You workout, eat right, and are shedding body fat.  But, did you know that muscle means much more than a great figure?

An article from MSN.com reveals that muscle mass is not just aesthetically pretty, but it is essentially "the body's armor against several age-related diseases as well as heart problems, diabetes, and even cancer."

Because of the natural progression of our bodies, we may see up to one pound of muscle loss each year due to sarcopenia.  This muscle wasting actually starts in the mid-twenties and progresses to greater levels as you age and,oftentimes, it is replaced with multiple layers of fat.

Recent research shows that diminished muscle strength and mass are empirically linked to declines in the immune system and the onset of heart disease and diabetes, not to mention weaker bones, stiffer joints, and slumping postures. Muscle mass has also been shown to play a central role in protein metabolism, which is particularly important in the response to stress, and decreased muscle mass correlates with a decline in overall metabolic rate (muscle mass burns more calories at rest than fat does). Further research is expected to show measurable links between diminished muscle mass and cancer mortality. The thinking about muscles and resistance training, in short, is reaching critical mass, and a major shift in the American fitness paradigm is under way. Along with this increasing emphasis on resistance training, there is an increasing awareness about the nutritional factors that can complement muscle growth, namely increasing daily intake of protein.

My how times have changed:

"In the last 20 years, we have come full circle," says Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, PhD, a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. "We used to discourage older adults from lifting heavy weights. Now we're telling them they can't maintain overall health without it. After age 50, you can't get by just doing aerobic exercise." Although it's not explicit yet in the government's overall health guidelines, agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommend a couple of rounds of resistance training a week. "Muscle function can improve — sometimes robustly — with resistance training, even after the onset of sarcopenia," says Robert Wolfe, PhD, a professor of geriatrics at the University of Arkansas. "But it is far more effective to begin resistance training before the process gains momentum. Intervention in the middle years is necessary."

Be certain you are making every repetition count toward your goal.  Your investment of an expert personal trainer is of utmost value to learn proper exercise technique, program design, and nutritional requirements.

The premise of all strength training is the concept of overload and recovery. Muscle fibers are made up of long strands of protein, and overloading the muscles to the point of failure during weight training causes microtears in myofibrils, the tiny proteins that force the muscle cells to contract. This activates satellite cells located on the outside of the muscle fibers to accumulate at the point where the damage occurs (much in the way that white blood cells gather at the site of skin lacerations). In effect, resistance training triggers an alarm that the muscle is falling apart, and the substance the body uses to fix it — the glue, as it were — is protein.

My thorough knowledge and extensive experience will have you burning body fat and gaining lean muscle from day one.  Contact me today for your free consultation because your chronological age may be fixed, but your true age may be slowed down and even reversed with the addition and maintenance of muscle tissue. 

"A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step."  Confucius