Health Discovery: Can You Still Build Muscle Mass at 80?

Can you reach a point where you’re simply too old to benefit from exercise? The results of a recent study at Ball State University in Indiana might be read that way.

Accent on the might.

In the study, published in May in the Journal of Applied Physiology, six women in their 80s exercised on a machine designed to strengthen the quadriceps (thigh) muscles, three times a week for three months. Despite doing this consistent muscle-building exercise, MRIs showed that the women built no muscle mass over the course of the study.

So does that mean once you hit 80, you should cancel the gym membership or throw away the hand weights?

Not so fast.

While the women in the study didn’t gain muscle, they were still able to increase the amount of weight they lifted by a hefty 26 percent over the three-month period, through improved neurological efficiency. That is, their bodies became better at mobilizing and coordinating existing muscle fibers and neural pathways needed to perform the work.

Such functional strength is a vitally important outcome of a resistance training program. This is the strength needed, say, to lift yourself out of a tub or pick up a grandchild. “It’s the functional strength that really counts, and this study shows you can still achieve that even in your 80s,” says exercise scientist Hank Williford of Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama.

The lead researcher on the study agrees. “No question they benefited from the resistance training,” says Scott Trappe, director of Ball State’s Human Performance Lab, where researchers conducted the study. “It just wasn’t the adaption we were expecting.” While the jury is still out on whether women 80 and over can preserve or build bone mass, studies have shown that women 50 to 70 can increase their bone density with regular strength training.

The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging.

New York-based writer John Hanc writes about fitness and active sports.