Often when we think about building muscle, our immediate association is of increasing strength or improving our physique.

Whilst both of these are true, and are fantastic reasons to start resistance exercise, what you may not know is that there are a number of often overlooked health benefits to an increase muscle mass which we will discuss below.

So before we delve into the benefits, I’ll start with a quick overview of muscle structure and growth.

The muscles in your body are formed of proteins. These proteins are formed of chains of amino acids, which are in a constant state of change from muscle protein breakdown (MPB) to muscle protein synthesis (MPS). This constant flux is designed to maintain the muscles by repairing damage that may have occurred during the activities you have performed on any given day.

We can cause the muscle to grow by stimulating them (resistance exercise) and feeding them (adequate protein in the diet), thus we cause more MPS then MPB and aggregate muscle. This increase in muscle size then allows us to generate more force from a muscle and move heavier weights.

But what other benefits could this increased muscle mass have for you?

Acute illness

During any acute illness the body enters a state of stress where the body is mobilised to repair any damage or fight off infection.During this time there is an increased demand of amino acids, which is resolved by turning to the body’s reservoirs of amino acids that lie in the muscle mass. Patients with higher amounts of muscle have shown an increased likelihood to recover from acute illness; and have a quicker rate of rehabilitation.

Whilst on the other hand patients with less muscle; have a lower recovery rate and a longer recovery time. It is for this reason that some research has shown that in women over 65, 50% make don’t make a full recovery from a fall which has resulted in a break and never walk again.

Sarcopenia

Muscle sarcopenia is the progressive loss of muscle mass typically associated with the ageing process. It is an increasing problem in the United Kingdom as we have an ageing population. It can lead to a loss of ability to perform your normal daily activities, and ultimately has been shown to correlate with an increase of all cause mortality. As a general rule you begin to lose muscle mass at the age of 45 at a rate 0.5% per year with this accelerating to 3% and greater once you are over the age of 60.

But the good new is that these effects can be attenuated, through regular resistance exercise and nutritional practices. If you are new to training and are older, it’s safe to start, and there is nothing to fear as it has been shown with the correctly organised training and nutrition you can still increase your quantity of muscle.

Sustaining muscle mass helps to maintain a high quality of life as you age.

Obesity

As I’m sure you will all be aware, obesity comes as a result of a calorie surplus; simply put, more calories consumed then expended; which over time results in an increased quantity of body fat. At this stage you may be asking what muscle mass has to do with this.

Hopefully this next section will shed some light on that.

We all have a resting metabolic rate, this is the energy that we use to simply exist; it’s the energy we require to perform all of our bodily functions that occur without any conscious thought. One of the largest contributors to this resting metabolic rate is the quantity of muscle mass we have; so let’s take a look at an example of what extra muscle can do for you.

By increasing your muscle mass by 10kg you will increase your energy expenditure by approximately 100 calories a day which may not sound like a lot for a single day, but over the course of a year it’s worth the equivalent of 4.7kg of fat.

Now an increase of 10kg is a significant one, but this highlights the long term benefits of having more muscle; it will help you expending energy without even thinking about it.

This is why the main focus of the majority of personal training sessions revolve around resistance exercise, and muscle hypertrophy.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is reduced bone density that make bones more brittle, and thus more likely to be damaged or broken. The risk of osteoporosis increases with age; but gender is another significant risk factor, with women being more likely to suffer from osteoporosis as a result of menopause. Also during breast feeding bone mass density is reduced, but this typically will return to normal by 6 months post breast feeding. Interestingly there appears to be a correlation between breast feeding and long term bone density; with longer periods of breast feeding typically associated with higher density.

This risk can be significantly offset by the use of resistance exercise and the development of muscle. Resistance exercise applies a load to the bone which encourages the body to lay more bone tissue down and increase the bone strength.

Another significant factor is also muscle mass and strength, as with every contraction of the muscle a force is applied to the bone, this application of force to the bone acts to stimulate the body into increasing bone repair and improving bone density.

The improved density of bones can significantly reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis.

So to summarise increased muscle can:

  • Improve your ability to survive and recover from acute illness.
  • Reduce your risk of sarcopenia.
  • Increase your resting metabolic rate that can help reduce body fat storage.
  • Increase bone density and thus reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

We can see there are a plethora of benefits of maintaining or increasing your quantity of muscle.

So yes, it will improve your physique which is the main goal for most people as they step foot in a gym; but the long term benefits to your health are an often missed benefit.