In general, muscle mass and strength increase steadily from birth and peak around 30 to 35 years of age. After that, muscle power and performance decline slowly and linearly at first, and then faster after age 65 in women and 70 in men. The muscular strength of men and women peaks between the ages of 20 and 30. If you don't suffer from injuries or illnesses, you can maintain this strength for another 20 years.
As you reach middle age, your muscle performance gradually declines at a rate of approximately five percent every ten years. While men and women generally experience a 30 to 40 percent loss of their functional strength, people can counteract the loss of muscle mass in recent years through a strength training regimen. On average, strength performance in men peaks at age 26 in weightlifting and at 34 in weightlifting. Athletes in the lighter weight categories tend to achieve their maximum performance sooner than athletes who compete in the higher-weight categories.
The differences between men and women were small. The nine-year difference between the two barbell sports is probably due to the greater emphasis on reflexes and athleticism in weightlifting, and weightlifting is a better overall test of strength in one repetition. On average, women's performance in weightlifting peaks at 26 years of age, while in weightlifting this age is 36 years. This knowledge is vital for designing interventions that reverse or attenuate the loss of muscle mass with aging and for improving the functional capacities of older people.
During the aging process, a variety of hormonal changes are observed that can contribute to muscle loss with aging. While bones continue to develop until age 30 to 35, women's skeletal bone mass is nearly complete by age 20, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
