Do Muscles Atrophy with Age? It's More Like "Use It or Lose It"

For those of us Masters worried that aging invariably concludes muscle deterioration, there's some good news from an interesting new study put out by Dr. Vonda Wright and her colleagues. The goal of the study was to examine whether the changes that are commonly associated with muscle aging reflect the true physiology of muscle aging or whether they reflect disuse atrophy. They studied 40 Masters athletes from the age of 40 to 81, and found a surprising lack of muscle loss when comparing active adults at either end of the age spectrum. Non-active adults, however, had significant muscle atrophy. The pictures speak a thousand words.

Note that the 40-year-old triathlete and 70-year-old triathlete have similar muscle make up. And that one in the middle? Put that on your fridge for a little exercise motivation. ;-) Basically, you "use it or lose it" when it comes to muscle atrophy. Add that to this study that says older runners remain economical in their use of oxygen, and it explains why we have 90+ year old super stars like Francis Albaugh and Fauja Singh.

Pretty amazing.

- SD

PS - See you at Woodside this Saturday?!? Inside Trail Racing will be hosting an event, and I'll be running the course backwards to get photos of y'all. BTW, if you're wondering where the pic at the top of my blog comes from, you'll see it on the course on the final few miles.

Still a few spots...click on the link below to get signed up!

Mar 24 Sat	Woodside Ramble	10K, Half Marathon, 36K, 50K	Huddart County Park	Woodside, CA
Mar 31 Sat	Redwood Peak	10K, Half Marathon, 30K, 50K	Redwood Regional Park	Oakland, CA
Apr 14 Sat	Knickerbocker Canyon	5K, 10K, Half Marathon	Auburn S.R.A.	Cool, CA
Apr 28 Sat	Folsom Lake	10K, Half Marathon, Marathon, 50K	Folsom Point	Folsom, CA
May 6 Sun	Big Trees	10K, Half Marathon, 30K, 50K	Joaquin Miller Park	Oakland, CA
May 26 Sat	China Camp	5K, 10K, Half Marathon	China Camp S.P.	San Rafael, CA
Jun 16 Sat	Pacifica Foothills	5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon	San Pedro Valley Park	Pacifica, CA