Muscles Weaken with Aging Even If You Exercise

To enlarge and strengthen muscles, you need to exercise them against resistance forceful enough to damage the muscle fibers. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

With aging you can expect to lose muscle size and strength, which increases risk for lifestyle diseases and disabilities (GeroScience, 2020;42:1547–1578), such as:

• heart attacks (Eur Geriatric Med, 2016;7(3):220–3) • diabetes (Med J Aust, 2016;205(7):329–33) • osteoporosis and fractures (Arch Endocrinol Metab, 2015;59(1):59–65; J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2018;73(9):1199–204) • depression and memory loss (GeroScience, 2020;42:1547–1578) • loss of physical independence (J Nutr Health Aging, 2020;24(3):339–45; 2019;23(2):128–37)