Fitness: 8 Benefits of Higher Muscle Mass
I’m sure you know exercising is good for healthy living. But when we talk about exercising, you may be apart of those focusing on just light stretches and aerobic exercises. If you are, you may be missing out on the benefits of building higher muscle mass.
You may say, “That involves lots of strength training, and it’s meant for athletes and hardcore bodybuilders” Yea, it involves lots of strength training, but it’s not meant for only fitness enthusiasts. In fact, building higher muscle mass benefits your overall health in many ways. More muscles improve quality of life, especially as you grow older:
Check this out:
- From age 25, the average person begins to lose lean body mass.
- At age 40, lean mass starts decreasing by about 8%, and it continues every decade until age 70. From that point, the lean mass loss increases to 15% every decade.
- By 2029, 20% of the population in the United States will be over 65 years old.
From these statistics, you will observe the importance of maintaining or building higher muscle mass. Someday, you are either going to say, “I’m glad I took good care of myself” or “ I wish I had worked out more during my young age.”
So, with your future health and fitness in mind, consider the following benefits of higher muscle mass:
- Higher muscle mass promotes more strength
The fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders may not always get more strength from more muscles. But, as a natural mortal, the more muscles you build, the stronger you become.
When you build higher muscle mass, you become more physically prepared for your day-to-day activities, from lifting kids, carrying groceries, to enjoying outdoor sports.
You may not be too excited to hear that building more muscles will make it easier for you to carry out tedious tasks. But it really helps psychologically.
Remember this also: You tend to lose your muscles and the strength they produce when you don’t use your muscles.
You already know how dreadful it is to break a hip during your old age. Most of those who experience this have done so because they’ve lost bone density and muscle.
So it is vital to actively partake in strength training every week to build higher muscle mass. Not only that, but fitness routine provides support for your joints.
2. Higher muscle mass helps to build bone
According to the CDC, 10% of women and 2% of men in the United States have osteoporosis of the hip. This is often as a result of decreased bone density.
Although calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D and K supplementation have been effective for maintaining bone density, still the body needs to be stimulated by an outside resistance consistently to maximize bone density.
Just like muscles, when bones don’t experience heavy resistance, their density decreases.
More so, as you grow older, you become at risk of developing joint-related issues like arthritis, and the pain associated with this condition can discourage you from activity or resistance training. However, you can improve some form of arthritis by increasing your lean body mass.
- Higher muscle mass helps in body fat management
The more muscles you build, the higher energy you’ll require- this simply means you’ll need to burn more calories. And muscles are mainly involved in fat and calorie burning in the body.
After age 20, the metabolic rate begins to drop at a rate of 2-3% per decade. It drops faster by the age of 50, averaging 4% per decade. By age 70, metabolic rate has dropped to about 30%.
So, as your metabolic rate decreases, you tend to accumulate body fat. More so, you can lose muscle when you cut back on your calorie intake, which also leads to reduced metabolic rate.
However, the more muscle mass you build, the higher their efficiency in burning fat and calories.
Also, you will need more energy to recover when you increase your workout rate. Hence, you tend to burn more calories, which helps you to manage your body fat and weight.
- Higher muscle mass helps to increase body immunity
Your body may get exposed to pathogens or produce toxic compounds from metabolic processes. This can lead to more severe complications if your body is not in good shape to boost your immunity.
However, the body stores amino acids in the muscles, which helps to strengthen the body’s immune system. So the higher your muscle mass, the more amino acids you’ll be able to store in your muscles, thereby promoting your body’s ability to fight against infection and diseases.
- Higher muscle mass help to decrease injury risk
When you build higher muscle mass, it helps to decrease your chances of getting injured. Yea, when your build larger muscles around your joints and bones; it reduces the risk of hurting them.
The layer formed around your joint and bones help to protect you against breaks and dislocations. Not only that but as tendons grow strong, it reduces your risk of getting sprains and tears.
- Higher muscle mass builds more self-confidence
I have seen many men and women who became more excitement after following a strength training routine. The reason is simple. When you build muscles and gain strength, it offers both physical and mental benefits.
You tend to get a pretty awesome feeling seeing a line down your thighs, an outline of a deltoid muscle, or the shape of the triceps from leaning on a table for the first time.
Also, imagine you set a personal record in a deadlift or squat program. It boosts your self-confidence and makes you want to celebrate your improvements.
- Higher muscle mass helps to control blood sugar
You can develop blood sugar problems if you have a poor diet, live a sedentary lifestyle, or lack resistance training.
Even if you are an avid runner, you can develop this problem if you eat excessive levels of carbohydrates or disregard the importance of resistance training.
Remember, however, that elevated blood sugar can increase the presence of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which are usually associated with cancer. Other degenerated diseases caused by elevated blood sugar levels include Alzheimer’s or dementia, and heart disease.
Sugar is mainly stored in the liver and muscles. The liver has a smaller capacity, but you can build higher muscle mass to store more blood sugar. This will reduce insulin resistance and the risk of diabetes.
- Building Higher Muscle mass
You can start building high muscle mass today by trying several exercises that support strength training.
For working your legs, you can try the following exercises:
- Lunges
- Squats
- Leg curls
- Straight leg deadlift
- Leg presses
To work on your upper body, you can try the following exercises:
- Push-ups
- Pull-ups
- Bench presses
- Shoulder press
- Biceps curls
- Dips
- Tricep extensions
You can also try variations of these exercises depending on the equipment you have at your disposal.
Aside from exercise, ensure that you put attention on your lifestyle and nutrition. You can try the keto diet to manage your weight. Eat plenty of high-quality protein, and get at least 7 hours of quality sleep every night.
“Make your body works hard, and your body will reciprocate.”
If you want to get a good fitness plan to build higher muscle mass, you can consult us, and we’d be glad to help you become the best version of yourself, even as you grow older.