Why Muscles Are A Must!

 

“I don’t want muscle!” On hearing these words, one would conclude “How typical of a woman!!”
But here’s the anomaly. Even the majority of men I see in my counselling sessions “don’t want muscles”.
Muscles work so quietly that people are unaware of their crucial importance. They have been taken for granted. In reality, muscles are a gift bestowed on humans. Whether man or woman – you cannot Not want muscle! Nature has ensured that muscles have a responsible role to perform – a set of functions which no other tissue in the body is capable of. Muscles therefore need to be respected and appreciated.
Blood, essential for life, transports oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. Muscular walls of blood vessels make this happen. Because of our muscles’ ability to contract, they turn energy into motion. Moving around, sitting, standing, frowning, smiling – all of this is possible because your muscles are at work!
Communicating with another person through the activity of talking would not be possible without contractions of muscles of the mouth, tongue and throat. Production of heat in the body is a complex process involving liver, brain, brown adipose tissue and contraction of muscle.

Little known is the immense contribution of muscle in good health and disease prevention. The American Society of Clinical Nutrition in its journal has cited various studies conducted on role of muscle in health and disease. Critical illnesses like cancer, sepsis or burns, impose great demand for amino acids from muscle protein breakdown. Chronic illnesses like heart disease and cancer are associated with rapid and extensive loss of muscle mass, strength and cachexia (loss of muscle, fat and weight which cannot be regained through best of nutrition). This ultimately lowers chances of survival. Therefore, patients with higher quantum of muscle had greater chances of survival and recovery. Conversely individuals with poor or limited reserves of muscle mass respond poorly to this kind of immense stress.
Presence of muscle mass has been correlated positively with bone mineral content and bone mineral density. Subjects with least muscle mass had increased risks of falls presumably in part due to decrease in muscle strength. Maintaining and increasing our muscle mass as we age becomes all the more significant.
Insulin Resistance (IR) is a physiological condition in which cells fail to respond to the normal actions of the hormone insulin (maintain appropriate levels of blood glucose). As a result, higher level of insulin is needed in order for insulin to have proper effects. Insulin Resistance is a risk factor to developing Type 2 Diabetes. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found a correlation between muscle mass and Insulin Resistance. Higher the levels of muscle mass, lower are the levels of Insulin Resistance. Scientists have discovered that for each 10% increase in the skeletal muscle index, there was a corresponding 11% reduction in Insulin Resistance and a 12% decrease in pre-diabetes.

Almost everyone who is in an exercise program has an eye on the weighing scale and wills it to move anti-clockwise. Instead of being obsessed with body weight, it makes better sense to work on body composition – improve muscle mass in addition to changes in fat. In the words of Dr. Daniel Rubin, Asst. Professor, Medicine, “Extra fat has bad effects, but more muscle has good effects.”
We are gifted with the ability to build muscles and make them bigger and stronger. This can be achieved optimally through weight training and a well-planned nutrition program. We do not have a guarantee card against critical and chronic illness and they may come without a warning. Building adequate reserves of muscle today may well be the best way to safeguard ourselves!