Fit and fine: Give yourself a power boost

As we grow older, we lose muscle mass also known as sarcopenia. Even in the muscle mass that is lost, the white fibers or the fast twitch fibers are lost first. Thus the ability to move quickly, to react with speed is the first to go. To put it very simply, the ability to apply force quickly is called Power and this is different from strength. Most people use strength and power interchangeably i.e. she/he has strong and powerful muscles. But strength is the ability to apply maximal force on an external object – a heavy deadlift being picked up from the floor, a car being pushed etc. In contrast, power is moving the object as fast as possible – an Olympic weightlifter snatching a barbell overhead, a shot put being thrown etc. Not surprisingly the more fast twitch fibers you have, the more explosive you are!