In a recent edition of American Medical News, an article titled Muscles Matter focuses on the need for resistance training beginning at the age of 40. In the article, Jeff Williamson, MD, clinical director of the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation at Wake Forest University School on Medicine is quoted as saying,

“I like to say there are really only two reasons why older people end up in a nursing home. One is that their brains stop working, and the other is that their muscles stop working. Especially their leg muscles. While the loss of skeletal muscle inevitably comes with aging, no one should just sit still and take it. In fact, sitting still would be the worst thing. People in their 40’s and 50’s need to take prompt action to preserve what strength they still have.”

For years experts in the exercise field have been telling people that they need to exercise, but their has never been a clear message as to what to focus on. Should one walk, swim, bike, or do yoga? The message is becoming more clear, however, as the medical journals begin to provide enough information to physicians, so they may be encouraged to play a greater role in persuading their patients to strength train.

“Just being in the hospital for a few days can dramatically affect muscle mass, ” Dr. Williamson said. “So physicians, in addition to thinking ‘I’ve successfully treated this persons heart failure or pneumonia’ need to be thinking, ‘How can I help restore their muscle mass and function?’ “

In the past much of the challenge has been in determining when a person was actually experiencing this muscle loss, called sarcopenia, but W. Jack Rejeski, PhD, a behavioral scientist at Wake Forest, is quoted in the article as saying,

“Difficulty climbing stairs can be the first sign of functional decline. We’ve shown in our research that such problems are one of the first signs of early disability.”

Sarcopenia has been written about and studied for years but the action needed to do something about it has been lagging behind the volumes of information. It is estimated that only 21% of all men and 17.5% of all women in the United States engage in some type of strength training today. Something needs to be done to change this, and physicians are the ones who can have the greatest effect on their patients exercise habits.

“Assessing a patients physical functioning should be part of an office visit,” Rejeski said in the article. “One way to conduct an assessment of lower extremity function is by the Short Physical Performance Battery. It’s a very simple test, but it has been shown in large studies to be predictive of decline in function.”

It’s not only the decline in physical ability that becomes evident with sarcopenia, however, and their have been 100’s of studies to determine the role of muscle loss with diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, as well as complications from stroke, and chronic neck and back pain. A recent search for sarcopenia on PubMed.gov revealed 675 articles on many different subjects. A visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website will reveal the question, posed on the site, why strength train?

The answers to this question are numerous:

• A group of older men and women completed a 16 week strength training program focused on reducing arthritis pain. Their pain was reduced by 43% and demonstrated that resistance exercise was just as effective, if not more so, than medications, based on CDC findings.
• The CDC reports that lean body mass decreases 15% between the ages of 30 to 60
• In a 16 week study of Hispanic men and women with type II diabetes, improved glucose control was demonstrated, which was comparable the results produced by medication.
• The CDC reports that resistance exercise improves balance and flexibility, as well as improves bone density.

The advise of the of the AMA and the CDC is based on information that has become abundantly clear. Everyone, including those who have elite level athletic prowess, will lose muscle as they age. If one wishes to avoid the severe maladies and loss of function associated with sarcopenia, one must strength train. It is now imperative for physicians to monitor functional strength loss, and prescribe resistance exercise.

At Santa Rosa Strength, we specialize in the clinical application of progressive resistance exercise (PRE), and for years have helped our clients manage: sarcopenia, osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, complications from stroke, chronic low back pain, Parkinson’s, obesity, and forms of arthritis. With 1 weekly PRE session, proper nutritional guidance, recreational activities, stress management, and organic, whole food supplementation, individuals have been guided to success time and time again. If you are reading this, and need to make a change in your life, please call, e-mail, or just drop by. We will provide whatever is necessary for you to take control of your health!