The Fountain of Youth
According to the research, an adult over their lifetime, can expect to lose at least 9kg of muscle as they age.
Even worse, it’s replaced with 16kg of body fat!
But the most shocking aspect of this change in body composition is the premature ageing.
For women, muscle loss underlines not only unwanted weight gain, but also the premature on-set of menopause and osteoporosis.
Muscle is the primary site of carbohydrate and fat metabolism. Therefore ageing related muscle loss also underlines Type-2 diabetes and heart disease.
Women particularly lose too much muscle too early in their lives. This is a key trigger that sends women into perimenopause and all the conditions that rob us of our youth and vitality.
Clearly, when a woman focuses her exercise program on building muscle, she has the Fountain of Youth at her finger tips.
Exercise that builds muscle is more than just moving weight or moving your body.
Exercise that builds muscle often means learning and developing skills
- How to put your body and joints in the correct positions to promote safe, effective overload.
- How to improve your range of motion with a given load– which is far more important and beneficial than adding more weight.
- How to maintain the best posture to recruit the muscles you’re working.
- How to work around injuries and the ailments we all have with strategic movement modifications and exercise selection.
Lifting barbells and dumbbells correctly is important but equally as important is using other forms of resistance to break plateaus, develop multi-dimensional strength, correct imbalances and reduce risk of injury.
That’s why I love empowering women with these skills and the knowledge in our workshops.
When you learn how to improve your body no matter what age or stage is very exciting! It’s like giving the fountain of youth!
Our workshops are always challenging but fun! Knowing how to stay young, strong and happy with your own body is a wonderful gift.
This weeks take home message...
Build muscle, improve body shape.
At the heart of any improvements in body shape is a change in body composition (more muscle and less body fat). Based on all the information you’ve just read, I’m sure you’d agree that building muscle should be the cornerstone of any fitness program. In fact, every other aspect of fitness program design should be based around building/preserving muscle.
