September 2024

Speedy Squats Suppress Senior’s Sarcopenia

As we’ve reported with increasing frequency, likely as a consequence of the aging of my/the Boomer generation, the loss of muscle mass portends serious declines in function and longevity. This loss is called sarcopenia and only one intervention slows it down: resistance training (RT). (Heavy doses of protein help but does so with greater efficiency in the context of a muscle-building regimen.)

But RT comes in 3 basic formats: muscle endurance, muscle strength, and muscle power. The role of each is critical for different aspects of life and recreation, but the difference between safety and frailty in the aged is power – the ability to produce lots of force in a short period of time. It distinguishes one’s ability to prevent a fall, to get up from a chair safely, and to rise from the floor in the event of a fall. The main clinical test of power is one’s ability to transition from a sit-to-stand (STS) as many times as possible in 30-seconds.

From a prospective study of 340 independent-living older adults, it was determined that those who had a significant decline in the Short Physical Performance Battery from 4 years earlier had lower STS velocity at baseline. The authors suggested that free-living power, as gauged by the STS test, “can prevent a future decline in lower-extremity function”. Likewise, “changes in daily STS behavior may be useful in the early detection of functional loss”.

The test, which can be found online, is done with arms crossed, counting the number of complete sit-to-stands in 30 seconds. It is age- and gender-scored. For now, keep working on quadriceps strength, and practice getting up faster.                   

MSSE May 2024

Another Study Shows Benefits of New Weight Loss Meds

Weight loss, an American obsession since the 1960s changed our perceptions of beauty, especially of women, has been met by reasonable and mostly unreasonable diets and drugs. In the past couple of years, drugs that provide semaglutide (SG) by weekly injections, previously prescribed for treating diabetes, have hit the market full on: Ozempic, Wegovy, etc. A previous blog post (https://stepsfitness.com/weight-managements-new-look/) addresses some of the science and ideology behind them but studies are pouring out of the literature that continue to support the science if not the ideology.

Here, a double-blind trial of 1961 non-diabetic adults with a BMI >30 (obese) was allotted to either take one of these meds (SG) or placebo (P), along with lifestyle intervention education. The study lasted 69 months – that’s 5.75 years, so relatively long-term.

The SG group lost 14.9% (on average) while the P group lost 2.4%. More of the SG achieved a 5% or more reduction of weight – considered clinically relevant – than the P: 86.4% vs 31.5%. Too, 69.1% of SG lost 10% or more of their baseline weight vs 12% of P; and 50.5% lost 15% vs 4.9% of the P group.

Notably, the SG group had “greater improvement with respect to cardiometabolic risk factors and a greater increase in participant-reported physical functioning from baseline than those who received placebo” with only mild to moderate but short-term adverse events/effects. In other words, SG works well, safely, and effectively.                  

NEJM Feb. 2021

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