Octogenarian Muscles Don't Get Stronger With Exercise

The title is misleading to a small degree, but the article is likely true.

"Octogenarian women were unable to increase muscle mass after a 3-month weight lifting program targeted at strengthening the thigh muscle, according to a new study from the Journal of Applied Physiology. The results are surprising because previous studies have found resistance training capable of increasing muscle mass, even for people who are into their 70s. An increase in muscle size translates to an increase in strength.

Still, the Ball State University study contained some good news: The octogenarians were able to lift more weight after the training program, likely because the nervous system became more efficient at activating and synchronizing muscles...

As a result of the exercise program, the octogenarians were able to increase the amount they could lift with their quadriceps by 26%. That was the good news. The bad news was that the pre- and post-training MRIs showed that the training did not change their muscle size. This was surprising because an earlier study had found that 70-year-old women gained 5% muscle mass with resistance training."

Here are the points.

Muscle growth is affected by hormones, in particular, testosterone.

Let's face it, women in their 80s are not androgen (male hormone) factories.

Personally, I have never felt quite comfortable with the data that purported to show muscle "growth" in old folks. This is for a number of reasons, including the difficulty in measuring lean tissue mass.

And if you think about it, the alleged 5% gain in muscle mass mentioned above in relation to women in their 70s, is startling.

Consider all the big guys in their 30s who struggle to add muscle to their bodies. And they've got testosterone.

This is another indication of why there is such a short shelf life to fitness "truths."

They simply do not make sense. Hence, Fitness Watch.

Still, what is of real value, is the improvement these women experienced in strength from engaging in activity intended to increase strength.

Whether the researchers really trained these women or simply exercised them is not knowable from the article.

Still, there is a bottom line.

Bottom line: "Health is a function of participation. Participation is a function of fitness." (tm)

Get fit so you can participate more fully in life at any age.

That is the best you can expect.

And that is pretty darned good.