As one ages the mass of skeletal muscle decreases throughout the body.\u00a0 The muscles atrophy resulting in a decreased number of muscle fibers and decrease in the size of the remaining fibers.\u00a0 As skeletal muscles are postmitotic they can not reproduce to produce new fibers.\u00a0 As a result the fibers are replaced with fat tissue.\u00a0 The muscle fiber loss has been reported to be as high as 30% between the ages of 30 and 80.\u00a0 Proper nutrition and exercise can slow the loss muscle cells, but heredity also seems to be a factor.<\/p>\n
Along with the loss of skeletal muscle mass comes the loss of skeletal muscle strength.\u00a0 For most individuals there is only a\u00a0ten to\u00a0twenty percent reduction in strength up to the age of seventy.\u00a0 After\u00a0the age of seventy the reduction in strength may increase to\u00a0fifty percent.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t