Sarcopenia can occur naturally due to aging or other health conditions. But you can help reverse or prevent it by changing your eating habits and also doing certain exercises, such as resistance training.

Sarcopenia is muscle loss that becomes more common as you get older, with this condition involving more of a decreases in muscle mass and strength than you might otherwise experience.

You can help stop and reverse sarcopenia by taking some simple steps, in order to help prevent it from affecting your quality of life.

Healthy eating habits and regular physical activity can reverse sarcopenia, increasing lifespan and quality of life. Resistance exercises like sit-ups, push-ups, and using resistance bands may also help manage and reverse this aging-specific condition.

Why does sarcopenia develop?

Sarcopenia literally means “lack of flesh.” It’s a condition of age-associated muscle degeneration that becomes more common in people 50 years and older.

Although aging is the most common cause of sarcopenia, there are other causes that directly tie into the actions you can take to treat and manage sarcopenia.

These other causes and possible action steps include:

  • physical activity levels
  • food choices
  • inflammation or stress on the body

While each of those three areas may be stand on their own, some research indicates that a combination of improved resistance training exercise, nutrition changes, and other therapeutic measures can work best together to manage and prevent sarcopenia.

Learn more about sarcopenia, the symptoms and causes, and how you may be diagnosed with this condition.

Not using muscles is one of the most common reasons for sarcopenia, leading to faster muscle loss and increasing weakness.

This can be a result of bed rest or immobilzation after an injury or illness, or be tied to a lack of physical activity for those with a sedentary lifestyle.

Periods of decreased activity can become a vicious cycle. Muscle strength decreases, resulting in greater fatigue and making it more difficult to return to normal activity.

Combinations of aerobic exercise, resistance training and balance training can prevent and even reverse muscle loss. You may need at least 2 to 4 exercise sessions each week.

Specific types of exercise may be worth considering:

1. Resistance Training

Resistance exercise is the most direct way to increase muscle mass and prevent its loss.

This type of training includes weightlifting, pulling against resistance bands or moving part of the body against gravity.

When you perform resistance exercise, the tension on your muscle fibers results in growth signals that lead to increased strength. Resistance exercise also increases the actions of growth-promoting hormones.

Examples of resistance training might include leg presses and extending the knees against resistance on a weight machine.

2. Fitness Training

Sustained exercise that raises your heart rate, including aerobic exercise and endurance training, can also control sarcopenia.

Most research on aerobic exercise for the treatment or prevention of sarcopenia have also included resistance and flexibility training as part of a combination exercise program. These combinations have been consistently shown to prevent and reverse sarcopenia, although it is often unclear whether aerobic exercise without resistance training would be as beneficial.

3. Walking

Walking can also prevent and even reverse sarcopenia, and it’s an activity most people can do for free, anywhere they live.

Exercise may not only help your muscles and prevent sarcopenia, but physical activity can have many other benefits for your overall health.

Eating styles that don’t have enough calories and protein can result in weight loss and diminished muscle mass.

These types of meals becoming more common as people age. This happens as sense of taste changes, problems develop with teeth, gums and swalling, and it becomes more difficult to shop and cook.

If you’re deficient in calories, protein or certain vitamins and minerals, you may be at higher risk of muscle loss.

This 2023 research review on eating habits tied to sarcopenia cited a study from the year before, suggesting that combining aspects of the Mediterrean and DASH diets can provide a nutrient-dense eating style that can help improve muscle mass and function, especially as you get older.

You might consider talking with your healthcare team and a nutritionist or dietician about these specific nutrients, which can play a role in muscle mass and strength.

  • Protein: Getting protein in your diet helps promote muscle mass and strength. Research suggests 25 to 30 grams of protein with each meal may help prevent sarcopenia. The amino acid leucine is particularly important for regulating muscle growth. Rich sources of leucine include whey protein, meat, fish and eggs, and soy protein isolate. This can be especially helpful for older adults, who may not consume enough protein and experience greater levels of sarcopenia.
  • Vitamin D: Taking vitamin D supplements can increase muscle strength and reduce the risk of falling. These benefits have not been seen in all research, possibly because some research volunteers may have already been getting enough vitamin D.
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Consuming omega-3 fatty acids via seafood or supplements may increase your muscle growth at any age. While omega-3s might signal muscle growth directly, some research also indicates that a daily fish oil supplement combined with resistance training might also increase muscle strength more than resistance training without fish oil.
  • Creatine: This small protein is normally made in the liver. Although your body makes enough on its own, adding creatine to your diet from meat or as a supplement may help your muscle growth. However, despite its benefits for older adults, researchers note that creatine is probably not beneficial for sarcopenia if used alone, without exercise.

These 26 food choices might help gain muscle mass and improve muscle strength.

After injury or illness, inflammation sends signals to the body to tear down and then rebuild the damaged groups of cells.

Chronic or long-term diseases can also result in inflammation that disrupts the normal balance of teardown and healing, resulting in muscle loss.

Additionally, medical issues can also cause more stress on the body and that can play a role in sarcopenia development.

Conditions that may lead to inflammation throughout the body and impact on muscle mass:

Certain conditions can also cause more stress on your body, and that can play a role in sarcopenia’s development. Those other medical conditions may include:

Learn more about the many effects stress can have on your body. You can also try these steps to reduce stress in your life, whether it’s caused by another medical condition or not.

The takeaway

Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass and strength, becomes more common with age and can decrease lifespan and quality of life.

Staying active is the most effective way to prevent and reverse sarcopenia, including simple exercises like walking that can help reduce muscle loss. Research shows that resistance exercises are effective. This may include using resistance bands, lifting weights, and calisthenics such as squats, push-ups, and sit-ups.

Eating enough calories and high-quality protein may also slow down the rate of muscle loss. Omega-3 and creatine supplements may also help fight sarcopenia.