Age-Related Changes of the Muscles and Human Body Systems

With increasing age, we become progressively weaker. At some stage, the loss of muscle power is such that it drops below a certain threshold and causes mobility limitations and a reduced quality of life, the ‘disability threshold’. Part of this is due to a loss of muscle mass, but also the maximal power generating capacity per unit of muscle mass is reduced. But are muscle weakness and death inevitable? Is it all maybe because we become less active in old age? Would maintaining our activity levels help maintain muscle function and even open the possibility to live eternally? While there is no doubt that resistance exercise increases the power generating capacity even in the oldest and frail old, the gains appear to be less in old age, and in some cases, exercise even leads to further muscle weakness rather than gains in strength! There is evidence that sedentary behaviour during the day has a negative impact on many health parameters. Overall, it appears there is a progressive, and apparently irreversible, ageing process. The good news is, however, that regular exercise and other interventions or lifestyle changes can capitalise on the adaptability of physiological systems and delay the decrement of our functional capacity below a ‘disability threshold’.