Muscles in a minute | Bangkok Post: lifestyle

INTHEMIRROR

We all want something bigger, faster, and stronger, everything from houses, cars and internet speed all the way down to extra strength, headache pills and energy drinks. We've also become impatient, we want change, and we want it now. We want to see immediate effects, and results. The same goes for building muscles and having six-packs. The desire to build a strong muscular body is in most of us, but we often get demotivated because the muscle gain comes too slow and requires too much effort. We want shortcuts to achieving that perfect body _ it'd be awesome if we could just wake up one morning with six-packs, effortlessly. Are there any shortcuts?

DO OUR MUSCLES AGE?

Yes, like all our body parts, they do. Age-related muscle loss is known as sarcopenia, which translates as vanishing flesh. Starting in your 40s and speeding up in your 50s, muscle mass declines and so does its ability to function. While the precise causes of sarcopenia aren't fully understood, hormonal changes, lack of exercise, poor nutrition and inflammation are all potential reasons. The good news is that we can work on it. If the cause is hormonal imbalance, we first treat that before we can start building muscles. To help your muscles grow, you require three things. You need to exercise to make the muscles work, use energy and cause microscopic damage to the fibres. You need nutrition because after an intense workout the muscles need to replenish their stores of fuel. And you also need sufficient rest as it is during the rest period that the muscles recover and repair the microscopic damages and grow.