Controlling Sarcopenia by Christine L. Foutch
Dr. Christine Foutch is a holistic physician practicing in Rock Island, IL. The practice of holistic medicine integrates conventional and alternative therapies to prevent disease, treat disease, and most importantly promote optimal health.
Our Population Is Growing Older
Adults are able to live longer, healthier, more fit, and functional lives than ever before. Aging influences our perception of "self" therefore our own perceived quality of life.
Aging Is Not Fully Understood
Our body completely changes with age, including structural and functional changes in one's skeletal-muscle. This starts as early as the mid-third to early fourth-decade.
Age-Related Loss Of Muscle Strength
Preserving our muscle tissue and the health thereof will ensure our self-sufficiency with age. The acknowledgment of this age-related muscle loss can affect our mind and body.
Future Independent Strategies
The sedentary lifestyle, improper nutrition or nutrition malnourishment, and the lowered protein intake are some of the factors to focus on to improve our health.
Exercise
Sarcopenia is the wasting away of the muscle contractile-fibers. These muscle fiber types are recruited to sustain the more high powered activities we perform through exercise.
Skeletal Muscle Responds To Stimuli
The muscle fibers that control the heavy-lifting and the speedier response time are type ll. Athletes adjust their training programs to take advantage of these muscle fiber types.
Muscle Strength
Trainers employ the strategy for gains in muscle strength by bringing in heavier weights while focusing on fewer repetitions. This increases muscle strength and mass.
Muscle Development
Muscle strength and mass can be developed with an 8-repetition maximum. Advancing towards 3-sets of the 8-repetition workload with rest periods of five minutes.
