Boost Your Longevity with Protein

Nutrition

After the age of 30, we lose muscle mass at a rate of 3 to 8 percent a decade, and the rate increases after age 60. “By your 80s, you may have lost nearly 40 percent of muscle,” says Gabrielle Lyon, longevity doctor and the author of Forever Strong.

"We don’t age in a linear fashion," she explains, "there are these moments of what we call catabolic crisis—where you get pneumonia or Covid or are laid up in bed for a week—that cause accelerated muscle loss. That’s why it’s so important to build and keep skeletal muscle as early as you can."

Neglecting muscle health can have serious consequences. Poor dietary choices and a sedentary lifestyle can lead to metabolic dysfunction and increase the risk of various health issues. It’s essential to treat muscle health as a priority and make informed decisions about nutrition and exercise.

As we age, our protein needs change, and it’s crucial to adjust our intake accordingly.

Many people, especially older adults, don’t consume enough protein to meet their body’s needs. Leucine, a key amino acid, plays a vital role in promoting muscle health. And should be a focus in our diet as we age. Therefore, it’s essential to aim for adequate protein intake at each meal. Ideally between 30 to 50 grams of high-quality protein. This ensures that we provide our bodies with the necessary building blocks for optimal health and longevity.

If you don’t know how your current intake aligns with these goals, track your food in a food tracker for a couple of weeks to see how much you're eating.

Dietary Protein Resources

Click on the  graphic or headline to access resource links.

Resistance Training

Cardiovascular exercise is essential for good health, but the benefits expand exponentially once you add in resistance training. 

Not only will strength training create more muscle tissue to act as your metabolic sink (the ability to take up nutrients such as glucose and fatty acids), but combining cardio with resistance training on the regular will also keep you from gaining back any fat you’ve lost, eliminating the yo-yo effect of dieting.

Increasing strength-training output remains one of the most effective tools to move the body-composition needle—especially if you’ve been feeling stuck. Due to the rapid turnover of muscle tissue, consistent training is vital to your health. 

Resistance training breaks down muscles, and then protein yields repair. Protein builds muscle through muscle-protein synthesis, the process by which you grow stronger and gain muscle definition. Developing healthy muscle tissue can.
determine your body composition for a lifetime.

Include regular resistance training in your workout routine. This should be in addition to about 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic training per week.

Tips for effective training:

• BEGINNERS: Add resistance training of moderate or greater intensity that involves all major muscle groups at least two days a week.

• INTERMEDIATES: Add resistance training of moderate or greater intensity that involves all major muscle groups three to four times a week, using eight to twelve reps per exercise.

• ADVANCED: Add resistance training of high intensity that involves all major muscle groups four to six times per week, adapted to your specific goals.

Progress your workouts by gradually increasing the challenge of your workout as your body adapts to the demand/stress of the exercises. 

If you have been lifting the same 5lb dumbbell for years, you're not building muscle.

MIX IT UP WITH HIIT WORKOUTS

HIIT (High-Intensity-Interval-Training) is a great way to maximize your workout time, progress your exercise, and keep things fresh and challenging.

There are a variety of ways to do HIIT - supersets, intervals of weights and cardio, or circuit training. You can even get HIIT training at Pilates by doing a jumpboard or circuit workout.

Get some ideas by accessing (6) 30-minute HIIT workouts you can do at home or at the gym. They're time-efficient, varied, and fun! Here's the link!