MOVE THOSE MUSCLES

Muscle and bones are connected – literally and health-wise. Muscle has been called the organ of longevity, because there’s more and more evidence pointing to the fact that the more lean mass (muscle) we have, the healthier we are and the longer we are likely to live. It makes sense, when you think about it; who doesn’t want to be able to move around, get up o the ground, climb on to a bike or dance a salsa at their 90th birthday party?

Ageing doesn’t help our muscles, though. Alongside bone loss, as we age we get a gradual decline in muscle mass. There’s a combination of factors at play here, including reduced protein synthesis – which means we become less able to use the protein we eat to build and maintain our muscle – and a decline in physical activity which often creeps up on us as we get older. If we don’t use our muscle, we lose it.

This happens for all genders, but for women, again, there are hormones in the mix that ramp this up. There’s evidence that muscle loss is accelerated for women through the menopause transition, and that’s again thought to be from the decline in our oestrogen, since there are oestrogen receptors in muscles, as well. There’s a crucial period of time at the end of perimenopause where muscle loss speeds up, especially if we’re not using those muscles very much.

Strength training is key here. If you’re used to doing a ton of cardio, switching out a couple of runs or classes a week for short but intense weight sessions could make a huge di erence. If in doubt, go heavy (with the proviso of some expert supervision if you’re a beginner).

Exercise trainer and founder of the Sexy Ageing fitness app, Tracy MinnochNuku, says she has changed her whole outlook on exercise in recent years, and now focuses hugely on helping her clients get stronger, not smaller.

“People are always quite obsessed about what they should be eating,” she notes.

“And I say: have you thought that you’re actually going to last another 40 years maybe, if you’re lucky? And that you actually need to be able to stand up, walk around and do stu ? And thinking about the next diet is just not going to help. It’s better if you think about every time you lift a weight, that you are laying down bone density.

“My whole mindset has shifted in the last year. I genuinely, wholeheartedly am thinking about my future… having that visualisation that every single weight training I do is making my bones stronger.”