Muscle Serves These Two Functions

When you think of muscle, what comes to mind?

Most think of muscle in two ways - aesthetics and function. But muscle serves an absolutely critical, often overlooked, and always underrated function - metabolism.

We've been watching a fascinating documentary series called Limitless, starring Chris Hemsworth. It's all about longevity and optimizing healthspan. Well worth your time!

I'll admit that I'd love to look like Hemsworth. What dude wouldn't?! Bro is jacked and chiseled. Lotsa muscle. And I envy the athleticism and strength he derives from that muscle.

Aesthetics and function.

All that muscle also makes Chris exceptionally metabolically healthy. He is probably as far from Type-2 Diabetes as it's possible to be.

In a healthy body, muscle is our largest well of stored energy - in the form of glycogen, which is stored glucose (blood sugar).

It is also the site of most of our energy production - where we convert the chemical energy we derive from food into mechanical energy that we use to move and live.

It can sometimes help to think of our health through a muscle-centric lens. The healthier our muscles are and the more efficiently they function, the healthier we will be overall.

So, what do we need to develop healthy muscle? Two things...

Resistance and protein.

Resistance - those muscles need to contract against an opposing force, like when our glutes shorten to extend our hips as we lift a barbell off the floor in a deadlift.

Protein - the essential building block of most of the structures in our bodies, especially muscle. You see, we turn over all protein continuously. Some, like insulin, last only a few minutes. Others, like myosin (muscle fibers), last for days. Collagen last months. Regardless of their duration, there is a constant demand for replenishment

OK, whether or not we'll ever have muscles like Chris Hemsworth, we all want to look great, stay strong and capable, and enjoy exceptional health. Am I right?? So, to make our muscle as healthy as possible, we need regular strength training and ample protein consumption.

We'll expand on what "ample protein consumption" means in our Healthspan Secrets webinar later this evening - January 12th, at 5:30 pm EST. Click here to register.

Because we really want to get our message out to more awesome people like you, please share this with your friends and relations and encourage them to tune in. I promise to keep it brief and basic - about 20 min of me talking and the remaining 10 min for your questions.

Hope to see you there!

Work it. Live it. Keep it

MidStrong is for life.