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After 30 years, Skeletal muscle mass begins to decrease, and in your 40s the process accelerates and can decrease by as much as 10-20 percent. Climbers may not notice this much because the drop is greater in the lower body than in the upper body. But still it's happening. Most of the muscle you lose is fast-twitch, so power decreases first. But there's some good news too. Durability lasts. Avoid nature and read.
Muscle protein breakdown and muscle protein synthesis
Muscle is constantly being broken down (muscle protein breakdown, MPB) and rebuilt (muscle protein synthesis, MPS). Muscle loss occurs when your balance shifts toward imbalance. How is muscle protein made? Conventional wisdom is that you need a lot of protein, especially animal protein. In fact, our bodies can synthesize most amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, from small components found in most foods. You need to take amino acids—Essential amino acids (EAA)—From food. His EAA of animal origin best suits our needs, but you can also use a combination of plants. It then follows genetic instructions to build specific types of muscle proteins (such as fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers).
When you exercise your muscles, they burn fuel to contract, just like a car burns gasoline. Both processes produce pollutants. When muscle cells are damaged, built-in repair programs are stimulated to build and strengthen muscles. The problem is that you have to have amino acids on hand to accumulate them, but if you consume too much, they will be stored as fat (See “Eat to build muscle”).
For active people like climbers, what changes with age is their ability to build muscle after consuming protein. A phenomenon physiologists call anabolic resistance, which worsens muscle cells' ability to extract and use protein building blocks from the blood. No one knows the real reason, but it seems to be caused by the deterioration of muscle stem cells as we age. On the other hand, MPS decreases significantly when muscles are not used, and this decrease alone can explain age-related losses.
To maintain muscle mass, you need to maximize your MPS and minimize your MPB.
eat to build muscle
Muscle loss accelerates around the age of 50. Before that, muscle cells can still make good use of EAAs. Recent research findings show that a person under the age of 50 should consume 0.7-0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, while those over 50 should aim for 1-1.3 grams. It is suggested that there is. That's 60 grams of protein for a 150-pound man in his 40s, and the same for a 115-pound zodiac sign like me. (See Tips.)
Also read: You can be stronger than ever in your 40s, 50s, and 60s.Method is as follows
Easily digestible proteins such as whey found in many protein powders can further stimulate MPS. The most important EAA for activating MPS is leucine. Leucine is the initiator of the chain of events that lead to protein synthesis. But the stronger the signal, the more likely it is to stimulate cancer cells. Research shows that consuming high amounts of protein (more than 10% of daily calories from meat and dairy products, but not plants) early in life (around age 50 or younger) can lead to lower protein intake later in life. It has been shown to lead to a significant increase in diabetes.
move to build muscle
Moderate to heavy exercise increases both MPB and MPS. Eating a high-protein meal after training increases MPS but decreases MPB. In both young athletes (age 20) and older athletes (age 50), consuming 20 grams of high-quality protein after exercise increased MPS compared to subsequent exercise without protein. Even better news: Resistance exercise, such as strength training or climbing, may enhance her MPS response to protein intake for several days after training. Translation: You probably don't need to eat that protein right away.
Also read: Get weaker and climb stronger…and be flexible
chip
- Dissolve 5 grams of leucine powder in a water bottle and sip during your workout (try LiveLong, Infinite Labs, or Evogen).
- Consume 20 grams of protein after your workout. Protein powder is easy, but there are other options, such as:
- Wrap it in a chicken or turkey sandwich or 4-ounce wrap. Meat (4-6 pieces)
- Canned tuna (1/2 cup)
- tofu (1/2 cup)
- Almonds or almond butter (5 ounces)
- 3 eggs
- Just 3-4 days of mountaineering or mountaineering-specific training is all it takes to reap the full benefits of MPS.
ALSO READ: Struggling to maintain muscle mass? Here's what you need to know about supplemental strength training.
acronym
- EAA: Essential amino acids
- MPB: muscle protein breakdown
- MPS: muscle protein synthesis
Beth Bennett has been climbing for over 40 years, with many FAs and FFAs in the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, she completed her PhD in genetics. Nutritional biochemistry is a long-standing interest of hers.
This training article was first published. rock and ice.