Carolyn Hansen: 5 reasons that muscle matters … a lot

Building muscle is key to better health. Photo / 123rf

OPINION

Most of us would like to live a long and healthy life so we look for the best methods to maintain our youth and wellness for as long as possible.

We don't just want to live longer with an average to poor quality of health; we want to live longer with a high quality of health and a high level of functional capacity.

To minimise the common ailments as the years accumulate and be able to live with peak performance, there is a "fitness" element you can build and maintain and it's so important your life literally depends on it.

This one thing is the protection of your lean muscle tissue and it's MORE IMPORTANT than "cardio" activity. And here are some reasons why:

1. Toned Muscle = Metabolism (the speed your "inner" engine runs)

There is nothing else you can do (apart from exercise) – and most certainly nothing you can eat - that will actually boost your metabolism. The health of your metabolism is vital for staying lean, healthy and youthful.

2. Toned Muscle = Strength throughout adult life is far more important than "cardio" fitness. People don't fall and break a hip because they lack cardio fitness. They don't get put in nursing homes and wheelchairs because they can't run or jog. They lose physical function and become disabled because they lose their muscle and strength.

3. Toned Muscle = A great reason to eat lots of good food ... and the ability to burn more calories. It's a win-win. You get to eat more to build and maintain your lean muscle mass. This will not happen with "cardio" type activity.

4. Toned Muscle = Functional Strength. Whether it's carrying groceries, doing everyday tasks and activities or carrying children, the more toned muscle tissue you have, the easier those tasks and activities will be. Lean mass = POWER to live a full active life.

5. Toned Muscle = Stronger immune system. Everybody knows that toned muscle tissue is necessary for strength but not many people are aware that it also serves as the body's armour and defence system against killer diseases and illness. Research is showing even a 1 per cent loss in lean body mass (LBM) corresponds with impaired immune function. This is not a good thing when we are surrounded by a skyrocketing rate of "chronic lifestyle diseases" many of which can easily take us out of the game of life.

Our muscle tissue represents 40-50 per cent of our body weight and serves as the storage depot and important reservoir for the proteins that supply the necessary fuel and building blocks to the immune system. This supply of protein is essential to produce new antibodies and white blood cells to fight off infections and find and destroy cancer cells.

When you work your muscles with strength training exercise it raises the heart rate which speeds the circulation of protective antibodies and natural killer cells raising white blood cell counts anywhere from 50-300 per cent after an exercise session. So toned muscle matters … it matters A LOT!

Making the right lifestyle changes particularly in the area of proper strengthening exercise can postpone - sometimes for decades - the Disability Zone as it is known. Your choices can greatly improve your odds of approaching the ideal: a health span that matches your life span and the earlier in life you get started the better.

The choices you make today could make the difference in not only how long you live but how well you look, feel and live tomorrow. A year from now you may have more functional strength, more energy, be more fit, and have fewer aches and pains than you did five years ago.

Resistance training not only tones muscle tissue, it strengthens bones, boosts energy levels, speeds up metabolism (to assist with weight loss), improves balance, coordination and posture. So there is plenty of evidence that performing a couple of quality strengthening exercise sessions each week is very beneficial to health.

Carolyn Hansen is co-owner Anytime Fitness