Why do people get weaker as they get older?

Question

It makes sense *that* it happens but I don’t know the exact reason

In: Biology

Answer 1

It’s a number of factors. Reductions in testosterone and other hormones with age results in less muscle mass. The nervous system becomes less effective with age, so we’re less good at signaling all of the muscle fibers to fire together. That’s often exacerbated by damage to spinal disks and lack of flexibility in the muscles and connective tissue around the spine — people who are hunched over or just have back pain are not going to be good at generating power. Then, generally, as we age our bodies get less good at producing various proteins required for upkeep of our muscles and connective tissue, so the muscles themselves are physically weaker.