Quote:
Originally Posted by Ms Arielle
BMR calculator. Dropping BMR by age is nonsense. It relies on loss of muscle mass. We should not lose muscle as we age; working small weights etc to keep muscle is critical to aging well and enjoying an active "old age".
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Yes, in theory we
shouldn't lose muscle mass as we age - but unfortunately, most people do. Most older people have already lost muscle. It's not necessarily because of intentionally slowing down, or not working small weights. There's also injuries, or illnesses, or surgeries, all of which result in down time for recovery, and can result in loss of muscle tone rather quickly in older people. Any muscle loss which has already occurred in older people can be very difficult to rebuild.
Another reason for muscle loss is due to the typical nutrition advice which has been given for far too long that you need less protein as you age, which means there's less protein to not only maintain, but help repair and replenish muscle, in spite of any weight work. Thank goodness, that erroneous advice is finally starting to be reversed, and many of those giving out nutritional advice are recognizing that the "wasted protein" in older people means they simply can't absorb it as well as they did when younger, so that the protein needs of the aging actually increases, and they do much better on higher amounts of protein.
I say this as someone who is 66, and noticing that I just don't have the strength I used to have. Is it because of aging? Injuries over the last several years that have resulted in down time, leading to muscle loss? Joints which are very stiff on days when the weather is changing (days when the barometer is changing rapidly), which has reduced my ability to move those joints (and therefore work the supporting muscles) as much as I'd like, especially during times of the year when the weather is constantly changing?
Is it because of damage to my joints from working retail for 7-1/2 years, when I was on my feet on concrete every day? (with a maximum of 10 minutes off my feet during a 4 to 6-1/2 hour day, and a maximum of 35 minutes TOTAL off my feet during an 8 hour day) Admittedly a good bit of the damage to my knees if from still being so overweight. Nearly 5 months after retiring from that, my ankles no longer bother me nearly as much, but my knees are still bothering me quite a bit, which means greatly reduced ability to work the muscles supporting those knee joints, and therefore I could be continuing to lose muscle in those areas, even if still maintaining muscle in my arms.
Continuing to remain active, thereby maintaining muscle seems like a simple solution - and if you don't experience any physical problems or injuries which seriously limit your ability to work those muscles as you age, then that should work out just fine. But end up in the hospital with broken bones after a car accident, or fall and break a hip, or end up in the hospital for anything from rotator cuff surgery to cancer sugery, and you're going to be unable to efficiently do any kind of weight work with certain muscles for weeks or months afterwards.
I'm actually surprised that the BMR wasn't reduced a lot more than that each decade, given that the older person who hasn't experienced a single one of those problems resulting in muscle loss can be quite rare. I've certainly experienced enough of them already. Obviously Benay is experiencing them too with her knee replacement issues. Bob-a-rama probably hasn't - so glad it's possible for him, since he seems to have avoided them. Anyone else on here in the 60's-80's age range that hasn't experienced problems that have laid them low for weeks or months at at time?