Foutain of Youth Revealed

Bodybuilding Might Be The Solution To An Incredible Physique & A Long Life!

Most people that are not familiar with bodybuilding associate the pursuit of building big muscles with vanity and narcissism. However, in the near future, that’s going to change. An overwhelming amount of scientific research now suggests that building muscle is probably the healthiest pastime a person can dedicate time to.

In fact, I’ve examined enough data to conclude (to myself at least) that bodybuilding may be the best kept secret fountain of youth!

In this article I’ll put my research-based case forward, then you can make up your own mind.

One very important reason I believe that building muscle is the key to keeping your body young is that muscle mass (the amount of muscle a person has) actually appears to control your body’s natural aging process. Muscle has such an important impact on many key regulators of our physiology such as endocrine (hormone) function, carbohydrate and fat (lipid) metabolism as well as whole body protein metabolism. However, as adults, with every passing decade on this planet, we lose the capacity to maintain our muscle mass. This rate of decline with age is thought to be fairly consistent; approximately 1–2% per year for most adults! However, when adults reach 50 years of age, this response accelerates.¹ This age-related steady but aggressive loss of muscle mass not only accelerates the aging process, it underlies a host of conditions that we usually associate with getting old.

Strength

Everyone knows that as we get older, we tend to lose strength. This is thought to be due to not only a loss of muscle mass but also quality of muscle. Yes, the quality of the protein within our muscle changes with age and these changes alter our ability to exert maximum force. (In an attempt to offset this, I firmly believe in providing the body with the highest quality dietary proteins possible). While studies show a clear relationship between the loss of muscle and diminished strength, ^2-5 this rate of decline in muscle strength isn’t a gradual process, it actually accelerates.

For example, longitudinal studies (studies spanning 10-12 years on the same individuals) show that the decline in leg muscle strength can be 60% greater than estimates from a cross-sectional (population) studies.³ Remember, I’m talking about people that do no exercise, particularly weight training exercise. How much weight training can off-set this age-related response has not been examined. However, it’s crystal clear that without training not only do we lose strength, we lose it at an ever increasing rate until we’re incapacitated.

Metabolsim

Aside from this loss of strength, an age-related decline in muscle mass is associated with changes in body composition that carry severe metabolic consequences. As our muscle mass diminishes with age this is accompanied by a substantial increase in body fat. Again, the research clearly shows us that the average adult can expect to gain approximately 1 pound (0.45kg) of fat every year between ages 30 to 60, and lose about a half pound of muscle over that same time span; a change that is equivalent to a 15 pound (6.8kg) loss of muscle and a 30 pound (13.6kg) gain in fat!^6-9

These age-related changes in body composition have metabolic repercussions. By virtue of its mass and mitochondrial content, muscle is the largest site of lipid oxidation (fat utilization).^11,12 This means that muscle not only plays an integral role in burning fat for fuel, it also maintains healthy blood lipid profiles (lipoproteins and triglycerides) that prevent cardiovascular disease.¹³ When we lose muscle mass, our bodies lose the capacity to metabolize fats correctly. In turn this alters our blood lipid profiles predisposing us to a greater risk of heart and cardiovascular disease.

That’s right, building muscle will actually alter your blood fat profiles to help protect against heart disease.

the average adult can expect to gain approximately 1 pound of fat every year between ages 30 to 60, and lose about a half pound of muscle over that same time span. That’s a 15 pound loss of muscle and a 30 pound gain in fat!

Muscle is also the primary site of carbohydrate metabolism. In response to a meal, when nutrients such as fats and glucose hit the blood stream, the amount (and condition) of your muscle will determine exactly where these nutrients go – either to be burnt for fuel (in muscle) or stored as energy (body fat).¹⁴ Type-2 diabetes is now a common hall mark of aging and it basically develops due to these large changes in body composition. The scary thing is that type-2 diabetes is now commonly diagnosed in people in their 40’s and 30’s.

We know that exercise promotes glucose sensitivity in muscles which is vital to healthy blood sugar control and staying lean.¹⁵ Whereas losing muscle mass will impair the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, building muscle (with the right diet and exercise) promotes healthy blood sugar control and a lean, mean physique. It can also control or even reverse type-2 diabetes.¹⁴

Its ability to metabolize fats and carbs means that muscle is the major site of ATP turnover and the potential to consume energy. This also means that muscle is the primary site of thermogenesis¹⁶ and therefore, the prime determinant of basal metabolic rate (resting metabolism), which for most of us is the largest single contributor to daily energy expenditure.¹⁰ The bottom line is that our muscle mass not only controls the type and quantity of fuel we burn every day, it governs how much body fat we gain with age. This in turn determines the risk of developing two of the biggest killers of adults in the United states, heart disease and type-II diabetes.

Remember, in most adults, these detrimental changes in body composition start in our 20’s and 30’s but obviously don’t become apparent until we hit our 50’s or 60’s.

Besides the profound effects on strength and metabolism, muscle is the main reservoir and synthesis site of amino acids that are constantly exported to meet an array of physiological demands. The classic example of this is glutamine, the essential fuel that powers all aspects of immune function and cell replication.^{17,18, 19}

Muscle must produce (synthesize) this fuel 24:7 or our bodies would literally shut down. This is why the preservation of muscle mass is critically important to populations living with conditions such as HIV, various forms of cancer and intestinal conditions such as Crohn’s and Colitis. Although clinically unrelated, all of these conditions promote cachexia; muscle wasting that manifests from a chroinc inflammatory response.

That means the immune response causes a dramatic tax on muscle to supply glutamine and other key amino acids in an attempt to provide the chemical energy that is required to combat the condition. Unfortunately, demand exceeds supply and a dramatic loss of muscle is the result. A decline in muscle mass signals a progression in the illness but also underlines mortality. Despite significant advances in the medication strategies used to combat these illnesses, cachexia is still a major problem that has not been resolved.

Hormones

Most bodybuilders know that anabolic hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) are integral in the regulation of muscle growth and therefore, play an important role in the hypertrophy response to weight training. However, what most people don’t know is that blood concentrations of these anabolic hormones diminish with age and this appears to underline an age-related decline in muscle mass and gain in body fat.²⁰

The good news is that intense weight training is a potent trigger for the release of all the anabolic hormones. Regular bodybuilding training helps to keep natural anabolic hormone production at its peak. The anabolic hormones regulate many aspects of physiology that may slow the aging process. Therefore bodybuilding actually promotes healthy anabolic hormone function that not only provides muscle mass gains but also a powerful anti-aging effect!

How much is enough?

How much muscle is enough to promote optimum health and keep the perils of aging at bay? Scientists don’t really know. Some researchers believe that an age-related loss of muscle mass and strength can be reversed (at least to some extent) with the right approach to diet and exercise. Others recommend that tomorrows older adults (that’s us), should be concerned with building a greater “starting reserve capacity” of muscle mass today to ensure they avoid the unknown threshold that accelerated aging and the onset of conditions that compromise health.^3,4,5

Incidentally, do you know that the direct health-care costs attributable to muscle loss each year in the United States is around $18.5 billion. Yeah, that’s billion dollars – every year.

Have a great day and God bless!