Muscle Power and Why It Is Important as we Age

You probably already know that muscle strength starts to decline as you age, but did you know the rate of decline accelerates after age 65, and that lower body strength decreases faster than upper body strength? Muscle power declines faster than muscle strength, but the good news is we can incorporate both muscle power and muscle strength into a personalized training program.

You may be thinking what is muscle power and why does it matter as I age? Muscle power is the ability to generate force rapidly. The loss of fast twitch muscle fibers as we age impacts the muscles ability to generate the necessary force for functional tasks. It is important for active agers to train to increase muscle power for functional activities such as getting up from a chair or climbing stairs. Muscle power plays a crucial role to preserving your independence later in life.

Power training may sound intimidating but it doesn’t have to be! Exercises like sit to stands, step ups, or walking with a focus on quick starting and stopping/accelerating and decelerating, can all improve muscle power. Progressions and regressions can be made to the above exercises depending on fitness level.

Sit to stands can be done with various seat heights, with resistance and/or rising up from the chair quickly and slowly returning to seated position.

Step ups can be done with different height steps, while practicing carrying an object, and varying your speed.

Contact A to Z Personal Wellness if you would like to increase your muscle power!