Healthy Muscle Matters

Healthy Muscle Matters!

As you start, and progress, on your strength training adventure with Amy and Erin, your muscles will be engaging with the resistance and challenge that the sessions bring; the aim being to develop the tone and robustness that they were designed for. To assist your muscles to keep optimum health, here are some practical guidelines to adopt in your routine.

• Warm up and cool down – at the beginning and following every strength session you will be encouraged to prepare your muscles for work and then release them from the extra demands the session places on them. These easy exercises are designed to reduce any potential for strain and injury.
• A well-balanced diet - you’ve heard the saying ‘you are what you eat’, and there is a measure of true in that when it comes to extra tasks you give your body. Energy use needs fuel, and for muscles, extra protein is essential for building up muscle mass and for repairing any damage.  There are many resources that give good advice about a healthy food approach.  As you make changes to your food plan, you will feel the benefit.
• Adequate Hydration – Our body comprises of approximately 50-75% water at any given time. Water is essential to ALL its functions, but we have no storage capacity within. Therefore we need to drink regularly to maintain an optimum level.  During exercise and repair of muscles, this is particularly important and you will hear regular encouragement for this during the strength training sessions
• Good Breathing – we need a rhythmic oxygen supply to the body for the production of energy for all it does, including the removal of the waste products, some of which is released into the lungs. Good breathing habits are required for this. You’ll be surprised how often we hold our breath throughout the day, and particularly during exercise and stress.  Giving attention to your breathing and changing some of these habits can be hugely beneficial to our overall health.
• Restful Sleep – you’ll be surprised how much work goes on in your body in the course of a night’s sleep. During a training session, your muscles have been challenged to resist a force of weight that will have caused microscopic tears, and it’s this kind of resistance that encourages the muscle to grow.  Much of the repair and growth of muscle mass happens during sleep.  Developing good sleep habits is part of the routine for increasing your strength and balance.
• Hormone Balance – your muscle mass is regulated by hormones so it is important that these are monitored and balanced where possible. As we age, we rely on the body to regulate our hormones accordingly. The menopause season can be particularly challenging. Sometimes this process needs assistance. A consult with your GP can be part of determining your personal needs in this area.
• Value movement – research has shown that a sedentary lifestyle can cause a decline in health, a wasting of muscle mass, and reduction in bone density, which affects balance and physical confidence. However, the good news is that an active lifestyle can reduce and, in some cases, reverse decline.
• Motivation – This is ‘where the rubber hits the road’, as the saying goes, but the starting point, surprisingly, is not waiting for the feeling of motivation to overwhelm us with enthusiasm. We will never get started with that approach because our feelings are so fickle. Momentum builds after we decide to go on a particular pathway that we deem is important to us, and begin.  The seed of motivation takes root as we persevere on that journey, and recognise the benefits. The rewards come accordingly, and, of course, we can always add some extra treats into the mix for reinforcement and pure pleasure!

Healthy muscles matter!  Look after them and they will reward you with improved body functioning, posture control, better balance and greater strength. So let’s keep going together!  I’ll address some of these topics in greater detail in my blogs as we move forward.

Go well, everyone!

Lesley