7 Reasons Why Every Woman Should Be Building Muscle

Nothing gives you more bang for the buck on your journey to better long-term health than muscle building. Easy start. Virtually no downside.

7 Reasons Why Women Should Be Building Muscle

There is NO SINGLE BETTER WAY to temper and even reverse the natural effects of aging and ensure better long-term health and longevity than building muscle.

Sure, there are other preventative health measures out there.

Of course no one lives a risk-free life.

But nothing gives you more bang for the buck to optimize your long-term health than muscle building. It is so easy to get started and there's no downside, so why wouldn't you?

7 Reasons Why Strength Training is An Absolute No-Brainer

Building muscle can do it all:

Improve mental function and reduce your long-term risk of severe cognitive impairment
Increase and maintain your independence
Reduce your risk of illness and developing age-related health disorders
Reduce your risk of injury
Improve your mood
Increase your bone density/mitigate age-related bone loss

AND BEST OF ALL

You'll feel and look GREAT, but you WON'T LOOK BULKY! (Well, not unless you WANT to look bulky).

I'll be going through each point individually at length in future blog posts, but let's look at the reality:

The Statistics Don't Lie

According the the CDC, the leading causes of Death in 65+ year old adults were:

Heart Disease
Cancer
Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases
Stroke
Alzheimer's Disease
Diabetes
Unintentional Injuries - primarily falls, which in the majority of cases are preventable

Natural effects of aging, your genes and lifestyle will affect differently.

Let's go over what normally happens when women age.

Mental Function

As we age our natural levels of estrogen decrease. This can have a snowball effect on many areas of health. Decreases in estrogen can lead to

forgetfulness/memory loss
higher risk of developing age-related cognitive impairment diseases including Alzheimer's
sleep difficulties
slowdown in metabolism leading to weight gain
mood disorders

All these factors take their toll on mental function. Even if some are not preventable, they can and should be mitigated at every opportunity.

Loss of Independence

A common fear among those approaching mid-life and beyond is a loss of independence. Indeed, the aging body will start losing bone and muscle mass/strength (sarcopenia) in its 30s. This can lead to:

difficulties with balance
greater risk of fractures from falls
weakened bladder muscles
movement limitations
chronic pain
difficulty carrying out the daily activities of life

These, together with any loss of mental function will impact your level or independence.

Age-related Illnesses

We already know estrogen decline can lead to poorer cognitive health, weakened bone, weight gain and a loss in mobility. This in turn can increase your risk for these age-related diseases:

diabetes
high cholesterol
high blood pressure
heart disease
chronic respiratory diseases

Risk of Injury

As we've seen above, preventable falls are the 7th highest cause of death in those aged 65 and above and are the most direct result of the effects of aging on the body.

Mood Disorders

A significant proportion of older people have a mood or anxiety disorder. Even in the absence of a clinical diagnosis or obvious symptoms of a mood disorder, as we age our mood can be adversely affected. This can be caused by, and negatively impact mobility, pain and general health.

Loss of Bone Density

In women, bone loss starts at age 30-35 at a rate of 0.75% - 1.00% per year until menopause. From menopause until about 5 years after menopause, the rate of bone loss increases to between 2.00% and 3.00% per year. After that, the rate is approximately 1% per year. So, by the time they turn 80, women can potentially lose, upwards of 50% of their peak bone mass! Think about how this factors into injury risk and fear of falling (anxiety).

CONCLUSION

If you want to see more on the direct links between strength and longevity, please refer to my blog post Get Stronger, Live Longer.

I'm sure you will be as amazed as I was at how more movement, particularly strength training can stall or in some cases reverse the above mentioned risk factors.

Since they are interrelated, when you focus on one you get a domino effect across the board!

I am so excited to share this with you! Easy start, virtually no downside. What are you waiting for?

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Still confused or overwhelmed?

1) Download my Easy Start Exercise Guide

Want to plunge right in? Download my free guide where you will learn a do-it-yourself method anyone can use to build their own easy yet realistic exercise routines with NO EQUIPMENT, NO GYM MEMBERSHIPS OR FANCY CLOTHING REQUIRED.

2) Book a call with me and let's create a plan to get your health and fitness on track together.

Categories: Move