Your Muscles Aren't Retiring at 40: The Slow Fade Nobody Warned You About
Last spring, a friend of mine, a fit guy who ran 5Ks and never missed a Saturday football game, tried to lift a heavy suitcase into an overhead bin. He didn't hurt himself. He just... couldn't get it up there. A stranger had to help. "I didn't feel weak," he told me later. "I felt like the suitcase had gotten heavier." The suitcase hadn't changed. His muscles had, slowly and quietly, over about fifteen years. If you're past 40, this story might sting a little, because you may have felt something similar: the jar lid that takes two tries, the stairs that leave you a bit more winded, the belt notch that keeps moving even though your eating hasn't changed. Most people blame "getting older" and shrug. But there's a specific process behind it, it has a name, and, more importantly, you have far more control over it than you've been led to believe. What Is Sarcopenia , and Why Haven't You Heard of It? The word comes from Gre...