The Exact Age Your Strength And Fitness Starts To Deteriorate

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about sarcopenia, or the gradual wasting away of muscles as we age. 

This process, which is linked to frailty, falls, and even an increased dementia risk, can begin as early as our 40s – and if we do nothing to battle it, we could lose half of our muscle mass by 80.

Now, new research from the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia, and Muscle has pinpointed the exact age at which most of us begin to lose strength and fitness. 

We could start to lose our strength by 35

This study, which lasted 47 years, looked at 427 people born in 1958. The participants were involved in the Swedish Physical Activity and Fitness (SPAF) study.  

They underwent strength and fitness tests from 16 to 63 years of age. 

The researchers were aware of studies which suggested that elite athletes’ physical performance peaked before 35, despite constant training. 

So, they wanted to see whether the same was true of a randomly-selected segment of the general population. 

Sure enough, the study authors learned that regardless of training volume, people’s strength started to taper off as early as 35. 

“The Swedish population cohort SPAF shows the same pattern of changes in physical capacity in adulthood as previously demonstrated for elite athletes.

“This confirms the concept that a decline in physical capacity can be observed before the age of 40, which can later lead to clinically significant physical dysfunction, especially in individuals with a sedentary lifestyle,” the paper reads.

Still, it’s never too late to rebuild your strength 

Even though the fitness of active people still deteriorated somewhat after about 35, this study found that their efforts still paid off. 

Those who started exercising during adulthood improved their physical capacity by 5-10%, for instance.

“It is never too late to start moving. Our study shows that physical activity can slow the decline in performance, even if it cannot completely stop it,” the study’s lead author, Maria Westerståhl, said.

The team will look at the participants’ fitness again next year, at which point the cohort will be aged 68. 

“Now we will look for the mechanisms behind why everyone reaches their peak performance at age 35 and why physical activity can slow performance loss but not completely halt it,” the researcher shared.