You know how your body stores every extra calorie as unwanted, unneeded body fat and how this is just a left over evolutionary trait which was for survival? Well this is why we lose muscle, bone, joint stability…strength. It’s simply a left over trait where if we don’t use it we lose it. Your body has to feed muscle so if it isn’t being used it just sheds it to save on energy needs.

This is the same as mentioned in the last blog about body fat and body engine size ( https://wefit.ca/2016/06/21/fat-and-sarcopenia/ ). In our modern ‘easy living’ life we don’t need to lift and carry any real weight on a daily basis. As a result we now see people begin losing muscle as soon as they stop growing. Crazy right!? No different than how everyone seems to be carrying more fat earlier in life.

 

You can gain 15 lbs of fat and lose 15 lbs of muscle without even realizing because your body weight stays the same and this happens in your 30’s! Bottom line technology has made calories easy to get and physical strength easy to forget.

The tricky part is this:

You can try to get physical again but now slightly weaker you cannot naturally exert as hard as you used to even though it may feel like you are (smaller engine feels like it is working just as hard as a big engine). Gaining back lost strength doesn’t just happen because your engines of movement are now smaller and less capable . You can try some sports, some fitness classes however you will likely only retain the strength you have. In fact, most casual ‘recreational’ activity still see’s Sarcopenia over time just slower than someone who is completely sedentary.

To build lost muscle and bone/joints you need significant overload which addresses not your natural strengths but focuses on the areas you are weakest and tend to see the fastest losses in. This will be the focus of our upcoming posts where we show how technology had side effects on the one hand but has answers on the other.

Until then, be well, be strong,

Andrew & Tierney

-WeFit

Don’t forget to check out the: http://www.canadiansarcopeniafoundation.com/