Growing older does not have to mean growing weaker. Learn to recognise muscle loss early and protect your strength, mobility and independence.
Have you noticed your father pushing himself up with both hands when getting out of a chair? Does your mother find stairs increasingly difficult, or struggle to carry her usual shopping bags?
These changes may be more than signs of ageing. They could indicate sarcopenia — the progressive loss of muscle strength and muscle quantity associated with ageing and other health conditions.
The good news is that appropriate exercise, adequate nutrition and early intervention can help preserve muscle strength and everyday function.
What is sarcopenia?
Our muscles help us walk, climb stairs, maintain balance and perform everyday activities. They also play important roles in blood glucose regulation and metabolic health.
With ageing, muscles may become smaller and weaker. Strength can decline faster than muscle size, so a person may look reasonably healthy but struggle with routine activities.
For example, a 70-year-old who once climbed two flights of stairs easily may now need to stop midway. Another person may struggle to rise from a low sofa without assistance.
Such difficulties should not automatically be dismissed as inevitable consequences of ageing.
Why do muscles weaken?
Several factors contribute to sarcopenia:
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- Physical inactivity: Spending most of the day sitting gradually reduces muscle strength.
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- Inadequate nutrition: Eating small portions with little protein may leave muscles without sufficient building materials.
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- Age-related changes: Muscles become less responsive to signals that stimulate repair and growth.
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- Chronic illness: Diabetes, heart failure, chronic lung disease and other illnesses can accelerate muscle loss.
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- Illness and hospitalisation: Even a relatively short period of bed rest can cause substantial weakness in vulnerable older adults.
Muscle loss can also occur in people with obesity. Excess body fat does not guarantee adequate muscle strength — a combination known as sarcopenic obesity.
How can you recognise sarcopenia?
Look for these warning signs:
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- Difficulty getting up from a chair without using the arms.
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- Increasing difficulty climbing stairs.
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- Slower walking or reduced walking distance.
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- Trouble carrying shopping bags or lifting familiar objects.
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- Repeated falls, unsteadiness or fear of falling.
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- Unintentional weight loss or visibly shrinking muscles.
If an older adult now needs several attempts to stand up from a chair when previously they could do so effortlessly, reduced muscle strength may be contributing.
These symptoms do not prove sarcopenia. Arthritis, anaemia, heart or lung disease and neurological conditions can cause similar problems. Medical assessment is important.
How is sarcopenia diagnosed?
Assessment may include:
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- Handgrip strength: Measures how firmly a person can squeeze a handheld device.
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- Chair-rise test: Assesses the ability to stand up repeatedly from a chair.
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- Walking speed and balance: Help evaluate physical performance.
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- Muscle measurement: DXA or bioelectrical impedance analysis may be used when appropriate.
A clinician may also investigate nutritional deficiencies and underlying illnesses.
Low muscle strength raises suspicion of sarcopenia; low muscle quantity or quality helps confirm the diagnosis under commonly used criteria. Poor physical performance may indicate more severe disease.
What can you do to protect your muscles?
1. Make muscles work
Resistance exercise is one of the most important interventions for preventing and managing sarcopenia.
Examples include:
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- Chair rises: Stand up and sit down slowly from a stable chair.
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- Wall push-ups: Strengthen the upper body by pushing against a wall.
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- Resistance bands or light weights: Exercise the arms, shoulders and legs.
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- Supported heel raises: Rise onto your toes while holding a stable support.
For many older adults, strength training on two or more days each week is a useful goal. Walking and gardening are beneficial, but walking alone may not provide enough resistance to maintain muscle strength.
Start at an appropriate level and increase gradually. People with significant weakness, recurrent falls or serious medical conditions may need supervised physiotherapy.
Exercise Safely: Important Advice for Older Adults
Start gently. Build strength gradually. Safety comes first.
- Choose a safe space: Use a sturdy, non-wheeled chair placed against a wall. Keep the floor dry and free of obstacles.
- Use support: Hold a stable support during standing exercises. If you are prone to falls, seek professional guidance before practising balance exercises.
- Start within your limits: Begin with a few comfortable repetitions and increase gradually.
- Breathe normally: Avoid holding your breath or straining excessively during exercise.
- Know when to stop: Stop if you develop chest pain, unusual breathlessness, dizziness, palpitations or sudden weakness. Seek urgent medical attention for severe or persistent symptoms.
- Seek advice before starting: Consult your doctor or physiotherapist if you have recurrent falls, severe joint pain, a recent fracture or surgery, or an unstable medical condition.
Remember
Exercise should challenge your muscles without compromising your safety. Choose activities appropriate for your health, balance and current strength.
2. Eat enough protein to maintain muscle
Muscles need adequate protein to repair themselves and maintain strength. However, the weight of a protein-rich food is not the same as its protein content.
For example, 100 g of cooked fish or chicken provides approximately 20–31 g of protein, not 100 g. One egg provides around 6–7 g, a 250 ml glass of milk around 8 g, and 100 g of paneer approximately 15–20 g.
Vegetarians can obtain protein from familiar foods such as dal, chana, rajma, milk, curd, paneer, besan, nuts and seeds. Protein supplements are not necessary for everyone.
For many healthy older adults, approximately 1.0–1.2 g of protein per kilogram of body weight daily may be a reasonable target, depending on individual needs. People with chronic kidney disease or other conditions affecting protein requirements need personalised advice.
Want to know how much protein you actually get from everyday Indian foods? Read our separate guide: Protein in the Indian Diet: How Much Do You Really Need?
3. Avoid losing muscle while losing weight
Crash diets and excessive calorie restriction can cause muscle loss, particularly in older adults.
For example, someone who loses 8 kg through severe food restriction may also lose valuable muscle, making walking and climbing stairs more difficult.
When weight reduction is appropriate, combine a balanced diet, adequate protein and resistance exercise to help preserve muscle.
4. Treat underlying problems
Appropriate management of chronic illnesses, correction of nutritional problems and review of medications that may contribute to weakness or falls can support muscle health.
After illness or hospitalisation, gradual mobilisation and rehabilitation can help restore function.
Can supplements or medicines cure sarcopenia?
Protein supplements may help when food intake is inadequate, but not everyone needs them. Vitamin D should be supplemented when clinically indicated rather than automatically prescribing high doses to everyone with muscle weakness.
Although medicines targeting muscle growth are being investigated, no universally established drug treatment replaces resistance exercise and appropriate nutrition as the foundation of sarcopenia management.
Be cautious about products marketed as muscle-building or anti-ageing remedies without reliable clinical evidence.
Why early action matters
Muscle weakness can make it harder to recover balance after a slip, rise from the floor after a fall or regain independence following an illness.
A person who becomes afraid of falling may stop going outdoors, become less active and lose even more strength. Early recognition and appropriate intervention can help interrupt this cycle.
Seek medical assessment if an older family member develops persistent difficulty rising from a chair, walks increasingly slowly, experiences recurrent falls or loses weight unintentionally.
Worried about muscle loss? Charvaka Clinic can help.
Difficulty getting up from a chair, slower walking, frequent falls or unexplained weight loss should not be dismissed as a normal part of ageing.
At Charvaka Clinic, our approach to elder care focuses on identifying problems early and helping older adults maintain strength, mobility and independence. A comprehensive geriatric assessment can help evaluate muscle weakness, nutritional status, physical function, fall risk and underlying medical conditions.
Take the first step towards stronger, healthier ageing.
If you or an older family member are experiencing these difficulties, contact Charvaka Clinic to arrange a consultation and discuss an individualised plan for assessment, nutrition, exercise and rehabilitation.
Visit charvakaclinic.com.
Charvaka Clinic — Affordable Expertise in Elder Care
Medical disclaimer: This article is for general education and does not replace individual medical assessment or treatment.