Staying Healthy As You Age

As we age, muscle mass and physical performance decreases. The total loss of power over the course of an adult’s lifetime is normally 30–40%. On average, the reduction in muscle mass between the ages of 25 and 65 is around 25–35%.

On top of this, the loss of power and reduced performance have a negative impact on everyday life since even getting up from a chair or going up stairs is difficult. 

A reduced phosphocreatine and total creatine content in the skeletal musculature that has been demonstrated in the elderly is partly responsible for the loss of muscle mass and strength. Furthermore, the ability to regenerate phosphocreatine after athletic activity decreases as we age, and after we reach age 30, this occurs at a rate of around 8% every 10 years.

Dietary supplementation with creatine in the elderly restores phosphocreatine and total creatine levels to a value that is indistinguishable from that of younger people. Taking creatine significantly increases muscle mass and lean body mass, and helps the lower extremities become stronger.

Studies

Influence of Ageing on Muscle Metabolism

In 1998, the influence of ageing on muscle metabolism during a workout was studied in a placebo-controlled clinical trial. Five younger and four elderly men and women took either creatine monohydrate or a placebo over a period of five days. 

The group with the elderly participants who took the placebo had a significantly lower phosphocreatine level and a lower phosphocreatine regeneration rate.

After creatine was taken for five days, both the phosphocreatine level and the phosphocreatine regeneration rate in the group of elderly participants rose to a value that was indistinguishable from that of the younger people. 

Performance during a one-leg knee extension exercise (time until muscle exhaustion was measured) increased for both groups after taking creatine.

Effect of creatine on muscle and lean body mass and muscle strength

In 2002, 18 normally active elderly men took either creatine or a placebo. The creatine produced an increase in muscle and lean body mass and greater strength in the lower extremities. Taking creatine significantly increased the maximum dynamic strength of the large muscle groups of the hip and knee extensors (leg presses), in the chest and shoulders (bench presses), and the maximum isometric stress on the smaller muscles of the quadriceps (knee extensions, left/right leg), and the posterior thigh muscles (knee bends).

The functional performance of the lower extremities improved noticeably after creatine supplementation. Rapid and repeated changes in position from a sitting to a standing position without using the upper extremities (sit-stand test) and moving quickly along a straight line with the feet placed one in front of the other (tandem test) were able to be improved noticeably, with an approx. 6–9% shorter time.

Effect of creatine on phosphocreatine and total creatine levels, body composition, and muscle strength

In 2001, in a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial with elderly volunteers, scientists researched the effects of taking creatine monohydrate over a long period on phosphocreatine and total creatine levels, body composition, and muscle strength. Fourteen elderly men and 14 women took either creatine monohydrate or a placebo for the duration of a four-month monitored strength-training program. 

Taking creatine noticeably increases the phosphocreatine and total creatine levels in muscle, increases the amount of lean body mass, and increases strength when doing isometric knee extensions. 

Comparable results were achieved in another study in a comparable age group. Supplementation with creatine for four months resulted in a noticeable increase in muscle strength (leg presses) and endurance (leg presses and knee extensions).