Use It or Lose It

At a time when most Canadian teens would rather scroll than skate, the odds aren’t in their favour for building strong bones and muscles as they age. The latest national figures are stark: just one in five teens gets enough daily physical activity, a drop that experts say could have lifelong consequences for muscle health and overall well-being. It’s a challenge researchers at York University’s Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC) are tackling head-on, exploring how nutrition and exercise can help turn the numbers around and build resilience, from adolescence right through to older age.

“Bone health is foundational to overall well-being, yet it’s often overlooked until later in life when problems like osteoporosis arise,” says Andrea Josse, a professor in York’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science, who has spent her career studying how diet and movement shape our skeletons.

“I study bone health to understand how nutrition and exercise work together to promote lifelong skeletal strength.”

Josse is one of more than 30 faculty members whose work has earned the MHRC a global reputation. According to the ScholarGPS Institutional Rankings, the Centre now ranks fifth worldwide for skeletal muscle research.

MHRC director Christopher Perry calls it proof of a culture of collaboration.

“This global recognition reflects our commitment to publish work that truly makes a difference in people’s lives,” he says. Perry himself has published nearly 200 papers and more than 260 abstracts, numbers that underscore the MHRC’s standing as a powerhouse of muscle science.

For Josse, the story starts with small choices: what children eat, how they move and how those habits persist into adulthood can profoundly affect skeletal health and reduce bone loss with age.

“Muscle and bone are interconnected systems,” she explains. “Targeted nutrition and exercise can synergistically improve both, leading to stronger, healthier bodies over time.”

Her current research examines how protein intake supports both muscle repair and bone mineralization. The timing and quality of that protein, especially when paired with exercise, can boost bone metabolism, muscle function and overall body composition. “Stronger muscles place beneficial mechanical loads on bones,” she says. “Exercise is essential to this paradigm and benefits the entire musculoskeletal system.”

Collaboration drives everything at the MHRC. “Many of our members routinely collaborate within similar clusters of research themes,” Perry says. Others, he adds, cross boundaries, pairing clinical and preclinical researchers to identify cellular mechanisms of disease.

Those themes range from uncovering how muscles derive energy from sugars, fats and proteins to studying the biological role of nutrients in muscle mass and strength.

The implications reach far beyond the gym. MHRC teams are uncovering pathways relevant to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer-associated muscle loss. “There are limited therapies available to maintain muscle health as we age,” Perry says. “We’re identifying the mechanisms that determine muscle fitness, as well as those driving weakness and metabolic dysfunction.”

Among the researchers tackling these challenges: Professor Jennifer Kuk, an epidemiologist, investigates how diet and exercise influence Canadians’ risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes; Professor Devin Phillips, a specialist in cardiorespiratory physiology, studies how exercise stimulates the heart and lungs, and how to improve airflow for those with chronic lung disease; and Professor Michael Riddell, who focuses on exercise metabolism, explores how physical activity affects blood glucose in people with type 1 diabetes.

Josse calls the Centre’s approach “research from cells to society.” The complexity of the questions that MHRC scientists are investigating demands expertise across molecular biology, cellular physiology and community health.

“When we combine different skill sets and viewpoints,” she says, “we generate ideas and solutions that wouldn’t come from a single field alone.”

That synergy transforms lab discoveries into practical tools. By studying how physical activity and nutrition work together, MHRC scientists are developing realistic ways to support musculoskeletal health and lower chronic disease risk. “Nutrition and exercise are practical, evidence-based ways to prevent bone loss,” Josse says. “We test the impact of exercise and whole foods, like dairy and other high-protein sources, that people can easily include in their lives.”

MHRC investigators share their findings widely, from journals to clinical partnerships. “We’re paving the way for new therapies that not only maintain muscle health but also reduce frailty and complications across many diseases,” Perry says. His and David Hood’s research shows how exercise improves muscle’s ability to extract energy from carbohydrates and fats, keeping metabolism healthy even as we age.

Perry succeeded Hood as MHRC director, but the founding professor’s influence endures. A mentor to a generation of muscle researchers, Hood continues to explore how exercise trains muscles at the cellular level and improves performance. His pioneering work was recently recognized with the Sarrazin Award, the Canadian Physiological Society’s highest honour.

The MHRC’s reach extends beyond laboratories into local communities. Professor Angelo Belcastro runs the KIN KIDS program, a guided active play initiative that proves co-operation and movement can boost fitness and reduce future disease risk in children. Riddell’s work on type 1 diabetes has also led to innovations in continuous glucose monitoring and automated insulin delivery, ensuring safer exercise for those managing the condition.

From playgrounds to hospitals, the MHRC is reshaping how Canadians understand movement and aging. By studying how nutrition and exercise intersect, these scientists are writing the blueprint for a stronger, healthier future. Their discoveries may determine not just how long we live but how well we move through the years.  ■