Article Link NPR: "Millions of women are 'under-muscled.'" [sarcopenia-related links]

[prettyinpink]

Originally Posted by rhbrand

Are there women who farm with the men. Some, but they either only do minor chores cause they still need to take care of kids, cook etc, or they work outside the home cause unless you have a big factory farm, it's hard to make a lot of money with pure farming. Almost all farmers around have someone who works outside the farm.
So the wife does something, teacher, nurse, store clerk, something off the farm, they get home and do kids stuff, house stuff, while the husband farms until late in the evening.

My experience is more limited than yours, but what I saw in older family members was the farming women did stay very active into old age, maybe not as heavy with the degree of chores, but with large properties there is still lots of heavy gardening and lawn maintenance to do, also housework being more physical in earlier generations. But what happens is that the men tend to not live as long, women are left on their own, they need to hire help and eventually sell their places, and the frailty occurs later because there wasn’t the emphasis on older women lifting weights once their daily activity was curtailed.

With all of this talk of staying strong as we age, there is some element of luck, of course. We can do everything right, and still have an unexpected illness or injury get us way off track. We can do everything right as women while younger and still have osteoporosis eventually limit how much we are able to do to maintain strength. If we are lucky enough to live vibrantly and independently until age 90, we may still face a couple of years of frailty after that. Lifting weights is good but isn’t a guarantee that we won’t ever need help when older. The odds are much better if we do, though. If that were my only motivation, I don’t know if I would stick with it as well as I have, though. Lifting weights also gives me more short term benefits that I can see and feel. I think that even for older folks who aren’t as motivated by how we look, those shorter term benefits should be emphasized, too. Some people have a harder time doing something consistently today that will only pay off in 20 or 30 years. It’s the same with changes in eating habits.

[Vintage VFer]

Originally Posted by prettyinpink

...
With all of this talk of staying strong as we age, there is some element of luck, of course. We can do everything right, and still have an unexpected illness or injury get us way off track. We can do everything right as women while younger and still have osteoporosis eventually limit how much we are able to do to maintain strength. If we are lucky enough to live vibrantly and independently until age 90, we may still face a couple of years of frailty after that. Lifting weights is good but isn’t a guarantee that we won’t ever need help when older. The odds are much better if we do, though. If that were my only motivation, I don’t know if I would stick with it as well as I have, though. Lifting weights also gives me more short term benefits that I can see and feel. I think that even for older folks who aren’t as motivated by how we look, those shorter term benefits should be emphasized, too. Some people have a harder time doing something consistently today that will only pay off in 20 or 30 years. It’s the same with changes in eating habits.

Excellent observations!

Here's another video that I found interesting (10:30 minutes):

How to STOP age related muscle loss (Sarcopenia)

He mentions grip strength as a predictor of early death. I've heard that before. I used to have a grip tester gadget. I should get another one.

[cataddict]

prettyinpink, yes, great observations! I think we sometimes beat ourselves up when we face challenges even though we exercise, eat relatively well and generally live a healthy lifestyle. It reminds me of the commercial for the vaccine—“shingles doesn’t care”—since we can do our best and still get sick or injured.

[KateTT]

I gave up trying to be skinny ages ago. My body just won't be that shape. I DO, however, build muscle pretty easy. I'm 61 now and keep lifting heavier. My goal is to keep my strength as long as possible. I will lift weights forever if I can.

Note: I am FAR stronger than my husband, my brother and many male friends. Aside from VF friends, I don't know many women who lift weights, light or heavy.

Go girls go!!! Don't stop. You may need to modify, slow down. Just don't quit! LOVE YOU ALL!!

[warriorprincess]

I still keep getting stronger, little by little, but I can't tell if I'm increasing my muscle mass. My thighs in particular seem to be less "swole" than when I was younger but less strong.

[prettyinpink]

Originally Posted by warriorprincess

I still keep getting stronger, little by little, but I can't tell if I'm increasing my muscle mass. My thighs in particular seem to be less "swole" than when I was younger but less strong.

I have had the same thoughts!

But in the second sentence, do you mean less swole but stronger (not less strong)?

This, and the concerns about having a harder time building muscle over 50 and not wanting to waste my time doing things that are less effective, has made me consider hiring a trainer to look at my routine and individualize a program for me. I’m also very curious about DEXA for measuring lean mass. I don’t think just any personal trainer has the knowledge and experience to prescribe like this, though, and how to find someone?

I’m also not clear how much it actually matters in the 50’s and 60’s to track calories and macros to make optimal gains. If it matters a lot more than I think, that’s too bad because I know I’m not going to reliably do that. I also don’t like the idea of doing what some younger gym people do with bulking and cutting cycles. I’m not sure that works so well for women my age, and I don’t think it’s a good idea at this age to gain excess fat with the idea I’m going to be able to easily get rid of it later.

So I just keep doing what I’m doing and it seems to be fine, but I wonder about optimizing leg mass especially.

[warriorprincess]

Poorly worded :-) I was less strong when I was younger, but I appeared more muscular.

I have put on a few pounds in the last 6-8 months, which I was trying to do, but unfortunately most of it seems to have gone to my waist. So weird.

[Messe]

Originally Posted by warriorprincess

Poorly worded :-) I was less strong when I was younger, but I appeared more muscular.

I have put on a few pounds in the last 6-8 months, which I was trying to do, but unfortunately most of it seems to have gone to my waist. So weird.

I'm 76, and sometimes I'm really surprised when I realize that I'm stronger now in so many ways than I was when I was younger.

[hch]

Thanks for the discussion, and I'll have more replies later!

Originally Posted by cataddict

Thanks for posting about this article! I think it wasn’t exactly comprehensive, but I agree that women (and men) are “under muscled” and it’s not just due to lack of protein in the diet. I think there is still a predominant idea among the general population that women with muscles aren’t “feminine.” **sigh**

I've been wondering about how prevalent this idea still is; even a sizable chunk of VFers years ago seemed to think that way.

VVFer, my answer to your friend would be, “then I guess you won’t mind someone helping you on and off the toilet in your later years.”

Despite what looked like the VFer majority view, some VFers (including Vintage VFer) were mentioning independent toilet use and other examples as reasons why women shouldn't fear muscle as much as people were telling them to. Nothing looks as good as being able to use the bathroom by yourself feels!

[cataddict]

Originally Posted by hch

I've been wondering about how prevalent this idea still is; even a sizable chunk of VFers years ago seemed to think that way.

Despite what looked like the VFer majority view, some VFers (including Vintage VFer) were mentioning independent toilet use and other examples as reasons why women shouldn't fear muscle as much as people were telling them to. Nothing looks as good as being able to use the bathroom by yourself feels!

Yes, I also wonder if the idea is still prevalent. I think some of the concern back then (and possibly now) is that women didn’t want to look “bulky” (read “unfeminine”) as if female bodybuilders got their super muscular physiques from doing the same routine as the average woman would do. The word “bulky” has such a negative connotation.

And I think that henceforward the bolded sentence will be my mantra.