Here’s a sobering fact: You can lose up to 40 percent of your muscle mass between your 20s and your 80s. That might sound outlandish, but it’s a natural part of aging. Known as sarcopenia, this is the gradual loss of muscle mass that occurs as we age. Although we can start losing muscle from our 20s, this loss really speeds up once we hit our 60s. At the same time that sarcopenia causes loss of muscle mass, we simultaneously gain fat mass, and see a big drop in strength. All of this can affect how well an older person moves.
Muscle mass plays a huge role in our health. So much so that sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity (the combination of low muscle mass and excess fat), and dynapenia (the loss of muscle strength) are associated with a surprisingly wide range of health conditions, from heart disease and diabetes to frailty and dementia.