by Chris Shugart
The Shrinking Bodybuilder
Lift hard, eat right, and get smaller? Well, that sucks. Here's how to fight age-related muscle atrophy and strength loss.
Lifters tune out when they hear the word sarcopenia. That's an old-fart disease where your muscles shrink and you fall often onto your saggy butt. Nothing to worry about now, right?
Well, not so fast. Sarcopenia isn't so much a disease, but a condition – a "natural" progression. It's also called age-related muscle loss, and the only way to completely stop it is to stop aging. Not a fun alternative.
But there's hope. More than hope, there are things you can do now to minimize or avoid losing muscle as you age, and lifting weights is only part of it.
What is Sarcopenia Exactly?
It's the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength, and muscular function. Even muscle contractions are weaker. Over time, frailty ensues.
Yes, that still sounds like a grandma condition, but early-onset sarcopenia can begin for men in their 30s, although it's slow and subtle. It speeds up in your 40s and really kicks in around age 50 where the rate of muscle loss accelerates to 1-2% per year. Post-60 or so, that rate hits 3% per year. Research shows that between 50 and 80, the average person loses 30% of their muscle mass.
The Obvious Causes are Obvious
After the age of 30, most men don't lift weights or eat enough protein. They move around less. They sleep less. They gain fat. Their poor lifestyles and food choices hammer their healthy hormone levels. Even if they manage to avoid all these pitfalls in their 30s, not many folks are still checking all the boxes past age 40 or 50.
But that's probably not you. You lift weights and consider protein shakes a major food group. Should you still worry about sarcopenia? Well, answer this first: How many strong buff guys do you know over age 50? Quite a few? How many over 60? 70?
Yes, lifting weights and eating a high-protein diet helps a lot, but remember, the biggest risk factor for sarcopenia is aging. And we're all doing that. So, let's dig a little deeper and pull out the big guns.
The Lifter's Anti-Sarcopenia Arsenal
1. Vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency (or insufficiency) contributes to the development of sarcopenia, and it's easy to develop a deficiency. Studies show that middle-aged and older folks with the worst sarcopenia have the lowest blood levels of vitamin D. When treated with enough supplemental vitamin D, improved muscle strength and function are noted.
How's that work? Well, muscle tissue contains VDRs or Vitamin D Receptors. Activation of these receptors helps regulate muscle protein synthesis, muscle cell growth, and muscle function. Vitamin D also helps maintain calcium levels, essential for muscle contraction. Muscle degradation can also be exacerbated by chronic inflammation and vitamin D helps reduce that.
Not every study on vitamin D3 and muscle atrophy shows improvements, but those studies typically use a very low dose in the intervention (800 IU or less). Most people need at least 2000 IU daily and more progressive experts suggest up to 5000 IU. There's some evidence that the older you get, the harder it becomes to absorb and utilize vitamin D.
Given all of vitamin D's other health benefits, it makes sense to keep your D up. Use the microencapsulated form for optimal absorption. D Fix (Buy at Amazon) contains 5000 IU of this more bioavailable form.
2. Fish Oil
Low-grade chronic inflammation significantly contributes to the development and progression of sarcopenia. There's even a new word for it: inflammaging. In short, this persistent inflammatory state leads to muscle protein breakdown and interferes with muscle repair.
Various pro-inflammatory cytokines are elevated when you're chronically inflamed. These cytokines (TNF-a, IL-6, and CRP) promote muscle catabolism and inhibit protein synthesis. Inflammation also negatively affects satellite cells essential for muscle repair and regeneration. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and enhance muscle protein synthesis.
Studies on fish oil and sarcopenia use anywhere from 1 to 4 grams daily. As you can guess, the high dosages worked better. Flameout DHA-Rich Fish Oil (Buy at Amazon) contains 4.2 grams, so you're covered.
3. Testosterone or T-Boosting Supplements
No surprise here, but testosterone plays a crucial role in maintaining muscle mass and strength. Testosterone promotes muscle protein synthesis and preserves muscle by stimulating cell growth and reducing muscle breakdown. Also no surprise, the signs of low or lower-than-before testosterone begin about the same time as some people notice the subtle signs of sarcopenia (in their 30s).
To prevent muscle wasting with age, get your T levels tested and get a prescription if needed. (Here's your guide.) If you don't yet qualify for replacement therapy or prefer to go the no-needle route, take the LJ100 form of Longjack.
In a nutshell, Longjack (Buy at Amazon) increases testosterone via two actions: It synthesizes testosterone by blocking its aromatization into estrogen, and it stimulates T production in testicle Leydig cells.
Higher T, less sarcopenia. And of course, keep lifting weights and eating protein.