A chest infection keeps you in bed for most of a week. When you are up again, the walk to the post box feels twice as far and getting out of the bath takes some planning. Very little of that is the infection itself. It is what a few days of rest does to muscle, and it shows how much work our muscles do that we rarely notice.
Muscle is More Than the Engine for Movement
We tend to think of muscle as the thing that moves us. It does that, but it also does a great deal of work in the background, most of which we only notice when it starts to go.
Healthy muscle helps to:
steady and protect your joints, sharing the load every time you walk, kneel or climb
keep your bones strong, because muscles pulling on bone are one of the signals bone responds to
manage the sugar from your meals
keep you warm, since working muscle produces much of the body's heat
carry you through illness, by acting as a store the body can draw on
Last month, Why Strength Matters More As We Age looked at strength and power, what muscle can do. This article looks at muscle health: the condition of the muscle itself, and why it matters for far more than lifting.
Your Reserve for the Times You Need it
Muscle is the body's largest store of protein. When you are unwell, recovering from an operation or not eating well for a while, the body draws on that store to fuel repair and fight infection.
That is useful, but it comes at a cost. Research consistently shows that muscle is lost surprisingly quickly during bed rest and illness, and that older adults tend to lose it faster and regain it more slowly than younger people.
This is why two people can catch the same winter bug and come out of it very differently. Someone with plenty of muscle in reserve has something to spare. Someone who started with less may find that a week in bed takes away strength they needed for everyday tasks, and it does not always come back on its own.
Building muscle while you are well is, in a very practical sense, preparation for the times when you are not.
Muscle and the Food You Eat
After a meal, sugar from your food passes into the bloodstream. Muscle is one of the main places it goes, either used for energy or stored for later.
Muscle that is used regularly is better at taking up that sugar. Studies consistently show that strength training helps the body manage blood sugar, and that the benefit comes partly from having more muscle and partly from using it.
This is one reason muscle health matters to anyone who has been told their blood sugar is creeping up, or who has a family history of type 2 diabetes. It is not a replacement for advice from your GP, but it is a useful part of the picture.
How Muscle Changes Over Time
From around midlife, most people gradually lose muscle unless they do something to keep it. The change is slow, and for years it goes unnoticed, because daily life rarely asks for everything we have.
When that loss reaches the point where it affects strength and everyday function, it has a name: sarcopenia. It is common in later life, but it is not simply an inevitable part of getting older. Inactivity, illness, a poor appetite and long spells of sitting all speed it up, and regular use slows it down.
It is not only about the amount of muscle, either. With less use, muscle tends to become less efficient, so the same amount produces less force and tires sooner. Encouragingly, this is one of the things that responds best to strength work, at any age.
Signs Your Muscles Could Use More Attention
Changes in muscle health tend to show up in small ways first:
jars and bottle tops are harder to open than they used to be
carrying the shopping in from the car takes two trips instead of one
your walking pace has slowed, and friends are often a step ahead
you sit down heavily rather than lowering yourself
your strength has not fully come back after an illness or a quiet spell
None of these means something is wrong. They are a sign that your muscles would benefit from being asked to do a little more.
Some changes are worth checking with your GP rather than simply training through, including weakness that is new or getting worse quickly, weakness on one side of the body, or weight loss you cannot explain.
What Keeps Muscle Healthy
Muscle responds to three things working together.
Asking It to Work
Muscle is maintained by being used against resistance, and built by being asked to do a little more over time. Two short strength sessions a week is a sound foundation. Our cornerstone guide, Strength Training After 50: Building Capability for Life, explains how to plan them.
Feeding It
Muscle needs protein to maintain and repair itself, and appetite often falls as we get older. Including some protein at each meal, rather than leaving most of it until the evening, helps the body make good use of it.
Keeping It Moving Through the Day
Long spells of sitting give muscle very little reason to stay. Getting up regularly, walking and keeping up practical jobs around the house all help, even though they do not replace strength work.
If you are starting after an illness, working around a painful joint or unsure where to begin, Clinical Exercise & Rehabilitation offers a supervised programme built around what you want to be able to do, and Reformer Pilates provides controlled strength work with the support of the machine. You can find out more on our services page.
Coming up in the Library on Thursday 5 November, Strength Exercises Everyone Can Start puts this into practice with simple exercises for beginners.
Apollo Insight
After an illness or an operation, many people wait for their strength to come back before they start doing things again. In clinic, we often see the opposite work better. Muscle returns in response to being used, so gentle, regular activity, as soon as your doctor or care team says it is safe, usually brings strength back sooner than rest alone. Waiting until you feel strong enough can mean waiting a very long time.
How Apollo Health Collective Supports Healthy Ageing
Healthy ageing is about understanding your body, looking after it well and having the right support when you need it.
At Apollo Health Collective, we help people stay active, capable and independent through personalised, evidence-informed care. Our integrated approach brings together different areas of expertise to support movement, recovery and long-term wellbeing.
Our Sheringham clinic offers Osteopathy, Sports Therapy, Sports Massage, Clinical Exercise & Rehabilitation, Reformer Pilates, Podiatry, Biomechanics, and Lifestyle & Wellbeing services. We also offer Osteopathy appointments in Norwich and Coltishall.
Whether you are recovering from an injury, managing ongoing concerns, looking to improve your movement or simply investing in your future health, our team is here to support you.
