Muscle Mass in Weight Loss
The importance of muscles
Your
muscles not only keep you in shape but also maintain your health and wellness,
in particular your body weight. Your muscles are essential for life. Muscle
protein is dynamic when it is converted into amino acids. It repairs your body
cells and tissues. It helps fight infections. It carries oxygen (in the form of
hemoglobin) to your cells. It transports calcium and iron in your blood. It
controls your weight (your muscles burn calories while you sleep—one pound of
muscle burns 30 to 40 calories a day).
More
muscle means less fat. More muscle means less inflammation (excess fat
producing more cytokines, responsible for artery, joint, and tissue
inflammation). More inflammation means more plague in arteries (greater risk of
heart attack and strokes, as well as memory loss). More muscle means more body
strength, greater mobility, and less risk of developing diabetes later in life.
Your muscle is
important. Use it or lose it!
A study on
master athletes at the University
of California indicated
that muscle mass has little to do with age. In other words, you could still
have the same amount of muscle mass as someone who is 10 to 20 years younger
than you are. Muscle mass is anti-aging. Do weight training or workout without
weights to preserve your muscle mass and keep you in shape to look forever
younger.
Women, in
particular, benefit more from weight training, because they have less muscle
mass than men have, and adding more muscles means burning more calories.
Loss of muscle mass
As you
age, you muscle protein dwindles. An average person loses half a pound of
muscle and gains a pound of fat a year. Between 30 and 60, you may expect to
lose 15 pounds of muscle and gain 30 pounds of fat (if not more). That will put
you not only out of shape, but also in health hazards.
Loss of muscle mass
may be due to the following:
Increase
in cortisol (a hormone for regulating your blood sugar, blood pressure, immune
function, and inflammatory response), which breaks down muscle mass
Decrease
in growth hormone (stimulating growth and cell reproduction) and testosterone
(male and female hormone)
Increase
in fat (more fat, more inflammation, and less muscle mass—a vicious cycle).
To prevent loss of
muscle mass, continue to build your muscles even as you age. The human body is
perfectly capable of getting the exercise it needs with very little extra
equipment. For instance, even a simple towel can be used as one of the most
effective and versatile fitness accessories for strength and flexibility
training to enhance your muscle mass.
Important muscle groups to target
As you age, weight
training should specifically target the following muscle groups for prolonged
independence and continuous mobility:
Shoulder
joint and shoulder rotator cuff to stabilize shoulder movements
Remember,
exercise, not medications, is the single most effective choice against heart
disease. Exercise and muscle mass keep you younger for longer.
Stephen
Lau
Copyright© 2018 by Stephen Lau