Is Sarcopenia a real thing? Yes, sarcopenia is a real thing which is the gradual loss of muscle mass strength and function. And this is a natural thing that happens as we age. Muscle mass starts to decline after the age of 30. Every decade after the age of 30 you lose 3 to 5% of lean muscle mass and the only way to combat this decline is through lifestyle change.
Is Sarcopenia a real thing? iStock-photo credit: Bulgakova Kristina
The different factors that affect muscle loss are:
- Poor nutritional factors- Which means you are not eating enough food or consuming enough calories. And you are not getting enough protein that helps with maintaining lean muscle mass.
- Physical inactivity- meaning you are not exercising enough, and you are living a sedentary lifestyle.
- Hormonal Changes- Decreasing in growth hormone, testosterone and estrogen.
The Most Common Causes Of Sarcopenia are the following:
- Loss of Stamina
- Having trouble climbing stairs
- Decrease in muscle size.
- Poor Balance and Falls
- Muscle atrophy as we approach middle age and beyond and if you are not active at all it can happen dramatically. That is why it is important to neglect doing any type of weight-training activity.
How do doctors diagnose sarcopenia through a questionnaire called SARC-F based on your self-reported symptoms? This is called SARC-F and this stands for SARC-F.
- S- Strength,
- A- Assistance With Walking,
- R-Rising From A Chair
- C- Climbing stairs.
- F- Falls
Some of the ways to treat sarcopenia are through incorporating some form of resistance training in your workouts such as resistance bands, dumbbell free weights, weight-lifting machines or body-weight workouts.
Another thing you should be doing is increase your protein intake to 30 to 35 grams of protein per meal. And if you are doing that then also add a dietary protein supplement. If you can add at least 3 days of resistance training and increase your daily protein intake, that can slow the sarcopenia effect that happens as we get older.
The types of tests you can do to see if you have lost any lean muscle mass is to do a Dexa scan or incorporate a hydrostatic underwater bodyfat test.
And adding a BIA examination which is called Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. These are body composition tests that can measure you how much fat free muscle mass you have.
The Bottom Line is sarcopenia is a real thing and this happens as we get older and are approaching middle age. And the reasons are hormonal decline, lack of physical activity and poor nutritional habits. But you can reverse this with consistent resistance training and increasing your protein intake.
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References
- Xiong G, Li L, Zhong H, Chen C, Ma L, Liang C, Liang M, He Y. Association between proton pump inhibitor use and muscle mass: a US population-based study. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2026 Jan 14;38(1):66. doi: 10.1007/s40520-025-03311-1. PMID: 41530505; PMCID: PMC12872683.
