Muscle & healthy ageing, Johannesburg
Muscle, strength and sarcopenia prevention.
Strength and muscle function are among the most useful predictors of how well people age. Both can be assessed properly and improved at almost any age.
In short
Sarcopenia is a progressive skeletal-muscle disorder characterised primarily by low muscle strength, with low muscle quantity or quality used to confirm the diagnosis and poor physical performance indicating greater severity. Loss of muscle can begin well before older age and becomes especially relevant during midlife, illness, inactivity and weight loss. Body-composition estimates alone do not diagnose sarcopenia.
Medically reviewed by Dr Arnav Kapur, MBBCh Cum Laude
The approach
Understand first. Then treat.
Muscle is not only about appearance. It supports glucose disposal, mobility, balance, independence and the physical reserve that becomes increasingly important with age.
At MLI, muscle health is assessed in context. We look at strength and function first, use body-composition tools to estimate lean mass and track change, and consider nutrition, training, hormones, illness and medication when something does not look right.
What we assess
- Muscle strength and functional performance
- Body composition and estimated lean mass
- Weight-loss history and recent loss of lean tissue
- Resistance-training history and physical activity
- Protein and overall nutritional intake
- Menopause, testosterone and endocrine contributors where clinically relevant
- Vitamin D, iron, B12 or other nutritional issues where indicated
- Chronic disease, medication and periods of inactivity
- Falls, mobility and frailty risk in older adults
What sarcopenia actually is
Modern sarcopenia definitions put muscle strength first. Low grip strength or another validated strength measure raises suspicion; low muscle quantity or quality supports the diagnosis, and poor physical performance identifies more severe disease. A low lean-mass reading by itself is not enough.
Why muscle matters before old age
Muscle loss accelerates with inactivity, illness, menopause, weight loss and advancing age, but prevention should begin before frailty appears. Maintaining strength and skeletal muscle helps preserve mobility, glucose handling, metabolic health and resilience.
How muscle health is assessed
Strength and function are central. Body-composition tools such as bioelectrical impedance can provide practical estimates of lean mass and are useful for following trends, but they do not diagnose sarcopenia on their own. DXA measures lean tissue more directly, while clinical context and performance remain essential.
How muscle is protected and rebuilt
Progressive resistance training is the foundation. Adequate energy and protein intake matter, but there is no single protein target for every patient, particularly in people with kidney disease or other medical constraints. Sleep, vitamin or mineral deficiency, endocrine disease and medication are addressed where relevant.
Common questions
Answers before you book.
Is low muscle mass the same as sarcopenia?
No. Sarcopenia is not diagnosed from low lean mass alone. Low muscle strength is the primary finding, with low muscle quantity or quality used to confirm the diagnosis and performance used to assess severity.
Can you have sarcopenia if you are overweight?
Yes. A person can carry excess fat and still have low muscle strength or muscle mass. This is one reason body weight alone is a poor measure of physical reserve.
Does GLP-1 treatment cause sarcopenia?
Weight loss with GLP-1-based treatment includes some loss of lean tissue as well as fat, but that is not automatically sarcopenia. The clinical question is whether strength, function and muscle mass are being preserved appropriately. Resistance training, adequate nutrition and monitoring are important.
How can I preserve muscle as I age?
Regular progressive resistance training, adequate nutrition, sufficient protein for your circumstances, physical activity, good sleep and treatment of medical contributors are the main foundations. The plan should be individualised if kidney disease, frailty or other illness is present.
This page provides general health information and does not replace individual medical or functional assessment. Sarcopenia diagnosis requires more than a body-composition result.
Ready to start properly?
- Longevity & Preventative Medicine
- Visceral Fat & Body Composition
- Medical Weight Management
- Comprehensive Health Assessment
- Advanced Diagnostics
- Menopause & Perimenopause
- Men's Hormone Health
Centre of Advanced Medicine, 13 Scott St, Waverley, Johannesburg
Monday to Friday, 07:40 to 17:00
011 440 8721