How our leg power changes as we get older
Ten‐year longitudinal changes in muscle power, force, and velocity in young, middle‐aged, and older adults
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Muscle decline shifts from strength loss to speed + strength loss after 60
Most people assume aging muscles just get weaker — but this study shows a fundamental shift: after 60, the problem is as much about slowing down as it is about weakening.
Practical Takeaways
Start measuring and training muscle power — not just strength — by age 40, using explosive movements like jump squats or fast step-ups.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Muscle decline shifts from strength loss to speed + strength loss after 60
Most people assume aging muscles just get weaker — but this study shows a fundamental shift: after 60, the problem is as much about slowing down as it is about weakening.
Practical Takeaways
Start measuring and training muscle power — not just strength — by age 40, using explosive movements like jump squats or fast step-ups.
Publication
Journal
Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
Year
2023
Authors
Julian Alcazar, Carlos Rodríguez-López, C. Delecluse, M. Thomis, E. Van Roie
Related Content
Claims (6)
As people get older, their leg muscle power slowly gets weaker — and it starts to drop faster after age 60. A long-term study found that this loss speeds up with age and could be a sign of overall physical decline as we get older.
As people in their younger and middle years get older, their muscle power relative to body weight drops faster than total muscle power—partly because BMI tends to go up, making it harder to stay strong for your size.
As people get older, their muscles get worse at staying strong when moving quickly — and this gets worse by about 0.1% each year after middle age.
As we get older, we lose certain powerful muscle fibers faster than others, which can lead to weakness, falls, and trouble moving around — and this muscle decline can actually show how fast someone is aging on the inside.
As people get older, their muscles lose power — but how that happens changes over time. Younger adults mostly lose strength, while older adults lose both strength and speed, meaning different things go wrong in the body as we age.