Lifting arms or legs high

 

By changing movements with the aid of tools, not only can the effects of strength training be enhanced, but balance can also be improved, helping to prevent falls. If walking for long periods puts too much strain on the joints, walking in water can be an effective alternative. Water-based sports provide greater buoyancy, water pressure, and resistance compared to land exercises, allowing for 3 to 5 times higher effectiveness with smaller movements. Additionally, the knee joints normally bear the full weight of the body, but underwater, buoyancy reduces this load by 35% to 90%, alleviating joint stress. This exercise helps to widen the space between joints, making it suitable for elderly individuals suffering from arthritis or herniated discs. However, for early-stage osteoporosis patients, it is recommended to perform exercises on land to ensure proper stimulation of the bones.

 

You can perform effective strength exercises indoors using a chair. Sit on the chair and rotate your ankles, or extend one leg forward, raise your toes, and bend and straighten your ankles. Then, extend your arms slightly below shoulder level and pull your arms back as if rowing, then straighten them. Bring both hands together in prayer position and lift them upward, then lower them into a fist pose like a salute, bringing your elbows down until they touch your waist. Hold the back of the chair with both hands, lift your heels, then lower them. Raise your heels backward, bend your knees to 90 degrees, then lower. Repeat each of these movements 3 to 8 times. If these movements are difficult, there is a very easy exercise: sit on a chair and stand up repeatedly 10 times.

 

 

You must not go downhill.

 

However, it is best to avoid activities such as going down stairs or walking on downhill paths. 

 

Muscle weakness may actually occur. Dr. Matthew Hill's research team at Coventry University in the UK, specializing in sports exercise and life sciences, conducted a study to determine how much muscles weaken when elderly people walk downhill. The team recruited 19 seniors aged 65 to 78, assigning 10 to a level walking group and 9 to a downhill walking group, then had them walk for 30 minutes. The researchers measured physical abilities immediately after exercise, 15 minutes later, 30 minutes later, 24 hours later, and 48 hours later.

 

As a result, it was confirmed that both groups experienced an accumulation of metabolic waste products during exercise, leading to weakened muscles. However, the horizontal walking group's physical function was immediately restored after 30 minutes. In contrast, the downhill walking group's physical function continued to decline for 48 hours. Notably, 24 hours after exercise, there was a rapid deterioration in physical function, and a significant amount of muscle loss was observed. The research team

 

Activities such as going down stairs or walking downhill are classified as eccentric contractions, which involve lengthening of the muscles. These exercises appear to contribute to muscle weakening and decline in physical function in the elderly. She stated that concentric exercises like squats would be helpful in strengthening the muscles of older adults.

 

 

To maintain muscle mass as you age... Good exercise VS bad exercise © Provided by Health Chosun