Marvelous Muscles

Become a disciple of strength

Dec 07, 2022

I have recently adopted the habit of listening to health podcasts when I exercise…seemed like a logical pairing. I find I absorb the information better (low and behold, there are actual studies that have established a connection between exercising and learning) and it keeps me motivated and focused. This week, I went to cue up one of my favorite podcasts, The Model Health Show with Shawn Stevenson, and although I was trying to select a certain episode on the subject of the brain, one on mindset shifts kept popping up. I got frustrated and I figured I needed to stop wrestling with the podcast app and just let it play. As with so many instances in life, there was a reason.

Within the first 5 minutes, the featured guest Dr. Michael Beckwith was talking about the need to fall in love with what you don’t like to do. (I thought, “Oh, this makes total sense… maybe I should keep listening…”) He touched on discipline and the root of the word “discipline” being “disciple.” He said (and I’m paraphrasing, but it’s close) “when you look at the word “disciple,” it means you are in love with something…you love the outcome. A discipline becomes a “bless”-ipline. You’re falling in love with the outcome of what you’re doing.”

Yes! That elegant definition is exactly how I feel about strength training. I truly love being strong—it’s a feeling like nothing else. I love how strength helps me move throughout my day without much friction. I love the feeling of self-reliance that I can carry my own groceries and laser printer. I love that with strong muscles I can twist and turn, pick something up off the ground, and get out of the car without groaning. While toned muscles do enhance appearance, their real benefit is the way they improve your health, longevity, and your overall enjoyment of your daily life.

Strength training is non-negotiable
I’ve read a lot of books and articles and listened to many podcasts featuring much smarter people than me in this arena. The one commonality shared by every expert, hands down, is that strength training is by far the most important thing you can do for your health and longevity. While I’ve always known strength training is important to our day-to-day life, over the past 2 years I’ve learned some very surprising, fascinating, and yes—magical—things about muscles.

Essentially, there are three types of muscles—cardiac, skeletal, and smooth—that comprise the nearly 650 muscles in our bodies. Cardiac is clearly the heart (yup, it’s a muscle). Skeletal muscle is any muscle attached to our bones that help us to move and assist in protecting our joints. Smooth (or involuntary) muscle surrounds our organs, blood vessels, and digestive tract and have many functions, ranging from helping our lungs to work, to pushing food along and out, and many things in between. Strength training benefits all these muscles, so it’s easy to see why it is simply a non-negotiable, essential part of living your best life.

Other than the obvious advantage to our daily tasks, the list of muscle benefits is far-reaching and seemingly endless:

• Muscles play an important role in our metabolic system and can aid in recovery from trauma and illness, as well as stoking the fat-burning furnace and optimal carb tolerance.

• Gaining muscle can give you energy, stamina and balance.

• Muscles secrete potent hormones which regulate insulin metabolism and stimulate protein synthesis, among other things. Insulin regulates how the body uses and stores glucose and fat1, therefore optimal insulin function is a key to overall health and fitness.

• Exercising muscles strengthen immunity by secreting anti-inflammatory molecules called myokines, which are able to counteract inflammation due to infection, aging and metabolic disorders.

• Muscles protect the brain and help to regenerate it by secreting a molecule called BDNF (brain-derived neurotropic factor) which supports the plasticity of our brains, the ability to change and adapt, essential for memory and learning.

• A high grip strength, which is related to strong muscles and function, correlates to a longer life and lower risk of cardiovascular illness.

• Strengthening our stabilizing muscles will help us maintain our balance and mitigate the risk of falling, which has far-reaching deleterious consequences.

Sarcopenia leads to poor health and worse…
Sacropenia, which is the technical word for age-related muscle wasting, sneaks up on us without even a warning—somewhere in our mid-twenties to early 30’s—and continues at a rate of 3-5% loss of muscle per decade. If you think about that, it’s rather alarming. It explains why some elderly people look like they are literally withering away, because they are! This is a serious issue that goes far beyond merely having a frail appearance. In a meta-analysis of 58 studies, frail adults had a significantly higher risk of mortality from all causes, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory illness, dementia, and even infections. Frailty also contributes to ongoing health issues such as breathing problems, insulin resistance, and the increased risk of falls and fractures… a downhill slide for most. All avoidable.

The bottom line is building and maintaining strong muscles is the key to thriving and not just surviving, especially heading into the second half of life.

Inspiration, motivation and implementation
For the last 25 years, although I actually enjoy strength training, it’s the benefits that have inspired me to keep exercising with resistance and weights. At first, my goal was (as a 46-year-old) to effortlessly lift that infant car seat out of the car without pulling something or dropping my baby. Then, it was holding a twisting, turning, perpetual-motion toddler while getting my mom’s walker out of the trunk. My muscles carried me through all those exhausting years of chasing after my son and assisting my ailing mother. As our son entered his teenage years and his motto was still “higher, faster,” my new goal was to be able to complete those 10-14 mile hikes, traverse the extreme adventure course, and hold on to the grab bar of a screaming 600-horse power sand dune vehicle.

Today, as I’m looking ahead to a future that includes starting a new business, traveling with my family, and adventuring to parts unknown… I will need all the strength I can muster. Therefore, I’m planning ahead by increasing the amount of resistance and weights I lift, and by incorporating more protein into my diet (which is a challenge but I’m getting there).

I strength train 3 times a week, which includes (2) 30-minute sessions Tuesday and Thursdays, and a longer one of about 45 minutes on Saturday mornings. I use 12, 15, 20, and 25-pound kettlebells, a Pilates ring, some dumbbells, a ball, and a set of resistance bands I inherited from my son … and, of course, my own body weight. I must stress that—while I am constantly learning and expanding my exercise repertoire—I am relying on the knowledge I have accumulated over 2 decades of taking classes and learning from various sources. I don’t expect anyone to be able to do this on their own right out of the gate. In fact, you shouldn’t.

Get started
My recommendation to anyone who has yet to begin but desires to build muscle is to first find a class or a personal coach. This doesn’t have to be expensive: if a gym membership is daunting, try starting with a class at your neighborhood YMCA or your city’s Parks and Recs. There is a lot to know about preventing injury, selecting the exercises that will benefit you the most, and using a variety of tools and equipment. Then, if you aren’t able to carry on with classes, training, or the gym, or if you simply prefer to work out at home, take what you’ve learned and create a routine that resonates with you. Watch videos. Download an app. Get a couple of books or magazines… Whatever works for you—this is one area that does not have a one-size-fits-all solution. (And by the way, it’s never too late to start; even people in their 80’s have achieved improvements.)

Lastly, don’t shy away from mindfully lifting, carrying, and moving heavy objects throughout your day. If we don’t use our muscles, we lose our muscles. One of the books I’m currently reading is The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner, and one of the common threads that I’m seeing emerge among these centenarians and super-centenarians is that they perform hard, physical work well into their 90’s. With the exception of a spry little 102-year-old lady lifting her weights, most get their exercise from their daily life of tending to their flocks in the hills, working their gardens, and taking care of their homes. No housekeepers. No gardeners. No doorman. So the next time the bagger at the grocery store asks you if you’d like to have help out, politely say “No thank you, I’ve got marvelous magical muscles!”

In the coming months, I will be writing more on this topic—sharing my favorite exercises and curating a list of books, articles, online experts and videos that you may find helpful. Please subscribe to receive this and other information to live well, age great.

Questions? You can ask me anything in the monthly Ask Ageosophy, so please post your questions below.

Marvelous Muscles

Become a disciple of strength

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