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Summary
On episode 139 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Suzanne Clark, founder of Fitter Forever and a physiotherapist who helps people over 50 stay fit enough to keep playing the sports they love, to talk about her book Play Golf Forever.
Suzanne explains sarcopenia, the age related loss of muscle that starts around 30 and can take 30 to 40% of your muscle mass by the time you reach 70, and why resistance exercise, whether weights or your own body weight, is the answer.
The conversation turns practical from there: how to avoid the injuries that come with a one sided sport like golf through better technique, balanced conditioning, a real warm up, and equipment that actually fits your body.
Links
- https://www.fitterforever.org
Key Takeaways
- Sarcopenia starts far earlier than most people notice. Muscle loss begins around age 30 at roughly 1% per year, so by age 70 you can have lost 30 to 40% of your muscle mass before you ever feel your balance or strength slipping.
- The muscle fibers you lose first are the ones built for strength and speed. Fast twitch fibers give you power and quick reactions, and they are the fibers that waste away without regular resistance work.
- Resistance training does not require a gym. Lifting weights works, but bodyweight exercises that adapt everyday movement can build the same fast twitch strength.
- Good technique protects your joints as you age. Suzanne points to 90 year old golfers still playing pain free because their technique, often built in their younger competitive years, puts less stress on their joints.
- Golf is a one sided sport, so conditioning has to work both sides of the body. Training only the dominant side creates the muscle imbalance that leads to injury.
- A real warm up means raising your heart rate, not just a couple of practice swings. Jogging in place, lunges, or a brisk walk for about 30 minutes before you play gets blood into every muscle you will use in the swing.
- Ill fitting equipment causes injuries of its own. Secondhand or borrowed clubs, the wrong grip size, or shoes that do not fit can cause problems like golfer’s elbow, so get properly fitted rather than adapting your body to someone else’s gear.
- Playing a sport gives your training a reason beyond the mirror or the scale. Wanting to hit the ball a few yards farther or play a cleaner round keeps people in the gym far longer than a generic goal to build muscle or lose fat.
“By this time you get to 70, you could have lost 30 to 40% of your muscle mass.”
Suzanne Clark