Most professionals don’t have plenty of time to exercise. However, it turns out having more muscle mass affords a host of ancillary benefits that can radically improve anyone’s life.
Protection from Stress
Strong muscles help your body purge a harmful protein associated with stress-induced depression. That is according to a recent study conducted on mice at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, which found that conditioned muscles adapted to exercise express enzymes that detoxify a substance called kynurenine, a byproduct of stress and inflammation.
Slow the Aging Process
Prevention’s Ginny Graves recently described how metabolically active muscle –the kind that’s lean and packed full of the metabolism-boosting mitochondria within your cells– affects everything from your weight to your energy to your risk of becoming sick.
Sit around in front of a computer all day, shun the gym and watch TV every night and the number of mitochondria in your muscles drops. The good news: You can increase your mitochondria via aerobic activity.
“As your muscles demand energy, the mitos themselves, along with enzymes in the tissue, switch on genes that start transcribing mitochondrial DNA,” she writes. “The more you stick with it, the more you make, and the more efficient your muscles become at burning fat and providing energy.”
See: 3 signs of health problems that could be made worse by the work you do!
Higher Metabolism
Older people –even if they eat and workout the same amount as younger people– burn fewer calories. Luckily, staying active and maintaining your muscle mass slows this slowdown.
“Muscle is active tissue, and similar to the way an eight-cylinder car burns more gas at idle than a four-cylinder car, having more muscle mass burns additional calories even when you are at rest,” writes Dr. Ed Blonz for the San Jose Mercury News. Of course, a higher metabolism means you will carry around less weight.
Better Posture
Sitting and standing with good posture makes you look more confident, and everyone knows confident people are more successful than their diffident counterparts. Strengthening your core muscles –which include abs, back and hips– helps stabilise your spine and keep it aligned.
According to Canyon Ranch, a weak core can lead to not only slouching but a slew of health problems such as neck and shoulder tension, lower back pain, digestion and breathing problems, as well as fatigue and headaches.
More Opportunities
Strong, toned people are more attractive and like it or not society rewards better-looking people with more opportunities.
No Gym Required
Too many people think putting on muscle means living at the gym, which isn’t true. Just find a few favourite moves you can squeeze into your day, such as pushups for your arms, the plank position for your core and squats for your legs and butt.
And no, you are not too busy.
See also: Prioritising Health during Productive Ages
Source: Inc
