There’s a law in physics that states “An object in motion stays in motion.” I am by no means a physicist. I only took physics in college because I had to in order to go to medical school, but this is a law I can get on board with.
I extrapolate this out to mean much more than just what it means in physics. As humans we are subject to physics by, well, science, but there’s also an intangible message in this law that applies to us.
We’ve probably all known someone who has aged to the point of having difficulty moving. Maybe they need assistance to stand from sitting or to walk, to perform activities of daily living (bathing, eating), or maybe they even broke a hip.
We think of our muscles as important for two things: movement and strength.
Let’s take the broken hip example. We know hip fractures are devastating, but why?
After the surgery, the loss of muscle strength is so significant that some never regain it. As a result, 25% of women require long-term care after a hip fracture.
Movement and strength are extremely important. Muscles also contribute so much more than this. They are a great source for fighting insulin resistance, frequently experienced by midlife women (hello, difficulty losing weight). Insulin resistance is also the disease pathway to type 2 diabetes.
What happens to our muscle mass as we age?
We start losing muscle mass in our 30s and 40s. This gains momentum in our 60s and beyond, to the point we can lose 8% per decade.
This is not to say if you’re past your 40s, that the ship has sailed and there’s nothing you can do. The time to make a change is now.
What can we do to help our muscles?
Move and strengthen. This is sort of a circular logic. Our muscles give us movement and strength, and to build our muscles we need to move and strengthen them. Like I said, actually like Newton said, an object in motion stays in motion. That’s how we do it.
This means exercise. Move. Train. Movement can be walking, dancing, bowling, you name it. We add to that resistance training, or weight-bearing activity. This can be dumbbell weights, a weighted vest you wear while you walk, resistance bands. If you’re starting from scratch, you can start with body weight to do your exercises and as you get stronger, you add in those weights. If you’re using small weights now, as you get stronger you should be using bigger weights. Start where you are and build.
We need to feed our muscles and our bodies well. This means getting our basic nutrients: protein, fat, and sugar from good sources. A way to estimate your protein needed in one day is 1g per pound of ideal body weight (not current body weight) per day. That’s your total. Then that amount gets split up between your meals in the day.
Adequately hydrate, especially surrounding exercise. Muscle building is actually creating small tears in the muscle that then rebuild, so we need to hydrate. That soreness you feel after exercise, resistance training, or a new activity is lactic acid built up in the muscles. Light movement and hydration will help flush this lactic acid. Hydration is our most basic need of life.
I’m a big supporter of independence, particularly of women. There's a saying floating around the internet that says "It's better to be the oldest person in the gym than the youngest person in the nursing home." If we want to live long, live well, and live independently, building our muscle is key. The time to build is now.
Resources:
Some of the information contained in this article is the result of my training, medical knowledge, and personal experience without a specific source to be cited.
This is not medical advice.
Menopause Practice, A Clinician’s Guide: 6th edition. The North American Menopause Society. (Now called The Menopause Society)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10952365/
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23167-sarcopenia
