Morphological changes caused by aging on skeletal musclesand effects of exercise: a literature review

ABSTRACT

The main components of the skeletal muscle are myocytes, capillaries and interstitial tissue. Aging affects thesecomponents differently with loss of muscle fibers (sarcopenia) as the most important change since it is theprimary responsible for muscle function decrease with aging. Among non-pharmacological factors that may havea beneficial influence on the effects of aging on the muscle, exercises are the most appropriate. Both resistanceand aerobic exercises have proven to curtail the effects of muscle aging. The aim of this paper is to presenta review of the main morphological changes that aging brings about in muscles and show the importance ofexercising to minimize these changes.