Muscle Loss Is No Joke. This Is Why You Should Be Taking It Seriously

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Have you noticed how your parents have been taking a longer time walking up the stairs, and when you’re shopping together they seem slower than usual? These are all signs of muscle loss.

Your skeletal muscle makes up 30% to 50% of your body weight. Obviously, your muscle plays an important structural role for your body. It’s a source of strength and is needed for your movement and balance.

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Take a look at how much muscle you need for your everyday activities:

• 34 muscles to type a thank you email
• 42 muscles to smile at someone
• 80 muscles to open a jar of cookies
• 180 muscles to dance the twist
• 200 muscles to walk in the park
• 240 muscles to carry your weekly groceries

Did you know that we can lose up to 8% of our muscles per decade starting at age 40?! Once we turn 70 years old, this rate could double!

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You can actually find out your parents’ muscle strength via a simple test, the Strength Chair-lenge!

Maintaining muscle strength is important—especially for your parents. When they have healthy, strong muscles, they’re able to:

1. Maintain their independence
2. Do everyday tasks such as carry groceries and reaching up to higher shelves
3. Improve their balance, coordination and mobility
4. Reduce the risk of falling
5. Gain strength and energy
6. Help keep their joints in good shape

Here are a couple of step your parents can take to strengthen their muscles:

#1 Start exercising

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Adults older than 75 have displayed a significant ability to increase their muscle mass and strength when they do resistance exercise training, such as wall slides and arm raises. Research has shown that one to two exercise workouts every week would be able to improve muscle strength.

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You could also encourage them to do physical activities that get their heart pumping. For example, aerobic exercises and walking improves blood flow and the supply of nutrients to the muscles.

#2 Get good nutrition

Give your parents two glasses of Ensure Gold every day, as it contains HMB, an active metabolite of the amino acid leucine. Although leucine is found in food, HMB is difficult to get from that alone. Only about 0.5% to 5% of dietary leucine is converted to HMB. It is also known that levels of HMB in the body decrease with age. Ensure Gold also contains the Triple Protein Blend that can help them regain physical strength, along with 28 vitamins and minerals for complete nutrition.

Ensure Gold is also available in refreshing Green Tea flavour for their everyday strength! Click here to get a sample.

You can buy it online here.

Start taking muscle loss seriously so that your parents can lead fulfilling lives! For more information on maintaining your strength, click here.