Recently I have been upping my game in terms of reading more…. I really struggle with fiction and stuff that isn’t “real” so I have just headed for relevant topics for me…….
An area of interest for me is the effect of training and a healthy lifestyle on muscle mass, body fat and health.
I found an astounding scientific study that actually did MRI scans on a > 40 year old participants who trained 4-5 times per week and then compared with a sedentary individual.
You can clearly see the difference in fat tissue between the two 70+ year olds.
Whats interesting is the very small difference in muscle tissue % of the 40 year old vs the 70 year old triathlete. Yet when you look at the muscle atrophy (wastage) of the 74 year old who was sedentary compared to his triathlete compatriot the difference is phenomenal.
Whilst there is no doubt that an ageing process occurs these findings do support what many of those who exercise regularly believe and that age is not purely chronological.
Perhaps when people get weaker its more a case of disuse, sedentary lifestyles and poor nutrition (which we know causes rapid ageing of skeletal tissue ) rather than purely a chronological skeletal ageing process.
If you want to check it out here is a PDF of the study
http://www.gefientrenamiento.com.ar/…/rpsm.2011.09.1933_sec…
Use it or Lose it 
