Physical Inactivity Leads Age-Related Changes For Women in Musculoskeletal Health

Physical inactivity significantly changes body make-up that occurs with advancing age, and leads to many physical decreases and possible injury. For women, loss of bone density and muscle wasting (a decrease in muscle mass and strength) has marked affects on daily living.

A decrease in pituitary and adrenal hormones decreases estrogen and testosterone production, and this quickens the inactivity in women. This decrease causes physiological breakdown leading to a decrease in capacity. The downstream effects include Osteopenia (a bone density decrease) which left untreated advances to Osteoporosis (a decrease in bone density leading to susceptibility to break).

Inactivity during advanced aging also leads to sarcopenia (a loss in muscle mass) which can begin at age 30. With the loss of muscle, there is also a loss of the number of nerve endings attaching to the muscle. This means the muscle can't activate as quickly or as strongly, decreasing power. This is significant because it affects the fast-twitch muscles. This particular muscle type is the most used in day-to-day activity, such as climbing stairs, getting out of chairs, or lifting and pushing objects. The more difficult these become, the more likely inactivity will persist.

This decrease in muscle strength occurs in 40% of women at age 55 to 64, 45% in women 65 -74, and 65% in women age 75 - 84. This decrease in strength leads to greater inactivity which heightens the decrease in muscle strength and bone density. This cascading cycle quickly leads to conditions like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Many women believe that taking a calcium supplement or a hormone replacement while inactive, will protect them from physical breakdown. However, to heighten these supplements, force on the bones and muscles is necessary to strengthen bone density, increase muscle mass, and increase nerve-signal efficiency.

Diet, combined with inactivity, plays a big role in developing obesity, which acts as a catalyst in many degenerative diseases. High-fat foods lead to an imbalance of hormone production. Excessive caffeine can decrease mineral absorption in bones. A diet poor in vitamin D can lead to decreased calcium absorption. Diets high in phosphorous can lead to an increase in calcium loss. Phosphorous is especially high in soda. High protein diets, like those seen in Atkins, have also shown to increase the loss of calcium.

If a woman takes in a high fiber diet, which is great for preventing disease, taking a calcium supplement can offset of chelating affects of fiber. And smoking and high alcohol intake also lead to reduced calcium absorption.

Diets low in Thiamine and Niacin have impact on energy metabolism, which helps feed the working muscle with energy for force production. Poor metabolism can lead to fatigue and weakness. The mineral Calcium is necessary in muscle activation and force production.

So the good news is that inactivity can easily switch to activity and this can reverse these declines.

More and more research is telling us that, for most degenerative decreases with age, inactivity and poor nutrition rather than chronological aging are the main cause. Muscle fiber improvement can improve just as effectively at age 55 as it can at age 20. Nerve innervations an increased activation can increase, as well. This improvement will lead to more coordination, continued exercise without fatigue, decreasing the risk for degenerative diseases and increasing daily capacity.

Here is an example that I use with my patients. If a woman can only curl a 10 lb dumbbell, that means when she lifts an 8 lb gallon of milk, she is lifting 80% or her strength. How many people could remain active all-day if working at 80% of their max strength? However, if this same woman would train and developed enough strength to curl 20 lbs, lifting a gallon of milk would only represent 40% of her strength. This would be easy to recover from and easy to preserve throughout a day.

The true maintenance of youth comes form avoiding inactivity. By combining exercise with good nutrition, a women can prevent conditions like Osteopenia, Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia. Supplements like a one-a-day vitamin and a DHEA and HGH (both shown to increase vitality by improving hormone levels) can prevent unwanted conditions and regain youthfulness.