MUSCLE QUALITY: IMPROVING IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

WHAT DO WE WANT FROM EXERCISE?

For many years the idea of exercise has been shaped around the notion that if we just “get moving” we can burn calories, improve cardiovascular health and tone muscles. The prescription has been the same for decades: eat less, move more, exercise for at least 45/60 minutes 4-7 days a week. There’s just one problem, it doesn’t work!!

If you gauge the effectiveness of these recommendations by seeing that people exercise more than ever before, our nation’s obsession with dieting is greater than ever before, 2.6 billion dollars per year is spent by Americans on gym memberships and personal training, and more people than ever before have gym memberships yet don’t have the time or motivation it takes to fulfill these requirements; the bottom line remains: obesity, type II diabetes, and inflammatory related conditions, all threaten not only our individual health, but also threaten to bankrupt our entire country!

INSANITY IS DEFINED AS: DOING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND EXPECTING A DIFFERENT RESULT

The prevailing sentiment with exercise remains the same. While every other industry in our country has seen improvement with regards to effectiveness and efficiency, exercise and dietary recommendations have continued to be ineffective and inefficient for over 40 years! Since The Exercise Coach®’s inception 16 years ago, there has finally been a different, and evolutionary approach to exercise /fat loss and health improvements – all centered on the most critical goal in improving the things that matter most to us: MUSCLE QUALITY. If we take the approach that maybe “calories in / calories out” isn’t the solution and look how muscle quality can improve our quality of life and decrease inflammation in our body, we open ourselves up to a new horizon for more effective and efficient physical wellness.

MUSCULAR STRENGTH, ABOVE ALL ELSE, HAS THE GREATEST IMPACT ON THE LONGEVITY OF LIFE (BIOMARKERS)

Muscles have been called the windows to every system of the body. If we start with this premise we can see how transformative whole effort exercise (exercise which delivers immediate effects as well as longer term benefits that force the body to make positive adaptations) can be so meaningful.

AS MUSCLE QUALITY IMPROVES SO IMPROVES:

Neurological activity and motor unit recruitment (the greater the ability to recruit muscle fibers). This means we can use more muscle fibers which in turn leads to greater capacity for increased muscular growth (density/quality), and a greater ability to improve glucose metabolism.
Our body’s ability to lose fat and reduce the risk of obesity and type II diabetes by improving glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity.
Cardiovascular function and oxygen uptake in the body. This enhancement leads to lower blood pressure and takes stress off the heart. This also eases the burden of the lungs to ensure oxygen is delivered in the body.
Our skeletal system because demanding greater load on our muscles leads to stronger tendons and stronger bones
Our gastrointestinal tract and its ability to digest food and filter out the nutrition while helping the waste exit our bodies
Our endocrine system and its ability to properly balance the production and release of anabolic and catabolic hormones (stress, cortisol, HGH and its impact on the thyroid).
Our body’s ability to deal with inflammation and the host of chronic disease that begins with cellular inflammation.
Our body’s ability to actually slow down and in some cases reverse the aging process as well as keep us living a fully functional life.

As we progress through this series on Muscle Quality, and how it can change your life and impact each system above, we will also examine nutrition’s key role in amplifying or nullifying the effects, as well as the synergistic effect the two have in protecting and promoting wellness.

Read the rest of this series:

Muscle Quality: Improving It Will Change Your Life

Muscle Quality and the Neurological System: Part 1

Muscle Quality and the Neurological System: Part 2

Muscle Quality and Fat Loss

Muscle Quality and “Cardio”

Muscle Quality and Cardiovascular Health

The Downside to prolonged “Cardio”

Muscle Quality and Osteoporosis

How to Combat Osteoporosis through Strength Training

Muscle Quality and Gastrointestinal Health

Muscle Quality and Inflammation