Starting around age 50, men begin to lose about 1 to 2 percent of their muscle mass and 1.5 to 3 percent of their strength every year. It happens gradually in the background, but it eventually starts showing up in everyday life. Stairs might feel a bit harder, groceries a little heavier, and getting up off the floor might take more effort than it used to.
“Muscle is tied to strength, balance, metabolism, and overall independence,” says Timothy Duerler, MD, a board-certified family medicine physician at Ovation Private Health in Park City, Utah. “When you lose it, everyday things like getting up from a chair, carrying groceries, or avoiding a fall get harder.”
One of the most reliable ways to slow that loss, and in many cases rebuild what’s been lost, is strength training. “Strength training not only slows muscle loss, it can reverse it,” says Connie Oh, MD, a board-certified sports medicine physician at Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Irvine, California.
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