Do your bones creek a little more than they used to, do your shopping bags feel like you're competing for an Olympic powerlifting medal, and the stairs feel like you're climbing Everest and your oxygen tank is running low?
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but as we age our bodies start losing muscle mass, losing up to 8% each decade after our 30th birthday, affecting your strength, endurance, and force.
Why does this happen?
The technical bit (sorry), this occurs due to a few potential reasons.
Amino acids are created in our gut from the protein we digest, these are the building blocks of protein that build our muscle. The amino acids are absorbed into our bloodstream and transported to our muscles, which starts something called the mTOR pathway. Basically, all the amino acids are shoved into the muscles, making the muscles bigger. Unfortunately, when we get older this process slows down. This is exacerbated by the slowing of our metabolism, making it easier for fat cells to form around the muscle, the muscles become suffocated and struggle to fire up efficiently.
Are you a sugar lover too? The more sugary food we digest, the more insulin we need to create to break it down. However, as the years go by, the ability to digest sugary food decreases, our bodies can become glucose (sugar) intolerant and insulin resistant. Therefore, instead of the sugar being broken down, it collects in our bodies and on our muscles as fat, further impeding muscle growth.
There are hormonal factors that can inhibit our strength development too. Testosterone and estrogen production decrease as we age, which can lead to symptoms like a decrease in bone density and fatigue (an unwelcome barrier between yourself and motivation).
This may all sound a bit depressing, BUT IT'S NOT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM. Have you ever heard of the saying use it or lose it? In this case, it is true that strength training not only creates and increases the size of muscle fibres, but also increases our metabolism, reducing our obesity risk and tolerance to sugar. Strength training can also increase bone strength and size, slowing bone mineral loss and (weirdly) creating more bone.
Strength training can mitigate some of the negative effects of getting older, allowing us to age more gracefully, just don't forget:
always apply your sun cream.
Now, you might be thinking “this sounds great and everything but I hate exercise”. Well fret not, no one said it has to be boring right? At Cloud we specialise in coaching an array of skills that won't only build strength, they're also great fun! We cater to all levels (including the complete beginner) and you can gravitate towards the skills that motivate you the most. You could build strength and flexibility in our strong and bendy classes, or express yourself a little with our entry-level pole and aerial classes, or test your mettle with the toughest of beasts - aerial straps. Every single one of our aerial classes strengthens your muscles and helps create that much needed bone density, they can be challenging, but so exciting. You'll find yourself battling aerial addiction instead of a lack of motivation, and our friendly teachers will be there to help you every step of the way. Come check them out and show the under 30s how it's done!
-Written by straps student Sufyaan
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