Maintaining...

We all know what Sarcopenia is, even if we don't call it by name.  The Greek translation is "poverty of flesh," and it basically is defined as the erosion or deletion of muscle in the body with age -- but most of us just call it "getting old."

After the age of 25 (approximately - it will vary in different people), the body begins to lose a little bit of muscle mass every year.  That means that if we aren't working out, we aren't doing what is necessary to combat this loss of strength.  In due time, we will find ourselves slaves to the simplest daily challenges.

But even when we workout, we are often not working out properly.  I hear the term, "maintain" so often from people.  It drives me crazy.  To maintain is to keep the status quo.  But people need to realize that as we get older, the status quo is changing constantly.  Our bodies aren't in homeostasis, they are in a catabolic state, and it takes hard work to "maintain" that state - and even harder work to improve upon it.

So next time you hit the weights and say to yourself, "I just want to maintain," think about what "maintenance" really is, and think about working a little harder to increase your quality of life for today and on through tomorrow.