Exercise to Prevent Sarcopenia by: George Parigian Jr.
Hello,
Thank you for your comment! Exercise requirements and tolerance are a very individual thing. Some people with severe orthopedic issues or cardiovascular disease have a very low exercise tolerance which would have to be built up safely over a period of time.
People without those issues would obviously be able to exercise more. Fifteen to twenty minutes of resistance exercise 3 times per week, either using bodyweight exercises, free weights, resistance bands, or exercise machines should be sufficient to preserve muscle mass in an otherwise healthy individual.
Again, the specifics of the exercise program have to be tailored to the individual and his or her goals and circumstances.
A good book on this has been written by Dr. Al Sears, and it is called P.A.C.E. It has detailed recommendations for exercise protocols geared to maintaining muscle mass and cardiovascular health.
For those with exercise limitations, they can only do whatever exercise they can safely tolerate, and this should be determined in conjunction with their doctor.
However ANY exercise will help to some extent, because exercise serves as a signal to the body to adapt to the stress imposed, whatever it is. It is telling your body to become stronger, increase it's oxygen carrying capacity, and other adaptations that enhance health.
So exercise is ALWAYS the right thing to do, provided you can do it safely.
