Muscular adaptations to resistance exercise in the elderly

Area of Science:

• Gerontology and Muscle Physiology

Background:

• Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass, leads to muscle weakness.
• Muscle strength decline in sarcopenia often surpasses muscle size reduction.
• Factors contributing to sarcopenia include neuropathic, metabolic, hormonal, nutritional, and immunological aspects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the contributing factors and mechanisms behind sarcopenia.
• To understand the relationship between muscle size, architecture, and strength loss in aging.
• To explore the potential for reversing age-related muscle alterations through exercise.

Main Methods:

• Review of current evidence on sarcopenia development and progression.
• Analysis of studies examining neural drive, fiber specific tension, and muscle architecture.
• Evaluation of the effects of resistive training on muscle hypertrophy and architecture in older adults.

Main Results:

• Ageing alters muscle architecture and reduces neural drive, contributing to decreased muscle force.
• Muscle strength loss is disproportionately greater than muscle mass loss in sarcopenia.
• Resistive training demonstrates significant muscle hypertrophy and reverses age-related architectural changes in older muscle.

Conclusions:

• Sarcopenia involves complex multifactorial causes and significant changes in muscle mechanics.
• Muscle architecture alterations play a crucial role in age-related force reduction.
• Older muscle retains plasticity, with resistive training effectively combating sarcopenia's effects.