Sigma Nutrition Radio #591: Maintaining Functional Capacity with Age – Brendan Egan, PhD
Jan 20, 2026
Brendan Egan, an Associate Professor of Sport and Exercise Physiology, shares his insights on maintaining functional capacity as we age. He discusses the importance of muscle strength and the concept of 'use it or lose it,' stressing that declines in muscle function can be modified with training. Egan highlights how short-term resistance training can yield lasting benefits and explores barriers to ongoing strength training for older adults. He emphasizes the need for individualized exercise programs tailored to personal capabilities to enhance independence in later life.
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Strength Predicts Mortality Risk
- Higher performance in strength or balance consistently links to much lower all-cause mortality across studies.
- These dose-response patterns strengthen confidence that strength-related measures predict important health outcomes.
Train For The Adaptation You Want
- Design resistance training by the adaptation you want, not just sessions per week or minutes.
- Ensure sessions provide progressive overload and are appropriately challenging for the individual.
Concurrent Training Can Be Time-Efficient
- Time-matched concurrent training (aerobic+resistance) produced equal or better functional responses than either alone in older adults.
- Older adults may require only a minimum effective dose for many strength outcomes.