Strength Over Age: Preventing Sarcopenia | Justin Keogh | The Proof Podcast EP
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ค. 2024
- Have you started preparing your body for your older years? Or are you already in your older years, wondering how you can best protect yourself from falls and maintain strength and function? Join me in Episode #301 as I sit down with Associate Professor Justin Keogh to learn about what sarcopenia is and how you can prevent it.
👇 Visit The Proof website for the full show notes and supporting studies. 👇
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You’ll learn who is at risk for sarcopenia, when to take action to prevent it, and how to move forward if you are facing it already. Dr Keogh identifies the two most important factors for staying strong and mobile, the gold-standard training protocol you should aim for, and other ways you can get the most bang for your buck with exercise.
Specifically, we discuss:
00:00 - Intro
01:29 - Understanding Sarcopenia: An Overview and Early Signs
13:15 - Key Risk Factors and Predictors of Longevity in Sarcopenia
19:18 - Muscle Function in Aging: From Centenarians to Muscle Mass Loss
23:48 - The Role of Physical Activity in Managing Sarcopenia: Exercise Myths and Facts
36:47 - Sarcopenia Across the Lifespan: Gender Differences, Disease Classification, and Causes
44:48 - Understanding Muscle Decline with Age: Mechanisms and Muscle Cell Types
51:29 - Training for Strength and Longevity: Power Training, Resistance Workouts, and Aerobic Exercises
1:21:40 - Innovative Training Methods: Exercise Snacking, Progressive Loading, and Reducing Muscle Soreness
1:42:23 - Optimising Muscle Health: Weekly Training Protocols and Body Adaptation to Exercise
1:51:02 - Hormones, Supplements, and Lifestyle Strategies for Sarcopenia Management
1:56:20 - Addressing Sarcopenia: Gender Differences, Causes, and Weight Management
2:13:30 - Debunking Myths and Shaping Future Guidelines for Sarcopenia Prevention
2:17:38 - Outro: The Path Forward in Sarcopenia Research and Awareness
Connect with Associate Professor Justin Keogh:
- Bond University profile: research.bond.edu.au/en/perso...
- ResearchGate publications: www.researchgate.net/profile/...
- Twitter/X: / drstrength4life
If you have any additional questions you would like answered in the future, let me know in the comments.
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I turn 67 on Friday. Veg for decades and vegan 12 yrs. I start my day with 100 push-ups before several other workouts and maintain excellent muscle mass for my age. I’ve been athletic my entire life and believe that has helped me age better than many of my peers. I have a very strict exercise regimen and alternate different workouts daily.
❤🎉
Do you take any protein 'drinks' or Creatine supplements?
I really liked the podcast. I was super strong exercised often. And had great muscles for my age at 68 yrs old. However i had a lot stress , I worked 2 jobs still worked out. Thought everything was great but I was basically having a shake and hardboiled eggs as I had no time to eat.
I really didn't notice and wasn't hungry.
Until I was losing a pound a day and then I was exhausted
No appetite and lost so much weight without trying.
I was not eating protein and suddenly I was like an anerxic person.!!!
It took me months to build up again . But I did
My point is from a person with no wishes to ever become anerxic it snuck up on me and thank goodness I had help and am now a strong 74 yr old
Oh, I know about sarcopenia and I feel as though so many podcasts are, shall we say, sarcopenia-heavy these days. I saw my mother's rapid decline during the past 18 months with sarcopenia and a weight loss from 52 kg to 43kg in a matter of a few months. Yoga for 35 years and physio-prescribed floor exercises each day at home were useless. The decline was so rapid it was shocking. My mother is 92 and she's now in full-time aged care. However I cared for her for nearly 3 years and have suffered physically as a result. Am 72 so I feel I've missed a boat or 10 or 20. Have worked out I have to increase protein intake, so if anyone has some pea protein to recommend, please bring it on. I have started doing some backwards walking. I do body lifts in the pool. I use a grip gizmo in the kitchen while I'm waiting for things, the kettle to boil, etc. But, my grip is compromised because I've had arthritis since I was 17. I only have a half grip with quite deformed hands (arthritis ÷ Dupuytren's contracture). I am working on squats, which I've not included in the past because I've had two knee replacements and a four level lumbar spinal reconstruction and fusion (problems were affecting my ability to walk). Have done a lot of walking (daily 5km including walking backwards), hydrotherapy and am setting up a new resistance bands station in my new house. I have to confess I'm not a big fan of the gym, even though I know I should lift weights. But I am a gardener who lifts heavy pots, bags of compost, potting mix etc., plus regular lawnmowing and planting, constant beautification (= exercise in the sun) and so on. I have two grandsons 2 and 3 and I so want to be fit for them. The two year old gives me a good workout (lifting, running, physical games) a few times a week and less regularly with the 3 year old because of distance. I so want maximum time with them so my quality of life needs to improve. I've had 2 x bulging discs (slipped discs) from carting my mother around before she went into aged care during the past year, so I am still rehabbing that problem (chronic right back and side pain and extension down the right sciatic nerve). I have quite strong leg and arm muscles. I'm very buoyed to hear I'm not doomed even into my nineties. I've been a vegetarian since I was twelve and am WFPB/vegan for 8 years. I might need to change more stuff up though by the sound of things...
Sorry for the rave. I suspect your audience is younger Simon, but when you're my age, the 'what-to-do' becomes very pressing!
One of the greatest parts of retirement is the free-time available for exercise. Makes me wonder how I ever found time for wotk?!?
In the U.S., 8 hrs is average work day. So I figured with retirement I should easily carve out time for exercise.
Unfortunately, as Simon said, our brains want to take the path of least resistance. And personally I find exercising excessively boring so with these 2 hurdles I struggle with a program for more than 3 months.
I've just gotten back on the wagon (after 2 yr hiatus 🥴)and I've started with a daily 7 minute program which I actually increase most days but it's easier for me if I know I only have to do it for 7 minutes. And to help with the boredom, I'll reverse the workout or switch it up with stretching.
I am on my feet most of the day and I'm always doing squats, running in place, on stairs many times a day, running or skipping through the house instead of plodding, etc while doing other things so I'm far from sedentary but it's not enough. I need to do resistance training too. One motivator for me is I enjoy being able to physically do what I want, being strong, and solid. The path of least resistance though is always a challenge. Maybe if I had nothing else to do? I easily fill my days with home projects.
Thank you Simon for addressing the specifics of exercise regimens for "elders'. Dr. Keogh outlined the basics in detail for a comprehensive yet doable program for those of us dealing w/sarcopenia, osteoporosis, s trength loss & etc. It encourages a pathway to prolonged functionality & health.
I remember meeting an elderly lady some 20 yrs ago while hiking. We started talking and, to my astonishment, she told me she was 81. She looked like in her early 60s! No visible sarcopenia, easily climbed about 3 000 ft height, face not really wrinkled, hair was only starting to go gray, etc. When I asked her about the 'secret' she told me she had been athletic all her life. "Yet, you start noticing some reduction in muscle power and mass in your early 50s and it goes barely noticeable until the mid-70s when is becomes real quick. So you have to keep moving actively and- very important!- give your skin the chance to breathe- the more, the better", she told me.
Please interview Belinda Beck, too. She is a national treasure for you Australians and deserves a wider audience for her outstanding work on improving bone density in older adults through resistance training.
OMG, I'm feeling good hearing this stuff. I'm 65 and do 2x15 full (on the toe) push ups 3 times a week, plus 3x15 of single leg squats to a low box on each leg, 2x15 step ups on the box, 1x30 side leg raises at three different angles each leg, 80 crunches. I also do a very fast (20 year old who's super late for a train) 5k walk 3 times a week and I do 3x8k very slow walks when bird watching and I work in a zoo 3 days a week which often requires a few k's of a walking at a pretty snappy pace. I used to lift heaps in my 20's and lead heaps of aerobics classes, was also an 800m runner and have run around 20 or 30k most of my life until a few years back. Recently I got covid and was sedentary for a week or so and I couldn't believe how much muscle mass I lost . . . so it's back to work! Been plant based since 1974 and whole food vegan since 1993. In the last 4 or 5 years I've topped up my daily protein with some pea and rice protein in a smoothie. After hearing this, I'm going to add some plyometric box jumps (down from a not too high box and then up onto a higher box).
Great work! Have you consider progressive loading as Justin discussed in the video? You should add some weights to your resistance training. Sounds like you reached the beneficial limit to strength doing 15 reps of single leg squats. Adding more reps would mostly benefit your cardio health. Strength is more difficult to get and disappears quickly. The more you have, the more easy it is to get more back if you get ill.
I have an 86 year old friend who is still competing in powerlifting. He squats and benches around 200 lbs. His deadlift is 275 lbs. He also did this while battling cancer. He looks 70. I'm 59 y.o. and got my squat up to 245 lbs and my deadlift to 355 lbs and bench to 225 lbs. My goal by age 60 or 61 is to squat 315, deadlift 405, and bench 250 lbs. Anything past that and I'm guessing the injury risk begins to increase (at least for my body type - tall and lean).
@@jakubchrobry3701 thanks. I have thought about going back to the gym and adding weights to the equation, just to add some extra mass as a little insurance.
I loved this episode. I’m 71 and have been doing Onero (Lift More) weight lifting programme for balance and osteoporosis. It’s fantastic and benefits me in so many other ways. Building bone and muscle. Unfortunately it’s expensive and I feel strongly that every older person should have access to this programme. It would save the government so much money in the long run.
Excellent questions! I experienced loss of strength suddenly which put me in the gym immediately. Thank goodness for these type of videos and podcasts. If I had the opportunity to hear these podcasts years earlier I would have saved myself from a lot of injury and heartache. Thank you Simon & Justin.
Super content & top quality - a huge thanks to you both. Lots of brilliant nuggets & very user focussed & implementable & motivating. 👍👍
Our pleasure!
Don't forget to warm up before strength training as my college weight lifting teacher would say. Thinks this gets blood to the tendons. My experience says tendons get stronger slower than muscles and the warm up and lighter weight sets helps the tendons.
In football we always did a jog around the field a couple of times then calisthenics before the rest of the practice.
Thank you for this Fantastic interview! Please try to get Belinda Beck on. These folks are “king” on aging issues.
I just wanna let you know that I am three months shy of 65 and need to incorporate Weight in my life and it had been probably seven years since I had been lifting so this podcast really impressed upon me the importance of it and I also want you to know because of my age and accent between The guest and the host I had to listen to it probably 10 times so that I could fully understand but I really appreciate that you had such a great guest love Simon that you asked the simple questions for someone my age to really comprehend !Great interview. Thank you.!
I thought I understood it the first time but listening to parts over again I keep finding more.
I'm surprised you never talked about the fact that insulin resistance promotes sarcopenia! Take a look to the mid March 2024 episode of Nicole Moore's talk in the "Low carb downunder" YT channel.
Yes, I'm 68 in a few months, so definitely interested in facets of fitness other than hypertrophy.
At 80 plus, I do "carry my groceries ", but know many women my age and younger who cannot, and, I believe, cannot because they decided that they couldn't the first time it became difficult or uncomfortable.
An ah-ha, if i want to become better at carrying my groceries home from the store, the best "exercise " is to carry my groceries home from the store! ETC.
What a novel thought!
Truly! Unless you’re baseline is so low that you need to progress up to it
The best exercise to carry your groceries home in the future would be to do much heavier farmer carries now. Maybe also add some squats and deadlifts. You need to be stronger than your daily requirements, that way if you get sick and lose strength, you can still do your daily requirements.
I'm sure this won't go over well, but if one is new to the channel, having a guy use slang specific to their specialty and in an Australian (or whatever) accent is presumptive and challenging. "Pops=population?) I'm new to the channel and the information. I am happy with the information.
Welcome! Glad to have you join us 🙏🏼
I can tell you what happens on Metformin and GLP-agonists.You can kiss good bye your ability to ever exercise again. I live in a very bushy hilly area. I could easily walk around the area with steep inclines effortlessly., plus sprint, do my pilates, garden and all my household chores. After being diagnosed with T2D, I was placed on Metformin and I cried in the Drs clinic saying the medication was making it impossible to even walk to the bus stop. The Dr thought I was being melodramatic. Just walking was a challenge let alone being able to exercise. I was then placed on the GLP -1 agonist and my muscles atrophied further as my food intake dwindled to not being able to eat. Fat chance in getting 1.5 grams of protein/ kg body weight. Did I lose weight - no way, I put on 20 kg due to my body slowing down so much that it was an effort getting off the couch. My TSH skyrocketed.
These were not symptoms from the high glucose because each time I stopped the meds, my legs were stronger, I could go on the treadmill. I had energy. The more I ate the easier it was to build muscles and shed fat. I am 65 yro female. It was not my age making it difficult to build muscle, it was those horrible youth destroying meds. If diabetes is a lifestyle condition the solution is lifestyle and not those meds. Yet my Endo does not want to talk about lifestyle. All she tells me is to eat less and exercise more. But how is this even possible on these medications. She thinks I am not trying because millions of people take these medications and don't have my issues. Perhaps the people she is referring to did not have such an active lifestyle that I was use to. Maybe they just accept it is a complication of the metabolic condition. IDK😢
Anyway, I feel like a baby starting to walk from scratch. My goal is to be able to complete my pilates routine which was once so effortless, especially my leg strength. Now I cry because the muscles in my legs are so weak. It is difficult to come to terms with how much strength I have lost. I am so angry. I am hopeful I am able to regain it back. But f##k it's hard.😢
Although my elderly mom is not statistically significant or peer reviewed, her recent experience has had real significance among her circle of friends, family and our local medical community. She eats her own version of Dr. Fuhrman's nutritarian diet style and has experienced great results. I plugged her bloodwork test values into the Levine Biological Age Calculator (Yale) and she has aged minus 18 years during the last 4 years. I joke with her that she may be required to give up her Social Security benefits if she keeps going like that. Her recent hs-CRP test which measures inflammation was 0.4 mg/L which is half the test result of a typical 18 year old. She also was able to stop taking ten daily medications (including insulin and blood pressure meds) as instructed by her physician who was amazed at her progress. It is very important not to over-medicate in a situation when a person is regaining their health.
Here is her version of a nutritarian style menu for a typical day:
Breakfast: Organic steel cut oats with some buckwheat and wild blueberries, raspberries, 1/2 banana, tablespoon of ground flax and ground chia seeds, tablespoon of hemp seeds, organic soy milk, Ceylon cinnamon.
Lunch: Green smoothie heavy on the low-oxalate greens (frozen kale or collard greens, frozen pineapple, banana, orange, lemon wedge with rind, organic soy milk, avocado sliver, amla powder, dulse flakes, apple cider vinegar, blackstrap molasses, nutritional yeast, small scoop of hemp protein powder, fresh ginger, medjool date, fresh kale) with a small handful of almonds and walnuts - or - some soup and salad.
Before dinner snack: one apple.
Dinner: Romaine salad with carrots, radish, celery, onion, tomato along with a variety of simple main dishes including spaghetti, chili, vegetable soup with beans, lintel miso soup with organic tofu cubes/onions/mushrooms/kale, split pea soup with onions/mushrooms/carrots/celery/potato, roasted vegetables (squash/carrots/potatoes), rice and beans bowl with onions/mushrooms/kale/peppers/salsa, organic tofu scramble with onions/mushrooms/peppers/kale/turmeric/nutritional yeast, broccoli, asparagus, green beans, etc.
Dessert: frozen banana whip with papaya or strawberries topped some days with a couple of macadamia nuts or a Brazil nut - or - some red grapes.
Make sure to include G-Bombs every day for optimal immune system (i.e. - greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries, seeds).
Avoid most processed foods. Include tofu perhaps twice a week but not more.
Stop eating after an early dinner except for a few pistachios before bedtime to help improve sleep quality. Cheers!
@@greensmoothieparty That is an awesome achievement for your mum. So happy for her and you to witness your mum aging younger. 😁 Not many children can say this about their parents. Thank you for sharing 🙏 Truly inspiring to hear stories like this - keeps me hopeful. Sounds like she is getting plenty of variety. It is so confusing with all these influencers. I just refuse to believe that low carb is the answer. I love my fruit and veggies and I have a huge garden. I was shocked about the diabetes but shit happens in life. I spent 10 years fighting a psychopath trying to get him locked up. My health deteriorated because I was not able to follow my usual routine of self care. I was protecting my children. I stopped all forms of regular exercise, the garden was neglected, my whole life was placed on hold to focus all my energy in having this person locked away. I think if I had not been fit and heathy to begin with I would have probably died from the neverending trauma and constant fear. Well I was pretty close to death door and was hospitalized. It was due to the SGLT2 inhibitors.the Dr put me on. Which I was taken off. During this time I was also carer for my elderly mother in-law. After a short stint in hospital for surgery on her feet for a bunion she was unable to walk, bed ridden and ended up in my care for 7 years. So I have experienced it first hand watching an older person deteriorate to complete immobility. Eventually, she was placed in aged-care because I simply could not cope. She.needed a hoist in her room as she lost complete use of her legs. So it is terrifying for me to experience weakness in my legs.
They say muscles have memory so I am hoping the damage and atrophy can be reversed. I never ever envisaged being this unfit. I guess 10 years is a long time.
Does your mother optimize her protein and has she seen improvement in her muscle strength?
How old is she?
Very informative interview thanks to Simon and Justin. I liked the approach Justin recommended based on his past experience with studies. His advice on taking some points from a number of studies in relation to strengthening is spot on. Progression is imperative as well here.
I had to look up type 1 and type 2 muscle fibers. Why not call them slow twitch and fast twitch? Seems more helpful/descriptive.
Outstanding interview. I have one question: aren't strength and balance two legs of a three-legged stool? I always thought coordination was important so you don't trip and can recover, which you get from playing soccer, dancing, pickleball, etc., no?
Overall very helpful. Intuitively I think we need a balance of aerobic, strength enhancing and flexibility/range of motion (including balance in there) exercises. Personally, I start having issues when things are out of balance. I would not personally say that strength training is most important. I would say aerobic fitness is the most important. I do see men whose egos get really involved in creating huge muscles on the body. Not sure about the health benefits- might be harmful. I can’t prove it with a study, but I am skeptical of the benefits of adding extreme amounts of pumped up musculature from weight lifting. You just don’t see populations of long lived people who look that way. In particular, I worry about what happens to the heart with extreme pumping iron or with aerobic endurance sports for that matter. There are some examples of distance runners who live past 100- the one guy I’m thinking of eats a whole food vegan plant based diet. There are also many examples of runners and body builders, linebackers etc dying very young. Thinking of Jim Fixx, the marathoner, he collapsed of a heart attack. You can have atherosclerosis or enlarged heart syndrome. The best part of this discussion for me was the parts on using bands and resistance training, exercise “snacks” and thinking about how much is right to get benefits without harming ourselves either from accident, injury, repetitive motion or from possibly hurting the muscle which is our heart. Diet is critical and must be addressed to really know the impact of activity on the body. That’s very difficult and expensive to study scientifically in a group- but as individuals we can examine these things. I also enjoyed the comments about the sedentary nature of modern society. Perhaps that needs to be addressed as best we can. Easier said than done when you have a job that requires little movement all day. Still- we do have control over our nonwork hours and can do and move more.
Good stuff.
I'm really surprised Simon did not ask a single question about nutrition basics to avoid sarcopenia. Is Dr. Keogh an advocate for animal protein? Or why?
Covered lots in other episodes!
@@TheProofWithSimonHill It would have been very important to hear the opinion of an expert in the fight against sarcopenia.
Would a KETTLEBELL WORKOUT Target all the major muscle groups?
Exercise should be more like play.
At 81, eating any type of animal less than once a week, my protein intake is 1.1-1.5 the recommended 0.8.
Please never tell our youth to supplement with protein. It is expensive and unnecessary.
Maybe some elite athletes are deficient, but even that seems unlikely. Plus, this probably isn't where elite athletes go for nutrition information.
What about dancing? Generations before us would go out every week to a dinner dance. These types of venues no longer exist. I would love if when we go out to eat we could also dance. The elderly use to do a lot more dancing than they do today. The thought of exercise is not appealing but dancing is as enjoyable as playing. Dancing was incorporated from a young age. Why have we neglected this form of activity in preference to sport?
With children out of the way, we need to bring back those dance halls. Dance is the perfect activity to build calf strength. What is not to like about dance! Too many benefits and I hear no-one screaming to bring dance back into our lives again.
Dancing venues may no longer exist in small towns but they do in large cities. If you live in a small town, start a dance club.
If you live in the US, you might want to look up contra dancing. It’s a form of dancing similar to English country dance. Many places host contra dances even in the middle of nowhere!
After doing more research I found that dance venues exists all over the place in many different forms (community centers, YMCA's, dance studios, clubs, bars, anyplace their is a DJ or band, etc). I found many in the small town of 15k where I grew up in the midwest. In the suburban over-50 community where I live now the large bar and restaurant has bands twice per week with people always dancing. On Fridays the place is packed and the dance floor is packed with people. Average age is probably early 70s.
You just need to look. Also, not sure what children have to do with bringing back dance halls. There are still plenty of children.
@@jakubchrobry3701 I live in Melbourne Australia. We used to have a variety of venues in the 1990s you could enjoy dinner and dance. These no longer exist. All the pockies venues have taken over. We have plenty of restaurants but no dancing. More time spent eating and sitting, little opportunity to burn off those calories and use the muscles. Too much time stuffing our mouths and sitting. I remember after Xmas lunch we use to play cricket or some other physical activity, How many people do this?
I did a lot of dancing in my youth. So did my husband. He promised we would go dancing every Saturday night. It never happened. He was away from home, traveling for work and I was working and raising 3 athletic children. I spent most of my time driving them to training, and
games etc. They didn't do all the same sports, so it was crazy times. They played all kinds of sports, music, dance, etc. If you have ever been a dance mum, then there were all those costumes and those blasted sequences to sew. I felt like a single mum doing it all on my own. My kids didn't sit at home, gaming and watching Netflix. We didn't even have TV. No time for it. My kids were just full on. Well they turned out to be pretty robust and strong compared to their peers. You don't think keeping up with their nutrition wasn't full on? Other mum's would make fun of my kids after a match taking them to McDonald's and saying 'that's right your mum doesn't allow you to eat maccas or pizza or Coke' we talking serious future athletes. I never understood how these mothers could feed such junk to children let alone children playing in competitions. I was shocked when children came for sleep overs and would question the vegetables on their plate. Some had never eaten pumpkin or broccoli. I was that "weird mum".
Well my kids stood out because the other kids would have tantrums after a match against my son. My children's food was homegrown and home prepared.
Now that they are out of home, I have time to focus on myself. I am happy to note that they have followed the tradition of growing their own vegetables and fruit trees.
I feel now I have done my duty and it is time to rediscover who I am and look after myself after a lifetime dedicating myself caring for others. Well my husband turns 70 this year and he is still not around to take me dancing or even go for a walk. 😢 He is still working crazy hours doing physical work 7 days a week, working til dark.
I guess I have been so busy with family and running a home and garden, I have no idea what is out there.
My focus is now to get off these horrible meds which are destroying my sanity and health. I just need to be patient and trust my body can reverse the damage. At my age, the risk of being inactive is far more dangerous than my elevated glucose. Hopefully, with increased activity and strengthening my muscles will mitigate the damage from high glucose. 🙏 🙏
@@mirellamatotek4294 I've been to Melbourne and have some college friends that live there. There are plenty of dance venues that cater to an older crowd. For clubs: One Six One, The George on Collins, Fusion. All have an oldies night. All you have to do is look.
I could only read your first paragraph. Maybe I'll read the rest later. I need to head to the gym now. I need to keep my strength up so I can dance on Friday nights.