5 Reasons Why Muscle Building Is Important For All

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ave you ever felt that when you tried standing on one leg, you couldn’t stand up erect for more than a couple of seconds? What is the reason for this? It’s not because you were drunk, it’s not because the floor was not stable, and it’s not because someone shook you…then what caused you to start swaying and give up standing on one leg?

Dear ladies and gentlemen, the reason for not being able to balance on one leg is that your muscles aren’t strong enough to give you the balance you needed!

Some other instances could correlate too, struggling to open a jar of pickles, feeling hard to walk upstairs, unable to lift the toddler, finding it tough to move the sofa while cleaning home…if you are one of the victims to any of these instances, then you need to understand that these limitations are posed by poor muscle strength…

Muscle building as most people think shouldn’t just be confined to bodybuilders and fitness fanatics. Maintaining good muscle mass is one of the important aspects of long-term health, mobility, body balance and strength.

This article will give you the top 5 important aspects of muscle building applicable to all individuals…  

1. MUSCLE MASS HELPS MANAGE BLOOD SUGAR

I know how will respond upon reading this, you must be like what??? Well, I’ll explain how? Our sedentary lifestyle combined with high-carb diets creates an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. In general, muscle weakness starts after the age of 50 and the phenomenon worsens after the age of 65, which aggravates impaired glycemic control in the elderly. If you don’t exercise regularly, more specifically, train with weights, you lose your ability to store carbs.

1. One of the important functions of muscles in metabolic health is to act as a glycogen reservoir, muscles have the ability to store glucose as glycogen.

2. Muscle mass plays a notable role in the improvement of insulin sensitivity, with the help of insulin, the muscle can draw in glucose from the blood, lowering blood sugar levels.

3. Muscles use stored glycogen as fuel every time they move. Moving your muscles acts as a pump, pushing glucose into the muscle where it can be used as fuel instead of circulating in high levels in the blood and leading to insulin spikes.

4. Muscle mass allows you to use carbohydrate calories for what you want (for energy) and not what you want to avoid (storage as fat).

5. Decrease in muscle mass is closely linked to a decline in metabolic functions and glycemic control. Likewise, an increase in muscle mass can be equivalent to the augmentation of the glucose reservoir.

6. Muscle mass act as glycogen reserve every time you top up on carbs which you’ll burn as fuel when you exercise.

7. When you maintain good muscle mass, the majority of the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake occurs in skeletal muscle and an increase in muscle mass contributes to decreasing the secretion of insulin, which is necessary to maintain normal glucose tolerance.

2. HEALTHY MUSCLE MASS IS LINKED TO HEALTHY BONE MASS

Our body is composed of around 650 muscles, which are connected to bones by tough, cord-like tissues called tendons which allow the muscles to pull on bones.

1. Numerous studies indicate that higher lean body mass is related to increased bone mass density.

2. The muscles that surround a joint work together with opposing force that keeps the bones of the joint centered for optimum movement. If muscles become weaker, you will have increased chances of muscle imbalance and joint movement can be limited.

3. Studies indicate that Sarcopenia, which is defined by decreased muscle mass is related to osteoporosis and increased risk of fall and fractures.

4. Higher lean body mass is related to increased bone mass density, especially in postmenopausal women.

5. Muscle mass is connected at load-bearing locations like your core, back and knee joints. Lower skeletal muscle mass leads to a lack of structural balance, joint stability and decreasing weight-lifting capacity.

3. MUSCLE MASS INCREASES METABOLIC RATE

By gaining muscles through strength training, you can increase your body’s energy requirements. This increases the metabolic rate and causes your body to burn more fat.

1. While fat cells store energy, muscle cells in your body use energy.

2. Compared to fat mass, muscle mass has a high which means muscle mass requires more energy to preserve.

3. At rest, every pound of untrained muscles use between 5 and 6 calories per day for the protein breakdown and protein synthesis. Every pound of resistance-trained muscle use approximately 9 calories per day for protein breakdown and repair process. This is because resistance exercise produces tissue microtrauma that requires relatively large energy supplies for muscle modelling.

4. Muscle is denser than fat, this means the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll be able to burn throughout the day.

4. MUSCLE MASS CONTRIBUTES TO BETTER BODY APPEARANCE

Your body needs a balance between fat-free mass and fat mass to function optimally. However, this balance is disrupted in many overweight individuals due to excess body fat. A more balanced body composition makes you look leaner whereas muscle imbalances can lead to an  unbalanced appearance. Whether you are a gentleman or a lady, your physical appearance will improve as you build muscles.

1. If you have more fat mass in your body, you’ll look more rounded, bigger and fatter, but if you have the same amount of muscle mass, you’ll look leaner and more defined. This is because, muscle and fat differ in density, meaning a pound of fat takes up more space than a pound of muscle. Two people of the same height and weight will look different based on their body fat and muscle composition.

2. You’ll make a significant shift in how you look by building good muscle mass. Physical accomplishment can supercharge people’s self-confidence.

3. Skeletal muscle mass can keep the body in the correct position when sitting or standing.

4. Muscle mass adds to physical and mental strength.

5. Good posture relies on strong, flexible muscles. Weak muscles lead to poor posture.

5. MUSCLE MASS LEADS TO FAT LOSS

While you can’t make your brain burn more calories, and you can’t make the organs in your torso burn more calories, muscle is the major determinant calorie burn in the body.

1. Although muscle don’t directly burn fat, the more muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate. (number of calories you burn when your body is at rest)

2. Muscles utilize fat stores as fuel, so the more you work on building lean muscle in your body, the more fat you will burn.

3. A pound of fat and a pound of muscle weigh exactly the same. But volume of muscle is denser and more compact, hence takes up less space under the skin, but fat takes more space.

It is of immense importance that you all have a plan for building muscles…resistance training at least 3 times a week in conjunction with a high protein diet is a great way to build lean muscle…

Muscle strength builds up coordination, so you’ll catch yourself rather than crashing and getting hurt…                                                                                                       

Also read: Do You Gain Weight If You Consume Whey Without Doing Workout 

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