How strength training helps women ward off sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass

Six times a week, Dilys Li attends her local gym in Hong Kong. She got into the routine seven years ago for two reasons: to get active and to appease her daughter. “I felt my body was going downhill dramatically,” she says, explaining that she even felt anxious climbing stairs at home at the time. “I just didn’t want to move at all.” When her daughter joined a gym and invited her along for a week of free classes in exchange for a charity donation, she had her first gym experience. After the trial, she became a regular. Li, now 64, can deadlift 102kg (225lb). Building muscle through resistance or strength training is important in age: it is good for the brain and helps protect from osteoporosis – loss of bone density – which predisposes people to the risk of breaks. It also helps protect us from sarcopenia, an age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and function. The condition is more common from the age of 50, affecting about one in 20 people, says Dr Laurena Law, who is based in Hong Kong. For frail older people in nursing homes, it affects about one in three. Sarcopenia comes with a host of higher risks, including falls and fractures, metabolic disorders, cognitive impairment, and mortality. You want to avoid it if you can – and one way to do that is to lift some weights. Law, who attends the same gym as Li – Pherform, a women-only gym in Central in Hong Kong – says she started going to stave off osteoporosis, which had affected her mother and grandmother. In 2019, the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia published updated research that hit home for Law the additional benefit strength training had on muscle health. Women in general have a 20 per cent higher risk of developing sarcopenia than men, Law says, especially as they go through perimenopause and into menopause. The rate of muscle-mass loss accelerates from about 1 per cent a year from a woman’s mid-30s to 2 per cent when she enters perimenopause. Law has a long-standing passion for fitness. She is also an instructor for Body Pump – a strength training programme – and “just for fun” completed a personal training certificate. That was more than 20 years ago, when there were few women in the weights room. Women tend to focus on their aerobic fitness and neglect strength training, Law says, adding that the Asian ideal of being slim is valued over being strong. Training is often looked at from an aesthetic perspective, says Stephanie Poelman, Pherform’s owner and a coach. Many older women resist doing weight training not only because they are unaware of the dangers of sarcopenia, but because they fear bulking up. “Most women think strength training will make them look manly because the body image of a man versus a woman has always leaned towards men having large definition of muscle on their body.” Once they start, there is a shift in thinking. “When I watch women lift weights they never thought they could, a fire within them lights up. Their mood changes immediately to positive, ready to conquer more,” she says. Law says for those who are middle-aged and above, strength training is not as intuitive or as easy as walking, hiking or jogging. It requires the body to move differently and to make those movements against resistance – whether it is a band, ball, dumbbell or weight plate. Because it feels so alien, women are often afraid of getting hurt, feel they are too old, or feel embarrassed at how they might look exercising with weights. Dr Gira Patel, who is similarly based in Hong Kong, also trains at Pherform. Women should train differently, she says, and a women-only gym is equipped to tailor to their needs. She was not new to weightlifting when she joined, but quickly observed that the way staff trained clients was different. “It wasn’t so much about ‘pumping iron’ and bragging rights – rather they were emphasising how to be effective in the reps, how to select weights that would challenge you but not hurt you, working muscles to fatigue and pushing past mental barriers.” Patel also appreciated learning the health benefits of getting stronger to increase muscle mass and bone density. “As a medical doctor myself, this wasn’t something I’d ever been trained in. Sure, we were told that exercise is great, get out of breath a few times a week. But no one had ever taught me about the reasons for strength training, plyometrics [a type of exercise that uses the force and speed of movements to build muscle] and cardiovascular conditioning specifically for hormone and metabolic health in women of any age.” Her female friends have had similar experiences. “We all used to think it was just cardio that mattered but now we see that a variety of strength training, plyometrics and metabolic conditioning is what carries the most benefits,” she says. Since joining Pherform in 2019, Patel has increased her lean muscle mass by almost 3.5kg and seen a 1.5 per cent increase in bone density. This combination makes her less susceptible to “osteosarcopenia” – the coexistence of both osteopenia/osteoporosis and sarcopenia – which is an emerging “geriatric giant” that poses a serious global health burden, according to the US National Institutes of Health. Patel feels passionate about “future-proofing”, she says. “As I enter my fifth decade, I want to make sure I am in optimal condition mentally and physically. Strength training is a must-do for that, alongside … nutrition, time in nature, purposeful occupation and having meaningful relationships.” It is never too late to start that future-proofing. Look at Li – her father is 95 and still exercises daily. Law’s mother never did any strength training until she was 73; now 75, she trains twice a week. Like what you read? Follow SCMP Lifestyle on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also sign up for our eNewsletter here.

How strength training helps women ward off sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Building muscle through resistance or strength training helps protect from sarcopenia, an age-related condition women suffer more than men

Building muscle through resistance or strength training helps protect from sarcopenia, an age-related condition women suffer more than men