Bigger is better. At least it is when it comes to your muscles.



I’m not referring to how muscle looks. That would be an opinion. I’m referring to how it functions to create a strong, healthy, vigorous body. Unfortunately, the way most fitness influencers and personal trainers promote themselves, you’d think building muscles is only about aesthetics. I don’t want you to fall into that trap, because your level of muscle mass determines so much more than how you might look.



Building muscle for as long as you can, and doing what’s necessary to maintain it in the years that follow, can have a significant effect on your quality and quantity of life. In the average person, physical performance peaks in their 20s to 30s, after which they slowly lose muscle, strength, and physical performance.Keller K, Engelhardt M. Strength and muscle mass loss with aging process. Age and strength loss. Muscles Ligaments Tendons J. 2014 Feb 24;3(4):346-50. PMID: 24596700; PMCID: PMC3940510. After age 50, muscle mass and strength decline more rapidly, with strength decreasing as much as 15% per decade. Your level of muscle mass will be a bigger factor in longevity than your level of body fat. Without enough muscle, you’ll likely succumb to disease faster and die younger.



Your Quality-of-Life Savings Account



Have you ever had a family member experience a significant illness like heart disease, cancer, or even a severe case of COVID or the flu? Chances are, their disease or illness caused rapid muscle loss. What about an injury where a limb was immobilized, or they were forced into bed rest for a while? What happened? They lost muscle and maybe gained fat. Has something like that happened to you? If not, it will. It’s part of living.



At 46 years old, I’ve experienced and come back from:




Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (Cancer)



Appendicitis and an appendectomy



Left Achilles’ tendon rupture and surgical reattachment



Left biceps tendon rupture and surgical reattachment (6 years later)



Fractured C6 & C7 vertebrae with a severe spinal cord injury which led to emergency anterior cervical discectomy and fusion




Illness and injuries are inevitable. You can live in fear, hiding in your home, wearing masks wherever you go, or avoiding any activity that might cause you to slip, fall, or crash. You might reduce your risk of physical illness or injury, but you'll end up mentally ill. Or, you can accept that life poses risk, and be as well prepared as possible to bounce back from injury or illness when it happens to you.



Preparation requires a bank of amino acids to draw from because recovery from injury and illness burns through amino acids as a California wildfire burns through trees. You can, and should, eat a high-protein diet, which provides dietary sources of amino acids, but you often end up drawing from the amino acids stored in muscle protein. The more muscle you have when you get sick or hurt, the more you can afford to lose without compromising your long-term health. In this way, your muscle tissue acts like an emergency savings account.



In addition, you’ll eventually reach an age where sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss, becomes a reality. At that time, you’ll be able to slow the process with good lifestyle and nutrition choices, but you’ll still lose muscle at an accelerated rate. The more you have when that process begins, the longer you’ll be able to continue doing the things you love to do before becoming too weak and fragile to do them. In this way, muscle mass acts like a retirement account.




The stressed state, such as that associated with sepsis, advanced cancer, and traumatic injury, imposes greater demands for amino acids from muscle protein breakdown than does fasting.
The underappreciated role of muscle in health and diseaseWolfe RR. The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Sep;84(3):475-82. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/84.3.475. PMID: 16960159.