After you turn 50, your legs and lower body get about 5% weaker each year — like losing a bit of strength in your thighs and calves every 12 months.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (0)

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No supporting evidence found

Contradicting (1)

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The loss of skeletal muscle strength, mass, and quality in older adults: the health, aging and body composition study.

Cohort Study

Human

2006 Oct

The study found that people over 50 lose leg strength by about 2.6% to 4.1% each year — not 5% — so the claim that it’s about 5% is too high.

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Similar Assertions

As people get older, their legs get weaker much faster than they lose muscle mass — so something else besides just losing muscle must be making them weaker.

47

0

73%

As people get older, men tend to lose leg strength about twice as fast as women each year.

47

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72%

Older people who start with less muscle in their legs, weaker legs, or are older in age tend to lose more leg strength over three years—even when you account for each factor on its own.

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70%