Physical Activity, Muscle Health, and Aging on Your Terms
Life expectancy has risen steadily over the past century. However, health span— the years we live free of disability—has not improved at the same pace. One of the main reasons for this gap is that from the fourth decade onward, muscle mass, strength, and power decline, making daily activities more difficult and compromising our overall health. The most effective strategies to prevent muscle loss and support health are through regular physical activity and good nutritional practices. Master athletes—those who have trained consistently into their sixties, seventies, eighties, and beyond—offer unique insights into what aging looks like when physical activity continues well into later years. This talk will explore what we can learn from master athletes about extending health span and how strategic nutritional practices can be employed to support this.
Speaker
Dr. James McKendry completed his undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees at the University of Birmingham, UK, in Kinesiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, and Exercise as Medicine, respectively. He then completed a 5-year postdoctoral fellowship in muscle protein metabolism and aging in Dr. Stuart Phillips’ Protein Metabolism Research Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University.
Dr. McKendry now leads the Muscle Aging (In)activity and Nutrition Laboratory (MAIN) Lab at UBC, which employs innovative methods to investigate how skeletal muscle responds to real-life challenges—such as exercise, inactivity, aging, and disease—and what these changes mean for physical performance, metabolic health, and overall well-being. The MAIN Lab’s research will seek to uncover the mechanisms regulating skeletal muscle mass and to implement novel nutritional and exercise strategies to modify skeletal muscle outcomes, thereby extending health span.
Learn more about Dr. McKendry here.
Agenda
12:00 pm - 12:05 pm: Introduction - Dr. Philip Millar
12:05 pm - 12:45 pm: Keynote Address - Dr. James McKendry
12:45 pm - 1:00 pm: Q & A
This seminar is sponsored by the Institute for Lifestyle Integration of Food and Exercise (LIFE).
For more information, please contact Wendy Banks, Engagement Manager, Programs & Pathways, at banksw@uoguelph.ca.
Note: All registrants will be emailed a recording of the webinar 3 business days after the event.