What do you want your body to be able to do when you're 70, 80 or beyond?

Forget for a moment what you want it to look like. Could you get yourself up from the floor if you fell? Carry your own shopping? Climb the stairs? Walk around a city on holiday? Play with your grandchildren? Keep cooking, gardening or doing the things you love?

We talk about sarcopenia – the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and function – and why maintaining muscle isn't simply about looking toned.

Muscle plays an important role in metabolic health and glucose regulation, supports our joints and bones, and perhaps most importantly, helps us maintain our physical independence as we age.

I also talk about why healthy ageing isn't just about lifting weights. We need cardiovascular fitness, balance and mobility too – and you don't necessarily need a gym to work on any of them.

From carrying the shopping and gardening to yoga, dancing, walking, resistance training and simply practising getting yourself up from the floor, there are lots of ways to keep asking your body to work.

Your challenge this week: do something every day that asks your muscles to work a little harder.

Because we're not exercising to look younger.

We're moving because we want our bodies to keep working for us as we get older.

This is episode 2 of my October series: Healthy Ageing – What You Do Now Matters Later.

Sponsored by Revive Active
This week I'm also talking about magnesium and its role in normal muscle function and energy-yielding metabolism. Thank you to Revive Active for continuing to support the Fab Female Nutrition Podcast. Use code WENDY15 for 15% off.

Annual Health MOT
I'm also talking about why understanding markers such as vitamin D, B12, folate and iron can give us useful information about our health now – and help us make changes for the future. https://hillstart.me.uk/product/annual-blood-test/