Many females struggle with the thought of gaining muscle, thinking that just one workout with Deadlifts, Squats, Pressing & Pulling with leave them looking like a female Schwarzenegger.
What they don’t realise is that to look like this takes years of dedication, highly focussed and precision nutrition, perfect genes, hours upon hours in the gym and to top it off, a cabinet of supplements and drugs.
It really is an achievement to look like this, regardless of opinion.
So for a female, looking to lose weight, training 3-4 hours a week, with a family and job to boot, would find it pretty tough to be up there on the podium next year.
So with a huge sigh of relief, here are some interesting facts about gaining a few kilos of muscle mass.
According to research at Tufts University (Medford, Massachusetts), the more lean muscle mass you carry, the greater your potential to live longer. It is the number one biomarker for longevity of life, and a much better predictor to longer living than total cholesterol and blood pressure.
- More Muscle – More Strength
Another study at Tufts University found having more muscle equated to having more strength and was the number two biomarker in predicting longevity. For most females, strength is empowering.
We all know how we become more fragile as we age and therefore are more pre-disposed to accidents and breaks if we take a tumble. Having more muscle mass, will increase bone density making our body more resistant to falls. Having greater bone density and muscle mass will also help us to prevent accidents by giving us greater reactive awareness and motor control should we take a slip.
Cancer thrives in an acidic body, so it makes sense to create a slightly more alkalising environment for your cells to live in. Having more muscle (and bone mass), you now have more protein, potassium, calcium and magnesium which helps increase the body’s ability to buffer the acid that is created through certain foods and exercise.
The more alkaline your body:
The greater your endurance potential
The greater your immune system is and thus the greater your chances of surviving cancer.
The body’s ability to utilise sugar within the muscle calls all depends on just how sensitive your muscles are to
insulin. Having more muscle, you increase the insulin receptor sits and thus increase sensitivity. Increased Insulin Sensitivity helps reduce the likelihood of diabetes and metabolic syndrome and the easier it is to lower your body fat.
The more muscle you have, the more mass you effectively have to carry around all day and therefore the more calories you burn – even when you are sat down resting and sleeping. It is estimated that for every kilo of muscle you gain, your body can burn up and to and over 100 calories per day. I don’t see anybody complaining about this one.
- Kilos Gained = Body Fat Lost
Accordingly to Charles Poliquin, with over 30yrs experience as a Strength Coach, he found that for every kilo of lean tissue gained, there was an equal loss of weight in body fat, thus dramatically changing body shape. If a female executive, with a bodyweight of 60 kg has 20% bodyfat, she will be carrying a total of 12kgs in fat alone. With a Strength and Conditioning programme for 10 weeks, this female can potentially gain 4 kg of muscle mass and lose 4 kg of fat, with her weight being the same; her body fat will now be 13%. Burning close to an extra 3,000 calories a week, not only will she have transformed her body shape, but she look fantastic, feel more empowered too and live longer to tell the tale.