Do You Lose Muscle as you Age?

When you think of yourself aging, do you anticipate becoming weaker, losing your balance, or seeing your muscles shrink? I recently came across a study that demonstrated that we don’t have to lose muscle mass as we age, as long as we continue to exercise. Please take a look at the study (here, in PDF form), especially the images of several people’s legs in cross-section. The comparison between a sedentary 40 year-old with mostly fat and a little muscle in the leg, and a muscular 74-year-old triathlete’s leg, is stunning.

By the way, exercise such as running has not been found to contribute to arthritis, and in fact helps people cope better with it.