ageisano

My journey from worrying about weak arms to resistance training, learning about sarcopenia and taking a more proactive approach to aging well.

My upper arms had been bothering me for some time.

Not because of how they looked. Because they felt weak.

For many years, work occupied far too much of my time, and my solution to an aching body was usually a massage. Neck and shoulders, please. Preferably with someone capable of persuading muscles that had spent too many hours hunched over work to relax.

It felt wonderful.

But, rather obviously in hindsight, nobody ever developed stronger arms by lying on a massage table.

And that nagging thought about my upper-body strength never quite went away.

How I Became a Willing Guinea Pig

My journey into strength training began rather unexpectedly.

A friend’s sister was looking for willing “guinea pigs” for trainers who were preparing to work with a high-net-worth clientele.

I volunteered.

It wasn’t part of some grand plan to reinvent myself as a gym enthusiast. It was simply an opportunity to find out a little more about my body and, particularly, those arms I suspected needed some attention.

Later, when I went on a cruise, I saw another opportunity.

I’m not a gym enthusiast — never have been — but on a cruise I really had no excuse. The gym was just a short walk from my room. No travelling across town, no squeezing a session between appointments, and no convincing myself that I was simply too busy that day.

So I signed up for a personal coach.

My thinking was quite practical: if I could use this time to learn what to do and establish a proper routine, perhaps I could continue on my own afterwards — at least until I reached the point where I needed more guidance.

And there was another reason. I still had that nagging concern about the weakness in my upper arms. I wanted to stop wondering about it and actually start working on it.

That was when resistance training started becoming less of something I ought to do and more of something I was actually learning how to do.

Resistance bands and weights gradually became part of the picture — and, being me, once I started doing something, I also wanted to understand why it mattered.

That’s When I Discovered Sarcopenia

Somewhere along this journey, I came across a word that wasn’t really part of my vocabulary before: sarcopenia.

Put simply, sarcopenia involves a decline in muscle strength and muscle mass that can occur as we get older. When it becomes significant, it can affect physical performance and our ability to manage everyday activities.

Suddenly my concern about my arms became part of a much bigger picture.

I wasn’t interested in developing impressive biceps.

I was interested in being able to keep doing things.

Travelling. Walking around a new city. Carrying my own bags. Climbing stairs. Getting up from the floor. Managing everyday life without having to think twice about whether I was strong enough to do it.

That changed the way I thought about exercise.

Being Active Isn’t Necessarily the Same as Being Strong

I’ve always believed in staying active. I walk, travel and generally prefer doing things to sitting still.

But I’ve learned that being active and deliberately maintaining muscle strength aren’t necessarily the same thing.

My upper arms were a good example.

I simply wasn’t doing very much that challenged those muscles.

That’s why resistance bands have become particularly useful for me. They’re simple, require zero travel time to a gym, and fold perfectly into my morning stretching and breathing routine. I’m certainly not training for a fitness magazine cover — and I’m quite sure the elusive ‘beach body’ and I have never been properly introduced.

I’m training for life.

Then One Word on an Assessment Caught My Attention

In November 2025, I went for a Fitness and Health Assessment at an Active Health Lab in Singapore. (For my international readers, ActiveSG and its Active Health labs are part of Singapore’s national wellness initiative. They bring integrated sports facilities and preventative healthcare infrastructure—like professional fitness assessments, nutrition clinics, and community gyms—right into local neighborhoods.)

My BMI was 20.7. But the number that interested me wasn’t my weight.

My recorded skeletal muscle mass was 19.2, and the indicator beside it said:

Under.

That one little word got my attention.

It also reinforced something I’d begun to understand: we can look relatively slim and assume all is well, but body weight alone doesn’t tell us everything about muscle and strength.

So I kept going.

Not perfectly. Not obsessively.

But more consciously.

Resistance Bands, Weights — and My BIXEPS Experiment

Along the way, I also undertook a 12-week experiment with BIXEPS. This wasn’t simply something I tried and forgot about — I tracked my results because I wanted to know whether I could actually see measurable changes. (You can read the full data breakdown of my 12-week BIXEPS experiment here.)

What interested me was that during the experiment I saw improvements in both my recorded skeletal muscle mass and my metabolic rate. I certainly felt that BIXEPS contributed to that progress.

At the same time, it wasn’t happening in isolation. I was using resistance bands and light dumbbells and had also become more conscious of getting adequate protein. So while I can share what changed for me during those 12 weeks, I can’t neatly separate how much each element contributed.

That’s increasingly how I approach active aging: experiment, pay attention to my body, and look at the measurements rather than expecting one magic solution.

Learn. Try. Measure. Adjust. Keep going.

Eight Months Later, Something Had Changed

By July 2026, my Active Health assessment recorded my skeletal muscle mass at 20.2, with the indicator now showing Normal.

That compared with 19.2 and “Under” in November 2025.

Seeing that change was encouraging. I had started this whole journey because of a nagging concern about weakness in my arms; now I had something measurable telling me that, overall, I was moving in the direction I wanted.

There has been another interesting development since then. After stopping my BIXEPS sessions, my skeletal muscle mass subsequently dipped by 0.2 on my next measurement.

Does that prove stopping BIXEPS caused the drop? No. A small change between body-composition measurements can have various explanations, and I don’t want to make a claim that my own numbers can’t establish.

But did it make me curious?

Absolutely.

In fact, I’m considering approaching BIXEPS about doing a Part 2 when their new branch closer to me opens. I’d be interested to see what happens if I repeat the experiment while continuing to monitor my training, protein intake and measurements.

After all, that’s rather the point of an experiment: one result often leads to another question.

And I’m still not “there.” Perhaps there isn’t really a “there.”

The goal is to keep learning — and keep working at it.

Then Nutrition Gave Me Another Piece of the Puzzle

More recently, I attended a nutrition class, and something the nutritionist discussed reinforced what I’d already been learning through my research into sarcopenia:

Adequate protein matters.

Protein provides the amino acids our bodies use to maintain and repair muscle, and getting enough becomes particularly relevant as we get older.

That doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly started living on protein shakes or measuring every mouthful.

It does mean I’m becoming more conscious about including protein in my meals — whether that’s fish, eggs, tofu, beans, dairy, lean meat, nuts or other foods I enjoy.

For me, that’s another part of becoming proactive about how I age rather than waiting until something becomes a problem.

I asked nutritionist Janelle about the role of protein as we age, and her explanation reinforced why I’m paying more attention to it now. Here’s what she had to say:

What Am I Actually Training For?

This is the question I’ve found myself thinking about:

What do I want my body to allow me to keep doing in five, ten or twenty years?

The answer isn’t “look younger.”

• I want to travel and explore.
• I want to climb the stairs when that’s where the interesting thing is.
• I want to carry my own shopping and lift my own luggage.
• I want the strength and mobility to say yes to experiences rather than wondering whether my body will manage them.

That’s really what all of this comes back to for me.

We can’t stop ourselves from getting older, and I don’t particularly want to spend my time trying. What we can do is take an active interest in how we age.

Not fighting age.

Preparing myself to enjoy it.

A More Proactive Approach to Aging

When I first wrote about sarcopenia more than two years ago, I understood the information. Now I feel as though I’m beginning to understand what it means for me. There’s a difference.

I’ve gone from vaguely worrying about weak upper arms to doing something about them. I’ve experimented. I’ve worked with trainers. I’ve used resistance bands and weights. I’ve learned more about nutrition. And I’ve started measuring where I am rather than simply guessing.

I’m still learning. I’m still experimenting. And I’m definitely still a work in progress. But perhaps that’s exactly what Ageisano is about.

We can’t stop ourselves from getting older, and I don’t particularly want to spend my time trying. What we can do is take an active interest in how we age. For me, that increasingly means looking ahead and asking what I can do now to give myself the best chance of remaining strong, mobile, curious and independent later.

Not fighting age. Preparing myself to enjoy it.

So here’s the question I’m asking myself — and perhaps it’s one worth asking yourself too: What do you want to still be physically able to do ten years from now?

Whatever your answer is, maybe that’s your reason for staying strong. I’d love to hear yours.

Disclaimer: This article shares my personal experience and is provided for general educational purposes. It is not medical, nutritional or fitness advice and should not replace advice from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional. Individual health and exercise needs vary, particularly if you have an existing medical condition or are beginning a new exercise programme.