Sarcopenia and Walking Recovery in Older Adults: A Mini-Review of Evidence and Rehabilitation Implications

Walking recovery is a central goal of geriatric rehabilitation, but it is shaped by multiple interacting factors rather than by muscle impairment alone. This mini-review examines whether sarcopenia-related weakness, low muscle quality, and reduced physical reserve identify a clinically important vulnerability phenotype relevant to delayed gait recovery in older adults after hospitalization, hip fracture, surgery, or cardiac procedures. We summarize current consensus definitions of sarcopenia, explain why muscle strength and physical performance are often more clinically informative than muscle mass alone, and review the mechanistic pathways that may connect sarcopenia with impaired walking, including anabolic resistance, inflammation, disuse, neuromuscular remodeling, trunk weakness, and cognitive-emotional modifiers. Across community, orthogeriatric, post-acute, and cardiac rehabilitation settings, sarcopenia markers are generally associated with slower gait or poorer attained mobility; however, findings for change in mobility are inconsistent, and most available studies are observational, heterogeneous, or indirect. Sarcopenia should therefore be interpreted as one potential marker of reduced reserve and mobility risk rather than as a determinant of walking recovery or evidence that sarcopenia-aware rehabilitation improves outcomes. Future work should use more consistent diagnostic frameworks and test whether a sarcopenia-aware rehabilitation integrating early strength assessment, individualized nutrition care, and multicomponent gait rehabilitation improve walking outcomes in medically complex older adults beyond current standards of care.