Don’t Ignore These 7 Silent Signs of Sarcopenia

Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle and strength. It starts as early as your mid to late-40s. But why should you care?

Sarcopenia can be thought of as the underlying root cause of aging. From stooped posture, to slower metabolism, to type 2 diabetes, to groaning every time you move, these are really symptoms of sarcopenia.

As personal trainers, specializing in aging, we’d like to help you prevent aging poorly, so you’d better be familiar with some of the less common signs and symptoms of sarcopenia.

7 Silent Signs & Symptoms of Sarcopenia

1. Getting into and out of chair is a challenge. For instance, if you drop the last few inches into the chair/seat instead of controlling the entire descent, or if you need a hand or something to push off of to get up.
2. Opening a jar is no longer easy. You might need to use grippy rubber or another aid to help you open those once easy-to-open jars.
3. You are a slow walker. You vowed you’d never become one, but now you get passed in the grocery store aisle more than you’d like to admit.
4. You are chronically tight/stiff. Guess what? Tight muscles most commonly means those muscles are weak. The stronger they get, the more elastic they become. So stop stretching, and start strengthening.
5. If it takes you longer than normal to recover from any injury, illness, or sickness. Aging happens in every cell. Strength training increases mitochondrial density in your cells which help you have energy and recover faster.
6. It takes you longer than 9 seconds to complete the floor transfer test. This is great assessment for total body mobility. Start in a standing position. Get down to the ground sitting on your butt. Then return to standing. Times over 9 seconds are correlated to higher risks of strokes, and you guessed it…sarcopenia.
7. Decreased coordination. Those athletic moves you used to have don’t happen any more. From troubles dribbling a ball, to coordinated footwork. If you are tripping over your feet, or making stupid mistakes in sports, it might you’ve lost some coordination due to sarcopenia.

Some Good News

While it may seem like you’ve been beaten with the proverbial sarcopenia stick there is hope. While this condition is widespread, it is preventable and reversible…with work.

You need to strength train, or lift weights. You don’t reverse this with walking, swimming, yoga, or Tai Chi.

Before you pat yourself on the back, doing hundreds of reps with those little pink hand weight don’t really count as strength training either.

To get the benefits from strength training you need to be working at a high intensity. Try to stay within 8-12 repetitions. Another key is that you need to only have 1-2 reps left when you finish. If you finish 12 reps and feel like you could’ve done 10 more, you need to go up in weight.

Power training is also crucial to reverse sarcopenia.

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If you're ready to take action, explore personal training in Cottonwood Heights at Leverage Fitness Solutions in Cottonwood Heights, UT — serving the greater Salt Lake area for over 19 years.