Lean muscle mass is essential to health and vitality, in fact, it is the number one biological marker of aging.
The more muscle you have on your body, the less likely you are to succumb to all manner of dysfunction, infection, cancer, and autoimmunity. This is why we want to improve our capacity to live by building muscle tissue.
Inflammation and Disease
Inflammation is the driver of disease. Muscle is like an organ, it’s an organ system that curbs inflammation in our body.
For instance, if you were diagnosed with cancer or an autoimmune condition, the number one thing I’d be thinking about is, ‘how can I build strength training into my schedule?’
As muscle mass goes down, inflammation goes up and as inflammation goes up, muscle mass goes down.
If we want a positive cytokine anti-inflammatory response, we’ve got to build muscle tissue.
This whole process is compounding on itself so without the intervention of strength training accompanied by whole nutrient-dense protein sources to maintain as much muscle as possible, the likelihood of succumbing to our diagnosis is high.
Nobody wants to get a cancer diagnosis of course but becoming that diagnosis, that’s what gets you in trouble because anxiety and depression start to control your body.
Chemotherapy and Muscle Mass
For those who are going through chemotherapy, the muscle tissue of your body is literally going to act as a buffer to the toxicity that is chemotherapy.
Talk to your oncologist and talk to your doctor, and ask them how you can preserve as much muscle mass as possible to help minimize the side effects of the treatments and to maximize your potential to completely overcome the condition.
Muscle is the enemy of aging, the enemy of disease and dysfunction.
The more muscle you have on you, the longer you’re going to live and the more capable you’re going to be.
How to Build Lean Muscle Mass
Building muscle could literally be as simple as completing a movement that applies a little bit of stress consistently to your muscle tissue.
This could be:
- Going for a brisk walk
- Doing a set of push-ups against the wall or on your knees
- Getting up and out of your chair multiple times in a row
- Doing bodyweight squats or squats to a chair
- Walking up and down your stairs until your muscles start burning
All that is necessary is that we stress our muscle tissue more than it’s used to being stressed so don’t let any excuse get in the way of you not experiencing the life you are capable of. Still not convinced of the benefits of building muscle? Check out this post on why strength training matters.
