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Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

nytimes.com

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Re: Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

#111

Post by baccheion »

beaconstudios wrote: post #16
madeuptempacct wrote: post #3

More interested in preventing this: http://social-quotient.info/sq.4mg.com/brainpower.gif Much less clear on how accomplish that. Edit: To elaborate, I know exactly what I need to do to stay physically fit into old age and how to monitor my physical fitness - I know immediately when I get winded more from my regular run, my lift numbers drop, or I can't reach my toes. The scary part is if I stop working out for more…

it's on the fringe right now, but many nootropics are being found to have neuroprotective properties. If there were a drug I could take as a regular supplement that was better understood and prevented cognitive decline in old age, I'd take it.

Selegiline

Re: Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

#112

Post by chillingeffect »

madeuptempacct wrote: post #20
morsma wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Low carb and periodic water fasting (autophagy), and you should be set old age.

I keep seeing this on HackerNews - everyone seems to convinced that keto, intermittent fasting, and fasting are the new holy grail, I am unconvinced. I am convinced in the good old "enough sleep and cardio" theory though, since both have known working mechanisms (incread blood flow and debris clean up during sleep).

why are you unconvinced about fasting? have you tried researching and reading the scientific articles about fasting and the other topics.

If you're thinking in terms of "holy grail," you may be subjecting yourself to an "all or nothing" fallacy.

Generally, we're discovering how to lead our bodies through the healthy operating conditions which kept our ancestors alive as we navigate a modern world of high-tech capabilities, treatments and availability crossed with widespread lack of discipline and healthy habits.

Re: Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

#113

Post by probably_wrong »

andy_ppp wrote: post #48

I can't recommend StrongLifts enough. https://stronglifts.com I'm up to squatting 130kg now and feeling great!

This app looks a bit like what I need, but not quite.

I practice martial arts, and would like to improve my overall fitness. Strength is obviously part of that training, but so are flexibility, speed, and reaction times.

I have yet to find a training plan that accounts for all these factors. Even worse, some of them tend to negatively correlate with each other: when done wrong, for instance, strength can negatively impact flexibility.

I thought this would be an easy problem to solve. But so far I've had no luck. I guess there is more to biology than just solving an optimization problem.

Re: Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

#114

Post by ams6110 »

madeuptempacct wrote: post #20
morsma wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Low carb and periodic water fasting (autophagy), and you should be set old age.

I keep seeing this on HackerNews - everyone seems to convinced that keto, intermittent fasting, and fasting are the new holy grail, I am unconvinced. I am convinced in the good old "enough sleep and cardio" theory though, since both have known working mechanisms (incread blood flow and debris clean up during sleep).

Sleep, and a mix of cardio and strength training would most closely replicate how our bodies evolved. Pre-civilization, humans would have needed both strength and endurance to make shelters and hunt. Both running, and lifting/moving heavy things would have been common.

Re: Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

#115

Post by lemming »

rerx wrote: post #99
lemming wrote: post #60

I've been investigating recommended protein intake recently and counting calories to lose some weight, and it's amazing how little protein most people get compared to what is now recommended. Here's examine.com on the recommended amounts: https://examine.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-do-you-need/ . I'm of fairly healthy weight, active and have been losing some weight, so I should be getting 2.2-3.3 g/kg according to…

The German society for nutrition recommends 0.8g of protein per kg of body weight for normal weighted, adult people. I cannot imagine that three or four times that amount would be required for a healthy life even if your are more physically active than the average. Also, please do not forget that vegetables contain some protein too.

The examine.com article discusses this - 0.8g is also the RDA in the US. The RDA is considered a bare minimum:

This is considered to be the minimal amount of protein a healthy adult must consume daily to prevent muscle wasting when total caloric intake is sufficient.

According to recent studies, however, the RDA for protein may not be sufficient for healthy young men, older men, or older women. These studies point to 1.2 g/kg as the minimum intake before the body starts downregulating important non-essential processes, from immune function to muscle protein synthesis. Even a reanalysis of the data used to establish the RDA suggests the minimum intake should be at least 1.0 g/kg.

They cite a study there where they shut subjects in a metabolic ward for 8 weeks and fed them a 40% caloric surplus. Those subjects eating near the RDA for protein lost muscle mass, i.e. it's not even sufficient to maintain lean weight when overeating.

Re: Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

#117

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

morley wrote: post #80
andy_ppp wrote: post #48

I can't recommend StrongLifts enough. https://stronglifts.com I'm up to squatting 130kg now and feeling great!

I've used StrongLifts for 2+ years and second the recommendation. HOWEVER. Because it's just an app with videos, it's really up to you to learn proper form and execute it each time. Additionally, the app doesn't know your limitations, so take your pain seriously. I hurt my knees squatting a couple years ago, and recently hurt my lower back deadlifting. It sucks, and I'm crossing my fingers that there's no permanent d…

Are you still stronglifting after 2 years? How has your progression been for the last year or so of that? As I understand it it's a fairly novice focused program with aggressive weight increases, so I was wondering how you modified it to continue running it after the first 3-6 months of easy gains went away.

Re: Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

#118

Post by gadders »

matwood wrote: post #33
lysp wrote: post #14

I always like to show this picture as an example. https://i.imgur.com/ZcDedfo.jpg I don't have an original source but it shows a MRI leg scan comparison between a 40yo triathlete, a sedentary 70yo and a 70yo triathlete. The picture tells the story...

Most people have no idea I'm 41, and instead think I'm in my 30s. Balding and grey hair show I'm not in my 20s ;) My 'secret' is I workout every single day . I might do heavy weight training, sled pushing, surfing, or a spin class. It doesn't matter as long as I do something physically challenging. I also follow an 80/20 rule on eating paleo-ish. Mainly I try to avoid processed foods, but I'll still eat a pizza or go…

I think I look OK for 47. I've been lifting 4 times a week since I turned 40, mostly on 5/3/1 but lately on some bespoke programming. It's all based around the 4 big lifts, and after doing some amateur strongman competitions I occasionally add an events day as well.

Re: Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

#119

Post by rubicon33 »

Kirth wrote: post #85
stochastic_monk wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m 29 now. I started lifting at 26, but finally got proficient and rigorous about a year ago. The biggest key was learning to eat more because my body’s metabolism was low because I wasn’t eating enough. I went from a 2000 calorie maintenance to 3000 in about 6 months.

Did you find it hard to increase your calorie intake? This is something I've been struggling with for a while. Especially since I don't deal well with lactose getting in enough calories and protein can be a bit daunting. What are your "trick foods" that contain a good amount of calories but are good to eat?

You should know that exercising a bunch and jamming more food into your system IS NOT the "healthiest" option, if life span is your goal.

Calorie restriction IS perhaps the healthiest route, if you are mainly interested in living longer. Feeling better is harder to quantify. The "TLDR" is: Exercise moderately, and find the minimal amount of calories you can consume without feeling like shit. That's the optimal balance.

The unfortunate reality is that often the "healthiest" path in life, doesn't FEEL the best. I felt my best lifting 3-4x a week, running, and eating 3600-3900 calories per day. I was constantly full, but felt like I had tons of physical and mental energy. Alas, plenty of research has been done on the effects of large calorie diets EVEN WHEN CONTROLLED FOR WEIGHT. Large calories = bad.

If you're interested, here's a good place to start:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2686342/

Re: Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

#120

Post by mr_overalls »

rohunati wrote: post #42
matwood wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people have no idea I'm 41, and instead think I'm in my 30s. Balding and grey hair show I'm not in my 20s ;) My 'secret' is I workout every single day . I might do heavy weight training, sled pushing, surfing, or a spin class. It doesn't matter as long as I do something physically challenging. I also follow an 80/20 rule on eating paleo-ish. Mainly I try to avoid processed foods, but I'll still eat a pizza or go…

Curious about your breakdown between heavy lifting vs. cardio. I find that I can't do more than 4x/week of heavy lifting, so I've been trying to run (or something else) on the remaining 3 days.

How many grams of protein do you consume? Trying to eat the recommended amount (0.5 - 1.0 g / lb-bodyweight) seems like a lot of effort at first, but has amazing effects on recovery, especially for resistance exercise.
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