A claim you hear on longevity podcasts

Does muscle power decline faster than strength with age?

The claim checked: After 40, muscle power falls 2 to 4% a year, faster than muscle Hear it at 50:27

What do the studies say?

Leaning for

Five studies found muscle power, how fast a muscle makes force, falls earlier or faster with age than strength or muscle mass. Five more agreed on the direction. They found smaller yearly losses, about 1% in one, against the 2% to 4% said on tape.

Computed from 10 studies that test this point, each judged by two readers, in full. 10 more studies are waiting for a full read and do not count yet.

What was said on the podcast?

“we can see that after 40, we lose around 2 to 4% of muscle power per year.”
David Sinclair, Lifespan · Why Exercise Slows Aging | Lifespan with Dr. David Sinclair - S2, Ep. 6 · 50:27 on YouTube
The point checked Leaning for

With age, muscle power declines faster than muscle mass or strength (around 2 to 4% a year after 40)

Agree 5

other primary study · 2019 · landmark

“In conclusion, the present data obtained in 1305 healthy citizens located in greater Copenhagen revealed that power‐based measures of functional capacity (LEP and 30 s STS) started to decline already at age +50 years, whereas grip strength and habitual gait parameters (GS and HGS) and lean mass characteristics (TLM, ALM, and ALM/h 2 ) remained unaltered until after the age of +70 years.”

The Copenhagen Sarcopenia Study: lean mass, strength, power, and physical function in a Danish cohort aged 20-93 years. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle
Who: 1,305 apparently healthy Danish men and women aged 20-93 years from the Copenhagen City Heart Study (576 men, 729 women)
PMID 31419087

trial or observed group · 2021

“Muscle power assessed by two-leg jumps is the one with the earliest and highest rate of loss.”

Longitudinal changes in muscle power compared to muscle strength and mass. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact
Who: 318 randomly selected Berlin residents aged 20-90 years at baseline (170 women, 148 men) who returned for follow-up
PMID 33657752

other primary study · 2016 · landmark

“Conversely, muscle power at 40 and 70 % of the 1RM decreased significantly by 16 and 9 %, respectively (p<0.05).”

Age-associated declines in muscle mass, strength, power, and physical performance: impact on fear of falling and quality of life. Osteoporos Int
Who: 48 community-dwelling adults aged 70-85 years in Boston (26 healthy, 22 mobility-limited)
PMID 26194491

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other primary study · 2014

“Despite overall decrements in muscle power, the healthy older group maintained their strength, whereas mobility-limited elders exhibited significant reductions in muscle power and strength at follow-up.”

Longitudinal decline of lower extremity muscle power in healthy and mobility-limited older adults: influence of muscle mass, strength, composition, neuromuscular activation and single fiber contractile properties. Eur J Appl Physiol
Who: 48 community-dwelling adults aged 70-85 years (26 healthy older, 22 mobility-limited older)
PMID 24122149

other primary study · 2025

“In contrast to the accelerated loss of power, the reduction in strength (MVC) over 10 years did not accelerate with ageing.”

A 10-Year Longitudinal Study of Muscle Morphology and Performance in Masters Sprinters. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle
Who: 24 Finnish elite male masters sprinters aged 48-85 years at baseline
PMID 40289323

Partly agree 5

other primary study · 2014

“The age-associated losses in velocity-dependent strength, including dynamic strength at high speed and speed of movement, are markedly larger compared to those in basic strength, ranging from −1.19 to −1.86 % per year.”

Longitudinal impact of aging on muscle quality in middle-aged men. Age (Dordr)
Who: Healthy, physically active Flemish middle-aged men aged 45-49 years at baseline from the Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle, Physical Fitness and Health
PMID 25104137

other primary study · 2023 · landmark

“The main findings of the present longitudinal investigation were that after 10 years, P max decreased at different rates in young (−0.6%·year −1 ) compared with middle‐aged (−1.1% to −1.4%·year −1 ) and older (−2.2% to −2.4%·year −1 ) adults.”

Ten-year longitudinal changes in muscle power, force, and velocity in young, middle-aged, and older adults. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle
Who: 489 community-dwelling Flemish adults aged 19-68 years at baseline (178 women, 311 men)
PMID 36788413

other primary study · 2020

“Relative muscle power was observed to decline above 40 years in both women and men.”

Age- and Sex-Specific Changes in Lower-Limb Muscle Power Throughout the Lifespan. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci
Who: 1305 Caucasian adults (729 women, 576 men) aged 20 to 93 years from the Copenhagen Sarcopenia Study
PMID 31943003

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other primary study · 2021

“In conclusion, the present cross‐sectional study found annual percentage losses in relative muscle power to increase progressively from the age of 30 years (~1%) to the oldest age (~6–9%), in a population consisting of 9906 people aged 20–103 years from several European cohorts/research studies.”

Relative sit-to-stand power: aging trajectories, functionally relevant cut-off points, and normative data in a large European cohort. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle
Who: 9,906 Europeans aged 20-103 years (9,320 older adults from Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and Spain plus 586 Danish adults aged 20-60)
PMID 34216098

other primary study · 2024

“Indeed, other studies have found an annual power loss of ∼2%–4% in older adults ( 2 , 3 , 5 ), which is much greater than the ∼1% observed in the present study.”

Neural and muscular contributions to the age-related differences in peak power of the knee extensors in men and women. J Appl Physiol (1985)
Who: 129 healthy community-dwelling adults: 31 young (19-33 yr), 82 old (61-79 yr), 16 very old (80-93 yr)
PMID 39205638

Disagree 0

None.

What else was said but not tested?

  • Muscle mass and strength fall about 0.5 to 1% a year from around age 40
  • Muscle power may predict death better than muscle strength

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