Photo by Ilka Cole

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After age 30, adults lose as much as 5% of muscle mass every decade. That phenomenon is called sarcopenia, or aging-related loss of muscle.

It’s a vicious circle: If you don’t exercise, you become weaker and even less able to exercise.

“If you’re unable to be as active and do as much physical activity, then you’re setting yourself up for a worsening of the problem,” said Steven J. Prior of the University of Maryland.

But it’s never too late to get in shape. This spring, Prior and a team of researchers are launching a study to determine what types of exercises can increase muscle mass and strength in older adults.

Focusing on aerobic exercise

Previous studies showed that strength training (such as lifting weights, doing push-ups, etc.) can reverse sarcopenia. But what about aerobic exercises like walking or swimming? Can that build muscle mass, too?

In the six-month study, participants between ages 65 and 88 will visit the university’s College Park or Baltimore campuses for testing and exercise visits.

They will be randomly sorted into two groups: one that does three months of resistance training (such as weightlifting) first, followed by three months of aerobic exercise; and another group that starts with aerobic exercise and then moves on to resistance training.

Everyone will work with an exercise physiologist three times a week in the university’s exercise facility. The exercises are safe and can be adjusted to anyone’s ability, according to Prior, the study’s primary investigator.

“Everything is monitored by exercise physiologists who are well trained in prescribing exercises for older individuals. All exercise interventions are tailored specifically to the person’s ability,” Prior said. “Most people will be able to come in and do this confidently.”

Builds on previous study

This isn’t the first study Prior has done on sarcopenia. His 2016 study found “that low skeletal muscle capillarization is one factor that may contribute to sarcopenia and reduced exercise capacity in older adults by limiting diffusion of substrates, oxygen, hormones and nutrients.”

In other words, if your muscles have dense oxygen-rich capillaries, they receive oxygen more quickly and efficiently during exercise.

To track progress during this new clinical trial, researchers will not only measure changes in participants’ strength but in the size of their muscle fibers. They will also record changes in the number of capillaries in their muscle tissue.

Parking is free, and participants will be paid a total of $300 to exercise three times a week for six months. People with diabetes and smokers aren’t eligible for the study.

For more information or to volunteer, call (410) 605-7179 and reference the “CAPS” study.