The Relationship Between Muscle Gain and Weight Loss, Plus Five Additional Health Benefits of Strength Training

Many of our female clients were reluctant to start a strength training program for fear that they would gain weight and look to masculine.  It is a common misconception that muscle weighs more than fat.  It’s really a matter of density.  They take up different amounts of space in our bodies.  A pound of fat takes up five times more space on our bodies than a pound of muscle.  This means you can gain a pound of muscle and lose a pound of fat, keep your weight the same, but shrink in size and get that toned look.  Sound good? 

Here are FIVE other major health benefits of increasing muscle mass in our bodies: 

1. Muscle burns more calories 24/7.  Muscle is anabolic and demands energy just sitting on your frame, even when you are sleeping.  Every pound of muscle you add will burn 50-70 calories more per day.
2. Strength training can reduce your risk of diabetes and heart disease.  Visceral fat, fat that surrounds your vital organs, has been linked to serious health problems such as diabetes and heart disease.  Exercise lowers inflammation and a weapon to fight visceral fat.
3. Strength training is one of the best ways to fight osteoporosis.  As we age, our bones get brittle and less dense, especially if you are inactive.  When you engage in strength training you put more tension on your muscles, which in turn puts more pressure on your bones making them stronger.  This is a much better remedy than drugs.
4. Strength training allows us to sculpt our physique.  Body sculpting is not possible with cardio only.
5. Strength training will achieve a number of beneficial changes on the molecular, enzymatic, and chemical level to slow down or stop metabolic syndrome, insulin sensitivity/resistance, and auto immune disease.

Optimum health is dependent on an ACTIVE LIFESTYLE; eating fresh, whole foods, avoiding process foods as much as possible and addressing the stress in our lives.  I always recommend that as our clients get older, they MUST increase the percentage of strength training in their total exercise program.

Till next time.