• One out of five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or a head injury.
• Each year, 3 million older people are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries.
• Over 800,000 patients a year are hospitalized because of a fall injury, most often because of a head injury or hip fracture.
• Each year at least 300,000 older people are hospitalized for hip fractures.
• More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling, usually by falling sideways.

Research has identified many conditions that contribute to falling. These are called risk factors. Many risk factors can be changed or modified to help prevent falls.

• Lower body weakness
• Vitamin D deficiency (that is, not enough vitamin D in your system). Blood tests are available to determine your levels.
• Difficulties with walking and balance.
• Use of medicines, such as tranquilizers, sedatives, or antidepressants. Even some over-the-counter medicines can affect balance and how steady you are on your feet.
• Vision problems.
• Foot pain or poor footwear
• Home hazards or dangers such as broken or uneven steps, throw rugs or clutter that can be tripped over.

Aging without maintenance for changes can result in different functional changes leading to a substantial reduction of all human capabilities. A variety of anatomical and physiological changes occur with advancing age. These changes are more evident in the elderly population.

There are several methods to measure muscle and bone mass loss, but the dual X-ray absorptiometry (DZA) is considered one of the most efficient. the elderly population (65 years and older) has been increasing throughout the years. Loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) and loss of bone mass (osteopenia or osteoporosis) with advancing age, when untreated, represent a major public health problem for the elderly population and my result in loss of independence in later life. Untreated age-related sarcopenia and osteopenia/osteoporosis increase the risk for falls and fractures, making older individuals more susceptible to the development of mobility limitations or severe disabilities that ultimately affect their capacity for independence. In this review, we will discuss the muscle and bone mass loss in the elderly population and advances in diagnosis and treatment.

I have written many times about senior athletes. They perform incredible feats of strength and endurance well into their retirement years. Many never started to exercise until they retired from their career jobs.

The great news is that you don’t have to bench press 300 pounds ro run a marathon (or many seniors do) to show off the benefits of strength training.

NIA.gov supported researchers have been studying the effects of strength training for more than 40 years and have identified multiple ways it can benefit older adults, including maintaining muscle mass, improving mobility, and increasing the health years of life. Learn more below about these findings from NIA-supported researchers, along with their tips for maintaining strength or becoming stronger as we age. (https://www.nia.nih.gov.)

NIA-supported scientist Roger A. Fielding, Ph.D. associate director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University outside Boston, MA, is a strong proponent of continuing to push our muscles as we age. He leads multiple studies aimed at better understanding age-related changes in muscle structure and function and how adding resistance training can prevent frailty and improve mobility and independence.

Fielding’s research has looked at how different types of muscle training exercises benefited a community-based group of older adults with moderate mobility limitations. According to Fielding, to understand the importance of maintaining muscle mass, it’s important to comprehend what’s going on inside our bodies when we exercise our muscles.

Strength training (also known as resistance training) is different than aerobic exercises such as has running, cycling, or walking. Weightlifting, either with machines or free weights, is one type of resistance training  Other types include using medicine balls or resistance balls or resistance bands, or body weight bearing exercises such as pushups, squats, or yoga. Resistance training requires our muscles to contract to lift a heavy object against the pull of gravity.

The more weight we can work with, the faster our bodies burn through reserves of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) a molecule that carries energy to cells. This needs to take time. Start with lower weights or body weight before advancing too fast. As we lift weight or do other demanding exercises, our ATP reserves are replenished through a complex, coordinated metabolic and chemical response that cascades through the entire body, including sparking short-term chemical changes in the DNA of muscle tissue that make them more tuned to specific proteins supporting sugar and fat metabolism.

In the NIA-supported research, older adult volunteers participate in small group exercise sessions led by a physical fitness trainer. Several of these studies were conducted at Tufts, but the program has since expanded to nearby Boston-area gyms and community senior centers. The goal isn’t a perfectly chiseled abdomen or achieving exceptional feats of strength. Rather, participates use different types of ankle weights and dumbbells, or adapt exercises as needed to use their own body weight.

The group sessions also encourage bonding and accountability among participants, which helps keep them motivated and sticking with it, according to Fielding and his colleagues.

NIA supported scientist Dennis T. Villareal, M.D., a professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, has found that incorporating weightlifting into an exercise and diet intervention for older adults with obesity yields better results than diet and aerobic exercise alone.

Villareal’s year-long exercise training intervention known as the Lifestyle Intervention to Improve Bone Quality (LIMB-Q) targets a high-risk population. As people lose weight with diet and aerobic exercise, they have an increased risk of losing lean muscle mass and bone density, both of which are important for everyday activities and avoiding falls. 

“That is where strength training has an important role,” said Villareal.

“Resistance training is the most important component because it builds muscle and reduces the loss of muscle mass,” he said. “As the relationship between body mass the muscle becomes more positive, participants loses more fat than they lose muscle, so the relative sarcopenia is improved significantly. Combining the two types of exercise had additive effects so they were better together than separate.”

Villareal has been studying the connection between muscle and metabolism for nearly 25 years. He got his start in the field in the 1990s at one of NIAs Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers. He helped with an exercise training study in frail adults over age 75 and was impressed with how it was possible for people to get motivated to exercise even at an advanced age. After losing about 20 pounds in recent years (thanks to a lower calorie diet combined with exercise), he himself experienced the benefits of weight loss, including more energy and improved physical fitness.