Sarcopenia - A word that you all need to know

Who has heard the word SARCOPENIA before?

For those that haven’t I’ll describe it below. It’s relevant to this weeks’ topics and why being active is important at any age.

OK living in Cyprus I am going out on a limb here ..... Sarcopenia comes from the Greek word ‘sarco’ which refers to flesh, the body. ‘Penia’ means reduction in amount or need.

Sarcopenia is the progressive loss of muscle mass and strength and function during ageing. It basically describes an overall weakening of the body caused by a change in body composition with an increase in fat mass percentage and a loss in muscle mass percentage.

The measured loss is a 3-5% decline of muscle mass per decade from the age of 30 onwards

Note: you don’t have to be visibly overweight but if your fat mass is higher than your lean mass it can occur. It can result in frailty, weakness and loss of stamina, which in turn will lead to less physical activity which will lead to more loss of muscle strength and tone…. And so it goes on.

Studies have shown that the effects of Sarcopenia can be reversed with a healthy diet and exercise. A combination of strength training and walking will help.

This is another reason why Strength training is important and keeping moving is important. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, for me, it really does come down to ‘use it or lose it’.

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Karen is a qualified personal trainer and nutrition coach living in Cyprus near Paphos with her husband Mal and their cat Dave. She has been a personal trainer for 14 years and a qualified nutrition coach for over 2 years. She is passionate about working with people of any age and fitness level to improve their health and wellbeing.

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