Occasionally, muscle loss is inevitable, but it is worthwhile to know how to counter its effects. Several factors reduce muscle mass, including weight loss, protein deficiency in the diet, a sedentary lifestyle, and ageing. Fortunately, resistance exercise and a proper diet can counteract most (if not all) of the effects of muscle loss.
To prevent muscle loss, you must send frequent messages to the muscles informing them that they need to be active. In addition, to avoid muscle loss, you must train more regularly to build your muscles. The following will provide you with detailed information about the most effective exercises that you can do to minimize muscle loss and the importance of maintaining and building your muscles.
1. Deadlifts
Deadlifting has many benefits, such as ageing, building strength, and preserving muscle mass. In weight lifting, we tend to use the hinge pattern to control the movement of our bodies, and that pattern is evident in our everyday activities. So when you bend to pick things up safely, you will prevent back injuries and be able to function in the most efficient way possible.
A compound movement that hits multiple joints and muscles at once prevents muscle loss because it hits hamstrings, quadriceps, back muscles and glutes. Depending on the variation used, some muscle groups will undergo more stress than others.
You can perform deadlifts in several ways. First, pick the one that feels most comfortable to you. Then, to get the most out of the hinge pattern, work in a few variations.
2. Bench press
The bench press is another significant compound lift. Again, the bench press targets the upper body region.
Bench press variations primarily target the chest muscles (pectorals). However, these variations also have the potential to activate the shoulder area and the triceps.
3. Rows
The traditional deadlift builds and maintains muscle, mainly in the lower back. However, the row builds and maintains muscle mainly in the upper and mid-back. You can experience poor posture, injuries, and pain due to losing muscle in your back.
You can try several types of rowing exercises to ensure that you get the best results. Depending on your preference, you can do this exercise with a loaded barbell, dumbbells, cable, or resistance bands. Keeping the weight challenging and progressing through your workout sessions is key to preventing muscle loss.
4. Lunges
Exercises that involve the unilateral lower body, like lunges, are great for building, preserving, and even stabilizing muscle in your legs, glutes, and core. Walking, climbing stairs, and stepping over objects are the most common unilateral actions you perform with your legs. A healthy ageing process depends on preventing the loss of the muscles that stabilize the lower body.
If you spend a lot of time sitting during the day, your muscles can suffer. Single leg movements can help alleviate this. However, inactivity can result in muscle loss and dysfunction by tightening and weakening these muscles. Lunges are great for building and maintaining muscle in the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.
5. Loaded Carries
With loaded carries, you hold a heavier weight in your hands or on your shoulders while you walk, usually a kettlebell or dumbbell. Whether you are strength training to build muscle or maintaining your current fitness, loaded carries will help you maintain or build strong muscles in most parts of your body. These include biceps, forearms, triceps, trapezius, shoulders, upper back, hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, obliques, transverse abdominis, lower back, and your rectus abdominis
These exercises form a functional full-body workout that helps develop grip strength and stability of the shoulders and other aspects of active daily living. In addition, loaded carries preserve your core muscles that help maintain balance, preventing injuries, back pains, and falls.
