Can Mitoquinol Support Muscle Power as We Age?

For many of us, everyday movements start to take a little more effort as the years go by. But what's interesting is that often it isn't about strength alone. It's about power: how quickly your muscles can switch on and get the job done. Here's what the research says about muscle power and healthy aging, and where MitoQ Mitoquinol fits in.

What you’ll learn:

• Why muscle power matters as we age, and why it can decline earlier and faster than strength.
• How mitochondria influence muscle function, and what oxidative stress may have to do with age-related changes in physical performance.
• What the research says about Mitoquinol and muscle power in older adults, including where the early findings are promising.

What happens to our muscles as we age?

From midlife, we gradually lose muscle mass and strength. Fast-twitch muscle fibers, the ones we rely on for quick, forceful movements, appear to be among the first to shrink with age. Several things feed into this, including being less active, muscle becoming less responsive to protein, and rising oxidative stress from mitochondria.

Why does leg power matter for healthy aging?

Aging affects several parts of how we move, including power, strength, balance and endurance. Power, the ability to produce force quickly, tends to decline earlier and faster than the rest¹, and leg power is one of the strongest predictors of overall physical performance and mobility in older adults. It's what you use to stand up from a low chair, climb stairs, step quickly to steady yourself, or keep up with your kids. In daily life, declining leg power often shows up as small things - pushing up from a low couch takes a bit more effort, or you can't quite hurry across the road as you used to. That's why you might notice you can still carry the groceries in, but moving quickly feels less automatic than it used to, and this applies to women and men alike.

Why does grip strength matter for healthy aging?

Grip strength is more than how well you can open a jar. It's a quick snapshot of overall muscle strength, which is why it's so often measured in research and in clinics. In a study of nearly 140,000 adults across 17 countries, each 5kg lower grip strength was linked to a 16% higher risk of all-cause mortality and a 17% higher risk of death from heart-related causes². This doesn't mean a weak grip causes poor health, but it's an important marker of how well the body's muscle is holding up overall.

In everyday life, grip is what you use to carry the shopping, grab onto a handrail or keep hold of the lead on a walk. The encouraging part is that grip strength responds to the same things that support the rest of your muscle - strength training and enough protein.

What do mitochondria have to do with muscle power?

Every contraction, from a step to a squat, runs on the energy that mitochondria produce. As a by-product of making that energy, mitochondria naturally create free radicals, also known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). A little ROS is normal and even useful, because it helps cells signal to each other³ - the problem is when ROS is in excess. Oxidative stress from mitochondria rises in muscle with age, and too much ROS is linked to physical decline, partly by getting in the way of how muscle produces force and partly by promoting inflammation in muscle tissue³.

Mitoquinol is designed to accumulate inside the mitochondria, so it can help reduce oxidative stress right where it starts³. By reducing excess ROS inside the mitochondria, muscle cells may be better able to produce force and less prone to the inflammation that excess ROS can trigger.

The evidence for what that means as we age is strongest in animals, where lower mitochondrial oxidative stress in muscle has been linked to better physical function³. In people, Mitoquinol has been shown to reduce DNA damage with exercise, and increase exercise adaptations. Mitoquinol has also been linked to better blood vessel function in clinical trials in older adults^4,5, which matters for muscle because blood vessels deliver oxygen and nutrients to working muscle. Early results from one trial in older adults also pointed to higher leg power.

Does Mitoquinol support muscle power in older adults? What research has found

In one small, placebo-controlled trial, 18 healthy adults aged 60–79 (seven men and 11 postmenopausal women) took 20 mg of Mitoquinol a day for six weeks, and a placebo for six weeks. An early report from the trial found leg power was 11% higher on Mitoquinol⁶, with the most notable findings observed among the oldest participants. Among those aged 70 and over, peak leg power was about 12% higher and grip strength 2.2 kg higher³. Additionally, in mice, the benefits appeared in old animals but not young ones³.

Why might it matter more in older adults?

Interestingly, supporting mitochondrial function may matter most in adults aged 70 and over, and in people who start with lower muscle function. One possible reason is that older adults have more to gain. Oxidative stress from mitochondria rises in muscle with age³, while younger adults who are healthy for their age may not have much excess to reduce.

The 70s are also a time when the body is changing. In a large study following adults who were aged 70–79 at the start, grip strength fell by about 1.5% a year on average and muscle mass by about 0.7% a year, and bone density fell too⁸. In another study of older adults, leg strength fell around three times faster than muscle mass⁷, which suggests that muscle quality matters as well as quantity. Muscle quality may relate to what's happening inside muscle cells, including how well mitochondria are working.

What else does the research say about Mitoquinol and exercise?

Several studies have looked at Mitoquinol alongside exercise, mostly in men. While intense exercise is good for us, it also creates a short burst of oxidative stress that can damage DNA, and in some studies Mitoquinol has been linked to less of that damage¹¹.

MitoQ, training and peak power

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of untrained middle-aged men, those taking 20 mg of Mitoquinol a day showed a bigger rise in a muscle gene linked to adapting to exercise (PGC-1α) after a hard interval session. After a period of high-intensity interval training, they also made bigger gains in peak power on a cycling fitness test⁹.

MitoQ and cycling performance

One study looked at 19 recreational cyclists in their mid-40s who took 20 mg of Mitoquinol for 28 days. Mitoquinol was linked to faster 8 km time trials compared with placebo, with 12 of 19 riders finishing faster. Exercise naturally creates free radicals that can damage the fats in our cells, and F2-isoprostanes are a blood marker of that damage. In the riders, this marker rose less on Mitoquinol than on placebo, a sign of less oxidative stress during exercise¹⁰.

MitoQ and exercise-related DNA damage

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study from Ulster University, 24 healthy, recreationally active men (average age 25) each completed a demanding cycling session. As expected, the session increased DNA damage in both blood cells and muscle tissue. After 21 days of daily Mitoquinol, the group taking it showed less exercise-induced damage than the placebo group, including lower mitochondrial DNA damage in both blood cells and muscle tissue¹¹.

How can you support muscle power and healthy aging in everyday life?

Strength training a couple of times a week

A Cochrane review of 121 trials and 6,700 older adults found that progressive resistance training led to large gains in muscle strength, an improvement in walking speed, and a moderate-to-large improvement in how quickly people could get out of a chair¹⁴. The WHO recommends muscle-strengthening activity on at least 2 days a week, and for adults 65 and over, balance and functional strength work on 3 or more days a week¹⁵.

Practice everyday strength moments

Strength and power aren't built exclusively in the gym. Everyday opportunities for movement, like taking the stairs when you can, carrying your own groceries and practicing standing up from a chair, work the same muscles that matter most for mobility, and the research gives them some support.

In a 12-week trial of 46 adults in their early 70s, structured stair-climbing training and machine-based resistance training both improved leg power, by about 14% and 20% respectively¹⁶. Getting out of a chair also showed a clear improvement in the Cochrane review of strength training¹⁴, which makes sit-to-stand practice a simple place to start. These habits work best as an addition to dedicated strength sessions.

Eat enough protein, spread across the day

Muscles become less responsive to protein with age, a change researchers call anabolic resistance. Aging muscle is less sensitive to lower doses of amino acids and may need higher amounts of protein to build muscle as effectively as younger muscle¹⁷. An international expert group, PROT-AGE, recommends that adults over 65 aim for an average of at least 1.0 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day, and suggests older people appear to have a higher per-meal threshold of around 25 to 30 grams of protein to stimulate muscle building¹⁸.

That's why making sure breakfast includes a solid serving of protein is a good place to start. Protein also works best alongside training: in a meta-analysis of older adults doing resistance exercise, higher protein intake led to greater gains in arm and leg lean mass and in grip strength than lower protein intake, and the benefit appeared only when protein was combined with exercise¹⁹.

(Learn more about why we lose muscle with age here.)

Creatine alongside resistance training

Creatine is one of the most widely studied supplements for strength training. A meta-analysis of 22 randomized trials with 721 older adults found that adding creatine to resistance training increased lean tissue mass by about 1.4 kg more than training alone, along with greater strength gains²⁰. A more recent 2025 meta-analysis of eight trials in older adults found that creatine plus resistance training improved lower-limb strength and lean tissue mass²¹, the muscles you rely on for standing, walking and climbing stairs. Like protein, creatine works best alongside training.

(See our guide to the MitoQ Longevity Creatine Complex.)

Sleep and recovery

Sleep is when your muscles do their rebuilding. Muscle protein building rises in short bursts after each training session, and it's the repeated cycle of training followed by recovery that adds up to stronger muscle over weeks and months²². In a controlled study in healthy young men, several nights of restricted sleep lowered the rate at which muscle protein was built, and high-intensity exercise partly offset the drop²³. In middle-aged and older adults, a systematic review found strong evidence that poorer sleep quality and duration go hand in hand with weaker muscle strength²⁴.

MitoQ Triple Magnesium Complex was formulated with high-performance magnesium alongside GABA to help reduce cortisol and encourage better sleep.

(See our Triple Magnesium Complex Guide.)

MitoQ Pure

Mitoquinol works at the cellular level where mitochondrial function and muscle power naturally change with age. In one trial in older adults, leg power and grip strength were higher in adults 70 and over, though not across the whole group³. Studies in middle-aged men have linked Mitoquinol to greater gains in peak power after interval training⁹ and faster cycling time trials¹⁰, however based on the current research - older populations may see more of a benefit¹².

(Explore MitoQ Pure here.)

FAQs

Is losing muscle power just a normal part of aging?

Some decline is common with age, but it isn’t fixed. Resistance training led to large strength gains in older adults in a Cochrane review of 121 trials¹⁴, and the 12-week trial in adults in their early 70s improved leg power¹⁶.

What are the early signs of declining muscle power?

Everyday signs include needing your hands to push up from a low chair, slowing on stairs, finding it harder to step quickly to catch yourself, or feeling less able to keep up with a walking group. These can have many causes, so changes that worry you are worth raising with a doctor or physiotherapist.

How can I check my leg strength at home?

A simple check is how easily you can stand up from a chair without using your hands. It isn’t a diagnosis. If you notice it getting harder, a health professional can do a proper assessment.

Is it too late to start strength training?

No. The Cochrane review included older adults¹⁴, and the stair-climbing and machine-training trial was in adults in their early 70s¹⁶. Starting gently and building up is sensible, and checking with a doctor first is wise if you have health conditions.

What is the difference between MitoQ Mitoquinol and CoQ10?

MitoQ Mitoquinol is a form of coenzyme Q10 that has been modified so it accumulates inside mitochondria. [Learn more here]

References

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