Wayne Westcott Ph.D. C.S.C.S.Most older adults don’t understand that body weight represents 2 components, namely fat weight and lean weight.Together, the fat weight and lean weight (muscle and bone) define body composition as well as body weight. People generally don’t realize that their body composition is much more important than their body weight, and they have little knowledge about the body composition changes that accompany inactive aging.A 60-year old woman may step on the scale and observe a weight that is 40 pounds heavier than her body weight was at age 20. She mistakenly thinks that she has gained 40 pounds of fat, but that is a serious underestimation of her situation. Women who do not perform strength exercise lose approximately 5 pounds of muscle tissue every decade of adult life (Forbes, 1976; Evans & Rosenberg.
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