BUILD STRONG MUSCLE

YOU probably already know once we pass age 30 the amount of muscle we have starts to decline – it drops by roughly 3-8% a decade. You probably also know muscle burns kilojoules and so as the levels decline, so does your metabolic rate. This is what accounts for the weight gain many of us find starts in middle age. But muscle decline also has other internal consequences which have a major impact on health.

“As the level of muscle in your body falls, so does your strength and power, and this affects your functional ability – how well you move – and in time, your balance,” says Australian exercise physiologist Luke Michael. “Loss of muscle strength