3-8% Muscle Loss PER Decade
“I don’t want to age like my mom…”
Not long ago, I was talking with a friend in her 50’s.
We weren’t talking about fitness or nutrition at first, just life—and then she said something that stuck with me.
😓 The thing that worries her most about aging isn’t wrinkles or gray hair…it’s ending up like her mom
—struggling to do daily activities and losing her independence because she’s so frail.
Her mom has something called sarcopenia—the gradual loss of muscle mass and strength that happens as we age.
She looked at me and said, “I’ll do whatever it takes to not let that happen to me.”
That moment hit hard because we don’t talk about this 👆 enough.
After age 30, you can lose 3-8% of your muscle mass every decade if you’re not physically active.
And this rate of decline speeds up after the age of 60.
But know this…just because it’s common doesn’t mean it’s inevitable.
In this issue, we’ll talk about ways to slow it down, prevent it, and even rebuild muscle if you’ve already started to lose it.
Why This Matters
Losing muscles isn’t just about getting weaker—it affects nearly every aspect of your health. Without enough muscle, your risk of falls, injuries, chronic pain, and metabolic issues rises quickly. And over time, that loss can chip away at your independence. Maintaining muscle isn’t about aesthetics, it’s about protecting your ability to live life on your own terms.
FITNESS SIMPLIFIED
Regular movement is important—but when it comes to preventing muscle loss in midlife, just being “active” isn’t enough.
Fitness Tip to Prevent Muscle Loss
Prioritize Resistance Training
Walking, yoga, and cardio are all great for your overall health…
but if you want to maintain—and even build—muscle in midlife, you need to be more intentional by prioritizing strength building exercises.
As we move through perimenopause and menopause, our bodies produce less estrogen and testosterone—two key hormones that help preserve muscle.
👉 What used to “work” in your 20’s and 30’s, won’t cut it anymore.
Your body just need a different level of support now.
💪 Resistance training is one of the most effective ways to do that because it challenges your muscles against some form of resistance—whether that’s your bodyweight, resistance bands, or weights.
And NO, you don’t need to jump into anything extreme.
Simply focus on exercises that use your larger muscle groups—like your lower body, upper body and core—because these have the biggest impact on maintaining strength and muscle mass.
This video walks through 2 key exercises for each major muscle group to give you a full body routine to prevent sarcopenia.
Full Body Exercises to Prevent Muscle Loss
- Lower Body: Squats & Deadlifts balance the work of your large muscles over the front of your legs (quadriceps) as well as your booty (glute muscles). Do 10 reps each.
- Upper Body: Push-ups & Bent-Over Rows give a balance of pushing and pulling movements for your arms, shoulders and upper back. Do 10 reps each.
- Core: Dead Bugs & Planks work to strengthen the largest muscles in your core. Do 8 reps/side of Dead Bugs and 30 sec hold on plank.
Extra Tip: Once these exercises feel familiar and you’re confident with your technique, increase resistance so that the movement feels VERY challenging by the final repetition.
Did You Know...
- The best range of repetitions to build muscle mass is 6-15 reps. A lower number of reps will build your absolute strength, while a higher number of reps will train your muscular endurance.
- Fun fact: women who have more muscle mass have much quicker bone fracture healing times because there is a powerful biochemical connection between your muscles and bones.
- At rest, a pound of muscle burns about three times as many calories as a pound of fat. 🔥
NUTRITION SIMPLIFIED
You may have started hearing more about creatine lately and wondered if it’s something you should be taking? For years, creatine was mostly associated with bodybuilders or younger athletes, but now it’s getting a lot of attention for a different reason: 👉 It can be incredibly helpful for women in midlife.
Nutrition Tip to Prevent Muscle Loss
Add Creatine Regularly
Creatine plays a key role in how your body produces quick bursts of energy—like when you’re lifting weights or doing anything that requires strength and power.
Over time, that leads to something that matters even more = increased muscle.
Creatine also pulls water into your muscle cells, which helps support muscle repair and growth.
And when your muscles are stronger and better supported, you’re not only building strength—you’re reducing your risk of injury.
And that’s a key goal.
Your body actually produces a small amount of creatine on its own, and you can get it through food—especially red meat.
But for many women, those amounts aren’t enough to fully support strength and muscle-building efforts,
✨ especially during midlife when maintaining muscle becomes more challenging.
That’s where supplementation can help.
Creatine isn’t a magic solution—and it’s not necessary for everyone.
But if you’re strength training and looking to support muscle growth, recovery, and overall performance…
It can be a simple and effective tool to consider adding in…say to a smoothie.
Check out this recipe for a great PRO-filled smoothie. Start with adding 1-2 g of creatine and you can slowly increase to 3-5 g.
Orange Banana Green Smoothie
More seasonal eating ideas:
- Add a can of tuna to a bagged salad for a balanced meal of PROtein & PROduce
- Mix 1/2 scoop of whey protein powder + creatine into Greek yogurt and top with fresh berries
- Choose a lean steak, anything with loin in the name, for your next grill out. Add veggies to a roasting pan on the grill for a well-rounded meal
MINDSET SIMPLIFIED
When your goal is true health—a long, active, independent life—you need to look beyond the number on the scale.
Because the scale doesn’t tell you how strong you are.
It doesn’t tell you how capable your body is.
And it definitely doesn’t determine how well you’ll move through your 60’s, 70’s, and beyond.
But muscle does.
But here’s the truth:
👉 Shrinking your body is not the goal anymore—STRENGTHENING it is. 💪
Midlife is your opportunity to shift the focus.
To stop chasing smaller…
And start building stronger,
…for your independence,
…for your confidence,
…for your ability to keep doing the things you love.
Mindset Tip to Prevent Muscle Loss
Shift Goals From Shrinking to Strengthening
THE TAKEAWAY
Your goal in midlife is no longer to get smaller; it is to get stronger and avoid sarcopenia at all costs. Prioritize resistance training to give your body a reason to hold onto and build muscle. Support that effort with supplements like creatine so you can train harder and recover better. And most importantly, shift focus beyond a number on the scale to becoming a stronger YOU. Because strength is what keeps you capable, confident, and independent for the years ahead.
- Prioritize Resistance Training
- Add Creatine Regularly
- Shift Goals From Shrinking to Strengthening
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Self Care Simplified podcast
SELF CARE SIMPLIFIED PODCAST EP No. 260 Preventing (and Reversing!) Muscle Loss After 40
SELF CARE SIMPLIFIED PODCAST EP No. 303 Increasing Muscle Mass - How Much Weight Should You Lift?
SELF CARE SIMPLIFIED PODCAST EP No. 385 Are Creatine Supplements Good or Bad for Women Over 40?
SPECIAL RESOURCE
Find yourself with only a small window of time to get a workout in, but want to make it effective? Try this 👇 15-minute full body strength routine that uses one dumbbell, targets key major muscle groups across your entire body and keeps you on track with your muscle building goals.
Short on Time? Try This 15-Minute Full Body Strength Workout
Until next week... Be strong
