Use it or lose it

The experience of those who have gone before us provides compelling reasons to do strength training for the rest of our lives. Keep strong, even as you age, with this advice from Dr Gabe Mirkin.

- Gabe Mirkin

A 2015 study from the University of Copenhagen showed that wearing an immobilising knee brace for just two weeks caused men in their twenties to lose 22 to 34 per cent of their leg muscle strength, while men in their sixties lost 20 to 26 per cent.

It took them six weeks of exercising 3-4 times a week on a bicycle to restore the leg muscle size and ability to exercise. Even that did not fully restore the leg muscle strength.

This study demonstrates some significant points:

When muscles of young men are immobilised for two weeks, they lose strength equivalent to aging 40 or 50 years.

As soon as you stop moving, your muscles start to weaken.

The larger your muscles, the more muscle you have to lose.

Younger and stronger people lose strength even faster than older people.