The commonly accepted wisdom is that you need higher protein intake if you do resistance exercise (or exercise in general). Often this is said to be 0.8g/kg of body weight for sedentary individuals and 1.6g/kg for active.
However Prof. Maria Fiatarone Singh, the famous pioneering geriatrician who conducted the original studies proving resistance training in seniors achieved muscle growth, claims otherwise. She said that she performed measurements showing the opposite - resistance training allows for more efficient use of protein, with the implication that it is the sedentary who need higher protein intake more.
The claim made is shortly after minute 18:00 of this interview:
Building Muscle in your 80’s & 90’s: What Research Reveals About Aging & Function w/ Prof. Fiatrone (Tony Boutagy, PhD)
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Thank you for sharing. To bring our knowledge and science forward, we need to challenge conventional “Wisdoms”. This interview is therefore a good one.
When a very old person starts exercising, initial gains in strength and functionality often occur almost immediately, primarily due to neuromuscular adaptations rather than muscle protein synthesis (MPS). These immediate improvements come from enhanced muscle activation, improved coordination, and more efficient recruitment of motor units, which do not require muscle growth or hypertrophy. Research shows that early strength gains with exercise in elderly individuals are mostly neural and don"t need more protein.
Exercise programs for older persons (geriatric clientel) show almost immidiate gains in strength and functionality. Highlighting neuromuscular function’s key role in early strength gains.
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I think the whole interview is worth listening to - there is a lot of interesting discussion about strength vs power exercises, resistance vs aerobic, the impact on DMT2, brain and cognitive health, balance, blood pressure, osteoporosis and bone health and so on.
Also: the famous statistic about falls, breaking hips and mortality is only true if you get several co-factors wrong. If you dial in the other factors, falls and hip fractures need not have a high mortality rate.
Tons of interesting information.
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Now I have listened to the video in its full length. Yes, it has very good and actionable information. Quite a few results from her research often get overlooked by mainstream geriatric care
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