What is muscle power and why is it important??
WHAT IS MUSCLE POWER AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR FEMALES AS WE AGE??
You might have heard a lot about being strong as you age, especially as a female when you gradually lose Estrogen, which helps your muscles remain healthy and strong.
Strength is definitely of prime importance as we age as the loss of Estrogen affects both our muscle and bone strength which affects functional capacity.
Another aspect of muscle function is power, and it is often overlooked for females as we age. Power training should be a component of every menopausal exercise prescription.
Strength vs Power – strength is the ability of the muscle to exert a force over a load. Strength helps you lift your groceries, push up with your legs to get off the floor or chair, pull a heavy door open etc. Power on the other hand is the muscles’ ability to exert that force over a period of time, usually quickly. Power will help you move quickly to catch something, walk fast or run for a train or bus, jump out of the way of a car or other obstacle, get upstairs quickly etc.
Facts:
Age related loss of muscle power is more significant and occurs more rapidly than strength or mass.
Low levels of muscle power is linked to impaired activities of daily living and functional decline
Stair descent time (which involves mainly muscle power) is a significant predictor of functional decline.
MUSCLE POWER IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR ONGOING FUNCTION AND QUALITY OF LIFE AS WE AGE.
What can we do as females to help maintain or improve our muscle power??
Power based resistance training – training with weights for power is a different prescription than strength. This doesn’t mean it is hard or unachievable – you start where you are and build up.
High Impact training – training where you jump, hop, jump from side to side, jump up or down from a platform, skip, run. Again, this is not unachievable, even if you have issues with your pelvic floor, incontinence or joint pain. You start where you are and work up.
Like any type of exercise for Menopause, power training involves a specific prescription to elicit the muscle adaptation you need. You may also need help and modifications for other medical conditions, so you can train for power safely. Exercise Physiologist are best placed to provide this exercise prescription for you.
If you are interested in exploring power more, have a look at the work of Dr Stacy Sims. Stacy is an Exercise Physiologist and Nutrition Scientist and has devoted her life to research into females and exercise at all stages of life – her motto is “women are not small men” and this is entirely correct. She is pretty amazing!!
You can also contact me or any other of our Exercise Physiologists who have featured on our Blogs or on the page. See our Blogs at https://www.shecommunity.net/blog