We generally know that a sign of health is a reasonable amount of muscle on our bodies. Obviously going to the extreme of body building can have negative effects on our health if we take it too far. Lean muscle mass is an indicator of health and we are going to explore some of the reasons why this is and how it helps our health.
- BONE HEALTH: As we age we generally start to lose lean muscle as well as bone density. From around the ages for 25 to 30 years these changes can be measured in the body. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Family Medicine they carried a bone density test on people over a 6 week period. They were asked to exercise using weights to strengthen their bodies and the results were interesting. Their spine mineral density increased by 2.9% and the density in the femur of the participants increased by 4.9%. So stay strong to maintain good bone health.
- CARDIO VASCULAR HEALTH: As measured by visceral fat in and around the organs in the body. This fat is less easily seen but plays a key role in our cardio vascular health and lower levels of it can be found in those that maintain strength training as a part of their lifestyle. Take home message = staying strong reduces the fat around your organs which decreases your chances of heart attacks, kidney and liver issues to name a few.
- INCREASED ENERGY: Stable blood sugars are a sign of a good diet but these can also show a sensitivity to insulin which improves when we maintain strength and lean muscles mass on the body. Even mood and sustained energy comes from those blood sugars being level throughout the day.
- LOWER ABDOMINAL FAT: As well as the visceral fat the abdominal fat around our waste which has been directly linked to our health and wellbeing tends to be at lower levels when we maintain muscle mass at healthy levels. The more muscle we hold on our frame the more calories we burn at rest so we help keep that waistline in check as a result. Our metabolism is measured in this very way. It’s called your Base Metabolic Rate.
- IMPROVED MOOD: I touched on this already from a blood sugars point of view. But there is another little secret our bodies have when we exercise we secret a hormone which is a built in pain killer – endorphins. These give us the ‘feel good factor’ when we exercise or if not during certainly afterwards. In addition we also get a hit of dopamine which is our reward hormone. This gives us a chemical ‘pat on the back’ for doing whatever we did – it helps us want to come back for more and keeps us in a good mood for hours after completing our bout of exercise.
- INCREASED FLEXIBILITY AND MOBILITY: These 2 are not the same. They are not interchangeable. But a strong muscle is also a flexible muscle. As I said at the beginning, if you take it to the extreme like body building there are diminishing returns on this front. But in general the stronger a muscle is the more flexible it will be. When it comes to mobility, this is the ability to gain range of movement at a joint. The stronger the muscles around a joint are the, better the range of movement around that joint. So – stray strong – stay mobile. Controlling a joint with the muscles around it communicates to the brain that is it safe to move to a certain point so will allow the muscles related to that movement to move freely.
- INCREASED BODY IMAGE/CONFIDENCE: There is no doubt that when you are proud of your body you are happy to show it off more and you are probably pretty happy about that fact and your smile and confidence will shine through. Looking after our bodies should carry no shame – after all it’s the only place we have to live. Why not make it strong and resilient at the same time.
- ENHANCED BRAIN HEALTH: Cognition is improved when we look after our bodies. You will have heard the phrase, “strong body, strong mind”. In a study of adults over 55 years, those that were active and participated in strength programmes had better cognition measured by a set of tests than those that did not do so.
- STRESS MANAGEMENT: Cortisol is one of our stress hormones. It is a vital part of the stress response. However, when we get overly stressed it can spiral out of control and take over the fine balance we should have in our hormonal system, (known as the endorcrine system). We have a base ingredient for sex hormones and stress hormones. Our bodies are very good at working out which one we need more of and will act accordingly. However, we cannot do both and over an extended period of time if we continue to only make more cortisol we end up running our sex hormone reserves down low, or dry! This can have a huge impact on our health, our energy levels and many other interrelated aspects of health. So by strength training (exercising in general too) we dampen the effect of cortisol and in effect level it out of our system. If it gets and stays too high our brains may even switch off the mechanism for it’s manufacture and then we end up in a truly unhealthy state.
- CALORIE BURN EFFICIENCY: We get good at burning calories when we strength train. The after effects are wonderful and this is where a little time invested in strength work will have a lasting effect for up to potentially 72 hours. The EPOC effect means that our bodies consume extra oxygen after a bout of strength work for a long time in an effort to return the body to homeostasis. If you run, you stop burning calories pretty much as soon as you stop, depending on duration and intensity but by adding strength work to your week you leverage this EPOC effect and will continue to burn additional calories for much longer after you stop. Great bang for buck time wise – and who doesn’t like that?!
As you can see there are so many benefits to keeping strong and active so why not look at what options are available to you and start your journey to better health. Whether it’s something that you do at home through online training, in a group using your own body weight or for just 30 minutes with a personal trainer once a week their really is no excuse!